How do we make tech processes easier for students—and teachers—to follow? In this episode, I chat with Courtney Watson from friEdTechnology about strategies for creating clear, bite-sized tech instructions using tools like Scribe, iorad, Canva, and Adobe Express. We explore ways to lower the cognitive load and boost confidence in tech-rich classrooms. Plus, I share new feature updates in Book Creator, Padlet, and NotebookLM that support accessibility, flexibility, and efficiency.

#EduDuctTape Episode 125

0:00:00 INTRO

0:02:59 Today's Guest: Courtney Watson

Courtney is a Google Certified Educator/Trainer and Lead Learning Guide at friEdTechnology. She is passionate about equipping all learners with the necessary tools to help them become successful and ensuring they have fun while learning. #TechWithoutTears

Contact Info: https://tiktok.com/@techwithouttears, https://x.com/cmwatson2010, https://bsky.app/profile/cmwatson2010.bsky.social, courtney@fried.tech, https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmwatson2010/

0:04:58 Two Truths & One Lie

0:11:36 Today's #EduDuctTape Question: Bite-Sized Instructions

0:12:58 Scribe

https://scribehow.com/

0:16:14 Mark Twain Quote

“I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”

0:18:26 iorad

https://www.iorad.com/

0:20:16 Comparing Scribe and iorad

0:25:24 TikTok Style Videos in Canva or Adobe Express

0:27:57 Courtney's Screencasting & Adobe Express Method

0:29:21 How far we've come with screencasting

0:32:59 Potty PD or Copier PD

0:37:02 NotebookLM

0:38:36 NotebookLM for Canvas and Schoology

https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/education/ai-tools-education-2025/

0:39:57 NotebookLM Plus

https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/education/ai-tools-education-2025/

0:41:20 Padlet’s “Clear Posts” Feature

https://padlet.help/l/en/article/ma9aogqsme-how-do-i-delete-all-posts-at-once

0:43:27 6. BookCreator Adds Text-to-Speech in Edit Mode

https://bookcreator.com/2025/02/feature-update-text-to-speech-for-text-and-pdfs

This interview was originally aired on the State of Ed Podcast by Dr. Nick Isseks and Dr. Nick Simone. It is being re-aired here with their permission.

You can access the original episode here:

https://episodes.fm/992700178/episode/NDIwOWY1OTAtMGQxZC00NGI1LWIwMjktY2U5NmQ1Yjc4MjIw

and access all State of Ed Podcast episodes here:

https://episodes.fm/992700178

0:00:00 INTRO
0:02:53 State of Ed Podcast
0:04:21 Jake's Journey
0:05:57 What is Personalized Learning?
0:10:33 Rogers' Law of Diffusion of Innovation
0:13:12 What is Educational Duct Tape?
0:16:04 More Than Words by John Warner
0:18:58 The Issue with Points-Based Grading
0:20:03 Mastery vs. Performance-Oriented Goals
0:22:29 The AI Infinite Loop
0:27:11 Self-Determination Theory
0:32:32 Helping Teachers Pick the Technology to Use
0:35:15 The Value of Instructional Coaching
0:39:38 The Future of Wearable Technology

What’s your favorite tool for having students create visuals like infographics and diagrams? Bryon Carpenter from Fresh Air At Five joins me to answer that very question. We discuss Adobe Express, Canva, Google Drawings, and Google Slides. Also, I share about Brisk’s new Podcast Generator, a Chromebook monitoring feature coming soon to Google, SchoolAI’s response to some ethical concerns, and a documentary recommendation.

#EduDuctTape Episode 124

0:00:00 INTRO

0:02:09 Today's Guest: Bryon Carpenter

0:06:49 Which of the Following is Less Torturous

0:10:22 Today's #EduDuctTape Question

0:11:58 Adobe Express
https://www.adobe.com/express/

0:12:41 Picking the Right Tool

0:14:11 Google Drawings
drawings.google.com

0:15:54 How Does Google Drawings Relate to Google Slides

0:18:26 Object-Based, Drawing-Based, and Procreate

0:20:17 Shapegrams
https://shapegrams.com/

0:21:04 3. Layers in Adobe Express

0:21:35 Ages for Adobe Express

0:23:18 What Can You Do in Adobe Express?

0:25:58 Adobe Express Pricing
https://www.adobe.com/education/express/

0:28:17 Adobe Creative Cloud
https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud.html

0:36:14 AI in Adobe Express

0:36:12 Adobe Voice to Animate
https://www.adobe.com/express/create/animation

0:38:27 Adobe Text Effects
https://www.adobe.com/express/create/ai/text-effects

Today’s EdTech and Edu News:

0:41:07 Brisk’s New Podcast Generator
briskteaching.com/podcast

0:46:03 Google’s New ‘Class Tools’ for Chromebooks
https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/education/class-tools-chromebook/

0:47:56 SchoolAI Responds to Ethical Concerns
https://schoolai.com/blog/strengthening-ethical-ai-in-classrooms-improvements-to-historical-figure-spaces

0:50:38 The First Class documentary
https://www.thefirstclass.org/