Digital Bytes - 12th June, 2017

	10 Great Places to Find Background Music For Video We all know the difference music can make in video to help set the mood and support the visual component. We have already looked at Creator Studio which is part of your YouTube account and is a great source of free music. Here are 10 more places you can find music for videos. Some of these sites are musicians who are sharing their music and others are collections of royalty free music from around the internet.
	21 Chrome Extensions for All Students The title of this article is 21 Chrome Extensions for Struggling Students and Special Needs. However, the Chrome Extensions mentioned in the article can benefit all students and help support with features like text to speech, readability, reading comprehension, focus and navigation.
	15 Teacher Podcasts for Your Summer Playlist With summer just around the corner, there are probably a number of times where you will be sitting around not doing much (or, let’s face it, awake in the middle of the night with jetlag). A great thing to fill this time is a podcast. Here is a list of 15 Teacher podcasts that have something for everyone. Everything from Vicki Davis’ 10 minute podcast to the Dr. Will Show which features a variety of leaders in education.

Digital Bytes - May 29th 2017

	Podcast - WOW in the World Hot off the press is a podcast by NPR is aiming to be “a new way for families to connect, look up and discover the wonders in the world around them.” Scientifically based, WOW in the World is sure to be a winner for your classroom and beyond.
	Data Basic.io Data Basic is a tool for analysing text and data quickly to look for patterns. Paste in some text, or upload a file to find out the frequency of words, how similar and different two files are, connections and interrelationships in your data. Check out the samples and videos to show you how the tool can be used.
	Film Resources - Michael Hernandez At the recent ReThinking Literacy conference, Michael Hernandez shared this Padlet of Digital Storytelling resources. There is a wealth of information contained, including how film can inspire empathy, podcasts in the classroom, and the art of the video interview. You might want to also connect with Michael on Twitter for more cinematic exploration.

Digital Bytes - 6th March, 2017

	Google Keep in Google Docs Google Keep is a great note taking app that you have as part of your Google account. Now you can access those notes in Google Docs and even drag them into your document.
	10 Meditation Apps for the Classroom There are many benefits of using meditation and mindfulness in our lives. Here you can find 10 Meditation Apps for the Classroom to explore with your students. Don’t forget there are also meditation videos in the Calming section of Go Noodle.
	Getting Creative with Video in the Classroom When was the last time you let your creativity loose? Walmart challenged several well-known movie directors to create a short film where items on a Walmart receipt was the central feature. Jonathan Wylie takes this idea and suggests it as a tool for making creative videos in the classroom. Check it out!

Digital Bytes - Dec 5th, 2016

	DK Find Out DK Find Out is a fantastic site for kids to look for age-appropriate information. There are articles, diagrams, videos, fun facts and quizzes. Like the DK books, the website is visually rich and students can use a combination of text, images and video to learn more.
	How Should Reading be Taught in a Digital Era? Writer Liana Heiton states that the nature of reading has changed significantly in the past decade, however questions whether teaching practices have developed alongside. In the article How Should Reading be Taught in a Digital Era, she explores different online reading options and finishes with a quote from Katherine Hale: "But reading isn't just reading print text anymore. Reading is reading the world."
	YouTube Kids Learning something new often involves watching a video these days and our go to video site is YouTube. YouTube kids is a free app which allows kids to search and find videos and not have to worry about advertising or inappropriate content/links.

Digital Bytes - 14th November, 2016

	7 Video Writing Prompts for Young Authors Edutopia’s 5 minute film festival is a collection of writing prompts in the form of videos. There are a range of different examples to choose from, and using video as a prompt may just spark the creativity in our more visual learners to produce something beyond their usual capabilities. Either way, it’s nice to mix it up a little, so why not check out these 7 video writing prompts for young authors.
	How to Transform your Classroom with Augmented Reality Augmented Reality is one of the many ways technology can help learning in the classroom be more engaging. Our own G1 teacher Mary Newbigin is experimenting with it, so make sure you ask her about it! Meanwhile, here is a great overview about Transforming your Classroom with Augmented Reality.
	Hour of Code The Hour of Code is coming up, and you might want to beat the crowds by getting started with your students today. At code.org, you can find activities suitable for pre-readers, all the way up to high school students. There is a little something for everyone.

Digital Bytes 22nd August 2016

	10 Reasons Every Teacher Needs a PLN Sylvia Duckworth’s illustrations are becoming legendary in the edtech world, and this one about PLNs is no exception! The staff at TeachThought have added some ways of getting started with each of the 10 Reasons Every Teacher Needs a PLN, so why not extend your PLN by trying some out?
	Real World Math: Things that Don’t Look Like Math but Really Are Rebecca McClure shows us that kids are actually engaged in more mathematical tasks than people realise. This article would be a great one to share with parents at the start of the school year, particularly those who have students in the early years.
	Quik Quik is a fantastic free app that allows you to quickly make slideshows on your iPad or iPhone. You can tap and add photos and/or videos and even choose from a wide variety of music. Your slideshow is created in minutes and then can be shared in a variety of ways.

Digital Bytes - May 3, 2016

	The Kid Should See This. This is a fantastic site for inquiry. There is a question a day which is answered with a video and a short piece of writing. Questions are categorized and searchable.
	Wordless News Each day a photo is posted that relates to one of the stories in the world news for that day. Students can examine the drawn image and discuss what they think it relates to. There is a link to the news story under each image.
	If Shakespeare Could Tweet This free ebook is a great look into the genre of micro writing. Although it talks about Shakespeare, the lessons of micro writing could be applied to any type of writing in your classroom.

Digital Bytes - April 25, 2016

Hot on the heels of a great ReThinking Literacy conference, we have a number of great ideas and resources to share. This week the focus is on Visual Literacy - one of the themes that was highlighted throughout the conference.

	What’s Going on in this Picture? The New York Times has a great segment in the Learning Network called, “What’s Going on in this Picture?” Each week, a new image is posted as a discussion prompt, with accompanying questions. More information is revealed over the week, which leads to rich conversations.
	Wonderopolis This is a fantastic site for inquirers. Every day a new question is answered with a rich explanation including videos, photos and text. You can search through previous questions or ask your own questions.
	It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? This is a great visual way to see what your students are reading. It is also a fantastic way for students to get book recommendations from others. If you share your padlet with other classes from around the world, you now have a richer and wider audience. This example was shared on Padlet.

Digital Bytes - March 14, 2016 Pi Day

14 March 2016

	Pi Day - March 3 Today is Pi Day (3.14)! To celebrate there are some Pi Day activities. Make sure you check out the video about what pi sounds like and other activities.
	Google Photo Slideshow Picasa photos is slowly being phased out by Google. Those of you who still use Picasa to embed slideshows in your Site will need to start using Google Photos. This tutorial will teach you how to embed your photos with ease. Give it a try now before Picasa surprises you and stops working one day.
	Learn About Film Creating films is an essential skill for our students. Learn About Film is an extensive website is a fantastic resource to support any level of filmmaker.

Digital Bytes - 29 February, 2016

	Managing Photos on Your iPad and iPhone Some great tips for working with photos that you have already captured on your iPad or iPhone. Did you know you can quickly select multiple photos by dragging your finger over them? Did you know that you can search for photos by location or date? Have a look at some great tips in this article.
	Mathematics in Real Life This YouTube video playlist has a number of riddles and maths problems that you can use with your class. These are a great source to engage your students and explore problem solving with your class.
	7 Teaching Resources for Film Literacy With the Oscars this week, it is a good time to look at film literacy. This site has a number of resources to help teachers including an interview with Martin Scorsese on the importance of film literacy and a number of activities and lesson plans.