Thursday, April 4, 2024

Tech Tips and News for April 5, 2024

Teachers:  Imagine how you
would use a teaching assistant!
Image generated by ImageFX
Welcome back from spring break, for those of you who participate. I hope your break was a relaxing respite. Did you know that Rand Corporation surveys indicate the average work week for a teacher is 54 hours? Are you also aware at 44% of K-12 teachers report feeling burned out accoriding to a Gallup poll? I'm sure if you're a teacher you are nodding your head. It's no joke that our teachers really need these breaks to combat burnout. Do you wish you had a teaching assistant? I know you've heard a lot about AI (Artificial Intelligence) lately, but seriously there are so many AI tools now for teachers to use as a teaching assistant. This can be the remedy you need to reclaim some of your time and avoid burnout. What about the rest of us? We could all use some help juggling the many tasks we need to perform. Beginning this week, I'll start sharing some tools I discovered at the MACUL conference I recently attended. So stay tuned, prepare to save LOTS of time, and have your mind blown.  

Safety and Security

Tips & Tutorials



Taking Photos of the Eclipse Can Ruin Your Phone (Here's How to Avoid That)

Learn how to safely photograph the solar eclipse on Monday.

It's Time to Disconnect Your Smart TV From the Internet, Especially if You Have a Vizio

Is your Smart TV spying on you? Guess what brand of TV I have, and what I'll be doing when I get home!

iPhone Users Under ‘Reset Password’ Attack — How to Stay Safe

Don't fall for this phishing attack, or you might be locked out of your phone!


Anyone Can Learn About AI With These Free Google Courses & Guides

Are you absolutely baffled by all the buzz about AI (artificial Intelligence)? Do you know what AI is, but aren't sure how to use it? Are you familiar with AI and want to learn some advanced concepts and uses? At whatever level you find yourself, there are AI courses for you!

Get the Latest Tips for Google Products - Spring 2024

Every Spring, Google runs a product training series. In each of these 30 minute sessions, they highlight new and upcoming features, and show you how to use them. I've hit the highlights below, but you can find the entire list here. These training videos are usually only available for a limited time, so watch them while you can.

Find Your AI Teaching Assistant Series - Multi-Tasking Tools That Take the Guesswork Out of AI Prompts

Are you unsure of how to even begin to create AI prompts to get what you want from an AI chatbot? Here are some tools that take that step away entirely. Need to create a lesson plan? Select that option. Need to create questions for your students about a video? Select the video summarizer tool- it will even watch the video to create the questions for you! Need to simplify text to a specific grade level? Done! Each of these tools has many resources and tools for you to use to generate everything from lesson plans and teaching content to IEPs. Try them out to see what you find useful. You may find you need to use more than one if they have a limit to the number of times you can use them each month in the free version. All of the options have a free version. This list was curated by Eric Curts, of Control Alt Achieve. 

🔮 MagicSchool AI

  • Over 50 resource types and learning objects to generate including:
  • Planning - Lesson Plan, Science Lab, Syllabus, etc.
  • Content - Choice Board, Rubric, Video Summarizer, etc.
  • Questions - Word Problems, Multiple Choice, Spiral Review, etc.
  • Intellectual Prep - Exemplars, Directions, Misconceptions, etc.
  • Student Support - Text Leveler, IEP Generator, Accommodations, etc.
  • Communication - Comments, Feedback, Letter of Recommendation, etc.
  • Community Tools - Ice Breakers, Song Generator, Observation Tool, etc.
  • Also can be used with the Chrome Extension - Chrome Web Store link

🚨 Eduaide

  • Over 100 resource types and learning objects to generate including:
  • Content Generator - Planning, Information Objects, Independent Practice, Cooperative Learning, Gamification, Questions
  • Assistant - Professional Duties, Accessibility, Wellness
  • Feedback Bot - Spelling, Grammar, Mechanics, Logic, Reasoning, Rubrics
  • Assessment Builder - Multiple Choice, True or False, Short Answer, Fill in the Blank, Matching, Essay

😊 Twee

twee.com - Blog post - Demo video (5 minutes)
  • Twee is a collection of 30+ AI-powered tools to help educators create content. Some of the uses include:
  • Reading - Create a text, Open questions, ABCD questions, True / False statements, Dialogue based on topic, Titles for a text, Reading bits
  • Writing - Essay topics, Famous quotes, Four opinions, Link words into sentences, Creative writing
  • Vocabulary - Fill in the gap, Word definition matching, Sentences with target vocabulary, Essential vocabulary, Word formation, Communicative situations with your vocabulary, Collocations with target vocabulary, Matching halves, Extract collocations, Word-Translation matching
  • Listening - Video Transcript, YouTube video with questions, YouTube summaries
  • Speaking - Dialogue based on topic, Discussion questions, Find facts, Advantages and disadvantages, Famous quotes, Four opinions, Lead-in activities, Link words into sentences
  • Grammar - Fill in the gap, Scramble the words, Open-the-brackets (verbs), Matching halves

🗺️ Almanack

almanack.ai  - Blog post - Demo video (4 minutes)
  • Smart course material generator and lesson planner for educators.
  • Over 35 tools to generate resources, games, curriculum, and more.
  • Tools include flashcards, rubrics, quizzes, Lexile adjuster, lesson plans, essay feedback, science lab, story generator, summarizer, and more.

Stop Wasting Time Making Excel Formulas, Use ChatGPT Instead

These instructions will work with any spreadsheet program (Excel, Google Sheets, Apple Numbers) as well as in any AI chat interface (Chat GPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft CoPilot, etc.)

Can you find the cheater? Testing 5 AI content detectors (part 1)



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