EdTech workshops help recharge our batteries. Just attended one last week by EdTechTeam. Two days of intense, hands-on sessions that are easy to incorporate in the classroom immediately. I was impressed by:

Created using Spark

Adobe Spark. I didn’t realize that Adobe was putting so much weight into tools for students that won’t cost an arm and a leg (they are free!), and are so intuitive. For anyone needing to give students an on ramp to Photoshop, web design, and creativity, they have three tools worth exploring.

Google Earth. Geo tools make an interesting hook to get students to consider the value of data, behind those fascinating images and places they could visit using Google Earth. Who thought spreadsheets could be so exciting! A great way to get the to understand the ‘Little Data’ that makes up Big Data, as Chris Betcher explained.

Coding. Yes, there could be no EdTech event without coding, but there’s so much more happening in the open-source community. From Game design to Wonder Robots.

BitMojis. Avatar-based story-boarding that derived from BitStrips. It is however owned by Snap, which could be a problem in schools, for obvious reasons.

On my radar & worth exploring:

• Doctapus –  Created by a science teacher, Andrew Stillman, this Chrome extension is a boost to workflow with teachers in mind.
• WonderBots – Clever little spherical bots called Dot and Dash that make coding come to life!
• FlipGrid – Video tools for Student engagement
• ClassCraft – A way to introduce video game mechanics in the classroom
• HyperDocs – An interactive, rich-media document created in Google Docs, which could be used to collect all materials for a lesson or learning cycle into one ‘hub.’ The approach could be also used to create small books.