The website is crammed full of useful resources that are easily accessible and made available for free. Premium features are also available, including books, however, you can quite easily keep busy on this website indefinitely without paying a cent.

The idea is to offer a single point at which resources are collated that can help teachers, parents, caregivers, and others to work with learners who could benefit from social and behavioral attention.

While this caters for a wide range of ages, including younger students, it also has a focus on work with job tips and more to help the transition into the post-school world. Read on to find out all you need to know about Do2learn.

What is Do2learn?

Do2learn is an online special needs resource hub that was created from a grant back in 1996 that has led to a site that now serves more than 11 million hits per month.

Do2learn is aimed at helping teachers, parents, and caregivers by offering specialized teaching for kids with learning needs that require extra attention. The company says that it doesn't simply want to tell adults how to best help the children, but to lay it all out visually with picture cards.

These free cards, which can be printed if needed, lay out processes for adults to show kids but also to help kids learn to follow along. This can be widely varied from literacy tools and behavioral management techniques to fine motor skills and SEL development.

The huge selection of resources is used by millions worldwide. With many ready to use picture card sets, this can offer a great way to use work systems and sequencing options with ease.

How does Do2learn work?

Do2learn is free to begin using right away, all you need to do is navigate to the resources you need in order to get started. This, in itself, requires some attention though as there is a huge amount from which to pick. Thankfully, it is all well laid out under headings and subheadings that can be navigated quickly and clearly.

Do2learn offers sections including disabilities, academics, social skills, behavior management, picture cards, jobs, and products. Each section has an overview and then from that you can navigate to a specific area that you may want. These include literacy, visual discrimination, social skills toolbox, behavior management, daily living skills picture cards, resources for adults, and much more.

Once you go into a landing section, such as fine motor skills, you're then given a selection of options including how to draw, marble painting activity, string art, rubbing art, and more. Go into one, such as how to draw, and you're then given a selection of choices like boy, dog, car, and so on. Each one has a guide on how to draw with a process shown in simple stages that allows students to follow along. 

These resources can be printed, and usefully there is even guidance for how to do this in the best way to get the ideal result on paper.

What are the best Do2learn features?

Do2learn is rich with options yet is also easy to use thanks to a self-explanatory layout. Usefully, since this requires navigation rather than a search bar, it can mean discovering useful resources you may not have known about that can help inspire learning activities.

The guidance that goes with resources is excellent. As such, everything on the site can be used by virtually anybody, allowing parents, caregivers, and teachers to work with disabilities effectively, immediately.

Helpfully, the site caters for a variety of needs, including neurological disorders such as ASD, fetal alcohol effects, intellectual disabilities, attention disorders, and learning and communication disorders. In fact, there is now a specific Diagnose First tool aimed at helping teacher and caregivers recognize symptoms of ASD.

The Job Tips section is also helpful, aiming to guide those looking to move into the world of work. From disclosing your diagnosis and determining interests to keeping a job and passing screening tests -- there are lots of resources available. 

Other helpful resources include caregiver checklists, contacts, bathing communication cards, "I need help with" cards, communications boards, medical contact lists boards, and more.

How much does Do2learn cost?

Do2learn is totally free to use and doesn't require any sign up so personal details can also be kept private. There are no ads on the website and it appears tracking is minimal also.

Some paid premium resources are clearly segregated in the products heading section of the website. These are sold individually with offerings such as books, View2do teaching programs, and the Job Tips Pro section.

The View2do is charged at a yearly license price of $99 per user, with reductions on multiple users, with 6-10 at $94, 11-15 at $89, and 16-20 at $84. More users than that are on a quote basis. 

The Pro version of Job Tips is charged at $199 per user for students.

Do2learn best tips and tricks

Get organized
Use the cards to print off and stay organized with real-world charts you can put on the wall -- the medical contacts, logs, and medications charts are particularly useful.

Work with students first
Work through guidance with students initially and once they understand, try them with new activities, using the same layout, to provide independence subtly. 

Share cards digitally
Print cards in class but send home more to parents and caregivers so they can continue lessons after school hours.

• New Teacher Starter Kit
• Best Tools for Teachers

To share your feedback and ideas on this article, consider joining our Tech & Learning online community here

Putting aside the external challenges, consider a recent study that shows two full work days a week are lost to email. A productivity level that drops 40% does not help children. 

So how do we evade this? Find your passion, like I did. I write. I write a lot. I have even been criticized for doing so. I ignore these criticisms so I can remain creative for kids. I keep writing because when we do something motivating that is tied to our professional pursuits, such as helping children succeed, we engage in an additive experience.

That is, we bring creative solutions into classrooms. We rejuvenate creativity and foster inspiration in the children who watch and learn from us everyday. That matters because as an educator, if I am prosperous in helping children succeed, everyone wins. Parents, my faculty, and most importantly, students themselves win. By getting into a flow state through writing, I am expanding my repertoire on how to help children flourish, and then I am bringing exceptional ideas back to share with everyone who contributes to the development of our children.

You might not not consider writing to be your additive experience in supporting children as I do. However, there are other ways you can "Find your why" purpose, and value in your work to better connect with students and guide them toward success. By discovering your own why, you add back for students in disproportionately higher yielding ways. 

Using An Observed Behavior Chart: “What Do We Have to Lose?” 

Let's explore one example of finding your why. I’ve written about instituting an observed behavior chart with children who are endlessly disruptive, after all else fails. When I present this as a solution, educators and parents are often doubtful of its success. Who can blame them? Nothing else has worked, so why should this?

Certainly, I would never proclaim that anything is a silver bullet. Yet when I discover something, write, and present about it, and see it just keeps working, I have to say, "Why not? What do we have to lose?" 

Recently, I received a call from a parent, one who was extremely upset. She was done(!). We did nothing to help her child. In fact, he regressed, she expressed in her frustrated tone. As I listened, I came to understand that her son was impulsive. He had frequent outbursts and was always getting in trouble. His exasperated teachers who were attempting to redirect his behavior with little success.

I suggested that we try an observed behavior chart. Frustrated and willing to try anything, her response was "Why not?" 

The next step was teacher buy-in. I ran this concept by the teacher, who shrugged her shoulders with similar doubt, “Sure, why not?”

The Observed Behavior Chart Process 

• Establish a baseline 
• Have a student conference with results revealed 
• Establish a goal 
• Monitor
• Provide incentive if goal is achieved 

Breaking this into steps, we begin with the baseline. This is perhaps the most difficult part of the process because educators are tasked with charting the student's behavior for three classes without revealing that they are doing so and allowing disruptions to proceed. This is the only way to achieve an accurate account of the frequency. 

Student conference - sharing results - This is a private conference between teacher and student in which the teacher reveals what they have been doing and reports the numbers. Often, this is shocking news for students. They may know they are being disruptive, almost never do they recognize the frequency or the duration of incidents. Therein lies the problem: lack of awareness.

Once the student learns the degree of their disruptiveness, a goal is established. For instance, the student mentioned above averaged 19 disruptions per class period. They may sound exaggerated–it's not. Teachers agree that perfection is unrealistic, they are just happy to see a considerable reduction. The goal this student set was to reduce disruptions to no more than five per class.

The student is now fully conscious of the tracking, and that alone can change behavior. Yet offering an additional incentive, such as five free minutes on Fridays, a positive call home, a sticker, whatever motivates them, is worth considering. I have even had students read to preschoolers. This student, like many before him, would check in asking, How am I doing? That increase in acute awareness and focus on self control produces predictably remarkable results, time and again.

Not once did this student exceed three disruptions. He was so motivated that he started feeling better about himself, and a cascade of positives followed. Improved grades, a happy parent, believing in himself, and more. I encouraged him along the way. I even shared that I was the same kind of kid, I just needed an adult to believe in me. Now he had adults who believed in him, too.

Creativity & Observed Behavior Chart: Anyone Can Do This 

Recently, I saw the mother of the previously disruptive child at a school event. She thanked me relentlessly, cried and hugged me. I told her all I did was point him in the right direction. He did the rest. The teachers could not believe that something so simple, so practical, just worked. It does, for most kids, most of the time, and that's enough to write about and then make an idea live in your school. 

If you're interested, I have included the form. It's not copyrighted, and every child should benefit from a simple practice such as this. One that was born from me writing and researching about it. 

I challenge you to find your why too, setting aside modern day disruptions that take your creativity hostage. If you find a pursuit aligned to your professional goals that adds, rather than subtracts, seize on it and employ antidotes to the disruptive forces all around us. Find that kind of inspiring next level success. Just ask my friend, who has control, belief, and a winning mindset over his behavior now. 

• Why I Ignore Social Media (Mostly): Advice for School Leaders
• Reversing Digital Disruption for Students

To share your feedback and ideas on this article, consider joining our Tech & Learning online community here

Before the school year ends, it may be appropriate to remind your students of ways they can have fun and keep learning this summer. These learning apps and sites are digital tools that can help them do just that! 

Overdrive - Sora, the student version of this reading app, lets kids borrow ebooks, audiobooks, comics and more from their school or local library. It’s a wonderful tool for encouraging year-round reading as it lets students choose what they want to read or listen to and gives them access to a vast library anytime, anywhere. 

Duolingo - Duolingo is a game-style language learning tool that's based online. It offers a digital way to learn a whole host of new languages for students of varying ages and abilities. Thanks to smart algorithms, this can even adapt to help specific students in areas they need. 

Duolingo Math - Free to use and ad-free too, this is an app designed to help students learn and understand math and enjoy themselves in the process. All the usual fun animations you may have come to expect from Duolingo appear here to make everything light and engaging.

Book Creator - Book Creator is a fun-to-use learning tool designed to get students excited about creating their own books on the topics they are learning about. Students can upload images, choose from emojis, make recordings and videos, and create and then share a finished book they wrote. 

Arcademics - Arcademics is a math and language learning tool that uses arcade-style games to engage and train students to progress, through enhancing their abilities in these varying subjects.

Wonderopolis - Users submit questions that may be answered in detail -- as an article -- by the editorial team. Wonderopolis posts a 'wonder' each day, meaning one of the questions is answered in article format with words, images, and videos as part of the explanation. 

Nova Labs PBS - An online-based gamified resource center from PBS that teaches STEM and science-based subjects to kids using engaging video, questions, and answers, plus interactive content.

MIT App Inventor - Created in conjunction between MIT and Google, this offers a place that students, as young as six, can learn the basics of coding with drag-and-drop-style block coding. It offers plenty of tutorial guidance, which makes it ideal for self-paced learning. 

Minecraft Education Edition - Minecraft: Education Edition is a learning-specific version of this very popular block-based game. So while students will be drawn to the game anyway, this also allows teacher controls to help educate them as they interact with this virtual world.

Roblox - Roblox is a block-based, multiplayer, open-world digital game that works in app format and via a browser. It's not primarily designed for education but thanks to it's openly creative environment, it can be used that way.

Khan Academy - Khan Academy is primarily a website chock full of useful content for learning, organized by grade level, making it an easy way to advance in line with the curriculum. The course materials cover math, science, art history, and more. 

• 5 Summer Professional Development Ideas for Teachers
• Listen Without Guilt: Audiobooks Offer Similar Comprehension As Reading

To share your feedback and ideas on this article, consider joining our Tech & Learning online community here.

Recently, Intelligent.com surveyed 3,017 high school and college students (aged 16-24) and 3,234 parents of younger students. Ten percent of high school and college students said they studied with ChatGPT in addition to a tutor this past year, while 15 percent of parents with school-aged children said their kids used the AI tool in addition to a tutor as well. 

The survey found that among those who used ChatGPT to study:

• Nearly all have replaced some of their tutoring sessions with ChatGPT 
• 95% say their grades have improved since studying with ChatGPT 
• 9 in 10 prefer studying with ChatGPT over studying with a tutor 
• The most common subjects students have replaced tutors for are math and science

Despite this, ChatGPT does not behave as a true tutor, says Diane Gayeski, a higher education consultant with Intelligent.com and professor of Strategic Communications at Ithaca College. 

“ChatGPT is very good at being able to collect information and provide it in a very succinct way, but it's not a tutor,” she says. “A tutor is not a book, and it's not content. What a real tutor does is to try to figure out where your misconceptions are, or where you might be lacking prerequisite concepts or skills, and then present information in a way that you can effectively learn it and apply it.” 

ChatGPT’s Weakness as a Tutor  

What makes a good tutor effective is their ability to respond to a student’s individual needs and to provide multiple explanations tailored to the student. “A tutor knows how to test you to make sure that, in fact, you are able to grasp it, and that allows them to adjust how they are delivering concepts," Gayeski says. "ChatGPT is not designed to do that.” 

That doesn’t mean the AI is not helpful to learning. The platform's problems with accuracy aside, it can be a fairly effective way to deliver content to students. 

“I did a couple of little experiments with it, where I asked it to tutor me in the basic principles of accounting, and it gave me five or six major principles or facts about how accounting is done,” Gayeski says. “Then I asked it to create some questions and it created questions based on the specific wording that it had presented to me. But I couldn't answer those questions and it can't diagnose whether I got those answers right or wrong.” 

The Potential for ChatGPT-Like Technology and Other AI Tutors  

While ChatGPT does not yet mimic the behavior of a human tutor, many in education believe there is tremendous potential for AI tutors, intelligent tutoring systems powered by generative AI. 

Some form of machine learning is built into almost every learning app and many of these provide students with lots of opportunities to be drilled on their knowledge. However, generative AI can potentially create new answers in response to specific questions and respond to student needs the way a good tutor might. Khan Academy is using GPT technology in its new Khanmigo tutor and Duolingo uses similar technology to power real-time conversations in Duolingo Max, its top-tier subscription service. 

Many corporate learning systems also incorporate artificially intelligent tutoring. 

“The real tutoring systems [offer] much more dialogue, kind of a Socratic dialogue, back and forth, and are a lot more present,” Gayeski says. “They make sure the person is understanding. If they're not understanding, it provides specific remediation until they get it right.” 

Uses for ChatGPT Right Now 

While ChatGPT is not a perfect tutor yet, students do seem to enjoy using it as a way to understand content. Gayeski says educators should encourage this use because interacting with AI will be part of the future. 

“We all need to learn how to be better at providing good prompts to ChatGPT, and the better we are at giving it prompts, the more likely that it will give us something that's useful,” Gayeski says. “We also have to teach people to fact-check it. That's a little bit harder. Because at least when you're doing a web search, you're finding whatever a primary source is, it could be wrong, but at least you understand where the source is. But ChatGPT just comes up with these kinds of statements, and you're not even sure where it found them.” 

Learning how to make the best use of ChatGPT and other AI tools -- and not be misled by them -- will likely be a vital part of education for years to come. 

To share your feedback and ideas on this article, consider joining our Tech & Learning online community here

• ChatGPT and Other AI Tutors
• What Is Khanmigo? The GPT-4 Learning Tool Explained by Sal Khan
• What is GPT-4? What Educators Need to Know About ChatGPT’s Next Chapter

While tablets are now plenty powerful enough to replace laptops -- many coming with keyboards and stylus pens -- one can also be a useful extension of other devices. That can mean a more affordable tablet does the job of helping teachers interact digitally with students from anywhere in the class, without breaking the bank.

Tablets comes with a wealth of hardware to be taken advantage of in class, including cameras, microphones, speakers, motion sensors, and more. So from making video calls in a hybrid class to taking students on an interactive augmented reality experience, the uses are myriad.

It's worth thinking about how large you may need your tablet to be -- will students be looking from afar as a group, or is this mainly for one-to-one interactions? And how tough does it need to be -- are you using this alone or will it be left with younger students to handle too? Battery life could also be a consideration if you want to go all day without carrying a charger too.

So read on to find the best tablets for teachers available right now.

• Best Laptops for Teachers
• Best 3D Printers for Remote Learning

1. Apple iPad (2022): The best tablets for teachers top pick

The Apple iPad (2022) is the very best tablet for teachers right now -- in fact it's the best tablet outright. As such, being Apple, you can expect a steeper-than-many price tag. But it more than justifies this level because of its hardware as well as the backing of some of the best apps available in the world. 

The 10.9-inch Retina display packs in a 2,360 x 1,640 resolution on the touchscreen for a clear and bright image. All that means a super clear and detailed display both for close-up and far viewing in the class. Whatever you need, the A14 Bionic chip will make short work of it with instant responsiveness. You also get a 12MP Ultra Wide selfie camera for video calls, and a 12MP rear snapper for sharing class materials and super realistic AR experiences.

Thanks to multiple microphones and high-quality speakers, you can use this for video interactions, video playback, and even recording and video editing as needed in class and for lesson prep. In fact, this is a viable laptop replacement with keyboard and stylus options. Plus, you can expect to get all-day use out of this with 10 hours on a single charge. 

While this isn't the top-end iPad Air model, this offers nearly all the features that does without quite as high a price. In short, this offers more than enough excellent hardware, app support, and build quality to suit nearly all teaching needs -- as well as personal use outside of class.

2. Samsung Tab S7 Plus: Best PC-style tablet

The Samsung Tab S7 Plus is a tablet that blurs the line between laptop PC and portable touchscreen device. This is largely thanks to the DeX mode that allows you to enjoy a desktop-style interface on the otherwise Android 10 operating system – including outputting to a TV – ideal for at-home use when a monitor isn't available.

This tablet packs in serious specs with a stunning 12.4-inch Super AMOLED display capable of HDR10+ and 120Hz, which all translates to lifelike clarity and smoothness – perfect for video teaching. The camera supports this well too with an impressive 8MP selfie snapper that works well in all lighting thanks to HDR smarts. 

The inclusion of the S Pen stylus is another big draw here, ideal for marking digital work, making notes, and drawing. You will have to pay extra for the keyboard case and this is already a pricey tablet, but as a genuine laptop replacement, with a 14-hour battery, it justifies the cost.

3. Amazon Fire 7: Best affordable tablet

The Amazon Fire 7 (2022) is a super affordable 7-inch tablet, making it a very practical option for many teachers. The build is rugged so it's ideal for the classroom, although the screen does lack the full HD resolution of some competitors. That said, at its size, the display does the job well enough – just don't expect an entire video classroom on that 1,024 x 600 screen.

This device runs Amazon Fire OS, which is Android-based, so there are lots of apps available, just not as many as Apple and Android devices offer. It is a great one-handed tablet that offers easy access to Kindle reading and comes with built-in Alexa voice assistant.

Battery life is relatively poor, and you'll need a charger nearby for any extended use over five hours. The 2MP cameras, in front and back, do a decent enough job of handling video calls and basic photography, but don't expect too much at this price. 

4. HP Chromebook X2: Best tablet that doubles as a Chromebook

The HP Chromebook X2 is a great option for anyone who wants the freedom of a tablet without losing the functionality of their Chromebook – ideal for schools already supporting Google programs and hardware. The anodized aluminum tablet section is a 12.3-inch detachable display that sports an impressive 2,400 x 1,600 resolution and daytime capable 403 nits of brightness. It attaches to a leather-texture keyboard with trackpad and also comes with the HP Active Pen stylus accessory.

Audio is excellent thanks to built-in B&O Play sound onboard, which makes this very capable for video lessons, as does the 4.9-megapixel front-facing camera and built-in microphones. The 12-hour battery means no need to carry a charger and the Intel Core i5 processing makes it more than capable as a full computer, too. The only downside is this is heavier than some tablets – but then again it is a lot lighter than many laptops.

5. Lenovo Smart Tab M8: Best for battery life

The Lenovo Smart Tab M8 is another tablet that falls into the affordable category while remaining compact. As such, it features an 8-inch display that tops out at 1,280 x 800, but packs in lots of color and a daytime useable 350 nits of brightness. The design is attractive and the inclusion of a charging dock, which angles the tablet perfectly, makes this a useful tablet-top video classroom device.

Despite 2GB of RAM and a quad-core MediaTek processor, this device does struggle with more processor-heavy tasks. That is likely because it is throttled to help battery life, which is an impressive 18 hours -- making this one of the best, especially for its size.

While we'd like a newer operating system than Android 9, this may get an update and in the short term does just fine. Plus, it offers plenty of apps to make it a very useful tablet in the classroom and for remote learning.

6. Microsoft Surface Go 3: Best Windows tablet

The Microsoft Surface Go 3 is a tablet that also gives the full Windows 11 experience, allowing it to double as a laptop replacement – if you have the attached keyboard cover. This crams in the power with an Intel Core 10th Gen i3 processor backed by up to 8GB of RAM, making it capable of nearly any task a teacher could ask of it.

While the Touch Cover that features a keyboard and trackpad isn't included, the price of the tablet is relatively low for what you do get. Expect powerful performance, bright and clear 1,920 x 1,280 display, and an excellent 5MP front-facing camera with 1080p Skype HD video that's ideal for video teaching. 

7. Apple iPad Pro: Best premium tablet

The Apple iPad Pro 12.9 is one of the best tablets out there, bar none. This does it all and it does it in style. As such the price tag reflects that. You get all the premium build quality of an Apple tablet, that impressive app store, a full keyboard, and the ability to use a super sensitive and smart stylus in the Apple Pencil.

Expect super speedy performance, lots of storage space, even if you go for the smaller device, and everything shown off on an eye-wateringly good screen. This just works, it works well, and will do for a long time to come. And with the inclusion of Lidar sensors, this should be future-proof even for the coming advanced AR teaching tools of the near future.

• Best Laptops for Teachers
• Best 3D Printers for Remote Learning

To share your feedback and ideas on this article, consider joining our Tech & Learning online community here

“The model that schools have had since I've been in education, which is a long time, is use them until they are useless for anything but perhaps a boat anchor,” says Peter Robinson, Technology Director at Auburn School Department.  

Older devices will need to be replaced eventually, so selling a few years before the technology is totally outdated can help school districts fund replacement items, Robinson says. In recent years, Robinson has led this process in his district and for these and other efforts, he was honored with the Best Overall Implementation of Technology at a recent Tech & Learning Regional Leadership Summit in Massachusetts. 

Robinson is a native of Cheltenham in the United Kingdom. He first came to Maine as a camp counselor but met his wife while in the U.S. and decided to stay. He fell in love with teaching after working as a substitute teacher, and ultimately combined his love of technology with his love of teaching. 

He shares tips for districts on maintaining sustainable 1-2-1 technology programs by reselling devices. 

Resell Your Devices While There Is Still Value  

The Auburn School Department tries to resell devices after three to four years of use. “That’s kind of the sweet spot,” Robinson says. “Sometimes it goes a bit longer because it’s just the way of things.” 

Auburn uses primarily Apple devices, which tend to have better resale value than some other products, Robinson says. But used laptops from other brands can still draw decent prices. 

Currently, Auburn is looking to sell district-owned iPads that are more than four years old and have been issued to fifth graders. The price he is expecting is about $87 per device. The resale price of devices varies dramatically based upon age and condition, but oftentimes reselling those three to four-year-old devices will provide 20-25 percent of the cost of new devices. 

“Obviously, if you sold them sooner you get more,” Robinson says, but since there’s always an additional cost to buying new devices, finding the sweet spot can be a challenge. 

Work With The Right Company  

A key to a successful buy-back program is finding the right vendor with which to work. 

Auburn had a bad experience after a vendor hired by the state gave the district an estimate of what it could pay per device and then ended up claiming the devices were not of the quality they anticipated. That hasn’t happened with Auburn’s new vendor Second Life Mac. 

“I spent a lot of time vetting a bunch of different companies and Second Life is the one that was willing to fly somebody out here and actually do a walkthrough with me and look at our devices and say, ‘Yep, I think this is what we've got, and we’ll guarantee you X amount of money.’ They've come through every single time. They've always given us either what they said they'd give us or more.” 

To share your feedback and ideas on this article, consider joining our Tech & Learning online community here.

• 4 Strategies for Tech-Savvy Teaching
• Best Tools for Teachers

Runway, like many other AI-powered tools, has huge potential but is still growing -- albeit at a rapid rate of development. The idea behind it is to use the AI smarts to be creative. While that might sound daunting the reality is that this is using machine learning to help create art, entertainment, and more.

All that translates to making the life of an educator easier as accessibility to specific media that suits teaching needs is simpler than ever before. From generating presentations to building lesson plans, it could all be a far faster and more media-rich process with tools such as Runway.

What is Runway?

Runway is what is called a generative AI, meaning it uses artificial intelligence to generate images and video. While it could be easy to say it creates these from scratch, it does use other examples to meld something new from that. But then if you really get down to it, it's rare that even humans create something totally original.

Runway has a few stand-out tools that it is currently developing. These are primarily image editors, which takes out the work of researching the internet for image-based resources; and Gen-2, which synthesizes new videos without the need to actually film anything.

These tools break down into case-specific needs, including Text-To-Image, Image-to-Image, Infinite Image, Video Inpainting, Frame Interpolating, Custom AI Training, and more, with over 30 tools available at time of publishing.

All that means is that as a teacher you can create videos, edit images, and create your own pictures, all from an idea and the words you use to ask for what you want.

How does Runway work?

Runway offers free sign-up for which you simply need a Google or Apple ID to login right away. At this point you can sign-up for email alerts to be told when new tools are released -- or deny this to be left alone and go to the tier package you want. 

Select "Try For Free" and you can get started right away.

Runway offers a side menu toolbar with a selection of options including "Create new project," "AI Magic Tools," and "AI Training." Tools are also displayed on the main screen with accompanying images to give an idea of what you can create.

Select, for example, "Text To Image" and you are taken to a tool in which you can select the output ratio of the image you want, the resolution, the number of outputs, and can then input the text of what you want in the box. 

An option is available to train your own model, for more advanced and accurate results. Then hit Generate and the AI will get to work outputting an image for you. It works really well, and fast.

What are the best Runway features?

Runway might seem new and daunting at first but once you start using this tool it is actually very, very easy to work with. In fact you may find this is your first stop every time you want to find an image or video to help with a class presentation.

That text box, to use the Image To Text tool example again, is so simple that you can literally list words of what you need. Hit generate and see what you think. Don't like it? Add more words to the prompt to narrow down the specifics of what you want. As you get better at "searching" you'll find it quicker and easier to get exact results of what you want.

Find one you want? Simply tap on the download button and you have it on your device ready to use as you need.

Expand Image is another useful tool, allowing you to zoom in on an image and enhance it digitally for more detail, or to focus on a certain part. Remove Background is another great feature, letting you effectively have a green screen but one that you apply retroactively to any image. Image To Image lets you upload an image and have it changed to something fresh, using text prompts. Blur faces, create super slo-mo video, clean audio, remove silence, and plenty more.

This tool essentially lets you do pro level video and image editing by simply typing what you want, as the AI does the work for you.

How much does Runway cost?

Runway has a wide selection of tools available to use for free but there are also paid for plans that get you more access.

The Free plan gets you 125 credits, three video projects, 5GB of assets, up to three editors, 720p video exports, and limited AI Magic Tools export options.

Go for the Standard tier, at $12 per user per month, and you get 625 credits per month, the option to buy more credits as needed, Gen-1 video up to 15 seconds, upscale and remove watermarks on generated video, unlimited video editor projects, 100GB assets, up to seven editors, 1080p and 4K plus green screen exports, 2K AI Magic Tools image exports, full 3D texture options, and training of custom AI generators.

Opt for the Pro plan at $28 per user per month to get 2,250 credits per month, the above plus 500GB assets, up to 15 editors, all video exports plus PNG and ProRes, and all Magic Tool exports.

There is also an Enterprise option, on a quote basis, with more support, ongoing success program, custom storage and more.

Runway best tips and tricks

Create class
Make your own class image based on words that apply to that class, print it and use it in class and on your digital media so students feel at home in your lessons.

Edit images
Work with the class to edit images, removing background parts, sharpening, enhancing, and more so students can see how easy AI is to use.

Get the class involved
Have students use the app to film and edit videos using the AI smarts, submitting to show how creativity still plays a part even here.

• New Teacher Starter Kit
• Best Tools for Teachers

To share your feedback and ideas on this article, consider joining our Tech & Learning online community here

"The first step to the longer journey before us is using the program and seeing the positive from those interactions," said Jennifer Wise, K-12 Mathematics Coordinator for Lexington School District Two. "It’s important to have benchmarks to say, ‘Ok, we’re here, what’s the next step?’"

Watch the full webinar here. 

Measuring Value-Added Growth 

Dr. Matthew Lavery, Director of Research of South Carolina’s Education Oversight Committee, said the state has moved toward measuring student growth in math to better encourage growth. “When we started to think about how to design our system so that it is inclined to produce proficiency, rather than having median growth or average growth be the comparison point when average growth doesn't really change much, we're using these progressively assigned targets that are designed to get students toward proficiency as the comparison point,” he said. “Hopefully, the system is now inclined to produce students on a pathway toward proficiency rather than producing the same straight lines year over year.” 

Prudent Pedagogy 

Before making DreamBox Learning tools available to every district in the state, South Carolina officials vetted the product and made sure it was research-backed and aligned with teaching practices in the state, said Odell Kennedy, South Carolina Sales Director for DreamBox Learning. “If you want to have long-term or sustainable gains, then it has to be predicated on prudent pedagogy instructional design that aligns to that pedagogy,” Kennedy said. 

Later, he added, “What makes us different is that we do not focus only on the answer a student provides. But we focus as much, if not more, on the thinking that led to that answer.”

Remembering The Why 

Wise said that in addition to utilizing state resources, successful math programs inspire students and remind them why math matters. “Why are we learning math? Yes, there's computational effectiveness, there's innovation and practice, but there's also a beauty and wonder,” she said. “Being able to provide opportunities and spaces for students to be able to tinker with math and become nimble and see it for so much more than just a computation – computations are valuable, but let’s see it as more.” 

Reducing Math Anxiety 

Math is one of the topics that creates a lot of anxiety but state and tech resources can help with that. “Not being very comfortable in math growing up myself, I can really relate to that,” said Lynn Carey, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction School District of Newberry County. “To me when the student is on a program such as DreamBox, it's non-threatening. It's just between them and the program. If they get an answer wrong, they're not embarrassed in front of their peers. It's a safe space. After Covid, and during Covid, there's just been so much anxiety, stress, and mental health [concerns] in children and adults, anything we can do to help minimize that, I think is a step in the right direction.” 

• Tech & Learning Webinars

A multiple-award winning resource, MakeBeliefsComix provides an abundance of ideas and tools so that kids can express their creativity, feelings, and thoughts through comics. No artistic talent is required, as an extensive collection of cleverly drawn cartoon images—characters, backgrounds, speech and thought balloons, monsters, animals, and more—provide the graphic foundation for any comic. This remarkable comic-creation site is also free to use for all. 

T&L: How can teachers and therapists use comics and resources such as MakeBeliefsComix to help troubled students?  

Zimmerman: Over the years many educational therapists have used MakeBeliefsComix with students with special needs, such as autism and behavioral problems (see our Case Studies section). As kids’ anxiety and depression rose from the effects of the COVID19 pandemic and other problems, we began a series of weekly interactive MakeBeliefs titled ‘’MakeBeliefs to Help U Smile & Find Joy.’’ Here youngsters are prompted to find something positive to say about their lives or express their hopes. We just launched a HELP 4 STUDENTS section to broaden the communication options for school support staff, educators, parents and youngsters. The section includes help for mentally disturbed youngsters, LBGTQ+ students and those suffering distress due to racial or gender discrimination. 

A support person can work one-on-one with a student in using the comic prompts to build the student’s stories and use them as a jumping-off board for deeper discussion. A student may want to use the material strictly on their own to explore their personal issues and build up a personal portfolio of their journey in school and life. The key is to get the student expressing what is on their mind. 

How can a teacher best use comics and MakeBeliefsComix to teach?

Our mission with the site is to get kids to use their imaginations, to read, write and communicate their thoughts through comics. 

I would encourage a teacher to look with students on the homepage to get a sense of what the MakeBeliefsComix site is about. Then click to the most important page on the site – Create Comix! Students can explore the tools, characters, speech balloons, backgrounds, and other features available to create their comics.

When I’ve worked with schools, for the first comic, the students and I would create a three or four-panel story together. I might click on the characters and ask which one or two they’d like to choose. Then I’d then pull up two thought or talk balloons for which the kids would supply words. Sowly, but surely, we would build a story together. The class can also choose a theme for the story or use the comic strip to review material they had learned in class that day, or to summarize or storyboard a book they have been reading together. There’s a helpful video demo here. 

We also feature a special Comic Starters section in which we offer writing prompt panels to begin their comic. Kids can add blank panels to write their responses with their own choice of characters.

Sometimes it’s useful to break the class into small teams to work on a comic strip together. That allows them to gain confidence in creating stories while helping one another. Another idea is for the teacher to assign a book they all know and ask the class to extend the story after it ends. Having students work with each other on making comics is particularly effective in English Language Learning classes, where students are experimenting with a new language. And the task of filling in talk balloons in small chunks is not threatening. 

The Printables section on the site offers hundreds of printables on which kids can draw or write their thoughts and expressions. There is even an Interactive PdF printables category which enables students to write directly on the screen from their digital device. The printables can be a good warmup to creating a comic strip story. 

I would also recommend the eJournals section, which is made up of free downloadable interactive ebooks in which students can write their thoughts and feelings. The books, with their question/writing prompts, provide good structure for students.

Can kids who aren't fluent in drawing use the site?

The site is very empowering for kids who aren’t great at drawing their own comics. It gives them the ability to create stories by supplying them with more than 100 characters to choose from, with beautiful backgrounds and objects and other art resources to dress up their stories. In effect, each student using the site becomes an artist, a writer and an editor with the assistance of the prompts and tools we provide.

What do you want teachers and students to know most about the new MakeBeliefsComix resources?

All the resources on MakeBeliefsComix are directed in helping students, with the help of comics, find their voice in expressing their ideas and deepest thoughts.

I created something that I needed as a fearful young person myself who felt closed and locked in because of difficult family issues at home and didn’t have an adequate way or encouragement to express myself. I also had a terrible time learning how to read. I think young people have many things to say, some happy, some sad, which reflect their lives. 

The new HELP 4 STUDENTS section is geared to help those students with emotional problems as a way to deal with their issues by creating stories about themselves. Each of us has something important to say and creating comics, using comic characters as surrogate versions of ourselves, makes telling our stories easier.

Teachers might also find our Lesson Plans Page useful as well as our Ideas Exchange page in which educators share ideas on how they use the site in the classroom. There is an SEL section as well here.

Makebeliefscomix.com is fully free for all users, but does include ads. Do you have standards for the types of advertising that you accept?

Yes, we do! We're very careful about the types of ads we allow, making every effort to ensure ads are family-friendly. We work with our ad network technology provider, Google AdSense, to exclude dangerous products or services, inappropriate/offensive content and products or services that enable dishonest behavior, among other restrictions. We also block certain sensitive ad categories, such as gambling, alcohol, and other categories we've determined might be inappropriate for classroom or family use. Occasionally, we may block specific advertisements that fall outside of a blocked sensitive category but we feel the content may offend some of our visitors. 

I wish we didn’t have to have ads (we originally started in 2006 with none), but we needed additional income to keep the site going and expand its content. For example, we started with only eight comic characters when we first launched – now there’s more than 100 to choose from. 

Does Makebeliefscomix.com collect information on users who create an account?

When users create comic strips for free on MakeBeliefsComix.com without creating an account or logging into the site we do not collect any user information. When a user creates an account with a combination username and password we store the information so the user can log in to save, view and edit their stored comix. The only other information we collect are the email addresses users send us to log on to the system. We do not use that information or provide or send to others. As is the case most of the time when ads are displayed on websites, an ad network (ours is Google AdSense), uses non-personally identifiable information to better understand the effectiveness of ads. 

How has your background as a career journalist informed your vision of MakeBeliefsComix? Do you see an overlap between teaching and journalism?

I have always looked upon journalism as a way to educate people about the world and to help give them through my writing a voice about the important issues in their lives. For many years I was a senior editor at Newsday newspaper where I created a nationally syndicated Student Briefing Page on the News to teach them about current events and to elicit their opinions and thoughts. It was among the first newspapers in the nation to employ interactive learning techniques. 

At the same I also was writing more than 30 interactive books for youngsters to help them write about what was in their hearts and imagination. As a journalist I got paid to ask questions, and as a writer of books, I continue to ask more questions to encourage creating thinking. I have spent my whole life looking for answers.

In the early days of COVID, we created a Comic Starter on COVID and printed the comics youngsters would send us in response to the questions posed about how the virus affected their lives. There is even a Journalism Comic Starter page on the site to assess student opinion about news issues.

I encourage all readers to explore and test out the many creative features that establish MakeBeliefsComix as a standout educational site. Teachers, students and parents are invited to share their feedback via the MakeBeliefsComix contact page. 

To share your feedback and ideas on this article, consider joining our Tech & Learning online community here

This system offers an infinite scrollable canvas to work with that should give teachers and students freedom to get creative both in the classroom together as well as across distances, making it a viable hybrid learning tool.

The platform is made for presentations but is also designed to function with other digital tools collaboratively, allowing teachers freedom while still keeping control over how they interact with the class.

Crucially, this works across devices, making it a great pairing for the best interactive whiteboards in class.

What is MyViewBoard?

MyViewBoard is a digital software that was created and shared by screen manufacturer ViewSonic as a way to present to the class and interact, via multiple connected devices, with ease.

While the system is built by ViewSonic, it isn't stuck within that company's hardware alone. In fact there are a number of other IFP options and you can see the full list of supported devices here.

Crucially, this is cloud-based so teachers can plan and create lessons on their laptops, from anywhere, before using the whiteboard in class to present to the group.

Consequently, classrooms can cut back on paper usage as lessons become digitized. This also means everything can be presented electronically, for interaction via personal student devices, as well as the ability to expand using internet searches and materials, as the class develops. 

How does MyViewBoard work?

MyViewBoard is primarily a software that functions on digital whiteboards, laptops, and more. It works, initially, as a whiteboard presentation tool for teaching in the classroom.

Educators can begin using the software on their laptop, planning a lesson, for example. Everything is saved to the cloud, with lots of third-party storage app support, allowing you to then load that lesson on a digital interactive whiteboard, without the need to carry any saved items around.

The basic presentation whiteboard features a main toolbar and a floating toolbar, which can be edited to offer more controls or a minimal presentation look as needed. Drag and drop items to create lessons with access to the internet for materials.

Once presenting, you are also able to use online searches, allowing the entire class to view anything needed online. You can add videos, images, documents, and more. Create a quiz, for example, and share it digitally so students can interact using their personal devices. 

What are the best MyViewBoard features?

MyViewBoard is simple to use yet also offers complexity if you want, allowing it to scale to the needs of an educator very nicely. Teach a simple lesson, or build in Huddle groups with polls and web search results, as needed.

The cloud-based way of working is great for planning from any location but what's particularly useful is how compatible this is. You can work with whatever system you use, including Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box, GoToMeeting, Zoom, and Google Classroom.

You'll notice some of those are storage options while others are video chat systems. This is because you are able to use the whiteboard over video chat, also allowing for teaching outside of the classroom. Usefully, you can share the login via a QR code, enabling students to login from any web browser-enabled device.

The system offers dynamic tools such as text-to-reading, a built-in browser, downloadable lesson plans, pop quizzes, and poll creation. All of this can be accessed while presenting, allowing for a seamless experience that doesn't hamper creativity and lets you to go off the lesson plan when needed. 

Use your IFP digital stylus to annotate, write notes, or draw as you work with a scrollable whiteboard of near infinite possibilities. Or have students annotate -- when you grant permission -- using their own devices with support for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. Students can also add images, video, links, and more, which all land in an 'inbox' space that the teacher can check to see what can be shared in the lesson.

How much does MyViewBoard cost?

MyViewBoard pricing offers several different plans, including a free offering for the basics.

The Free plan gets you the essential annotation and teaching tools to get started plus ViewSonic Originals content, backgrounds, and games.

The Pro plan, charged at $6.99 per month, gets you the above plus student file sharing, instant pop quizzes, and wireless presentation. Plus, you get advanced Originals content, backgrounds, graphics, and content creation.

The Premium plan, at $13.99 per month, gets you the above plus collaborative learning and monitoring of students in real-time. Plus, Originals content is optimized for the system.

A bespoke option for Entities with live captions is available for inclusive lesson delivery, seamless class management integrations, device management, and broadcasting, analytics, and more.

MyViewBoard best tips and tricks

Search live
Explore a subject using live internet search, as a class, to see where discoveries take you as a group and how that can expand the original lesson plan.

Poll and quiz as you go
Use polls and quizzes to gauge understanding as you teach to help guide the lesson for the group as well as individuals, adapting live as needed.

Interact live
Give permission to students to answer questions by letting them interact with the presentation, using their personal devices, from their seats so the class can all see.

• New Teacher Starter Kit
• Best Tools for Teachers

To share your feedback and ideas on this article, consider joining our Tech & Learning online community here