Yesterday astronauts on the International Space Station had to go to emergency shelters due to space junk (https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/15/22782946/russia-asat-test-satellite-international-space-station-debris). The idea of space junk and rogue satellites causes many issues for governments and companies. Interestingly enough though, you and your students can track satellites and other space debris using this LeoLabs interactive resource: https://platform.leolabs.space/visualization. Check this website out and see what you can do. 

​I also recommend to try searching for Starlink in the LeoLabs interactive and check out the possible future of internet access (https://www.discovermagazine.com/technology/how-do-spacexs-starlink-satellites-actually-work).

Videos are a great way to share information with students. They get awesome visuals and audio that otherwise may not be possible in a classroom environment. The issue as educators we run into though, is if the watchers actually understand what they have watched. Some of this issue can now be eliminated by using PlayPosit (​www.playposit.com). PlayPosit allows you to take any YouTube video and make it into an interactive response. You can ask students simple yes/no questions, multiple choice questions, free response questions, and even host a discussion right within a video! 

All the students and/or learners responses are recorded and can be graded to see how well they did. With just a few clicks you can make your own interactive video and get rocking. To see how, watch the short tutorial below or jump right in by going to www.playposit.com! 

If you want to try PlayPosit as student, check out this link to learn about the Seaweed Sheep: ​www.playposit.com/listcode/922359/e71a4a/open/anonymous

ClassroomScreen is a great classroom management resource for all grade levels and subjects. It can allow a teacher to help facilitate class discussions, redirect students who are off task, display information, and do easy exit polls of a class. It works on any device you would use, Windows, Mac, Chromebooks, iPads/iPhones, and Android devices. If you have an interactive projector you could even control it from there! Watch the video below to see how ClassroomScreen can be used in your class.

Every once in awhile I come across a website that makes me say, "Holy Smokes! That is just plain old awesome!" Well, Appear.in definitely falls into that category! Appear.in allows up to 8 people to have a video chat and share their screens without having to login to a website or install complicated software. The website just plainly works and is a lot of fun.

For educators the possibilities are endless. It could be used for those ever popular Mystery Skype sessions, it could be used to allow students to meet in groups outside school hours, it could be used to share a student's Chromebook screen on a projector, and there is so much more amazing potential! 

Watch the demo people to see how Appear.in works to both have a video chat and share a Chromebook screen.

If someone asked me what was one of my top favorite classroom tech resources, Lino would be near the top of the list. Lino is a online sticky note board that teachers can use to facilitate discussions, share resources, share videos and pictures, and can all be done without students even having to create accounts.

Lino can be a great way for students to interact both in the classroom, outside the classroom, or with entirely different classrooms. Teachers can also create groups so that information can be kept within a 'walled garden.' This could be a great way to allow students to interact online in a safe and secure way. You can watch the video below to see how easily this can be done.