Technology and teaching are now a combination that is fast becoming the norm. We as teachers use technology so frequently that it has become routine without us even realising it. We are now dependent upon our VLE to take attendance and an interactive whiteboard is now more common than its predecessor - ‘the whiteboard’. However, despite these actions being considered the norm, there is still a stigma attached to using technology that means teachers and senior leaders are scared to bring it into the classroom or integrate it into school.

Surrey-based company Conversor has brought together the knowledge of assistive technology experts and teachers to create Notetalker Classroom Assistant. This resource brings together the Notetalker app and Notetalker Edit software, while offering staff the ability to integrate with their School’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

Nobody could ever accuse me of being tech-savvy. While to my parents I may be a whizz-kid because I know how to operate their DVD player, to my friends I am nothing short of a Neanderthal, daubing on cave walls and trying to make fire. At my last school, there was nothing to challenge my cave-dweller ways. While some teachers would use the digital learning platform, the vast majority of us taught in the same way that we had been taught when we were students: whiteboards, marker pens and photocopied worksheets.

This is a list of 30 recommended Scottish Twitter feeds. Note: this is by no means a ‘best-of’, and the order is unimportant. The list is comprised primarily of suggestions from the public, as well as some of our own choices.

Explain Everything: Without a doubt my signature app, I have used Explain Everything in a number of ways. It is ideal for editing and improving pupils’ written work. By simply taking a photo of the child’s work, I record myself reading it out, using the cursor tool to encourage children to read along with me, and the pen and shape tool to annotate positive features of their work.

There is increasing noise in the education world about the use of technology in the classroom. Does it have a place? Should it be used heavily in schools? Does improper use even stop children from learning?

Schools in half a dozen countries around the world are now using ParentPaperwork, an online forms platform designed for both staff and parents. Most schools still rely on a paper-based forms to capture parent permissions for activities like excursions and sports activities. With this internet-based alternative, schools have an easy-to-use replacement for all paper forms.

In this post I will discuss Google’s latest educational tool, Google Classroom, and outline five key features that I feel make it a great addition to the Google Apps for Education family. Google Classroom is not yet a full-featured Learning Management System (LMS), but it does possess a number of attributes that make it very attractive for both learners and teachers. It is available to any school that has Google Apps for Education.

To make the most of today’s Ada Lovelace Day celebrations - which recognise 19th century mathematician and writer Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace - Code Club have created some fun and engaging resources for schools to use. For many, 13th October is an annual celebration of the achievements of women in Science, technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM).

In the business world, gamification has become something of a buzzword. The idea is to take elements from digital games and add it to enhance a customer’s experience. In consumer websites and mobile applications, this can mean digital badges, leaderboards to track scores, levels to unlock, and other reward mechanisms.