Free Technology for Teachers

FreeTech4Teachers.com is a blog I launched in 2007 while participating in a professional development course with the Great Maine Schools partnership. Unless stated otherwise, I, Richard Byrne, am the sole author of all posts. I spent nine years teaching social studies at the high school level. Now, I lead professional development workshops, speak at various conferences around the globe, and share insights on educational technology.

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Seven Mind Mapping Tools to Try This Year

Aug 23, 2023 | freetech4teachers.com | Richard Byrne

Canva Whiteboard TemplatesCanva's whiteboard templates include mind mapping templates that you and your students can use individually or collaboratively. Watch this video for an overview of how to access and use those templates. Google Jamboard TemplatesGoogle Jamboard doesn't offer any pre-made mind mapping templates like Canva offers. However, it is easy to make and share your own mind mapping templates in Jamboard. This short video shows you how to do that.
Five Great Microsoft Forms Features for Teachers

Aug 22, 2023 | freetech4teachers.com | Richard Byrne

Microsoft Forms has more features that I like than Google Forms has. For example, there is nothing like the new live presentation mode in Microsoft Forms available in Google Forms. There are other aspects of Microsoft Forms that I also like that aren't equaled in Google Forms. Those features are demonstrated in my new video that is embedded below. 1. Convert docs to forms. 2. Live mode3. Timer4. Start and end dates5. Background musicVideo - My Five Favorite Features of Microsoft Forms
One Good Way to Record a Video in Gmail

Aug 5, 2023 | freetech4teachers.com | Richard Byrne

Loom's Chrome extension makes it easy to do that. With Loom's Chrome extension Gmail users can reply to email by simply clicking the Loom icon and recording a video. The video is then instantly uploaded to your Loom account and inserted into the body of your email. In this short video I demonstrate how to record a video right from your Gmail inbox. Yes, there are other tools for making screencast videos.
All About Batteries - And How to Preserve Your Laptop's Battery Life

Aug 4, 2023 | freetech4teachers.com | Richard Byrne

This week TED-Ed published a new lesson that addresses a topic that just about everyone who owns a cell phone has wondered about at one time or another. That question is "why do phone batteries get worse over time?" Why Your Phone Battery Gets Worse Over Time explains how lithium ion batteries work, why they hold less energy over time, and how batteries are recycled. The end of the video dives into the topic of lithium supply and why not all batteries are recycled.
Write Out - Poetry, Prose, and Parks!

Aug 4, 2023 | freetech4teachers.com | Richard Byrne

Kevin Hodgson's blog posts introduced me to the national Write Out project. This is a two week, online event held every October. This year's NWP Write Out begins on October 8th and runs through October 22nd. The idea of the project is to inspire writers through outdoor settings, particularly National Parks settings, but I think I any outdoor setting will suffice. Write Out 2021 is a combined effort of the National Writing Project and the National Parks Service.
An eBook for History Teachers and History Students

Aug 4, 2023 | freetech4teachers.com | Richard Byrne

Teaching Search Strategies to History Students. In Teaching Search Strategies to History Students I outline activities that you can use in middle school and high school classrooms (grades 5-12). When you purchase a copy of the e-book you can use the activities exactly as written (you have permission to use the images I've included) or modify them to meet your students' needs.
Seven ClassTools Templates to Try This Year

Aug 3, 2023 | freetech4teachers.com | Richard Byrne

ClassTools has long been a favorite resource of mine for creating all kinds of fun, online activities for social studies classes. As the new school year approaches it's a good time to take a look at seven of my favorite ClassTools games and activities templates. Play Your Dates Right is one of the templates that I like to use to create a game that is focused on helping students recall the sequence of historical events.
Three Self-Paced Courses for the Start of the School Year

Aug 3, 2023 | freetech4teachers.com | Richard Byrne

If you're interested in a professional development course that you can do while sitting outside before the summer ends, take a look at the courses I offer through PracticalEdTech.com. Animated Explanations!This five-part course teaches you everything you need to know to create and teach with your own animated explanations. In the course you’ll learn why the process of creating animated explanations is valuable to your students and to you.
How to Create and Share Google Photos Albums

Aug 2, 2023 | freetech4teachers.com | Richard Byrne

My first idea was to use a service like Seesaw to share pictures with students' parents. I've done that in the past in my own classroom and now my kids' teachers do the same. My other suggestion was to create a Google Photos album that is shared with parents. How to do that is demonstrated in my new video that is embedded below.
How to Scan and Search Handwritten Notes in Google Keep and Docs

Aug 2, 2023 | freetech4teachers.com | Richard Byrne

In this week's Practical Ed Tech Newsletter I shared a couple of studies that support the benefits of handwriting notes over typing notes. In the newsletter I also shared a couple of tips for digitizing handwritten notes. One of the things that I mentioned was using Google Keep to digitize handwritten notes. Google Keep's free mobile apps for iOS and Android let you snap a picture of a handwritten note and then convert the handwriting into a text note.