Monday, February 28, 2011

Projeqt

Projeqt is a new (beta) site for creating nice visual presentations. After giving it a try I must say that it is very user friendly w/ a drag and drop interface, but a bit slow on execution. I uploaded some photos but was having trouble w/ video.

What makes Projeqt very appealing is the number of ways a person can share their finished product.

I recommend checking out Projeqt by clicking here!!

Click here to see my quick sample... http://projeqt.com/dkapuler#lsi14882ci0q

Study Boost

Study Boost is a nice new (beta) site for studying w/ others using a mobile device. This can be done through instant messaging, chatting, etc.

I recommend giving Study Boost a try by clicking here!!

For a more detailed review check out Richard Byrne's excellent blog.

Max My Dream

Max My Dream is a fun site that I learned about from the wonderful blog, Life Feast. This is a site where a user types in their dream and then watch it come to life via fun animation (flash). I can see this being used w/ younger kids to introduce the concept of digital storytelling.



I recommend checking out Max My Dream by clicking here!!!

VuSafe

VuSafe is a new (beta) site that is ideal for watching educational videos. This is done by creating an environment where educators select pre-approved videos for their students to watch. This is still in beta but might be a nice alternative to the paid site - Discovery Streaming. Also, this is a very nice site to use on mobile devices such as the iPad and is CIPA compliant.



I highly recommend checking out VuSafe by clicking here!!!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Top 10 YouTube Goodies

I'd like to start off by saying this post gave me some trouble on trying to come up w/ a name for it. I actually decided to combine two lists into one, and could just as well as gone w/ Top 10 YouTube Tips or Extras for the title. That being said, I wanted to create a list of the top ways to edit YouTube videos and top ways to filter YouTube to make it safer for educational viewing.

Top 5 Ways to Make YouTube Viewing Safer for Schools
  1. YouYube: Safety Mode - This is a great new feature which is simple to use. By clicking on the safety mode button at the bottom left of a YouTube screen it filters inappropriate words from comments or allow inappropriate videos to be played.
  2. ViewPure - Nice way to remove comments and ads from YouTube video and easy to use. Also, can install a bookmarklet into your browser for convenience.
  3. Safe Share TV - A great site which generates a unique safe URL for viewing YouTube content.
  4. Silentube - Installs a bookmarklet in your browser to watch all YouTube, Viddler, and Vimeo videos in peace.
  5. Vusafe - An excellent way for an educator to create a safe environment for students to watch videos.
Other - (Quietube)

Top 5 Ways to Edit YouTube Videos
  1. YouTube: Video Editor - A great tool that allows users to upload a video, then edit it by cropping, adding soundtrack, and creating a mash-up.
  2. Tube Chop - A excellent site that is super easy to use for editing YouTube videos by entering a URL and selecting the start/stop times.
  3. SnipSnip.It - Easy to use site by entering a URL and selecting the start & stop times (similar to Tube Chop).
  4. VidScan - A great way to view YouTube videos in a timeline to figure out which sections you want to watch.
  5. VideoANT - A fun way to watch a YouTube video and then annotate it as it plays along.
Other Goodies
  • Synchtube - Create a public or private room where users can view the same video and chat in real time.
  • Kick YouTube - Easy way to view YouTube videos being blocked by a filter.
  • SaveVideo.Me - Great way to save any number of different video formats.
  • SaveYouTube - Excellent way to save YouTube videos.




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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

K12 Advantage

K12 Advantage is a new site that I just found out about that is a great resource for educators. I like to think of it as a cross between Blackboard, Moodle, and Moople. At heart it is a social network but it is much more then that. It is online environment filled w/ educational resources, a forum, a chat area (text,audio, video), etc etc. It is designed to bring educators together for collaboration and improve their technology literacy. Best of all this site is 100% free!!!

I highly recommend checking out K12 Advantage by clicking here!!!

Monday, February 21, 2011

Awesome Library

Awesome Library is a great site that has 1000's of resources for education in a number of different subject areas. It is organized nicely and very easy to use.

I highly recommend checking out Awesome Library by clicking here.

For a more detailed review check out Free Technology 4 Teachers.

Tech Resources

Richard Byrne of Free Technology 4 Teachers fame, has created an excellent site compiled of his favorite technology resources. I've been taking a look through some of these and am happy to report that the sites that he recommends are different then some of your more popular ones. This helps get the creative juices flowing.

I highly recommend checking out his resource site by clicking here!!!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Everloop

Everloop is a nice new social network designed to teacher kids how to social network and collaborate appropriately. What I like about this site is that is being monitored by parents and is sponsored by such companies as iSafe.

I recommend checking out Everloop by clicking here.

For a more detailed review check out Free Technology 4 Teachers.

Similar Site Search

Similar Site Search is a search engine I just found out about from Free Technology 4 Teachers. This is a nice site for trying to find those hard to find sites that are similar to what you are looking for. Also, it works pretty well and allows user to rate and get a feel for how relevant their sites are.

Give Similar Site Search a try by clicking here.

Better Lesson

Better Lesson is a great new site (beta)/social network that is designed for educators. This is a place where teachers can share and find lesson plans, presentations and engage in feedback. Also, it has a very nice polished look to and lots of options for teachers to use.

Below is a demo video...

An Introduction to BetterLesson from BetterLesson on Vimeo.



I highly recommend checking out Better Lesson by clicking here!!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Little Bird Tales

Little Bird Tales is a nice site for digital storytelling for elementary/young learners. Students get to create/upload their art work, record/narrate their voice, and add text to their story. Their finished story can then be viewed/emailed online.

I highly recommend checking out Little Bird Tales by clicking here.

Below is a demo video...



Thanks to Free Technology 4 Teachers for the tip!!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Moople

Moople is a site (and soon to be cloud based application) that is designed to help educators & students w/ collaborating and online learning. Moople stands for My Open Online Personal Learning Environment. It kind of reminds me of a content management system and is free like Moodle, but that is not entirely accurate. It is an educational portal that can be designed to meet any educator or students needs, via widgets and other means.

Also, it integrates well w/ WordPress, Moodle and Google Apps and looks to be a nice tool for technology integration in the upcoming year.



I highly recommend checking out Moople by clicking here!!
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ThumbScribes

ThumbScribes is a new (beta) site for collaborative digital storytelling. This is a great site designed to have people collaborate on a number of different items such as: poems, stories, songs, etc. Once a piece has been created it can then be voted on by other users.

I highly recommend checking out ThumbScribes by clicking here!!!

Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo's blog for the tip!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Plagiarisma

Plagiarisma is a great site to try and check to see if an item is being plagerized. This can be done by either pasting in a URL, uploading a document, or pasting in text. The results are then given as URL's that have similar data. Also, this can be a great teaching tool to show students why not to plaigerize.

I highly recommend educators to check out Plagiarisma to see how best to make Plagiarisma work for them.

Wordfaire

Wordfaire is a new site (beta) I just found out about from Free Technology 4 Teachers and it is ideal for introduce the concept of blogging. It's real easy to use, sign in w/ one of your favorite social media logins, name your blog, and then start typing. This is great for live blogging and you can even add photos as well.

I highly recommend checking out Wordfaire by clicking here!!!

Friday, February 11, 2011

Draw Island

Draw Island is a nice new (beta) site for drawing online. This is one of the better digital art sites to come around in awhile. It has a very nice user interface, lots of draw tools to choose from, and the ability create custom animations. Also, there are lots of features to come, such as sharing to your favorite social network site as well as mobility (ie, iPhone).

I highly recommend checking out Draw Island by clicking here!!!

Thanks to the award winning blog Free Technology For Teachers for the tip.

My top 10 sites for creating digital art.
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Pen.io

Pen.io is a simple site for creating a text based web page. A user just has to name a page and create a password to start creating their page. I think this would be a great idea to teach younger kids how to create online content in an easy way.

Give Pen.io a try by clicking here.

For a more detailed review check out Free Technology 4 Teachers.
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Drop Event

Drop Event is a easy site to use for photos sharing. All a user has to do is register, upload photos, and then share a unique URL to have others send their photos over via email.

I recommend giving Drop Event a try by clicking here.

Thanks to Richard Byrne for the tip!!

FreedomShare

FreedomShare is a great way to create a "wiki" for sharing text, links, and images. It reminds me a lot of Wikispaces w/out the ability to have subscribers to your page. However, you can click on advanced options and make the page public/private w/ the ability to allow comments.

I highly recommend checking out FreedomShare to introduce the 21st Century concept of wikis by clicking here!!!

Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo's wonderful blog for the tip!!

Convore

Convore is one of many nice new sites for creating a backchannel chat such as backchan.nl. Also, what makes Convore so appealing is that it is ideal for creating chats for groups that are real time.

I recommend checking out Convore by clicking here.

Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo's blog for the tip!!

Here is my list of top 10 sites for creating a backchannel chat.

WiseMapping

WiseMapping is a great site for brainstorming and creating mind-maps. It has a very nice user interface and a nice polished look. Also, there are lots of web 2.0 components for sharing/collaborating mind maps.

Below is a demo...



I highly recommend checking out WiseMapping by clicking here!!!

Click here for my top 10 Mindmapping/brainstorming tools.
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Monday, February 7, 2011

Educational Wiki

Hi all, I created this wiki for an upcoming conference here in WI, but I thought it could be of value w/ others. Below is the link, please feel free to join the wiki and edit as you see fit.

Thanks!!!

http://wemta-edtech-resources.wikispaces.com/

Friday, February 4, 2011

Top 10 Sites for Educational Resources

There are a ton of resources for educators and students around the web. That being said it, could be very time consuming trying to find what you want while wasting precious time. So, I've decided to create a list that I feel has the best resources for education. However, I'd like to point out that does not mean there are others that are not qualified to be on here. I'd love to hear feedback on which sites you feel have educational values so that we can create an even better repository of websites!!

Top 10 Sites for Educational Resources

  1. Thinkfinity - One of the most popular educational resource sites on the web. Created by Verizon Foundation w/ 1000's of lesson plans, interactive tools, etc etc.
  2. Teachers.net - A wonderful site w/ lesson plans created by teachers for teachers. A ton of classroom projects in all subjects and grade levels can be found here too.
  3. Edhelper - A great collection of educational resources on all subject areas. This is a paid service for a low cost, can be purchased in teacher packs of 5 as well.
  4. Shmoop - One of my favorite sites for education. A very fun and friendly site w/ a variety of resources such as links, lesson plans, guides, etc.
  5. teAchnology - 1000's of lesson plans can be found here as well as other resources on holidays, events, etc etc.
  6. Super Teacher Worksheets - A massive list of free printable worksheets for teachers on a number of subject areas.
  7. Educational World - A great site w/ lesson plans and different materials for teachers.
  8. TeachAde - A social network designed for educators w/ lots of free educational materials and beautiful user interface.
  9. Cybraryman - An excellent site w/ tons of links and resources for educators and students!!
  10. FREE - Free Resources for Educational Excellence, this site has it all, lessons, videos, documents and more.

SoundCloud

SoundCloud is a site I just found out about from the amazing Shelly Terrell on Twitter. This is an excellent site for creating and sharing sound in all types of formats (great for mobile devices as well). This is done in an innovative way by creating a visual wave that users can download, embed, or comment on.

I highly recommend checking out SoundCloud by clicking here!!

WEMTA PLN Ning

WEMTA (Wisconsin Educational Media & Technology Association)PLN is a new Ning network created by well renown, Naomi Harm. This network is designed for the upcoming tech/media conference being held in Madison WI. However, there is a lot of beneficial information for teachers and techs alike that it doesn't really matter if you are going to attend the conference or don't live in WI.

That being said this is a new network w/ lots of information still to come such as Video, articles, resources etc etc.

For those that are interested in strengthening their technology literacy I highly recommend joining this Ning network and start sharing your expertise, by clicking here!!
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Art Project

Art Project is a wonderful venture by Google that allows people to get immersed in art by traveling through museum virtually. This is an excellent site for students of art as they can learn, explore, comment, and create their own virtual art gallery.

Give Google Art Project a try by clicking here!!



For a much more detailed review check out Kelly Tenley's wonderful blog.
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