A curated list of resources to help students find high-quality, copyright friendly media for use in projects or presentations.
Cool Ways to Use Google to Inspire Your Students to Create Dynamic Worlds
By on March 26, 2014
Here are some practical applications of how teachers and librarians can use Google’s Maps and Street View to create lesson plans and assignments on virtual tours of the streets of Paris, or map out some Civil War battles.
Multimedia Assessments: Tools for making dynamic audio-and video-based tests
By on February 24, 2014
Video, audio, and images can help students gain deeper understanding of a question. Previously, struggling readers might have had assessment questions read aloud to him or her. Now, multimedia tools allow these students to take tests independently.
Teach Kids how to Code, Make Apps and 3-D Models With These Tools
By on November 10, 2013
The best applications for teaching basic programming skills—no geek cred required to use them successfully in your classroom or library. Other apps enable kids to build 3-D models, which they can print, too.
Summer Project? Six Tools to Upgrade Your School Website
By on July 17, 2013
School’s out—and time to enjoy some serious lounging. Summer is also a time to consider your Web presence. If your website could use an upgrade, consider these tools to give it a boost for back-to-school—and save you time this fall.
The Best PowerPoint Alternatives for Creating Great Presentations
By on May 20, 2013
We’ve all endured “death by PowerPoint.” It’s a painful experience for the audience and probably not all that fun for the presenter either. To help students deliver effective presentations—free of those deadly bullet points—SLJ columnist Richard Byrne cites his go-to applications.
Getting Kids Engaged with Primary Sources | Cool Tools
By on April 22, 2013
Primary resources can help bring history to life for students. Make the most of first-hand accounts and other primary source content with tools such as the National Archives’ Digital Vaults, video tour included.
Top Tools for Upgrading Your Resume | Cool Tools
By on March 18, 2013
It’s spring, a time when students start looking for summer jobs or internships—and that requires some attention to their resumes and portfolios. In this month’s “Cool Tools,” Richard Byrne taps the best applications for creating an online showcase of your best work.
Mobile Apps Make Student Assessment Easy and Interactive | Cool Tools
By on December 17, 2012
Regardless of what curriculum areas we teach, observing and assessing our students is something that we all do every day. Thanks to mobile devices like iPads and Android tablets, recording our informal observations and formal assessments has never been easier.
Free Web Tools Make Classroom Management Fun
By on November 19, 2012
Web applications that make it easy to create records in appealing formats for sharing, selected by Richard Byrne, School Library Journal’s Cool Tools columnist.
