All Things Digital

Geological, hydrological and many other earth science related -ogicals are compiled right here.  Everything from fault lines to the Hagerman Horse and Fossil Beds.  Its all digitized and free!

Crash Course is a YouTube Channel hosted by John and Hank Green.  They produce 10-15 minute videos on World History, Psychology, “Big History,” Literature, Chemistry, U.S. History, Ecology, Biology, and Ecology…so far.   They have a smart, somewhat pop culture style that your students will love.

Ken Burns has developed an app that brings out patterns in human history that have become apparent through his films.  He has taken clips and put them together in playlists that help students recognize the patterns.  Some of the playlists are Innovation (the free trial playlist), Leadership, Art, and many more.  Note:  if you already have an older version of this app, consult iTunes for the fix if it crashes when you update.  Free trial; $9.99 for full version.

DPLA is both a resource and a place for contributions.  Dozens of institutions have contributed their digital collections to this site, which is an ongoing project that is growing all the time.  Check it out!

DocsTeach provides access to the primary documents available at the National Archives.  This tool can be customized to suit your needs.  There is also a DocsTeach app.

School Library Journal’s lists are always helpful for finding those gems in the constant stream of educational apps that come on the market every year.  2014 doesn’t disappoint; it has something for every age group and almost every subject, including math. Looking for app reviews all year long?  Check out Touch and Go, SLJ’s app review site.

This 58 minute video has segments on different topics having to do with technology in the school.  From lessons on digital citizenship to using devices to improve teaching technique, there is plenty of useful information here.  It is easy to fast forward through sections that are not applicable and zero in on the parts that are.  Especially relevant is a lesson taught by an elementary librarian on internet safety.  Anyone can subscribe to The Teaching Channel to get updates and a newsletter once or twice a week with good information that doesn’t clutter up your inbox.

Calling all techies!  Or those of you who might have technology enthusiasts among your staff.  These small, inexpensive and programmable computers are perfect for schools’ technology programs.  There is a whole community of Raspberry Pi users, a newsletter, a forum and lots of other support for new and exciting ways to learn programming with Pi.

If your students are asking for ebooks to load onto their personal devices, but ebooks are just too expensive, check out this site for some affordable options for ebooks for the school library.  Find established publishers with award-winning authors, read and write reviews and more.  Thanks to the folks at Genesee Valley Educational Partnership for putting this together!

LiLI provides in-depth information on cyberbullying and prevention.

MediaSmarts.ca has kid friendly information about most issues having to do with navigating safely in cyberspace.  There are articles for adults, videos for kids and blogs dealing with issues from privacy to piracy.

Some of these websites are new, some are tried and tue, all are easy to use and free.  Introduce some of these sites to your teachers and find interesting new ways to collaborate!

Graphite.org is a review and rating site for digital education products.  It is a useful mix of reviews, educators’ opinions and top picks that is organized in a quick-use, well organized format.  This is a valuable tool for the technology minded educator with limited time to research products.  It was featured in The Digital Shift, which is a digital publication of Library Journal/School Library Journal.