Tools with Ideas

DocsTeach

2011-12-11T09:01:00.000-08:00

http://docsteach.org/
The National Archives has been a wonderful place to find lessons and this tool just adds to the amazement. Teachers can use ready-made activities using primary sources to explore thousands (really http://docsteach.org/documents ) of topics.

AND you can make your own activity, too

Classroom idea: Many books read in English classes lend themselves to an exploration of the era in which they were written. Use an activity like http://docsteach.org/activities/7958 to explore a theme.

Google Fusion Tables

2011-12-11T08:33:00.000-08:00

Google Fusion Tables http://www.google.com/fusiontables/Home/

When I first saw Google Fusion Tables, I was intimidated , but on further reflection I have come to see fusion tables as a great way to express data geographically, and a great way to provide useful spreadsheet experience to students,

Classroom idea: Students assigned a book for outside reading could put location, image url, and online description pertaining to setting in book onto shared spreadsheet, which would then be transformed into map of reading.

Fair Use evaluators

2011-12-11T08:08:00.000-08:00

Both these tools produce a pdf that records your consideration of fair use.

http://www.lib.umn.edu/copyright/fairthoughts

from University of Minnesota

http://librarycopyright.net/fairuse/other.php

from Copyright Advisory Network

Classroom idea: Incorporate one of these tools into next class project .

Sweet Search

2011-11-26T17:46:00.001-08:00

http://www.sweetsearch.com/

Here is a tool that provides some context and evaluation to the results. I especially like the checkboxes that let you Save selected results to a Google doc

Scoop it

2011-11-20T19:15:00.000-08:00

http://www.scoop.it/

A very easy to use curating tool.
http://www.scoop.it/t/testing-this-mythology

Classroom idea: Easy way to gather and present subject specific sites.

Vizlingo

2011-11-20T14:28:00.000-08:00

Another tool from the master Free Tech for Teachers

You type in a phrase and it makes a little movie for you illustrating the words and concepts.
http://api.vizlingo.com:8080//v1/zings?z=89e2cfe94673fa5e2814cd0a0d22a636.mp4

Classroom Idea: I was not as impressed with this tool as with this idea. Students in language classes could create similar movie collages on imovie or movie-maker, using visual clues for vocabulary and grammar building exercises.

Creaza

2011-11-13T07:15:00.000-08:00

Creaza

http://www.creazaeducation.com/

is a tool that lets you make cartoons, movies and mindmaps. I was impressed with the movie editing, and liked the add a note feature to the mindmaps.

Classroom idea: Movie making as a group project is difficult, but this tool might be the solution, as students could work on one account.

Classroom Idea

Explaining Daylight Savings Time

2011-11-12T19:57:00.000-08:00

Classroom Idea:
This video can introduce the interconnectedness of disciplines.

Literature Map

2011-11-12T17:54:00.000-08:00

Free Technology for Teachers reminded me of this source for finding read alikes.

Literature Map http://www.literature-map.com/ I have much more success when I put in first and last name, but this is a fun tool

Youtube edits

2011-10-08T19:25:00.000-07:00

Don't want to lose this.

Creative Commons Search

2011-08-11T06:55:00.000-07:00

http://search.creativecommons.org/

Many sites allow one to search for media that have been somehow labeled as freely available for reuse. This tool brings those services together. While this service is not a guarantee that image is available for reuse, it does provide a filtering service.

Classroom Idea: To model the need for conscious thought when reusing someone else's work, send students here for media searches. I think Flickr, especially, with the clickable license link, is a great model and teacher of respecting others creative work.

National Jukebox

2011-05-15T10:10:00.000-07:00

National Jukebox http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/The Library of Congress has made historical sound recordings available online in a (fairly) easily retrievable way. The advanced search lets you search by author title genre and by date as well as keyword. http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/search.
Here is a quick playlist using keyword "Ireland". You can share your playlist via a link
http://media.loc.gov/playlist/view/A3545ECB048A00E8E0438C93F11600E8

Classroom Idea:

When studying a certain period in American history, listen to recordings from that era.
Use recordings from an era to examine cultural norms.

Directory Of Learning Tools 2011

2011-03-06T18:41:00.000-08:00

DIRECTORY OF LEARNING TOOLS 2011

http://c4lpt.co.uk/directory-of-learning-performance-tools//

This is a very useful directory of online tools. I use it often to find a tool for a specific task.

What Works Clearinghouse (WWC)

2011-02-19T18:23:00.000-08:00

What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/

Established by the U.S. Department of Education, this is a clearinghouse of educational research, in a friendly and pretty accessible format, although not yet very deep. I liked the intervention search in the Topic areas. You can search on program, or project or product ( for example AR) and , get a report on the effectiveness of that program. I want to keep an eye on this clearinghouse.

2011-02-19T18:08:00.000-08:00

http://shea.mit.edu/ramparts/welcome.htm

" Hamlet on the Ramparts is an evolving collection that will expand to include other texts, images, films, sound recordings and digitial artifacts. Planned additions include commentary by major scholars and a forum for user participation."
I especailly like the reading room, where you can compare folios and quarto and film and illustration http://shea.mit.edu/ramparts/readingroom/index.htm

Diigo

2011-02-13T17:15:00.000-08:00

Diigo http://www.diigo.com/index . I am looking for a replacement to delicious, and looked again at diigo. I lile it as a cloudbased bookmarking tool, but am impressed even more by the annotating andnotetaking features .

Diigo V5: Collect and Highlight, Then Remember! from diigobuzz on Vimeo.

Classroom idea: The more practice students get in becoming active ereaders, the better. This tool looks very useful for that purpose.

web clipboard

2011-02-06T09:24:00.000-08:00

I am sl--oo---owww--ly warming to Google Chrome. Another reason to use it just appeared on my radar with this improvement. One has to use Chrome and be logged into their Google account , and that has to have a gmail account with it ( a lot of requirements I know), but then you get the web clipboard at your disposal. You can highlight text and some images from the web, right click and copy them onto web clipboard and LATER ON place them in your Google docs. You have 30 days to use the gathered material. I only wish the clipboard let you paste in the url so you would have a research organizer as well.

A web clipboard for Google Docs http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2010/02/web-clipboard-for-google-docs.html and http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2011/02/improved-copy-and-paste-using-web.html

Classroom idea: Hmmm, I really wish this had a url placeholder tool. But this might be a nice tool for students who use various computers through the day. Could it be used as a gathering tool for practice in synethesizing various ideas?

Google Art Project

2011-02-06T07:54:00.000-08:00

Google Art Project http://www.googleartproject.com/

Classroom idea: C'mon!

BBC Dimensions

2011-02-06T07:46:00.000-08:00

BBC Dimensions http://howbigreally.com/

Here is a neat visualization tool from BBC that allows you to show the size of a historical place or event in a manner your viewers can recognize. Te dimensions of the place are overlayed onto a Google map of your choosing. Here Victorian London is overlayed over San Francisco.

Classroom ideas. Currently there are 9 themes to choose. Students studying WWII can get an idea of the Battle of Stalingrad by placing the event in their own neighborhood.Stalingrad and surrounded German forces in 1942 as shown at…

Text 2 Mind Map

2011-01-29T18:32:00.000-08:00

Text 2 Mind Map http://www.text2mindmap.com/

Another mind mapping tool, but with a twist . This tool has the user enter an outline of ideas, with indentations on the outline determining the maps relationship structure. Once the map is produced, the creator has color font and placement options. And it can all be saved as a jpg, like this:

If you like outlines, this may be the tool for you .

Classroom use: A nice tool for cause and effect review.

Dropbox

2011-01-16T17:09:00.000-08:00

https://www.dropbox.com

Dropbox is software that is resident on your computer, but that stores your files in the "cloud". Even better it syncs your files online and across your computers. So if you change a file in dropbox. it'll be changed everywhere you have dropboxes. Free service allows saving up to 2GB.

Classroom idea: This could be a great tool for students working on projects, because changes would be immediate. I like the idea that the dropbox is resident on your computer ( or as an app on smartphone), because I have noticed this is "comforting" and a familiar way to save.

McGuinn’s Folk Den

2011-01-09T17:31:00.000-08:00

McGuinn’s Folk Den
http://www.ibiblio.org/jimmy/folkden-wp/

Very nice source of folk music, both the lyrics and an audiofile. Includes a bit of the history of the music as well. And licensed under creative commons for Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. for easy sharing.

EmbedPlus

2011-01-06T11:37:00.000-08:00

http://embedplus.com/

This tool lets you clip and annotate videos VERY easily. I did this in less than a minute.

Classroom Idea : Wow, so many of them. Language learners can translate videos, or at least key moments in them. History learners can add content or opinions.

Thanks to Jane Knight

History for Music Lovers

2011-01-01T09:48:00.000-08:00

History for Music Lovers
http://www.youtube.com/user/historyteachers#g/u

Classroom ideas : Clever video parodies, great for history. Useful as introductions to units. Students could also create their own.

Reflections on being an Echo Chamber:

I discovered this tool came from Joyce Valenza 's NeverEndingSearch http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/neverendingsearch . I get many great ideas from her and other tech and ed blog writers. In fact that is where I get all my tools. It has surprised me how creative I feel in using and presenting to others these tools when I know I did not make or discover them. At best I am a fourth or fifth level echo-er. But I take heart in my echoes, because I hope they aid the teachers and students I work with every day, And my small echoing transforms these tools into new uses. Maybe this is how being a grandparent feels :)

Playing History

2010-12-31T11:29:00.000-08:00

Playing History http://playinghistory.org/

I haven't been paying as much attention as I should to resource collection, This collection of games appropriate for many social studies classes. Plus, I am happy to find an online Oregon Trail.

Classroom idea: Use these as a opener for study or a review. Students could use these as basis for creating their own game.

Simplebooklet

2010-12-28T11:38:00.000-08:00

simplebooklet http://simplebooklet.com/index.php#
I like to consider new ways of presenting student information. I like this tool for two reasons :

The clean lines. The ability to create multiple pages allows for lots of information to be presented, but not overwhelmed.
The booklet ( one of multiple options for presenting) allows for "story" or narrative.

Classroom idea: Create a catalog of items for sale from the time period of the novel being studied.

ZooBurst

2010-12-27T09:47:00.000-08:00

ZooBurst http://www.zooburst.com/index.php is an online pop up book creator. This tool lets the creator of a story present images and text in a timed and spatial manner. The basic free license allows speech bubbles as well as story text.

Classroom idea - Students create books that present a tour through history, or a tour of a every day life in a country, using native language.

A Holiday Card From Google

2010-12-23T07:46:00.000-08:00

http://www.google.com/logos/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704774604576035500936272100.html

Google celebration logos always are of interest. The one on December 23, 2010 was a loose recreation of "Google" with a number of interactive images that approximated the standard Google colors of each letter. The images also led to a search on the theme of that image.

Classroom idea : Easier version of this idea : Using Glogster ( would work best I think), Moodle , wikis or Prezi, gathers a collection of images to create a collage of a word or concept, with the images somehow relating to the word.. , The magic of linking or "pathing" would allow the image to be linked to a presentation about that aspect.

Disunion

2010-12-22T16:59:00.000-08:00

Disunion http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/disunion/
From the New York Times, "One-hundred-and-fifty years ago, Americans went to war with themselves. Disunion revisits and reconsiders America’s most perilous period — using contemporary accounts, diaries, images and historical assessments to follow the Civil War as it unfolded."

Classroom idea: Have students peruse these sources, and then do research to presenting primary source with explanation.

Mapping America: Every City, Every Block

2010-12-21T15:52:00.000-08:00

Mapping America: Every City, Every Block http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/explorer

The New York Times offer these maps, based on 2005-2009 Census Bureau's American Community Survey.

Classroom idea: These would be great for Civics and Economics classes, discussing voting patterns as related to other factors.

Brain Games

2010-12-20T21:13:00.000-08:00

http://www.proprofs.com/games Easily created embeddable crosswords, etc

Classroom Idea. These are easily embedded into Moodle or another website and could be used as vocabulary refresher. A language class could build multiple crosswords based on theme - weather, home life, etc.

WolframAlpha widgets

2010-12-20T21:07:00.000-08:00

WolframAlpha widgets. Fun and interesting. I love the historical weather ones, too.

http://developer.wolframalpha.com/widgets/gallery/featured/ Widgets

Trulia Hindsight

2010-12-20T20:52:00.000-08:00

Trulia Hindsight http://hindsight.trulia.com/map/#lat=38.342&lon=-95.273&zoom=4&mix=0.500

Here is a site that allows visualization of how cities actually developed.

Classroom ideas - I can see using this in history and literature classes. How developed was Long Island in Jay Gatsby’s day? What was pre-war Los Angeles like?

Tubechop

2010-12-20T20:47:00.000-08:00

Tubechop http://www.tubechop.com lets you select start and end points on youtubes so you don’t have to show entire video.

Gapminder

2010-11-02T11:41:00.000-07:00

Gapminder http://www.gapminder.org/ From their website “unveil the beauty of statistical time series by converting boring numbers into enjoyable, animated and interactive graphics.” Visualize statistics and data.

Classroom idea: Great for comparative studies. This site has a learning curve, but the presentations you can make really bring data to life.

Video Ant

2010-10-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

Video Ant http://ant.umn.edu/ Video annotator – analyze and annotate videos you and students find (or make). Works on flv files.

Classroom idea : Give students step by step critiques of video projects.

360 Cities

2010-09-12T17:06:00.000-07:00

360 Cities http://www.360cities.net/

Great source for panoramic views of cities and sights
Yellowstone Old Faithful Inn External View in USA A nice feature is when embedded for noncommercial use, no ads are attached.

Lesson idea: I like the idea of exploring why a city is where it is. This tool can give a visual to rivers, mountains, etc.that contributed to a city's founding or growth.

Fair use

2010-08-20T09:56:00.000-07:00

The History Chef!

2010-08-20T09:53:00.000-07:00

http://lincolnslunch.blogspot.com/

What a great idea for bringing history to life.

2010-08-20T09:45:00.000-07:00

http://ankisrs.net/
A great flashcard maker that works on iphone and ipod. I like this one, because it also works well on a plain old computer.

Screenjelly

2010-08-20T08:01:00.000-07:00

Screenjelly http://www.screenjelly.com/ another really easy to use screencast tool.

Jaycut

2010-06-24T08:52:00.000-07:00

Jaycut http://jaycut.com/

I just used Jaycut to make a simple movie. If you have used Windows Moviemaker, or Photostory, the learning curve will be easy. This is free, and while a tiny bit slow, I liked it. Easy to import an existing video. I needed to learn a dance and words to a song, and I the options Jaycut gave me for adding text were just what I needed Here is the video . If you are interested in the Cool Water Hula Event go here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdEJpiELgYc&feature=related .

What I really like is using Jaycut may make the biggest problem I see in using MovieMaker go away. Students often don't save their collections of images on the same computer they make their movie. Jaycut is all in the clouds and thus everything imported into the project is available everywhere.

Noodletools

2010-05-18T07:37:00.000-07:00

Noodletools http://www.noodletools.com/ is one of the best values for schools out there. They offer a free citation maker that produces correct citations. ( Some citation makers don't, alas). Their subscription product has a wonderful notecard module that gives studnets a way to save their research and also make it their own. Another great feature is the "sharing with teacher" whereby the teacher can make ongoing comments on a research project.

Glogster revisited

2010-04-20T08:27:00.000-07:00

I have been using Glogster as a way to present pathfinders for student assignments. I like the customizable background

The edu version has a class management feature. I wish there was a mass uenroll and unenroll, but I like the resulting projects.

Memorize Now

2010-02-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

I see so many students using flashcards to memorize. While reading Demo Girl , I came across an online flashcard maker I like, as it adds a little extra memorization tool. It deletes words from phrase to allow gradual a few clues, but still lets students think and memorize. It also has a first letter tool that just shows the first letter of the words to be memorized. I thought this would be useful for all those mnemonics people use to remember

http://www.memorizenow.com/

Classroom idea:
Have students enter the words, phrases concepts and start memorizing.

Going with Geography

2010-02-07T07:40:00.000-08:00

Richard Byrne at Free Technology for Teachers is a great blog to read. I get so many ideas and inspirations from his posts. He wrote about Geo Coded Art recently. I liked this tool for showing landscape paintings and the actual inspiration for them via Google maps
Classroom ideas:
1)A class studying a country could use this gathering of art and geography to personalize the study.

2) Create your own class database of Geo-coded studies. Chemistry classes doing element study could Geo-code the elements.

Google Earth ideas

2010-01-24T10:16:00.001-08:00

Don't want to lose this great resource for using Google Earth
Thanks to Richard Byrne at Free Technology for Teachers
Google Earth Across the Curriculum -

Vidinotes

2010-01-18T08:48:00.000-08:00

Vidinotes http://www.vidinotes.com Gives you the tool to create a printable summary from your video

Jane's E-Learning Pick of the Day is once again my source for this tool.

So many times I will create a screencast of a web 2.0 tool, only to hear , "Can I have something in print?" With some more effort, this tool will transform any video into a print tutorial.

Classroom idea: Lesson on "The Main Idea". Have students use this tool on selected video clips, producing a visual and written synthesis of what was presented. .

Scribblar

2009-12-30T17:40:00.000-08:00

Scribblar

Hmm - online whiteboards always seem like a good idea to me, but I have never been able to sell them.
I like this one because
1) it requires no sign -up and
2)it lets you take a snapshot of the page. Maybe this would work with math notes?

Zinn Education Project

2009-12-30T11:12:00.000-08:00

Teaching A People's History http://www.zinnedproject.org/

A collection of resources and lesson plans based on teaching history from a passionate place, a nontraditional view, and a social justice view of history.

Classroom idea: Lots of ideas for lessons that could go cross curricular - especially religion and history.

I knew of The People Speak on the History Channel and read about this on Free Technology for Teachers, a blog I read for great ideas

2009-07-22T20:34:00.000-07:00

Block Posters http://www.blockposters.com

I found this tool, new for me, to enlarge images to poster size. Just upload image , choose size and you get a pdf file you can cut and place as a poster

Wordnik

2009-06-24T11:03:00.000-07:00

Wordnik http://www.wordnik.com/

This is an interesting website. It serves as a dictionary, but I really like the real time aspect of tweets that use the word, as well as images. I also like the statistical use summary.

Classroom ideas. Use this tool to present vocabulary words, both in English and other languages.

dotSUB

2009-06-09T20:27:00.000-07:00

dotSUB http://dotsub.com/ This site offers videos subtitled into different languages. Members can do the transcribing.

Classroom idea.
Have a class take a favorite video and translate it and load it on dotSUB
Use dotSUB original language videos with the original language subtitles as a teaching tool.

Rich Chart Live

2009-06-07T07:19:00.000-07:00

Rich Chart Live http://www.richchartlive.com

I like this chart maker. It has a nice variety of displays.

Classroom idea:

Extend an excel lesson by displaying data dynamically.
Add interest to your own blog or moodle unit introduction.

Plagium

2009-06-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

Plagium http://www.plagium.com/

Detect plagiarism on the fly. Turnitin costs
our school about 1000 . Could this be a cheaper, less intrusive way to go?

Read dy/dan

2009-05-31T14:01:00.000-07:00

dy/dan's blog He always makes me think.

Classroom idea: What if someone took the picture each day , tagged it on facebook, delicious, moodle ?

Making Youtubes more educational setting friendly

2009-05-31T13:31:00.000-07:00

Youtubes have a customize button that , most importantly , lets you uncheck " Include related videos" , but also determine border color and video size. Look for the little cogwheel

Neok12

2009-05-31T13:26:00.000-07:00

Neok12
http://www.neok12.com/ is a search list for educational videos. It seems to be mostly youtubes, and heavy on science.

WolframAlpha

2009-05-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

WolframAlpha
http://www79.wolframalpha.com/

Screencast

This will be great for statistics, comparisons, health data.

I have to really get familiar with this.

youtube video tricks

2009-05-23T08:47:00.001-07:00

Linking to a specific spot in youtube video from Jim Gates.

and this from Digital Inspiration
if you want more control over the size of the YouTube video player, here’s a simple hack - just replace the word "watch" in the URL of any YouTube video with "watch_popup" and the video will expand to fit your browser window, not the desktop.

For instance, if the original YouTube video is located at ..

youtube.com/watch?v=2mrRvUNlq50

the same video can be accessed standalone outside the YouTube website at..

youtube.com/watch_popup?v=2mrRvUNlq50

Resizing the browser window will also resize the YouTube player and you can press F11 in Firefox to mimic YouTube’s full screen mode even with this hack.

Google Search options

2009-05-22T20:30:00.000-07:00

Classroom idea: Visual way to show keyword searching techniques

I Need to Read This

2009-05-12T16:04:00.001-07:00

I Need to Read This Hmm. Maybe this tool will at least make me feel like I possibly can keep up.
http://ineedtoreadthis.com/

lets you add bookmarklets on your toolbar to add blog posts, articles you want to read. The matching bookmarklet lets you read the articles when you get a chance. I saw this on Demo Girl

Google Public Data

2009-05-03T16:25:00.000-07:00

Create a chart of the unemployment and/or population for Us Counties. Simply type in Google population or unemployment and the county you want to compare.

"unemployment Contra Costa County" gets you a link to an interactive chart you can build one to suit your needs. I hope Google adds more statistics to this search.

My Ebook

2009-04-04T21:40:00.000-07:00

My Ebook http://www.myebook.com
Don't want to forget this

Vocabulary idea

2009-04-04T21:21:00.000-07:00

I don't really like Wordahead http://www.wordahead.com/ that much, becasue I am not so interested in the words and producers. But I would be interested in seeing my students work and words. I can see using this idea , and having students throughout the year make small videos on the years vocab words. They could use moviemaker, slideshare, one true media, etc.

Using Google Book section embedding

2009-02-22T09:01:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I find bits of information in a Google book I want to use.
Google has an embed feature that lets you take these selections in both image and text form.

Classroom Idea : Use Google books to discover Local Histories and pull out pertinent stories. The book images and their corresponding texts below are for a lesson on how barb wire changed the West.

S.D. Butcher's Pioneer History of Custer County And Short Sketches of Early Days in Nebraska By Solomon Devore Butcher

Frederick Schreyer first Homesteader in Trinmph Tp Settled 1875 Frederick Schreyer was another interesting character He was the first homesteader on the South Loup between Callaway and Arnold He was a very resolute German about fifty years of age and as eccentric as he was resolute He constructed a dugout in which he imagined he would be secure from the depredations of the festive cowboy As we have said before there was a natural antipathy between the cowboys and the settlers and the breach became wider and wider as time passed by and the settlers became more numerous Armed encounters were frequent and bloodshed was often the result Schreyer often had encounters with the cowboys and at one time was wounded in two places He thought he was going to die and had Charles Rockwood draw up his will He had a ford near his house which he called S.D. Butcher's Pioneer History of Custer County And Short Sketches of Early Days in Nebraska By Solomon Devore Butcher

S.D. Butcher's Pioneer History of Custer County And Short Sketches of Early Days in Nebraska By Solomon Devore Butcher

his ford and nobody was allowed to cross the river at that place if he could prevent it without his consent He also surrounded his house with a high sod wall which he called his fortifications Ou the morning of April 1 1878 JD Haskell and the writer put some tools in a wagon aud went up the river to repair a corral In going we crossed the river at Schreyer's ford We saw nothing of him at that time but during the day he sent us word that if we attempted to cross there in coming back he would shoot us When we arrived at the ford on the way back and while watering our horses we saw Schreyer and his son running toward the house with guns As soon as we got within range they raised up from behind their fortifications and began firing at us We were unarmed and thinking discretion the better part of valor put the whip to our team and got out of the way In our flight we had to pass pretty close to the house aud one of the shots tore the step from the side of the wagon From that time on there was trouble Young Schreyer was arrested on the Platte but escaped and went to Lincoln where he remained a month He came back to Kearney was again arrested and brought up into Custer county He and his father were taken handcuffed to Custer for preliminary examination and were bound over to appear before the District Court Not giving bonds they were lodged in the Plum Creek jail In July they were tried and sentenced to serve a term in jail bv Judge Gaslin They served out their time and got home the next winter The war between the homesteaders and the cattlemen continued for some years but at last the large herds were compelled to remove farther west where free range was more plentiful and homesteaders scarce After being in possession of this country for twelve years they like the Indian were compelled to give it up to more advanced civilization Stockmen who had traveled over the plains between here and Texas said this was the best country for ranging stock to be found anywhere in the United States No wonder then that thev made such a hard struggle to retain it Where once roamed thousands of buffalo and afterwards thousands of cattle we now see the locomotive steaming along the valleys The country is now dotted over with beautiful farms and the ground that was once used for bedding down cattle in immense herds is now occupied by the village of Callaway Belies of unusual interest have at different times been found in this country In the summer of 1SS0 while riding on the Middle Loup with others we came to a bed of charred wood near where the Milburn bridge now AND SHORT SKETCHES OF EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA 16 S.D. Butcher's Pioneer History of Custer County And Short Sketches of Early Days in Nebraska By Solomon Devore Butcher

Google docs

2009-02-08T08:01:00.000-08:00

from
ICT in my Classroom

LoudLit and Librivox

2009-02-06T08:06:00.000-08:00

Here are sites with free audio books, some with embedded text.

LoudLit
http://www.loudlit.org/

Librivox
http://librivox.org/

Classroom idea
1) Alternative learning style approach

2) Start a lesson with a snippet of audio

'Aesop's Fables'
Freud, Sigmund. "Dream Psychology"
Darwin, Charles. "Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection; or, the Preservation of..." ·

Mi vida loca - Spanish course

2009-01-24T15:01:00.001-08:00

Mi vida loca - http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/mividaloca/

BBC interactive Spanish course.
Thanks to Jane E learning Pick of the Day

Will Richardson quote I don't want to forget.

2009-01-10T20:09:00.000-08:00

"We have to learn to read not only texts but to edit them as well, not just for accuracy but for bias, agenda and motive. In the online learning world, we have to be full fledged editors, not just readers, because the traditional editors are gone from the process. ... To me, that’s what 21st Century Skills are all about, teaching our kids to navigate the world as they are experiencing it, not the world we experienced."

http://weblogg-ed.com/category/the-shifts/

Instacalc

2009-01-05T10:50:00.001-08:00

Instacalc http://instacalc.com/
I am still learning this web app, but I can already see I will like it better than the accessory calculator on my computer, because I don't need to press enter just read the results. Plus the results will stay available in a row.

Classroom idea.
Share formulas in math ( I'll try to get back with an example)

Print on Sticky Notes in MS Word

2008-12-20T07:57:00.000-08:00

Print on Sticky Notes in MS Word http://www.edzone.net/~mwestern/tutorials/stickynote.pdf
I came across this great tutorial from Marilyn Western.

Here are some classroom ideas:

Save a little paper when you need to revise original.
Print these for marketing tools for books with such things as "Mrs. Tracy's top ten favorites" or " What to read after you've read Twilight".
Print a batch for a teachers gift with her name on it.

Slideshare addon for Powerpoint

2008-12-17T06:53:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Jane's E-Learning Pick of the Day
for this one.

Tabbloid

2008-12-14T07:38:00.000-08:00

Tabbloid http://www.tabbloid.com

This is a tool that lets you capture RSS feeds and have them delivered in a pdf file via email. I like this tool because I think the pdf two column format is easily read.

Classroom idea:
1) Use this tool for current news feeds and post resultant pdf on your Moodle or wiki . I like RSS feeds as a way to ensure current events reading comes from reliable sources.

2) Find two opposing viewpoint feeds and have class compare and contrast. resultant pdfs

Screedbot

2008-12-04T17:06:00.000-08:00

I always like to see something new. Here is a tool that produces animated typewriter text for you

Screedbot http://wigflip.com/screedbot/#.

Classroom idea
Place most important directions in a screedbot to make them more noticeable.

Query by humming

2008-11-28T10:43:00.000-08:00

Ever remember a melody and can't remember the song? Here are several neat tools that MAY help you name that song!

Musipedia http://www.musipedia.org/query_by_humming.0.html
Musicline http://www.musicline.de/de/melodiesuche/input . This is in German.
midomi http://www.midomi.com/

These work better if you can whistle.

How to create a self-grading quiz using Google Forms

2008-11-12T18:32:00.000-08:00

Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty

2008-10-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

Capture Fox Movie

2008-10-04T12:28:00.000-07:00

I love Firefox, mainly because it has neat add-ons that allow so much flexibility in producing content.
Here is the latest thing I have stumbled upon.
Capture Fox Movie http://www.advancity.net/eng/products/capturefox.html
It is a very easy screencapture tool. Here is a little screencapture I made without sound. It demonstrates nothing but the ease of this tool.

Embedding Google Books

2008-09-27T20:24:00.000-07:00

Here are instructions http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/09/embeddable-google-books.html

Here is an embedded book

and here is a classroom idea: project book during class so students who forgot their book can still read along I know this is basic, and I will be thinking of other ideas.

fooling with docs

2008-08-17T02:24:00.000-07:00

Adding already produced documents to blogs

Google doc link

placeholder wiki
I also thought of another tool I have seen Scribd. This lets you display page on blog post, as you can see.

Testing pages - Upload a Document to Scribd

Blog as parking spot

2008-08-04T14:07:00.000-07:00

Favthumbs and MyJugaad.in

2008-07-13T08:19:00.000-07:00

Here are two possible ways to present webpages. Thanks to Jane Hart's Pick of the Week.
Favthumbs http://favthumbs.com/This tool lets you see your tagged bookmarks as webpages, which are clickable.
MyJugaad.in http://myjugaad.in/

This tool lets you present webpages in a slide show format.

Classroom idea:
1) Gather the webpages you want your students to use under one tag and then favthumb that tag - a neat visual guide to sources!

2) Have students demonstrate their pathway to new information by organizing a slideshow of webpages used for a project. Or require such a collection of webpages as a way to cite sources.

Zoomit

2008-07-12T09:05:00.000-07:00

Zoo mit http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897434.aspx

Classroom idea: I am very interested in screencasting and am looking for tools that let you manipulate and draw and annotate your window screen. This nifty little download lets you zoom in on any window with a click. Once in you can draw and highlight to your hearts content. A simple punch of the escape button clears it all out. This will be great for class presentations, I think!

Deke McClelland 's 101 photoshop tips

2008-06-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

One of the benefits of having a platform on the web is you can park things you want to use! I want to get better at photoshop.

Embedding Google maps

2008-06-22T09:25:00.000-07:00

View Larger Map

Classroom idea Here is a little idea that could add interest- embed a Google Map in your wiki of project instructions. If you are studying Chinua Achebe maybe a simple Google map of Nigeria with satellite image . Just look for "link to page" in top right corner of Google maps. Thanks to Joyce Valenza for this idea. Here I show two Butte Montana institutions - Pork Chop John Sandwhich Shops. Don't leave Butte without trying them! The one marked A is more authentic!

Glogster

2008-06-18T08:41:00.000-07:00

Glogster http://www.glogster.com/ is a web tool that lets you create a bulletin board style web poster. This tool lets you embed videos and sound.

Here is one work in progress
Classroom idea: This would be an option for almost any poster project. I like the idea of picking and choosing the right images and text to convey a message.

Zoho Notebook

2008-06-17T19:00:00.000-07:00

Zoho Notebook

http://notebook.zoho.com/nb/login.jsp?serviceurl=%2Fnb%2Findex.do

Lots of possibilities here for online notetaking, but I like this idea from Digital Inspiration.

Classroom Idea - Create a pathfinder with notes for a class project.

Have students display note taking skills, or use this to have them justify their online source choices.

wordle

2008-06-16T11:36:00.000-07:00

I have a fascination with word clouds
Here is another tool for creating them
Wordle http://wordle.net/

Classroom idea:
1.Examine well known literature visually

2. Have students enter two newspaper articles on same subject and contrast and compare.

3. Language learners might see patterns in word use.

iCue

2008-05-11T17:01:00.000-07:00

iCue http://www.icue.com/

I don't want this one to slip under my radar. It is a tool from NBC that lets you gather and present NBC video. I haven't explored it yet, but I will.

Classroom Idea- Historical events could be revisited. Current events could be presented.

Apture

2008-05-11T08:49:00.000-07:00

Apture http://www.apture.com

This tool might lead to information overload, but I like it. It allows you, with the addition of the apture script to your blog ( can't get it to work yet in wikispaces, alas) , to add a pop up window on a bit of linked text to enrich your posting.

Here for example I write about my visit to Hoover Dam. I was so amazed at the engineering feat and the changes this dam brought in its wake. I also love to visit sites constructed during the WPA era. You almost always see such interesting art associated with these sites, and the Hoover Dam, with its concrete bas relief and the metal angels.

quintura.com

2008-04-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

Quintura http://www.quintura.com/ A interesting widget that I think might be a way to discuss keywords and searching ideas. Of course I like to get Montana into all I do.

Sketchcast

2008-04-27T09:15:00.000-07:00

Sketchcast http://sketchcast.com/

Another online whiteboard . I like this one a little better than others, because you can record your voice, too.

Classroom idea: A difficult math problem might be presented with voice explanation allowing students to replay explanation.

Bubblesnaps

2008-04-13T17:42:00.000-07:00

Bubblesnaps http://bubblesnaps.com

lets you place speech bubbles on your photos, and then embed them in your blog or send them as a link.

Classroom idea: If you have a major point to get across, this could be a clever way to do it. I see its use in creating instructions for projects.

World TV

2008-03-29T13:06:00.001-07:00

World TV http://worldtv.com/create

This nifty tool lets you gather web videos together and store on one spot and thus link. I have had trouble embedding too many videos in a wiki, and this seems like a solution.

Classroom ideas: Search for and then retain videos that will help you teach a certain subject. I like this idea because you don't have to search again. The buffering time seems less here, too. Here is a selection for making origami. http://worldtv.com/joantv/.

Read The Words

2008-03-20T22:28:00.000-07:00

Read The Words
http://readthewords.com/

I thought this might be interesting. What could you do with it.
1. Paste reading assignments and let students listen and read instructions

2. Adjust reading speed and let new and reluctant readers read along.

3, Could this help in learning another language?

This would not post here so I added it as page element on left.

Webinaria showing Viscosity

2008-03-19T19:24:00.000-07:00

Webinaria www.webinaria.com/ is a screen recording tool. I am venturing out into screen recordings- and I like the cost of this - free. (although I might upgrade to paid version to get embeddable code)

Viscosity
http://windowseat.ca/viscosity/create.php is a mesmerizing look at color and form.
Ideas- webinaria. Demonstrate any computer tool via screen casts

Viscosity - use in art class to demonstrate color and shape. Use in religion , social studies as a metaphor of forces acting upon us and our communities.

Zotero

2008-03-15T17:33:00.000-07:00

Zotero http://www.zotero.org/ is, well, I don't really have a word for it. Sort of like a file cabinet in your computer for your research. It has tools that let you save webpages, take notes, tag and cluster. I am somewhat overwhelmed, but impressed.

Imagination Cubed

2008-03-05T19:38:00.000-08:00

Imagination Cubed http://www.imagination3.com/

is an interesting site where one can draw,share and and via email. It creates sort of a video of your drawing process. Look at this link to get an idea

Classroom idea - Math seems like it might actually work as a web 2.0 tool here, as you draw equations, etc..

Pixton

2008-02-23T10:32:00.000-08:00

Pixton http://www.pixton.com

This takes a little effort, but allows you to create your own comic strips.

Classroom ideas:

Use comic strip to give directions . Comics definitely make you pare down the words and stick to the essentials!
Have students create comics representing book character
Have students create political cartoons from current events.