Tech Tip Tuesday: Varsity Tutors for Students and Canva Pro for You!

With students always looking for help with SAT/ACT prep I came across this resource by Varsity Tutors. This is a website/program that offers a FREE SAT/ACT prep course that includes key concepts in Algebra, English, Trigonometry, and more! Students take part in 25 hours of live group instruction online with a certified tutor. They also get access to a mobile app, an adaptive assessment tool, practice exams, and tutor office hours. All of this for free! Varsity Tutors has partnered with organizations to offer SAT/ACT help for students for free thinking that all students should be able to do well on the test with appropriate preparation.

You can access their link and page here: https://www.varsitytutors.com/free-sat-act-prep-course

Hopefully you know what Canva is and utilize it in your classroom or role, but I think it is an invaluable tool that can be used for so much. Have you checked out their infographics? But now, you can get the Canva Pro license for free as educators. Which means even a class of students (up to 30) can get it as well. It doesn’t include premium pictures or graphics (but you can use Unsplash.com or Pexels.com and upload the image to Canva). But you get extra colors, features elements, templated, etc.

To apply for the Canva Pro for Education go to this link: https://support.canva.com/account-basics/canva-for-education/apply-canva-for-education/?uid=06f0a8b6-49c2-4640-8cf7-b24184580dfe

Hope this helps! Have a safe and warm holiday/winter break!

Tech Tip Tuesday: FlipGrid Updates

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So Flipgrid, only one of the HOTTEST edtech tools of the past 1-2 years, just ran a few updates out. If you are not a user, take a moment to check it out.  But here is a rundown of their recent updates/ feature additions.

• Flipgrid AR Experiences- with Fipgrid AR you can now download QR codes for all of your student video responses, then when scanned, the video will appear as an AR element right then and there!
• Flipgrid Shorts- these are short video you can record with then editing capability. Which means you can cut and trim the video, overlay images/emojis, apply filters, or even utilize a whiteboard mode to teach a lesson/concept! Better yet, have your student teach something using whiteboard mode and share with the class! Once done, just send out the link or post it in Schoology!
• Sort Student Videos- this allows you to sort by last name.
• Record Without Audio- exactly what this says… no audio needed.
• Added Built-in Immersive Reader- an immersive reader is a lot like the ReadWrite chrome extension. Basically, when opened with a video, it adds features such as dictionary, translation, and more.
• Added Playback Speed- allows you to view videos at different speeds.
• Flipgrip Mixtapes- you choose which video make the cut and it compiles a mixtape of the best submissions of that assignment!

If you have more questions or want to utilize Flipgrid in your classroom, please reach out to me.

Hope this helps!