20 tools in 60 minutes
DESCRIPTION
technology toolsTRANSCRIPT
Tizmos at www.tizmos.com
Set up your home page with pictures that link to the sites
you want students to access!
http://joliprint.com/
Joliprint helps you to print only the article and not all the
"fluff" on the sides. Use the toolbar button to make it even
more convenient.
Readability for Firefox browsers--this tool allows you to see a
web page without all the extras, making it simpler for students
who are easily distracted. You can also download a toolbar
button "R" for this one.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/readability/
http://www.dropbox.com/edu
http://www.dropbox.com/
Dropbox is a service that allows you to store files on
the web from any computer or "in the cloud" so you
have access to them from anywhere.
http://www.meetingwizard.com/
End the round robin of emails or phone calls and
set up meetings that work for all the participants!
“When is good” is another service similar to this.
http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/home
Skype is a great way to videoconference with others for
free. Call your parents, kids at college, or Skype with an
author or another class.
http://wakerupper.com/
Schedule your own wake up calls for free on any
phone.
http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/
This site will help you decide if it is the web site
that isn't working or just your computer.
http://www.snappywords.com/
This visual dictionary and thesaurus shows you related
words as well as parts of speech.
http://tinyurl.com/
Use tinyurl to shorten those horribly long URL addresses
to something more manageable. This one also has a
browser button to make it very convenient to use.
http://www.online-stopwatch.com/
Do you ever need a timer for your classroom? This
site has more than you will ever use.
http://www.geni.com/
Working on a family tree or genealogy project? This site will
make it much simpler.
http://www.pandora.com
Do your students work more quietly if you have background
music playing? You can choose the kind of music you want
at Pandora radio.
http://www.qwiki.com/
Qwiki is a new kind of search engine that talks to you and
shows you pictures about your search topic.
http://www.wipeelist.com/tour/
Do you make lists and lose them? Perhaps an online list
maker could help you solve that.
http://www.keepandshare.com/htm/calendars/online_calendar/best_free_online_cale
ndar.php
https://www.google.com/calendar
http://www.bravenet.com/webtools/calendar/
http://www.famundo.com/demo
http://www.cozi.com/
If you want an online calendar there are lots of available
choices. Some include list makers and other goodies as
well.
These calendars are designed for family use.
http://www.commoncraft.com
Commoncraft is a great resource to explain technology and
other topics.
http://www.diigo.com/
Diigo is a place to collect bookmarks that are accessible from
every computer. Plus, you can highlight, take notes, and save
all of the information for later. You can add a tool to your
toolbar to simplify the process.
http://mrsvandrovecsphotos.shutterfly.com/
Shutterfly is a great site for creating web pages, especially
those with lots of pictures. You can link it to your EduWeb
teacher page. You don't have to know how to use html code
and best of all--it is easy and free!
http://www.schooltube.com/user/jpstech
Schooltube is one way to work around the youtube ban at
school. Send me links to the videos you want and let me
bring them into schooltube for you to access.
Students can create "glogs" which are digital posters that can
include links, videos, sound, and graphics. This is so much
more engaging than a flat poster!
http://edu.glogster.com/
Instead of asking students to create a PowerPoint report,
let them use Prezi. The information is all on one large
"sheet" and you travel to each section. Wow factor!
http://prezi.com/
http://bighugelabs.com/
For creative work with digital pictures, go to Big Huge
Labs. Students can create posters, magazine covers,
trading cards, and lots more!
This site is similar--it has lots of fun things for kids to
customize!
http://www.redkid.net/generator/sign.php
To help students with spelling or vocabulary words, use
Spelling City. Create an account and enter the words you
want your students to learn. Sentences are provided but
can be edited.
http://www.spellingcity.com/
Wordle and others like it (Word it out, Tagul, and
Tagxedo) create word clouds based on frequency of
word use. Use it to show students how they overuse
adjectives, or create a wordle of an autobiography or of
the president's latest speech.
www.wordle.net
http://vocaroo.com/
Would you like students to record themselves reading or
practicing speaking? This is the easiest site for that! Email it
to yourself when they finish or follow the web link.
Need images for student reports? Stick to sites that use
pictures with Creative Commons licenses. They still need to
cite their source, but you know they won't be infringing on
copyright.
http://wylio.com
http://www.pics4learning.com/
To search for pictures by color use
http://labs.ideeinc.com/multicolr/
http://www.morguefile.com/
Another interesting way to create reports is to use an online
magazine. After you publish, viewers turn the pages to see
the completed work.
http://issuu.com/
http://timerime.com/en/
Creating timelines is streamlined using online timeline
creators like timerime or dipity. Students can add
sound, pictures, and video to their timelines. Can you
say "History Day Project?"
Using a back channel is a way to keep your students
engaged during class. For instance, they can ask
questions or make comments during speeches or a video.
You monitor and respond during the back channel.
http://www.neatchat.com/
Comic creation is another way to get students writing.
http://superherosquad.marvel.com/create_your_own_comic
http://goanimate.com/
There is also a school edition
called Go!Animate4Schools with
prepared comics for teaching
available.
For those students who would like more of a
challenge, there is Xtranormal which allows you to
create videos in cartoon form.
http://www.xtranormal.com/index
PhotoStory 3 is a great program to create slideshow videos
of photos and/or videos. Students can create poetry,
reports, or book trailers. You can narrate as well as add
music. The videos look great when you finish and can be
played on any computer!
PhotoStory3
http://animoto.com/education
Animoto is a great tool for video creation. You can import
digital pictures or video, add text and music and Animoto
does the rest! Stupeflix is another option to create videos.
Using an online storage site helps keep research
organized so it can be retrieved later.
http://livebinders.com/
Live Binders example
http://museumbox.e2bn.org/
Museum box is similar but has a different application--think
of it as a way to display your findings to present an argument
or to get a feel for a historical time or literature piece. There
are school accounts available for this one too.
Being able to get student feedback in a way that keeps
their dignity intact is easy using technology. There are
online polls that allow you to do this.
http://tinyurl.com/4jmhjq5
http://pollmo.com/
Making online quizzes for your students can be done quite
simply for free. Try this one to see an example of a quiz.
http://tinyurl.com/18r
http://www.quizinator.com/
We know that flashcards help students to retain information,
but we know that the students of today need something a
little more "flashy" to keep their interest. Some suggestions
are StudyStack, Flashcard DB, Quizlet, and Flashcard
Exchange.
http://www.studystack.com/
http://flashcarddb.com/
http://quizlet.com/
Another way to find out what your students are thinking is
to use Wallwisher. Each student can add a sticky note to
express themselves. http://www.wallwisher.com/
http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/tech11
A similar site is http://corkboard.me
Students can make simple animated stories by dragging and
dropping story elements and typing words into the
conversation bubbles. You need to join to be able to save
your work. www.zimmertwins.com
http://www.tuxpaint.org/
Tuxpaint is a drawing program that you can download for
free. Students love it!
There are great story creation sites available on the
web. Here are some of my favorites!
storybird.com for intermediate
gradesmyths and legends for
upper elementary
My StoryMaker for
little ones
This is a new story site that I am really excited about. It has
things for all ages--spell a picture, draw, make cards, stories,
and movies. www.kerpoof.com
Zoo Burst is a new 3-D story creation site. You do need
to create an account to save your books.
http://www.zooburst.com/
Comic creation can start with young students.
http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/
http://superherosquad.marvel.com/cre
ate_your_own_comic
There is a new program called Little Bird that is a fun story creator for little ones. You can include voice recordings in the books. http://littlebirdtales.com/