Page 67 - Resources and Support for the Online Educator

CHAPTER 11 • Leveraging Technology for Teacher Efficiency and Effectivenes

screenshot tutorials, videos, and self-paced courses. They also host EdmodoCon
each year in August (EdmodoCon.com). It is a free digital conference that attracts
educators from around the globe and has top-notch educational speakers as
presenters.

I have called myself The EdTech Cheerleader, cheering others to technology
integration, and Edmodo is the site that I have cheered most about because of
its ease and the fact that the folks from Edmodo (most of whom have educa-
tion backgrounds) are always listening to teachers, offering strong support, and
building Edmodo stronger each day! I recently talked to a middle-school teacher
who was introduced to Edmodo this year and he said, “In the decade I have been
a teacher, Edmodo is the single most dynamic thing that has impacted the way I
have taught.” Edmodo is dynamic in all levels of education, and I can only imagine
it will make impacts on classrooms around the world more and more as the years
go on!

Aggregator Sites for Content Areas

Teachers are often looking for digital tools that will enable their students to do
specific tasks. In the past that meant hours of searching online. In fact, I lost whole
weekends seeking free gems my teachers could use. And then I found aggregator
sites. Aggregators pull together resources from multiple sites in order to shortcut
the searching process. Some aggregators are general purpose; others focus on a
particular content area.

When you are looking for just the right interactive websites or tools for students,
begin with TeachersFirst and then move to content-area aggregators. The following
list represents the best of the aggregators. Preference is given to sites that are exten-
sive, organize by content areas and grade levels, and primarily list interactive sites
instead of those that list lesson plans and worksheets.
TeachersFirst (teachersfirst.com) is a premier teacher resource site for interactive
internet sites and digital tools. The heart of TeachersFirst (TF) is its extensive
database of lessons, units, and web resources. Teachers can search the collection
by keyword, grade level, curriculum topic, or content strand. Each entry in the

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Integrating Technology in the Classroom: Tools to Meet the Needs of Every Student 67