10 Apps for Student Safety

I read an interesting article on Edudemic today entitled 50 Apps Students Will Be Using In Your Classroom.

With the beginning of school and all of the news about bullying and student safety, I wanted to highlight one section of the article that deals with ten apps for student safety. Please read the following from Edudemic:

1. iHollaback:
This crowdsourced safety app maps out instances of harassment and discriminatory behaviors, including verbal and physical assault, and allows students to visualize the most dangerous sections of their cities and campuses.

2. StreetSafe:
If the $19.99 per month subscription plan is feasible, StreetSafe provides two services protecting the lives of users. One involves a silent alarm that dials 911 in an emergency, while the other connects anyone scared of their surroundings with an individual trained to advise them calmly and alert the proper authorities in case of anything compromising.

3. Flashlight, Brightest Flashlight Free, and Flashlight Free:
Turn that smartphone into peace of mind when walking in unfamiliar territory with these fabulous digital flashlights.

4. Silent Bodyguard:
Available for the iPhone and Blackberry, Silent Blackberry uses GPS tracking to discreetly send emergency messages to trusted contacts in the event something ugly goes down.

5. SaferBus:
Students who must take public transportation take advantage of this iPhone app to learn which buses meet or fail the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s standards and report any violations they encounter.

6. First Aid by American Red Cross:
This free download for iPhone and Android users teaches basic first aid techniques anytime, anywhere and definitely stands as a worthwhile bandwidth investment.

7. Circle of 6:
Pick six trusted individuals and keep tabs on one another’s whereabouts and actions in order to lower the risk of victimization. iPhone only.

8. Emergency Rescue Alarm:
For use on the Android, the Emergency Rescue Alarm provides three very loud, very common signals to alert the proper authorities on a disaster or crime’s whereabouts.

9. Marine Martial Arts MCRP 3-02B and Marine Martial Arts:
While you probably won’t walk away from these apps ready to teach Predators a thing or two, they do offer up some great self-defense training tips.

10. ICE: In Case of Emergency:
In the event of a scenario where you go unresponsive, the ICE app makes first responders’ jobs faster and easier by providing them with medical information, emergency contacts, and other valuable, potentially life-saving bits of data.

Please read the article in it's entirety by clicking HERE and you'll also find more great apps on Productivity and Organization, Reading and Writing, Reference, and STEM.

EdTech Cheat Sheet - Understanding New Trends in Educational Technology

Are you overwhelmed by educational technology and all of the new terminology? Are you familiar with MOOC, OER, asynchronous learning, or blended learning? Then take a look at the infographic below created by Boundless as they provide a little clarity on many of the current educational technology issues.

I also hope you will join my PLN (Personal Learning Network) by following this blog or by joining me on Facebook and Twitter.  Isn't "sharing" what education is all about?

You can also click HERE to view the infographic on the Boundless Blog.

35 Sources for Curated Educational Videos

I found a great resource written by Carri Schneider (Getting Smart, July 3, 2012) that I wanted to share with you.

As the author states:

While many teachers begin by creating their own content and videos, most start by sifting through free online sources. The amount of available information out there is staggering.

YouTube users across the globe upload 48 hours of content every minute. And a google search for “science video” yields over 4 billion results!

Fortunately, there are some great websites and services that take the guesswork out of finding and sorting educational video content.

Here are a few of the curated video sites that Schneider highlighted:

• The Futures Channel: Based on the goal of using new media technologies to create a channel between scientists, enginners, explorers, visionaries and learners, The Future Channel partners with schools to provide these high-quality digital learning resources.
• EduTube: Launched in 2008, EduTube focuses on popular and high quality educational videos that are sorted by EduTube index – a measure of quality, popularity and educational value.
• Edutopia Video: Edutopia’s large video library is sortable by topic and by grade level.

Please click HERE to find additional resources educational videos and read "35 Sources for Curated Educational Videos" in it's entirety.

The Complete Parent’s List of Education Hashtags on Twitter

CareerTechTest on Twitter

I wanted to share a great list of educational hashtags for Twitter provided by OnlineCollege.org. Also, don't be fooled by the title because these are great hashtags to follow for any educator. Some of the ones on the list that I currently follow are: #edchat #lrnchat #edu #mlearning and #edutech. Some additional hashtags that I follow that pertain to career and technical education are: #CareerTechEd and #acte.

Take a look at the additional resources provided by OnlineCollege.org by clicking HERE.

Also, don't forget to follow the CareerTech Testing Center on Twitter. We tweet about alot of things that you won't find on the blog that we still find interesting concerning testing and educational technology.

Computer Viruses and Threats Explained By Common Craft

Common Craft has recently released a great video entitled "Computer Viruses and Threats Explained." The three minute video explains how computer viruses, worms and trojans work and what you can do to protect yourself.

According to Common Craft's site:

This video explains computer viruses by comparing them to human viruses and focuses on the role of prevention in being protected. Major points include:

• A basic look at computer viruses as computer programs that can spread like a disease and can be prevented by anti-virus software.
• An introduction to worms, how they cause damage in networks and can be prevented by software updates.
• An introduction to trojans, how they trick people into downloading a virus and how awareness is important for prevention.

You can watch the new video on the Common Craft website.

Related videos that you should also check out are Secure Websites in Plain English and Protecting Reputations Online.