Edtech Throwdown

Episode 183: 8 Great Edtech Tools for Literacy

Welcome to the EdTech Throwdown.  This is Episode 183 called 8 Great Edtech Tools for Literacy.   In this episode, we’ll discuss some of our favorite websites for enhancing literacy in your classroom.  We’ll also take another look at an AMAZING new feature in google notebook lm.  This is another episode you don’t want to miss.  Check it out.

Segment 1: 

Guises mind is blown

n over notebook lm’s new feature

Segment 2: Digital tools for literacy

1. No Red Ink lessons
2. Maps.com.  Not a literacy site, but these are some cool maps and would make for great writing prompts.
3. Diffit Books, How it works:  Select “Books” on the Diffit homepage, Choose your book and chapters, Get student-ready resources!  We’re rolling this feature out to all schools over the next few weeks, but your access is live now as an admin on your Diffit account. Test it out and let your teachers know it's coming to their accounts soon!
4. ESL BITS:  Wide selection of audio books and text.  The sole purpose of this site is to help students improve their listening and reading comprehension of the English language.'BITS English Language Learning' is completely non-profit; it sells nothing, advertises nothing, and asks for nothing."BITS" is an online-only site. No links for downloading items are available and none will ever be provided.  Skip is wholly responsible for this site and has all the credit or all the blame as the case may be.
5. Write the World:  A nonprofit dedicated to developing teenagers’ writing and critical thinking skills. We empower young writers to become global citizens and succeed in school, career, and life.
6. NYT Writing Prompts
7. Wonderopolis Writing Prompts
8. DeepSeek AI Article 
9. DeepSeek-R1 is an AI model developed by Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek. Released in January 2025, R1 holds its own against (and in some cases surpasses) the reasoning capabilities of some of the world’s most advanced foundation models — but at a fraction of the operating cost, according to the company. R1 is also open sourced under an MIT license, allowing free commercial and academic use.

Edtech Throwdown: 

Vote on twitter @edtechthrowdown and under the pinned post on the profile.

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Music Credits:

• Intro and Outro Music- American Idle - RKVC
• Segment Identifiers- Duck in the Alley - TrackTribe
• Edtech Throwdown- Born a Rockstar (Instrumental) - NEFEX

Need a Presenter?

As experienced presenters and content creators, you can contact Nick and Guise to speak at your school, event, or conference. They can customize a workshop that meets your organization’s unique time and content needs. While no topic is out of bounds, we are best known for sessions on:

• AI For Teachers, Admin, and Parents
• 1:1 Chromebook Integration
• EdTech Throwdown
• TargetED Learning
• Gamification (Badge Systems)
• Game-Based Learning (Escape Rooms, Amazing Race, and more)
• Google apps and extensions
• Personalized learning and Choice Boards
• Teacher productivity (Lesson Planning, Online Grading. and Feedback)
• Digital content creation
• Student Podcasting
• Screencasting
• Flipped Classroom
• Student-Centered Learning