Friday Odds & Ends

How Many Lines You Want? 

OK, it seems counterintuitive to write about a website that has printable paper templates on a technology blog, but I think they're actually quite useful. I mean, sometimes you just need to have some graph paper available or maybe you need some staff paper (me at home) or even a good template for teaching kids about budgets. However many lines you need on your paper, this website probably has it. Check it out at printablepaper.net.

10 Formative Assessment Tools

We all need to do regular formative assessments to give us a good idea of where our students are and how our instruction needs to be adjusted to meet their needs. There are many time-tested approaches including the 1-5, sticky-notes, pick a corner, paper exit tickets and so on. However there are digital tools available that make this process easier and faster. Patricia Brown from edsurge.com has put together a list of 10 Formative Assessment Tools that can offer some efficiency and some variety to formative assessments.

Scholastic Lists Their 50 Fav Apps

From the Scholastic website:
"Encode a secret message on a World War II Enigma machine. Journey into outer space to explore the surface of the sun. Or see what your town looked like in the 1800s. No, these aren’t Ms. Frizzle’s lesson plans. All are real activities taking place in classrooms across the nation. These days, all you need to take your class on the adventure of a lifetime is a fabulous app—or two, or three, or 50."

Check out their list here

Language Learning

New technologies are hitting the market to make language learning more interesting and engaging for students and adults alike. Many of these apps take a digital immersion approach by working within authentic language sites. For example, a student visits the El Pais newspaper website, the apps are designed to work in the background helping the student translate words they do not know while keeping the vocab words for later practice. The apps track progress and send reminders along the way to keep you going. Two great options to check out are Lingua.ly and Duolingo.

Lingua.ly is a Chrome app that can be used on anything that uses the Chrome browser. Use Lingua.ly to track and learn vocabulary on foreign language websites. It has a beautiful, pinboard style interface and works to provide the right level of content for your language skills. Duolingo is more traditional in its approach but has now added a free option for education.

The one question that remains is whether language programs are still relevant in today's technological world (I'm biased and say "Of course!). Google recently announced that their translate feature will now translate in real time. Meaning your phone can act as your personal interpreter (giving audio, not just text) and ask someone where the bathroom is. They've also added camera integration that works for signs. So, will language instruction in schools and universities survive by adapting and integrating these new technologies or will they go the way of the dinosaurs?