Bluesky Starter Tips for Educators

Social media always seems to be changing. Many tools have come and gone (I still remember with fondness my Google+ account) but many more still have come to take their place.

Recently Bluesky has exploded in popularity, adding millions of users over the last few months. Most importantly for me (and maybe for you) many of these users are educators.

Over the last few months I have been thrilled to see how many educators have joined Bluesky. Even better, many are actively posting and participating. In some ways it feels similar to "old education Twitter" for those of us who remember that.

If you haven't joined Bluesky yet, I would encourage you to consider it. The site makes it super easy to connect with others and customize your feed so you see just what you are interested in, making it a more personalized and valuable experience.

To help you get started, I have listed some helpful tips and resources below that got me going with Bluesky. Please share your suggestions as well, and I hope to connect and learn with you there! You can find me at https://bsky.app/profile/ericcurts.bsky.social

EdTech Links of the Week - 11-19-24

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Podcast Spotlight: Unpacking Education

I recently had the pleasure to be a guest on the "Unpacking Education" podcast from AVID.

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love podcasts and am always mentioning something new I learned from one of them, so I was super excited to get to join an episode of this podcast.

The podcast is hosted by Paul Beckermann, Rena Clark, and Dr. Winston Benjamin and is described as follows:

If it relates to education and matters to you, we're talking about it on our podcasts. Unpacking Education shares in-depth conversations each Wednesday on timely topics with guests who share their expertise and experience-from teaching strategies, to educational technology, to equitable access to future-driven skills for all students.

I had a wonderful time chatting with the team about generative AI and how it can be used in K–12 classrooms, with specific examples of AI tools to try and practical classroom activities that can make a real impact with students.

Take a look below to listen to the episode, access the resources that I shared in the episode, and explore more about the podcast.

Recorded Webinar - Google Gemini for Education

I recently had the opportunity to record a webinar for a deep dive into Gemini, which is Google's AI chatbot.

You are probably familiar with ChatGPT, which is an excellent chatbot, but Google Gemini is a great tool as well. Google has long been a pioneer in artificial intelligence, and they have continued to improve and expand Gemini over the last couple years.

If you have not tried out Gemini yet, now is a great time. It is a powerful AI tool that offers unique features including:

• Built-in fact checking with the "double-check" feature
• Data protections when used with a school account
• Free unlimited use
• And more!

See below for my 45-minute recorded webinar and session resources all about Gemini.

My 2025 OETC Sessions

I am excited and honored to be presenting at the 2025 Ohio Educational Technology Conference (OETC25) in Columbus, Ohio on February 11th through 13th.

I always look forward to an opportunity to see old friends, make new friends, share some ideas, and learn so many new things from others.

You can access more OETC25 information and register for the conference at:

• https://oetc.ohio.gov/

Below is a list of sessions I will be presenting at OETC25, along with any associated resources. Please feel free to join me for any of these sessions. I look forward to sharing, learning, and chatting with you!

EdTech Links of the Week - 11-12-24

Each week I keep an eye out for the latest edtech resources through blogs, social media, podcasts, videos, user groups, and more. I then try to reshare these resources in many ways.

One way I share these is here on the blog in these "EdTech Links of the Week" posts. See below to explore the latest batch of resources, and be sure to share with others who may benefit.

If you want to make sure you don't miss new resources, you can:

🔗 View all EdTech Links of the Week: bit.ly/caa-links

📰 Sign up for my weekly email newsletter: bit.ly/curts-news
📧 Join the "Control Alt Achieve" email discussion group: bit.ly/caa-emailgroup

🔔 Get new blog posts automatically through email - FollowIt link

And as always, please let me know of any resources that you recommend. I would love to learn from you!

Build a "What I Am Thankful For" Turkey with Google Slides

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, now is a great time for all of us to pause and think about what we are thankful for.

To help out with this I have created a Google Slides activity for your students. With this template your students will build a turkey where each of the feathers will display things that the student is thankful for.

Optionally the students can also use the Mote Chrome extension to record themselves explaining what they are thankful for, and adding that audio to their digital turkey.

See below to get your free copy of the "What I Am Thankful For" Turkey template, as well as a short video and detailed directions on how to use it.