Article by Dr. Jessica K. Parker

Here is another installment of our biweekly Ed Tech Tips blog articles from the Sonoma State School of Education. In this platform we will share thoughts and practical advice on technology and ideas for how to use these tools and applications for good teaching practice.

1) TED Talks: You love TED talks, but are you aware of all their amazing features? Not only can you embed the TED talk in a Moodle page or your latest blog post, but you can also email the link to colleagues and students. Feel free to turn on subtitles for talks as well and download the talk to use later, EVEN if you don't have access to the Internet. Not interested in watching a video but would rather listen to a TED talk? Then subscribe to the RSS audio feed and start listening via iTunes!

2) TED Ed: Love TED talks and want to use them creatively in your class? Check out the TED Ed videos that allow you to customize supplemental material such as quizzes, questions, and additional readings and activities for a specific Ed video. Just click on the "flip this video" button and you can turn a TED Ed video into a customized lesson. Take the TED Ed tour to learn more.

3) TED Books: Wishing you could read a multimedia TED book? Now you can download the TED Books app and choose a TED book from their library for either $2.99 per book or $4.99 per month for all access. Plus, the TED books are short and inspiring. TED books work with the iPad, Kindle, and the Nook.

Congratulations to School of Education Assistant Professor Megan Taylor for recently being accepted as a 2013 STaR Fellow! The Service, Teaching and Research (STaR) Project is an induction program for recent doctoral graduates in mathematics education. The program, funded by the National Science Foundation, is a 12-month experience that networks early career mathematics educators (in the first or second year of their first academic appointment). The Program focuses on three themes: research, teaching and service as well as leadership development To be eligible for this program you must have your doctorate in mathematics education and be in your first or second year of tenure track at an institution of higher education in the U.S. As a STaR Fellow, Megan will have the opportunity to attend a week-long Park City Mathematics Institute this summer, get extra support as she continues her research agenda and collaborate with a strong cohort of other mathematics faculty to strengthen her teaching practice.

Megan Taylor is the newest faculty member in the Curriculum Studies and Secondary Education department and the Single Subject Credential Program here at Sonoma State. Her research focuses on secondary mathematics and teacher education. Megan has taught 6th-12th grade for twelve years and believes that in order to improve public mathematics education in the U.S., improvements on teacher education are necessary. Her recent work investigates how mathematics teachers use textbooks and explores ways they can be do it more effectively to improve classroom learning.