Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Prezi: presentations with perspective

Prezi rocks! Free for education. Preferred over powerpoint, more fun!

http://prezi.com/profile/signup/edu/

These prezi presentations show how prezi is new and different than linear boring powerpoint presentations. You'll be WOW'D. Think about the flexibility and creative advantages prezi provides. Makes presenters think on their feet and does not lock them into a linear discussion.

10 ways to say it with Prezi

New Perspective

Monday, March 8, 2010

Interactive Timelines

TimeToast.com create and share timelines.
Beautiful interactive timelines perfect for lectures or student projects! TONS are available to use already online, don't reinvent the wheel.

Interactive timelines can take the place of powerpoint presentations and would be great with smartboards too. You can also link to them from your class pages.

Here's a sample but they are better viewed full-screen:

http://www.timetoast.com/categories/10?page=2

Voki speaking avatar

Voki.com speaking avatar, use built-in laptop microphone to record any text. The custom avatar will speak along with your recording. Very amusing. You create an account so it saves your avatar, and you just change the recordings when you want.

How about a speaking version of yourself on your class page?

Language classes? Students can record themselves and email it to you.


Wordle, Tagul word clouds

Wordle http://www.wordle.net/ stunning word clouds!
Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or take a screen shot and past into PhotoShop to save a .jpg.
Wordle: traditions

Tagul http://tagul.com/(live links on text) can be inserted in presentations. OR USED IN PLACE OF POWERPOINT for something less dated.

Tagul live link word clouds can be used as projects, linking to wikipedia or history or other web pages. Interesting to share among class members for informational projects.
Use for characterization, key quotes, parts of speech, get to know you activities
(Three words about self, 15 min. arrange it, screen shot it or print it)
Words about favorite character in a book

Free Publishing and eBooks

BookRix Free online book publishing , free ebooks and audiobooks
Kids can publish there. Can pick from stories, tag irony for examples, right click to do stuff
Dashboard for teacher

Blurb online publishing (yearbooks, etc) prints/publishes

Software for whiteboard or tablet:

DabbleBoard, chat questions in. videoconferencing on whiteboard with webcam.

Twiddla.com

Scribblar.com

Uniboard:
getunivoard.com. Works with anything. Slate, tablet, polyvisions, etc.
***Wicked widgets (stopwatch, notes, compas, ruler, protracter, live wikipedia
SCREENRECORDING! Can publish to youtube!

Free Stuff!!!

Poll Everywhere http://www.polleverywhere.com/ lets students text a response to a poll, answers show live while coming in. graphical results.

Classtools.net
Class timer with custom music!
Live online ven diagrams, games, flashcard generator

Youtube+tooble tooble.tv
Click off choices and downloads to iTunes
Can save things in iTunes account, but need youtube account and need to be logged in for it to work

EasyBib: ALA or MLA formatting, autocite. Create Citation. If you make an account, saves what you create.

Cloudtrip.com 100's of cool tools

Jamendo: free classroom music : creative commons. 31,000 albums, free and legal. All nobodys. Spanish stuff, decode foreign language. Some crude.

Freeplaymusic.com. Rules are, can't use for sale, only non-profit.

Mobygratis.com will license music.

Eraserdog.com + free math worksheets every level. Games too. Control the problems not the book.

Englishexercises.org. youtube videos used for scaffolding. Can tooble it.
Thousands of these. Great for

Free Art/Animation Tools

Xtranormal makes 3D movies for free
Typing in the script on their topic. Go to the site, sign up and go. Standards like US Constitution, science concepts, language, etc.
Render takes 10 minutes. Can't download.
Foreign language?

DoInk.com flip books. Animation/Drawing
Can see first and second frame over each other. Story elements. Downloading? Can select xtranormal or doink

Go!Animate (goanimate.com) Animation/Drawing cartoons make a story

Sumopaint.com same thing as photoshop, about 90%. Web-based.
"Cast a wide net for students with free tools!" "let everybody play!"
Have a "share out" after time so they can tell class what they learned while playing with it.
Save as jpg or pdf, etc.
Great for media classes

Need a tablet? Bamboo Fun small black tablet with pen, mouse, $62.95 on amazon USB (by wacom)
Wireless, can work from back of room. Better to be back there.

Free Online Tutorials

The Khan Academy www.khanacademy.org 1000 + videos on YouTube covering everything to algebra,, physics, chemistry, bio, all recorded by Salman Khan
Use tooble so you can download to iTunes

SHMOOP learning guides

Lively learning guides by experts and educators. Top quality stuff.
Literature: Summary by chapter. Research. Themes, quotes, analysis, study questions...
All written by PhDs. HUGE.
Students will use it so make it your thing and know what's in it, and how it's organized.
Themes… character analysis
When sending students to same place you recognize the plagarism if it occurs...

Best of the web: tie it to pop culture!
AP: coming soon, not done yet.
Teachers can choose to let go of making them read every page of a book to get the concepts.

(ap Exams new, coming soon prep for AP exams)

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Comic life

Comic life
makes comics from images and photos, eliminating the need for drawing.

Plasq web site

Context:
○ Maus was a memoir made into a graphic novel. Began in 1980, published 1991, pulitzer 1992
○ A.D. New Orleans After the Deluge - journalistic style

Comic Life can colorize/filter photos to make them look comic-ish
Contains layouts to speed up the process and help style

Curriculum projects:

Point of View comparison
• Different comics can show different points of view of one situation
• Assigned to different students or pairs
• Speech balloons out of frame = characters that are not pictured
• Can alter a few photos to make several different images
• Commentary on an issue

Memoir of person interviewed / oral history
• Can take photos of scrap book photos or scan them
• Take current photos, set up shots to imitate the experience
• Library of congress archive or other archive
• Color speech balloons to indicate questions/answers


Social Justice: prejudice and stereotyping
• Ex. Anne Frank (play version)
• Comics allows commentation to be demonstrated visually
• Used comic to create pre-assessment
• Altered photos
• Captions tell narrative, dialogue in speech bubbles
• Showing emotion in photos and facial expressions
• Create a comic version of play or story from certain point of view
• Quotes in bubbles more fun than writing a paper

Science application: DNA unit on scientists
• History of discovery
• Model of structure
• Famous photos, shape of molecule, etc.
• Ambition and competition driving progress?
• Who does data belong to? Public?
• Reading/film to prepare, documentary on scientists
• Filtering black and white photos for color differences
• Using quote from someone off frame is powerful. Who said that?


Followup: post online and comment on message board

Amy's Top Three Things about CUE

At this conference, I have seen some really cool pieces of technology as well as so many creative ways to use technology in the classroom. Here is my top 3 items from CUE:

1. GEOCACHING - I will become a "digital goonie" - I learned about the crazy world of geocaching on Friday - a way to help utilize GPS coordinates in a real-life treasure hunt either around the world, our city, or more conveniently, our school. I learned how to both teach the students how to use GPS coordinates on a map and how to use the cooridinates on a GPS receiver. Then students can use that information to find a hidden item. This was not only funny - the website I learned about was called digitalgooinies.com, but also a very unique alternative to teaching geographical concepts. I think the girls would love it

2. ENO board - As Ally mentioned earlier, the ENO board was awesome. This board can actually complement my current whiteboard situation. I could actually place the ENO board on top of my pre-existing white boards and still use all of them. The very durable ENO board appears to be less-sensitive than the SMART board. I can use the pen to still write with the computer on the ENO board or simply use it help project images from my computer, and it was wireless!

3. Library of Congress website - I was able to learn about how incredibly useful the Library of Congress website can be, especially as an amazing resource for primary sources for our students. My favorite part of this website was a brand-new feature - the THOMAS - a section which allows students to track the daily business of Congress. Students can very easily click to search for all the activities and business of our Congressmen and even our two Sentors! Talk about a watchdog feature! Who Knew!

Cool Things at CUE

Just wanted to share some of the cool things that I have seen at CUE this weekend. I heard about a really neat website called MATH TV. The students can search for math topics and then pick an instructor. They then can watch a tutorial on the math topic they choose. The topics include all levels, including Calculus. I think this is a great resource for students to use when they are home doing homework.

I also saw the Eno board, a smart board competitor. I like this board a lot and would love to use one in my classroom, along with a class set of slates. The students would use the slate to write answers to questions given through dyknow(?). It would be a great way for students to do math problems on their computer and it would allow the teacher to know right away what each student does or does not understand.

I, also attended a workshop on two websites that allow a teacher to search their database for computer software and free websites that have interactive games and instructional aides. The two websites are clrn.org and thinkfinity.com. This saves a ton of time, all the sites are checked for credibility and appropriateness so the teacher just has to find an appropriate game/activity to use in the classroom.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Photo Story 3 for Windows 7

Guess what? The download process was fixed and now works on Windows 7!
Here's the link
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=92755126-a008-49b3-b3f4-6f33852af9c1&displaylang=en
I hear this will only be available for a limited time, then will be discontinued and no longer available for download.

I tested it and it works beautifully!

SkyDrive: 25MB free online storage

I signed on to SkyDrive (it asks you to create a "Windows Live" account, similar to a Google account).

Wow, I have 25MB storage for any kind of file.
Hey, but I can already store any kind of file on Google Docs, so what's the difference?

The interface is much nicer: you can drag and drop multiple files at a time.

THIS WOULD BE A GOOD RECOMMENDATION FOR OUR STUDENTS TO BACKUP THEIR FILES FROM THEIR OWN LAPTOPS!

They would simply create an account using their LouisMail address.

Microsoft Live@edu

I'm learning about microsoft live, which looks to compete with Google Docs... and Google Apps.
They want to get student/school email and also provide web-based versions of their word, ppt, etc.

It isn't available until perhaps summer 2010.
Web-based editing will not be the full-fledged product but rather the essentials.
Sharing features are very similar to Google Docs.

Benefits include retaining graphs, formatting, etc. better than Google Docs.

After the session I had an interesting chat with the Microsoft reps, who clarified that the peer-to-peer collaboration online is not available for Word or PowerPoint, and they don't have a date set for that. Could be a year away... but will be great when available. Both would require SharePoint, involving possibly servers, $, etc.
Hopefully they will make this all free for education. They would have to in order to get the market share from Google Apps!

VoiceThread Online Conversations around Media

http://voicethread.com/

Online tool for having conversations around media.
Teacher can upload image, video or document (image, ppt,etc.)
Students record or type comments
Can comment with microphone, webcam, phone or upload an audacity recording
Everyone can view/listen to other's comments.

FREE ACCOUNT:
http://voicethread.com/pricing/k12/ Look under VT (rightmost column)

examples:
http://voicethread.com/library/

There is a way to create a free account, here's the link if you want to play with it:
Manual:
http://ed.voicethread.com/help/manuals/

Professional Development Online Networking

Professional development: using online communitities for PD-self-motivated

Using online networking can give you a way to connect with other teachers and learn from them and with them. You also have good experiences to share!


Good online groups for tech coordinators:
Learn central.org
Curriki.org
Tcal.portocal.org for assessments!

Polling using cell phone text response
Poll Everywhere.com create polls on the fly, realtime feedback.
• Live Chart. Can link to and publish.
• Cool for student polls, student news, newspaper polls, check for understanding, student activities.
• Takes the place of "active response systems" in the classroom.
• Assess prior knowledge.
• Free up to 30 responses
• Poll Daddy may be totally free
• Survey monkey is another online survey tool.

Community.cue.org: the CUE community (a ning network)
List for this session is on the community under FORUM Concurrent Sessions.
Web 2.0 Teacher Communities: click the google doc

Twitter:
Most feel it is annoying and overwhelming.
You may find people around the world to follow, could be interesting.
CUE Tip session 12-12:20

Classroom 2.0: classroom20.com (it is a ning network w/o adds)
38,000 members!
Groups very specific: Teaching Spanish with web 2.0 tools, High School World History Projects, etc.
If you join, look at groups that interest you
You can create your own group and people will join and share ideas/help.

LinkedIn.com: connect professionally. Resume posting, jobs, etc.
Inbox, post status, networking with other professionals
University alumni groups
Professional face so people can find you

ePals: connects teachers to teachers
600,000 teachers, 200 countries, 135 different languages.
Search by map, teachers post classroom profile
Ex. Will exchange emails every two weeks with English students
Contacts teachers via community, does not share email address. Can translate the email for you.
Teacher forums, ning model but not ning.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Cool People I Met at CUE

Jasmin Abad
international studies learning center/teacher librarian
islcteacherlibrarian@gmail.com

Jan Booker
Dir. of Tech. St. Elisabeth School, Van Nuys
jbooker@stelisabeth.org
Acer netbooks, year 1 of 1-to-1 with 6-8 grades. Also using studentinsurancepartners.com

Google Forms: online forms/results

Google Forms is part of Google Docs:
select Form from Create New......

Click the form to open/edit the form. The form creator tools is easy. Add Questions, change the look and feel, etc. Link to the online form is shown at bottom.

You can link to this form from a web page or class page, or actually embed the form in a web page. To embed: click the FORM menu on the google Docs main page..

The creator of the form can see results: either graphical or spreadsheet! Look under the Form menu on Google Docs. This menu only shows if you have a form...

Forms can be used for online question/response like survey, assessment, quiz, etc.

Technology Leader Forum

http://community.cue.org/group/techcoord CUE NING group for tech coordinators

Professional Development idea to motivate participation: associate with a university and coordinate pd so that classes add up to units. Note to self: check with LMU to join or start such a thing.

Google Sites: use for-portfolios or Graduation Outcomes? Benefit: students can access online, rather than requiring students to upload to a network file folder.

Tech Support: KACE box... imaging etc LANDesk is great! SchoolDesk? Like DyKnow…. Check it out at this conference.

suggestion to control updates on computers: control groups of computers to get updates only weekly or monthly or Startup on own, get updates 2:00 am restart etc.

Tech Support for students/teachers:
use form to request password resets, report problems, etc.
GOOGLE FORMS
SCHOOL Dude (schooldude.com)
Techsets.org resources. Help ticket system - free
Student tech support mouse squad
SWAT: student support http://www.wiziq.com/tutorial/38547-How-To-Start-a-SWAT-Team-Students-Working-To-Advance-Technology
Include note on trouble report form: have you restarted your computer?

Professional Development:
Webinars: online training options

PD MODEL: start with vision for PD
• Training of trainers
• School teacher trainings
• Classroom Curriculum Integration and tech support
• Evaluation: sharing outcomes and follow-up

Creating teacher assessment: online? Google forms? Refer to the powerpoint for this session for samples of free online assessments.