By Leslie Steere
Rocketbook Everlast
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Write, scan, send, repeat. The Rocketbook Everlast smart notebook provides a pen-and-paper experience for the digital age. As you write, the ink bonds to reusable pages that you can scan with your mobile device and upload to any major cloud-based platform. When you’re done, wipe the pages with a cloth and you’re ready for the next project. US$34. Rocketbook
3Doodler
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Transform ideas into solid objects; repair everything from eyeglasses to cameras; add a new dimension to educational and professional materials—with a pen. The 3Doodler 3D printing pen extrudes heated plastic that cools and hardens instantly, allowing you to create objects by drawing in the air. US$49–US$249. 3Doodler
IT Leaders in Education
Cybersecurity, budgets, and data privacy are high on the priority list for 2018.
The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) recently released its sixth annual survey of IT leaders in education. This year, broadband and network security ties with cybersecurity as the #1 priority, with budget constraints remaining a top challenge. Among other findings:
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Source: Consortium for School Networking’s 2018 K-12 IT Leadership Survey Report
Do you speak tech? Quiz yourself!
A. An introductory class on dairy farming
B. An unofficial acronym for My Own Oracle Cloud, which connects like-minded students via the cloud
C. The acronym for massive open online course, in which materials and instruction are delivered—generally free—around the world via the internet
A. Open educational resources—digital materials available for use in teaching, research, and learning via open licenses
B. A poet’s contraction for over
C. Operational emergency—a text-message abbreviation used by school IT departments to signal an all-hands-on-deck security breach
A. A river of material that organically broadens in scope as participants learn to interact with it
B. Reusable information object—a collection of content, practice, and assessment items assembled around a single learning objective
C. Random instructional objectives
Answers: 1. C; 2. A; 3. B
Apps: Smart Ways to Get Smarter
High-class courses, AI-powered editors, and brainy flashcards for your mobile device
EdX
Need some extra courses to make your next career move? With EdX, anyone with a smartphone can learn—and in some cases, earn a certificate—from scores of distinguished institutions around the world including Harvard, MIT, and Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Listen to online lectures, take quizzes, and complete assignments at your own pace—with no fees and no application requirements. With courses open 24/7 and your smartphone in hand, a world of knowledge is literally at your fingertips. Free (Android, iOS)
GradeProof
Here’s AI at its best—as a personal editor that helps you improve your writing, word by word. GradeProof’s AI offers concrete ways to refine your style, expand your vocabulary, correct your grammar, and check for originality. Each writing suggestion gives you a brief explanation followed by a list of available replacements, and if length is a concern, GradeProof’s rephrasing technology lets you set the goal for stylistic corrections to increase or decrease your word count. Free, with US$10 upgrade option for additional features (Android, iOS)
Brainscape
Students at every level can learn faster and remember longer with Brainscape flashcards, which employ a confidence-based repetition method based on decades of cognitive science research into how humans learn and retain information. Choose from thousands of flashcards created by publishers, teachers, and students or create and share your own. Easily add animation, images, and sounds; benchmark and track your progress; and collaborate with others. Free, with upgrade options for additional features (Android, iOS)
Photography by Rocketbook; 3Doodler and Shutterstock
Integrated Cloud & Platform Services
