Sunday, August 21, 2011

Voki

The Site:
http://www.voki.com/

Basics: This site is to create talking avatars that will say whatever you want them to say.

Example:





Classroom Applications:
-Tell the objective for the day to the class.
-Explanation of a concept.
-Define vocabulary words.
-Students can make them to show their understanding.
-Present questions to students.
Basically, they are just a fun, easy, and engaging way to present information.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

authorSTREAM

Site:
http://www.authorstream.com/

Basics: This is a site where you can upload a PowerPoint presentation and then embed the presentation into a website or a blog.  It will keep all of its features and animations.  You can also have people access the presentation with a link.  Also, you can have a meeting online where you present to people in remote locations.  It's very easy to use and it has a free version with a lot of features.

Example:

Embedded Version

Linked Version
http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/techlearninglab-1089331-rafts-presentation/

Test Kitchen: I have used this site many times in my class.  It is great because you can use it to present a PowerPoint or you can have students watch the PowerPoint on their own.  This is especially convenient when someone is absent, students are working on different things at the same time, as a review, or when some students are ready to move ahead.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Review Game Zone

The Site: http://www.reviewgamezone.com/

Basics: This is a site where you can create quizzes or tests and the students can choose one of 10 games that they want to play as part of the test.  They will answer a question correctly and then they get to play a quick game.

Examples(There are some adds on the intial page):

Remember to scroll down the page because some of the adds say "play now for free" but, they will take you to another site.

Genres
http://www.reviewgamezone.com/game.php?id=6775

Your Brain
http://www.reviewgamezone.com/game.php?id=6791

The Moon
http://reviewgamezone.com/game.php?id=45

Nth Term
http://reviewgamezone.com/game.php?id=3046

Test Kitchen: I used this site with my kids during summer school and they loved it.  It amazing how easy it is for kids to take a quiz when they are allowed to play a game at the same time.  Some of the games where more interesting than others and the favorite game was Outer Space Attackers.  It can take a long time to finish if you are good at it.

Helpful Hints: You can create a teacher account for free.  You don't have to have students create accounts. They can use your class access code and put in their first name or a code name (to protect their privacy) and you will be able to see what they have done in the program.  I have not used this feature but, it nice to have and not all sites have something like this.

Similar Site(s): http://www.what2learn.com/

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Website of the Week #17-Jaycut-Your Free Video Editor Online

Link:

http://www.jaycut.com/

Basics: This is a free online video editor.  You can add video, audio, text, and special effects.  It is very easy to use, it's online and can be access from anywhere, and it's free.  Once you make a video you can embed it or upload it to youtube.

Examples:

Book Trailer


Instructional Video


Building Background


Classroom Ideas:



How to Use It:

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Website of the Week #16- My Fake Facebook Wall

www.myfakewall.com

Basics-This is a site where you can create a fake facebook wall for fictional characters, historical figures, or just about anything.  This is not connected to facebook in any way.  Each page is a separate thing.  Students create a username, log in, create the fake wall, and then they get a link to see what they have created.

Examples (There are more examples at www.myfakewall.com):

Click Here to See Full Page




Click Here to See Full Page


Test Kitchen:

We have been using this in my class to create facebook walls for characters in the books and authors that students are researching.  They enjoy doing this a lot more than writing a paper and they have to really think about who their friends would be and what they would say to each other.  They have to know the characters really well. They also have find basic information about the person or character.  We are in the middle of this project but, I thought I would share in case anyone wanted to use it before the end of the year.  It really seems to make it relevant for students and I haven't heard any complaining about do this project.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Website of the Week #15-Wordle

http://www.wordle.com/

Basics: This is a site where you make a word cloud.  You enter the words you want to be in your cloud and the site will create a cloud of your words.

Examples: (Click on Picture to see Full Size)

Cactus Canyon Website Wordle

Wordle: CCJH

Wordle of this Blog
Wordle: Techlearninglab

Declaration of Independence

Wordle: Declaration of Independence


You may be familiar with wordle and I have known about it for a while but, today I came across a presentation that has 51 ways to use wordle in the classroom and I thought others might want to use it.  I found this on http://www.freetech4teachers.com/ and it came from a man named Tom Barrett.  There are ideas for all levels and all subjects.  Check it out below. 



Other Word Cloud Sites:

http://www.tagxedo.com/ (can turn the cloud into a picture)


http://www.tagul.com/

http://wordlin.gs/

http://worditout.com/

Check out more about these at Free Tech 4 Teachers

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Website of the Week #14-Minute Board (embeddable forum)

http://www.minuteboard.com/

Basics: This is an web application that creates a unique forum that can be embedded into your website.  Students have to create user names and passwords and then they can participate in the forum.

Example:

(Feel free to interact with this forum example.  You can click on the posts to see what they say without an account or you can create an account and respond to the posts.)



Powered by
MinuteBoard.com




Test Kitchen: I have used this with students a couple of times.  It is a very easy way to create a forum and it is a very basic forum.  Basically, you can create posts and people can reply to your posts.  There does not seem to be an option to reply to a reply so the threads are short.  It is a great venue to teach students about appropriate posting and you have complete control over what content is added to the forum.  I used it as a way for students to respond to some different topics but, I don't think that I have gotten the most out of it yet.

Classroom Applications: Forums or message boards can be used in any class and any content area.  It is a great place for people to share opinions and to answer questions that have unique answers.

Ideas for...

Music and Art Class-respond to different works of art
Social Studies-choose a side and support your view
Science and Math-explain a process in your own words
Language Arts-respond to a piece of literature

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Website of the Week # 13-Jeopardy Labs


http://www.jeopardylabs.com/

Basics: This is a simple way to create a jeopardy game.  No login required.  All you do is add the questions and answers, then they give you a link to your game.  It's that simple.

Examples:

Math

Social Studies

Science

Language Arts

Test Kitchen: We used this as a way to review this past week.  Jeopardy is of course a popular way to review.  The best part of this site is that it is simple, free, and there is no downloading.  I played with the whole class which I think is a little hard and not all of the students can participate fully.  I think that when I use it again I will have them play in small groups instead of teams with the whole class.  They could have all been doing this on their computers.  This is also something they can do independently and it is so simple the students could even create their own board.

Additional Online Free and Simple Review Games:

http://www.superteachertools.com/

Example:

Jeopardy

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

Board Game

Friday, April 1, 2011

101 Web Resources

Student Created Projects
5.  www.edu.glogster.com  (Create Interactive Online Posters)
7. http://info.scratch.mit.edu/About_Scratch (Create Games and Other Web Stuff)
Student Practice/Graphic Organizers
36. www.what2learn.com (Make Games)
38. www.amap.org.uk/create/  (Create a Web Diagram)
Video Making and Watching 
54. www.jaycut.com (Like Movie Maker but, online and Free)
55. www.khanacademy.com (An awesome collection of Instructional Math Videos)
Online Community/Social Bookmarking
Widgets, Gadgets, and Other Random Stuff 
76. www.vocaroo.com (Podcasting, record your voice and embed on your webpage)
77. www.cosketch.com (interactive online whiteboards)
Tech Resources for Teachers

Friday, March 25, 2011

Website of the Week # 11-Classtools.net

http://www.classtools.net/

The Basics: This site has games, graphic organizers, and widgets that can be used online and embedded in a website.

Examples: (You can interact with these examples right here in this page.)








Test Kitchen: I used this sight extensively this week with my class.  There are about 15 different tools that they offer and the tools are interactive for the students.  Basically you create a template and the students fill it out.  The students can keep their work by embedding it into a personal webpage of some sort.  I use google sites because it is free, easy, and the kids at my school already have secure usernames and passwords.  The students created a portfolio and have been embedding their creation from this site all week.  They loved it!  I've shown 5 examples here and there is much more.  This would be great for just about any subject.