FROM THE ISTE FLOOR: Looking for something fun to experiment with this summer? Here are tools that caught our eye on the ISTE Expo Floor or our ear in the Blogger’s Cafe.
*Free: Torsh Inc. (the creator of video-based feedback tool Talent) and the New Teacher Center have joined forces to give teachers just that with a new platform in beta called Ask A Mentor. The new tool, launched this week, gives individual teachers a chance to find an expert mentor, ask them questions or share videos of their practice, and get feedback within 48 hours.
*Free: Easy-to-use Buncee helps educators use multimedia in their curricula, in the classroom and beyond. Send home assignments, quiz guides, and digital newsletters, compatible on both desktop and mobile devices. (We think this would be especially helpful for flipped classrooms.) Pay $9.99/month or $59.99/year to upgrade and create a private classroom with student logins accessible anywhere, use a teacher dashboard, and increase slide options.
*$0.99: Thanks to #edtechchat co-moderator, Susan Bearden, for this one! After years on Twitter, she decided to design new app TweechMe. If you’re new to Twitter or want to find a particular education chat, her recently-launched app offers Twitter 101, 201, and 301 instructions, as well as a list of most of the education chats in the twittersphere and opportunities for finding Twitter “tutors.” Tweet all about it!
*Freemium: Interested in sharing your teaching experiences with other educators beyond Twitter chats? We know how individual connections can help educators learn from successes and failures, and so do the folks at Voxer. With the Voxer app, users can send text, photos, and instant voice messages to individuals and groups. Share your successes and ask for advice from other educators in real time, in your own voice. With the pro upgrade for $2.99/month, add tools like message forwarding and hands-free functionality.