• SCHOOL ADMISSIONS, WHAT’S WRONG?

    As a CTO, I have seen, tested, purchased, programmed, and implemented numerous software packages to support the Admissions Process. I began my journey with these applications in 2009.

    These programs have grown in expense and features. Fundamentally though, are they delivering the outcome that schools need? Is this technology producing deeper wait lists and higher levels of future commitments?

  • Episode 7: All About Healthcare and the Package Part 3

    This episode focuses on the most common healthcare plans and options offered by international schools(schools requiring a teaching certification and degree). This is part three of a four-part series. The goal is learning to make an Apples-to-Apples evaluation of all job offers. If you would like to ask specific or …

    healthcare
  • Episode 5: Money, Taxes, and the Package Part 1

    This episode focuses on how to compare different salary/compensation packages. There is more to the process than your annual salary. This is part one of a three part series. The goal is learning to make an Apples-to-Apples evaluation of all job offers.

That’s not innovating

Tony and Patrick are back! Patrick is in Grand rapids attending the ATLIS conference. They will be talking about AI, innovating and how no one gives a flying hooey about the US PIRG report about Chromebooks. As always, check out the show notes below and you can subscribe to our …

Chromebooks and misleading reports

Image taken from the US PIRG website: https://pirg.org/edfund/media-center/new-chromebook-churn-report-highlights-problems-of-short-lived-laptops-in-schools/ I saw this article on PC Gamer by Jorge Jimenez titled “Here’s another e-waste crisis for the e-waste pile: ‘Chrombook churn‘” I read it and while there are some points to be made, I felt the article was a bit misleading and …

The Homer!

Season 1 – Episode 7 – The Homer! Tony and Patrick are at it again. Check out their continued conversation about AI …

Copyright & AI

Tony and Patrick continue to talk about AI in education and what it means. Check out the talking points below and be …

ChatGPT Prompts are Fake

Free computer code on screen image, public domain CC0 photo. Ok. This was a bit of clickbait. ChatGPT prompts are real, just …

Chat GPT and the CIA Triad

No, it is not that CIA. This stands for: Confidentiality Integrity Availability Tony explains what that means in more detail during a …

ChatGPT Talks About Zork

I asked ChatGPT this question multiple times: What is Zork? You can see the answers are constructed differently each time and not …

Chat GPT & IDOE

Good morning fellow reader. Last week I attended a webinar concerning Chat GPT. There are some good questions from the panelist and …

Just ask Chuck

Tony and Patrick are back and are talking more about Chat GPT, ed tech services and more. Please check out the agenda …

Tony ChatGPT

Tony and Patrick talk more ChatGPT and answer some questions we’ve been seeing such as Is it really plagarism? and If a …

Podcast S1:E1 – Chat GPT

Tony and Patrick are back after a bit of a break. We are going to be rethinking the podcast a little and …

What’s going on?

Photo by Jeff Stapleton on Pexels.com Well, it’s been a spell since I’ve posted anything. To be honest – I haven’t really …

SCHOOL ADMISSIONS, WHAT’S WRONG?

As a CTO, I have seen, tested, purchased, programmed, and implemented numerous software packages to support the Admissions Process. I began my journey with these applications in 2009.

These programs have grown in expense and features. Fundamentally though, are they delivering the outcome that schools need? Is this technology producing deeper wait lists and higher levels of future commitments?

Edmodo – It’s been fun

Well here we are. The end of Edmodo is upon us and I’m a little sad – not gonna lie. For those …

See ya Slack

All good things must come to an end as they say and that seems especially true to free online services that work …

Happy 4th of July

NYE Fireworks Dubai by Ayesha Abbasi is licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 While the picture above wasn’t taken during a 4th of July …

Google Docs new features “@”

Google Docs has recently (maybe a month or so ago) released some new features and I think they are genuinely useful. When …

Episode 213 – Feel the Flex

Tony and Patrick are back to talk about their great weather, some delicious drinks and much more. Check out the talking points …

Chrome OS Flex

Chrome OS on a MacBook? You better believe it! Here is how this happened. It is the end of the year and …

Episode 211

Photo by Rob Caterino – https://www.flickr.com/people/25030443@N03 That is a good picture of Michael Dudikoff – famed action star from the 80’s, 90’s, …

Episode 210 – Linux for all

After a short break – Tony and Patrick are back! Not only are we talking about some ed tech goodness. Check out …

Episode 209 – Spring Cleaning

Tony and Patrick are back for another tight show! We talk about weather, an upcoming project and of course some quality talk …

Huggy Wuggy – come on man!

I’ve seen this news story a few times this week and thought I’d weigh in. These are articles and videos about a …

Episode 206 – Dog days

Tony and Patrick are back again! Here we talk video games, new dogs, passwords and how not to get your school smacked …

Oregon Trail

Let the poop jokes fly as everyone in your party gets dysentery and die on route to a better life in Oregon. …

Episode 205 – Butterdish Crumblescone

Original photo by Gene Skidmore – https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/28570188272 Tony and Patrick are back with another great episode. Learn the many names of Bumpercar …

Episode 204 – Snowplosion

Tony and Patrick are back for another great show. We talk about snow, printers, and a bunch more. Check out the talking …

Episode 203 – I quit

Bengals in the Super Bowl! What am I drinking? Bells Kalamzoo Stout – http://www.bellsbeer.com/beer/year-round/bells-kalamazoo-stout  Sapporo Steel Can Tall Boy – https://sapporobeer.com/our-beers/sapporo-premium-beer/  Revising …

Just stop it please

I saw this article on BBC and it made me a little angry – not going to lie. The title is How …

Episode 202 – Vintage Tech

Tony and Patrick are back for another fantastic episode. So sit back, hit the play button and enjoy sometime with us! We …

Surface SE repairability

There has been a lot of back slapping and congratulations being passed out to Microsoft over this video. Yes, it is good …

Shure MV7 – Not a review

OK, Santa was good to me this year. I received a new boom arm and a new microphone. The boom arm is …

Episode 201-Omar’s FJ

No Omar this week, sadly, but Tony and Patrick soldier on! We have a great discussion about beer, watches, Omar and oh …

Notion.so – Shortcut keys

Notion is great for taking notes and it works even better when you know some basic shortcut keys. This helps you keep …

Happy New Year !

Photo by Heorhii Heorhiichuk on Pexels.com I hope everyone has a memorable and eventful evening! Source: IT Babble Blog and Podcast

Episode 198 – What’s on TV?

Tony and Patrick have a short but sweet episode this week. Be sure to subscribe to us with your favorite podcasting app …

Notion.so – A review

I’m a little excited about this – not going to lie. I’ve always been intrigued with what certain online “containers” can offer. …

Episode 195 – Solar Minimum

Tony and Patrick are closing in on 200! This week is another banger. Remember to subscribe to the IT Babble podcast with …

Life with a desktop

Yes – that is an official Hot Bench coffee mug. This year the technology department decided to ditch our laptops in lieu …

Episode 194 – Meta Pump

Tony and Patrick are back at it! Another great episode with a new Ask IT Babble segment and HOW! Be sure to …

Ask IT Babble!

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com Tony, myself and any guest who comes on the IT Babble podcast (subscribe from your favorite podcasting …

Soul Machines – A demo

www.soulmachines.com There is a new company name Soul Machines. They make artificial intelligent digital people that are intended to be an active …

Bitpaper.io – A review

The other day a student walked into the Tech office and politely asked if we could whitelist a site for him: bitpaper.io. …

Episode 192 – AI curriculum

Tony and Patrick are back once again for another great show! Check out the talking points below and you can subscribe to …

Episode 191 – Un-Boxing Day

Tony and Patrick are back and having more fun than ever. As always, you can find our podcast on your favorite podcasting …

Episode 189 – Hercules Headmaster

Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons WE ARE BACK! Tony and I are going to try and podcast every …

Milanote – A review

In 2020 I wrote a review about LucidSpark and then made a quick tutorial video. If you’re not too familiar with it …

Streaming Events #3 – Test!

Well…we tested and….it went well! We streamed two middle school volleyball matches. The total stream lasted about 2.5 hours and we streamed …

Bose VideoBar VB1 – Review

Image from Bose’s website – that is not my arm We have a pretty nice conference room at my school and it …

Streaming events #2 – Update

We have the goods! We have done some quick testing and this looks pretty promising. Right now my family and I are …

Happy 4th of July!

Photo by Tairon Fernandez on Pexels.com Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans! And to my my fellow educators out there I …

mult.dev – A review

It’s a weird name for a website. What this website does is to create a quick, animated map. I can see people …

All done :)

Even though the school year is officially over, I still have plenty of projects and work to do through the summer. Keep …

Brainstormer.online – A review

I was reading Freetech4teachers and saw a quick article about Brainstormer.online and thought it might be interesting to check it out. As …

Almost there!

The long school year is almost over so hang in there people! Source: IT Babble Blog and Podcast

Blackbird – A review

Blackbird Middle School Coding Education Platform I’m always interested in websites that teach coding. I like the idea of learning new skills …

Bwahahahahaha!

Sometimes the wrong lens choice can make a hilarious photo. Have a nice Friday everyone and enjoy some odd perspective photography. …

Teacheasyapp.com – A review

So I saw a comment on my TeacherMade review. It felt like a bit of advertising for Teacheasyapp which is fine. Apps …

My new computer

ZenBook Duo Yep, I pulled the trigger and have purchased a new computer. It is the Asus Zenbook Duo (model# UX482EG-XS74). I’m …

iPad Pro vs MacBook Air M1

HOT TAKE ALERT!!!!!! The iPad Pro is not a good deal and schools should stay away from it! I guess that’s not …

Forky – A review

Yes it is I like mind mapping tools. I use it every now and again to brainstorm solutions to complex issues. It …

mote for Gmail

Not too long ago I wrote a review about mote. To sum it up, it is a Chrome extension that will allow …

Fun April Fools’ Day

I’m a little bummed. The last few years my school has had spring break over April Fools’ Day (April 1). I’m not …

WordPress.com – Damn it

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com My last three posts have been screwed up by my blogging platform. WordPress.com published my last …

A/V in our classrooms

This post will give you a rundown of what we currently use for our A/V solution and what we are going …

WordPress + Anchor.fm = Podcast?

OK – I am skeptical about this. Apparently you can turn all of your WordPress.com articles into a podcast on Anchor.fm. I …

Whiteboard.fi – A review

I was reading Techcrunch and saw that Kahoot! had purchased a small company called Whiteboard.fi. The fi stands for Finland in case …

Newish Zoom Recorders

Just to be clear. I am not talking about Zoom, the video conference tool. I am talking about …

CloudApp – A review

Do you ever have those apps that you like using. That you genuinely enjoy firing up and doing some work in …

Episode 187 – Snow Days

On this episode we talk snow days, football (RIP OSU) and quite a few other topics. Check out the agenda below and …

Funny spam comment

We use wordpress.com for IT Babble and have from the start. It’s solid, reliable and they block a bunch of spam comments …

Mic Tests!

We have some teachers who need to teach from home even though we are teaching in person. So I worked with them …

Happy Holidays

Photo by Vladislav Murashko on Pexels.com Happy holidays from IT Babble. We hope your celebrations are happy and you can get a …

Early Rejection, Who Cares

Tony DePrato | Follow Me on LinkedIn I have noticed some recent posts on the international education recruiting scene that have piqued …

Zoom issues on a Chromebook

Good day! We, like most of the world, are distance learning. We also use Chromebooks and Zoom. Early on we had reports …

Adios Adobe Flash

It was announced back in July of 2017. Adobe and all the tech giants all agreed to end Flash by the end …

My new tool (smartphone)

I just got a new phone and like a lot of educators, a smartphone is a great tool to use in one’s …

Happy Thanksgiving

Photo by Magda Ehlers on Pexels.com Have a happy and safe turkey day no matter where you are in the world …

Episode 185 – Rants!

It’s been a while but we are back! As always check us out on Apple Music or your favorite podcasting app. Patrick’s …

Witeboard.com – A review

Hello readers, today I am reviewing another online whiteboard website. What makes this site different is how basic and minimalist this service …

Covid 19 – Never going back

Covid-19 has changed a lot. A number of schools have had to think quick, move just as fast and definitely have had …

Happy Halloween

Stay safe out there everyone! Source: IT Babble Blog and Podcast

Lucidspark – A review

There are a bunch of whiteboards out there you can use to collaborate with your colleagues or to use with your …

Episode 184 – HIFLEX

This is a different type of episode. Today, Patrick interviews Tony DePrato about his …

Blackbaud & Google Assignments W/ Drive

Blackbaud & Google Assignments W/ Drive This video explains how to use the Google Assignments Integration within Blackbaud’s OnSuite LMS. Tony DePrato …

To filter or not to filter?

There is a debate out there and it has been going on for quite some time. The debate is whether schools should …

Teacher Made – Review

Teacher Made is a website that will take a PDF, JPG, PNG, GIF or DOCX (Microsoft Word file) and add interactivity to …

Zoom vs Google Meet: Zoom wins

I applaud Google and Microsoft for their efforts for beefing up Google Meet and Microsoft Teams respectively, but honestly speaking, if you …

Episode 182 – Cheap Phones

A fantastic episode we talk about distance learning in the fall, learning management systems and how they are not adequate for distance …