The EdTech Zone

Screencast-o-matic

2012-03-05T13:02:00.003-06:00

If you are looking for an easy way to record your screen, head to Screencast-o-matic. SOM is very easy to use. Go to their website, select "start recording", choose your screen size, record, and you are done. Files can be saved to your computer, uploaded to screencast-o-matic, or uploaded to YouTube. You can record up to 15 minutes.

There is a number of ways in which screencasting can be used in the classroom. The obvious way is to record lessons to have available for students to watch on their own time. Students can also use SOM to record presentations. The teacher can also use SOM to record how to use a piece of software or web application. I have also seen screencasting used to give feedback to students on their projects or papers. Giving oral feedback is much more beneficial than the dreaded red pen. Give it a try today.

Easy Infographics and Charts

2012-02-28T06:38:00.002-06:00

http://www.good.is/infographics

Infographics seem to be the hottest way to communicate information on the web nowadays. Using an infographic can be a great way to present information in a format that is more appealing and memorable than just using text-based documents. Students and teachers can use infographics as discussion starters or tools to evaluate complex information and relationships. The web magazine and news site Good.is uses infographics to present information and enhance articles on their web site. Good.is even has a section that is dedicated to presenting the infographics that are used on their web site.

What if you want to create your own infographics or charts to present information to students? Or even better, what if you want students to create infographics or charts to synthesize information and demonstrate their evaluation of data and content? In the past, students and teachers have been limited to using markers and paper, or a spreadsheet application, such as Microsoft Excel or Google Docs Spreadsheet, to create posters or charts to display information visually. The activity of using these traditional tools often takes extra class time and can become a barrier to students' learning, because the focus of learning shifts from the evaluation of information to the activity of creating the chart or poster itself. Infogr.am is aiming to change this.

Infogr.am is a new web site that allows users to easily create charts and will soon expand to include creating visually appealing infographics. Using Infogr.am to create charts requires three things, a device connected to the Internet, a Facebook or Twitter account for log in access, and data. The data-entry interface is easy to use and the generation of charts is automatic. Infogr.am charts can be embedded into web sites, making it easy for students and teachers to share charts and data visualizations.

Power of QR

2012-02-24T15:23:00.005-06:00

QR codes are everywhere. Some people know what they are, some people have no clue. Basically a QR code is a bar code that can store much more information than a bar code. You can place anything with a URL behind it, text, phone numbers, etc...

In order to make QR codes work, you will need a couple things. First, you need a QR code reader on your tablet or smartphone. To find one, go to your app store and search for QR reader or scanner. Find one that is free and try it out. If you don't like it, delete it and try another one. Second, you will need a QR code generator. These can be found online and the one I use is Kaywa and can be found here. Third, you will need something to put behind the QR code, such as a link or text. Put your information in, and have fun!

Uses in the classroom:
Instead of writing links on the board, place a QR code around the room and have students scan.

Put your contact information behind the code and place it outside your door for people to scan.

Have your students create videos about their artwork, post the videos to YouTube and put the link behind the QR code and post next to the artwork.

Google QR codes in the classroom and you will get TONS of ideas of how to use these in your classroom.

Publishing with iBooks Author

2012-02-22T07:00:00.000-06:00

iBooks Author from O'Reilly

In their eBook from O'Reilly, Publishing with iBooks Author, Nellie McKesson and Adam Witwer quickly establish why they believe iBooks Author is worth considering. According to McKesson and Witwer, iBooks Author is now the best digital publishing tool available.

"If you’re looking to create books that are digital first, use dynamic page designs, and are truly interactive, there is no better tool for the job than iBooks Author." - McKesson & Witwer

A quick preview of Publishing with iBooks Author, reveals that this eBook offers readers insights and advice about the basic components of book publishing and layout in addition to a thorough tutorial for using iBooks Author.

With iBooks, Apple is trying to change the textbook industry and equip students and teachers with more effective and relevant tools to access and share information. The iBooks Author app gives teachers and students the tools to produce dynamic books, and as a guide, Publishing with iBooks Author will help them produce quality publications.

Publishing with iBooks Author is currently a free download from O'Reilly and is available in ePub, Mobi, and PDF formats.

#whatisthis

2012-02-21T07:30:00.000-06:00

Twitter Take II

If you set up your Twitter account a couple days ago, you are probably wondering what all the #'s and @'s are all about. You are not alone as a new user wondering what Twitter is all about. When I first started using Twitter, I was confused as to what everything meant. Here is a short synopsis of what it all means. It's pretty simple.

# is used to classify Tweets. For example, if I am tweeting something about educational technology, I would use the #edtech hashtag to classify that tweet, or if I am tweeting while at a conference such as TIES I would use the #ties11. The # helps users follow those same tweets. There are also times during the week that there are chat sessions on Twitter and you can follow along and participate by following the certain hashtag (#edchat, #spedchat).

@ is used when you mention another user in your Tweet. If you were going to mention me in your tweet it would look like this. Hi @braymo22, hope you are having a good day. This way, I will get a notification saying you had mentioned me. It's a way to make sure certain users see your tweets as well.

There are a ton of resources on the web that can help you understand Twitter. I personally like the this resource. Here is a list of educational hashtags to follow.

Bubbabrain

2012-02-18T07:30:00.000-06:00

I stumbled across this awesome website the other day while I was preparing to meet with a group of social studies teachers. Bubbabrain is a quiz game website. It works really well on an interactive whiteboard. Bubbabrain looks as if there is much more to it than meets the eye. Teachers can set up an account, get a number, and students can use that number to compete within their own classes. There is mostly social studies quizzes, but looks like there could be room to grow. Try bubbabrain today in your classroom on your interactive whiteboard and you won't be disappointed!

Twitter as Professional Development

2012-02-16T21:16:00.001-06:00

Twitter as Professional Development

Here we go again! John and I are going to give this blog thing a try again. Hopefully with the two of us we can keep things updated! Wish us luck as we once again go on an Ed Tech Journey.

I tried Twitter three years ago and never saw the benefit of it. I followed a few people, mostly sports stars and celebrities, tweeted what I had done that day, and then...nothing! I didn't understand Twitter, nor did I see the benefit of it, until....I followed the correct people. I found the "gurus", followed them, and then followed people they were following. It was as if a light bulb went off above my head. Learn from my mistake/blindness. Twitter has been THE best professional development I have ever gotten, and the best part is that it is ongoing and on my own time. If you want to join Twitter, here is how it works.

Go to Twitter.com and create an account.
Skip through the suggested people for you to follow.
Search for @braymo22 and @gitsul and follow us.
Look through who we are following, find the "gurus" from the people we follow.
Watch the tweets for a couple weeks before contributing.

Twitter is a conversation. Like all conversations there are talkers and listeners. Since you are new to the community, just listen for awhile to see what people are Tweeting. Look for a more detailed post on the specifics of Twitter at a later date. Just signup, login, and listen for now. If you just cant wait watch Twitter 102 from Josh Stumpenhorst and then follow him @stumpteacher. He is a great ed tech and social studies resource!

Supplement your dry coral reef lesson with an engaging online interactive!

2011-07-06T17:26:00.014-05:00

Are your students studying ocean conservation, marine biology or coral reefs?

The coral reef interactive on The Sant Ocean Hall's section on the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's web site will be a great supplemental activity for students.

The Sant Ocean Hall - Coral Reef Interactive

The interactive activity teaches students about the elements of and around a Caribbean coral reef, including marine life, such as the Elkhorn coral, Marine Algae Azure Vase Sponge, Nassau grouper, and Caribbean Spiny lobster, and the impact of humans through tourist recreation, eco-friendly businesses, and fishing.

The coral reef interactive from the Smithsonian combines this information about a coral reef with simulated case studies where students assume the roles of a hotel manager, tourist, and local resident as they learn about the "interdependence between the economic and social impact of human activity and the needs of a coral reef and its conservation."

Take your students on a learning adventure to a coral reef today!

Animap your next lit trip!

2011-07-05T13:30:00.006-05:00

Animaps is a new tool for creating "beautifully informative animated maps, for free!"

Animaps is a great tool for students and teachers to use when creating lit trips or historical map stories. The ability to string together sequences of locations, events, and information using maps allows students to demonstrate deep levels of learning beyond just what they know.

www.animaps.com

Students can create Animaps to demonstrate their learning. Students will not only have to understand and analyze information, but they will also synthesize, and evaluate information as they create an Animaps for a lit trip or historical map story.

Teacher created Animaps are excellent for communicating supplemental and other content related information to students. Teachers can create Animaps as an alternative to having students watch a video or view a PowerPoint slideshow.

Visit the Animaps web site for a tutorial and examples about using Animaps. The Lexington Animap reenactment of the Battle of Lexington is a great example of how students and teachers can use Animaps.

"Animaps extends the My Maps feature of Google Maps by letting you create maps with markers that move, images and text that pop up on cue, and lines and shapes that change over time.

www.animaps.com

When you send your Animap to friends it appears like a video - they can play, pause, slow and speed up the action!"

Get started using Animaps today!

Collect feedback using Epic Decide

2011-07-02T09:44:00.002-05:00

Do you need to get feedback from students, colleagues, or strangers online?

www.epicdecide.com

Epic Decide is an easy to use, straight forward, no frills, online polling tool that works great for collecting anonymous information giving you a sense of where people stand.

To use Epic Decide, you only need to create the survey question and feedback options you are seeking and want people to rank to help you make a decision, and then direct people to complete the survey via a link. As the poll creator, you will access the results via a unique link. It's a no frills tool, but it is easy to use and works great.

www.epicdecide.com

Epic Decide will work great with students for collecting formative data about content topics and providing insightful feedback for instructors about a classes' understanding and learning.

See for yourself how easy it is to use.

Complete my simple survey and then check out the results.

Go ahead - Embed.ly it!

2011-06-07T21:49:00.000-05:00

embed.ly

The end of the school year may create free time for students and most teachers, but it is the beginning of planning and facilitating professional development sessions for me. And, this year is crazier than ever.

But, today I learned about Embed.ly via a post on Mashable.

Embed.ly allows easy embedding of virtually anything into a web site. So, you don't have to rely on the embed code after a YouTube video or a Jing via your Screencast account to embed items from other sites into your posts for students or on you blog. You can embed anything as long as it has a URL.

I wish I found Embed.ly two weeks ago. My presentations for this week's PD sessions would be embedded instead of linked to for future reference.

Embed.ly has a free api and a subscription based pro version. The api has a Wordpress plugin or javascript code to install the tool into your site. Since I'm crazy busy right now, I wish there was a Blogger plugin.

Embedly | Home

Create a Flipping Book with FlipSnack

2011-05-19T08:46:00.000-05:00

www.flipsnack.com

FlipSnack is a new web tool from SnackTools for converting PDF documents into interactive digital flip books.

Students and teachers can easily use FlipSnack's three step process to create a stylish flip book that can be shared on a website, via a URL link, Facebook, Twitter, and other web services.

Easily create a FlipSnack flip book in three simple steps:

Upload
Customize
Publish!

Using FlipSnack, students and teachers can convert single or multiple PDF documents into one flip book.

www.flipsnack.com

FlipSnack is a great tool for students, teachers, and groups to easily publish stylish e-portfolios for sharing and celebrating learning, accomplishments and other information.

Looking for a solution to publish something? Give FlipSnack a try!

Bring Math Lessons to the Street using Maths Maps

2011-05-18T15:09:00.003-05:00

Do you follow Tom Barrett (@tombarrett) or his projects? If not, you should.

Tom shares some great ideas and gets a lot of people collaborating online to create rich resources of ideas for using technology for learning. If you have not seen his Interesting Ways project, check them out. You'll be amazed and inspired to try new things with students using tech tools.

A couple of years ago, Tom created a project for integrating Google Maps into math curriculum. He calls it Maths Maps. The Maths Maps project is collaborative, similar to the Interesting Ways project and has led to interactive activities using rich visual materials from real world locations for learning and applying math skills.

Maths Maps via http://edte.c

Contributing to the project is easy. Just follow these guidelines from Tom's Maths Maps page on his blog site:

"Explore the maps below for the ideas already added, follow the links to open them in a new window.
Send me details of which map you want to edit and your Google email address and I will add you as an editor, follow the link from the email invite.
Click on EDIT in the left panel.
Zoom close to the city and it’s surroundings. (Don’t forget Streetview)
Find some TOPIC ideas you can see.
Add a placemark (use the right colour for the age group it is best for – see purple pin)
Explain the activity in the description.
Change the title to show how many ideas there are.
Send out a Tweet or write a blog post to highlight this resource and encourage others to contribute."

Visit Tom's Maths Maps page to access examples and learn more about using Maths Maps and contributing to the project.

Activate your mind with Edheads.com!

2011-05-11T14:36:00.000-05:00

http://edheads.com

Edheads.com offers great interactive virtual simulations for students and learners of most ages. Engaging in the activities on Edheads.com, students can experience stem cell transplants, complete a virtual hip replacement, learn about simple machines, and even conduct a crash scene investigation.

The Edheads simulations provide opportunities for individuals and groups to think critically, solve problems, and make decisions with immediate feedback.

Visit Edheads.com to experience these and more cool, fun, interactive virtual simulations.

Interactive Timeline Creator

2011-05-04T23:01:00.000-05:00

This is great if you are looking for something to create timelines. Capzles is about as good as it gets for something free on the Internet. All you do is add pictures, choose a date, add a description, and an interactive timeline is created for you. This is a great tool not only for your students to create something, but also for coaches and advisors.

Applications in Education
Students can create a timeline of events, embed the timeline into a website or email the timeline to the teacher.

Teachers can create a timeline of events that took place in your classroom and then easily embed the timeline onto a teacher website to show what took place during the year or for any event.

Coaches and advisors can create a neat keepsake for their participants.

How I Use Capzles
As a history teacher, I have looked for an unique way to have my students create timelines. I used to have students find images online, print the images, and then paste them on poster board. Capzles takes this process and digitizes it.

My 8th grade students loved creating Civil War timelines of the causes, battles, and effects of the war. Some students even got creative and added music to the background.

Present.me - A New Tool to Harness the Power of Student Presentations

2011-05-04T15:59:00.001-05:00

Student presentations are an important element in the classroom and are excellent opportunities for students to demonstrate learning and develop communication skills they will need for success in life.

http://present.me

But, how do you have every student present and not sacrifice class time for other activities?

Present.me has the solution. Do it digitally and do it online.

Present.me is a new online tool for recording and sharing presentations. Unlike other presentation and video capturing tools, Present.me allows presenters to share their presentation slideshow and a video of them presenting at the same time. Through a split-screen presentation, viewers can see both the presenter's slides and the presenter.

So the next time you're pressed for time, have your students record and share their presentations using Present.me.

iPads - Where do you start?

2011-05-03T16:03:00.002-05:00

I'm declaring today iPad day! Why you ask? Well, I received a call from my boss today informing me that I needed to stop by his office this afternoon, because he was "giving out iPads".

I should clarify. He's not really my boss, but he is in charge of my budget. And, he really didn't "give" me an iPad, but I was carrying one when I left his office.

My school district issued me an iPad today!

I received my iPad to explore, test, and try it out. It is my job to find ways that teachers and students can use this cool new tool for learning.

But, now what? Where do I start? Are you asking the same question?

https://sites.google.com/site/schrockipad/

Kathy Schrock (@kathyschrock) can help us out. Kathy has a Google Sites site about using iPads in the Classroom. Kathy's site is going to be my iPad resource tonight as I become better acquainted with my new ~~toy~~ tool.

As with everything I've ever seen from Kathy, this site is complete with wonderful ideas, tips, tricks, tutorials, and links to other sites that offer even more.

I particularly like this link about Digital Storytelling with the iPad.

I may be getting to the iPad a little slower than some, but this is going to be fun.

After I opened up and got *my* new iPad up & running, I happened to check my twitter account (@gitsul) and the most recent tweet was from Tom Barrett (@tombarrett) who was sharing 55 Interesting Ways* to use an iPad in the Classroom.

I'm taking this as a sign that the iPad will be a cool tool for school!

Do you have any suggestions for Apps or strategies for using the iPad with students? Let us know in the comments!

Park that sticky note over here...

2011-05-02T16:03:00.004-05:00

Are you working on a project and you want to share your post-it notes (a.k.a. sticky notes) with your students, teacher, or a group of people?

http://scrumblr.ca

If you're a visual person like me, to share your notes you first need to arrange them on a table or sheet of paper so you can take a photo or scan them into an image or PDF. If you're concrete sequential, not like me, you'll take some time to type them into a document that you can print or email. Bottom line, it takes an additional step or two to get your sticky notes from paper into digital form for sharing.

Why not skip the paper and go straight to digital?!

David Kapuler has assembled a nice list of ten web applications for creating notes. I am fond of Wall Wisher and Corkboard.me when working in groups. They work well for many people sharing ideas in real time.

The new tool for me that I adopted from David's list is scrumblr. Scrumblr is similar to Wall Wisher and corkboard.me, but it is set up like a production board allowing you to easily organize your sticky notes into sections. I'll be using scrumbler to organize my thoughts for my next post here at The EdTech Zone.

So, the next time you are taking notes, consider doing it digital the first time. And when you need to have your students or colleagues park that note, do it online instead of at the door.

Sketchfu

2011-04-27T23:17:00.006-05:00

When I first saw Sketchfu, I thought it wasn't anything great. Then I browsed the gallery and quickly figured out what makes this special. You can watch the drawing take place before your eyes in fast forward. This would be a cool project for any art class. Even if you don't plan to use this, check out the gallery.

What is it?
You start with a blank slate and begin to draw something. The program records what you draw and at the end you can watch your creation take shape. Sketchfu's (if that is what they are called) can be embedded into a website or emailed as a link.

Educational UsesStudents can create presentations in sketchfu. They will have to draw everything, but it is well worth it to see the creativity they use. I had one student last week create one on the life of a Knight during the Middle Ages. This student was a junior in high school and LOVED doing it, and better yet, he loved sharing what he had done. All the other students enjoyed watching what he had done, and it reinforced what I had taught them earlier.

Not your father's periodic table - ptable.com

2011-04-25T13:14:00.000-05:00

www.ptable.com

When was the last time you consulted a periodic table? If you're not a science major or teacher, the last you used a periodic table it was probably taped to the wall in a high school classroom or in the appendix of your high school or college science text book.

If this fits true for you, you'll wish you had the dynamic periodic table available at ptable.com. I know I did when I found this site.

The dynamic periodic table at ptable.com has all the information a chemistry or science student needs at the hover of their mouse. Do you need to know what the physical properties of Iron (Fe) or any other elements are 6000 degrees Kelvin or any other temperature? Well, even if you don't, ptable.com has that information and everything you might want to know about the elements embedded or linked to, including orbitals, isotopes, videos, photos, podcasts, and what ever Wikipedia might say.

Tell your students, children, and friends about ptable.com. They'll thank you next time they need to consult a periodic table for class or just because.

Harness the power of the web with Web 2.0

2011-04-21T17:04:00.001-05:00

Are you looking for a way to engage students? Web 2.0 tools will help you out.

Web 2.0 tools that make it easy for students to create and share media enriched content with authentic audiences. Many, if not most, web 2.0 tools are free and enable students to collaborate across time and distance in ways they cannot using traditional learning tools.

learningweb2.wikispaces.com

Enable your students to harness the power of the web using Web 2.0 tools to embed multimedia and collaborate in rich learning experiences.

Learning about Web 2.0 is a wiki created and managed by Suzie Vesper that offers insight and ideas about using Web 2.0 with students. Learning about Web 2.0 informs about how to use blogs, wikis, and other Web 2.0 tools for learning.

On Learning about Web 2.0, Suzie has great guides to help you get started using Web 2.0 tools with your students. Suzie's guides share strategies and examples to help you integrate these powerful tools into your lessons.

Check them out and start engaging your students in Web 2.0 activities.

Learning about Web 2.0's list of Top Web 2.0 Tools

Do you Wordle?

2011-04-20T09:34:00.004-05:00

Wordle.net is a web application that allows you to create beautiful word clouds from text that you choose. In a Wordle word cloud the sizes of each word vary depending on the frequency the word is present in the source text. The more frequent a word, the larger the word appears in the word cloud.

In his article on BrightHub.com, Jonathon Wylie gives 10 suggestions for using a Wordle word cloud in classrooms. Jonathon gives directions and links to examples for creating Personal Narratives, using Wordles with Famous Speeches, creating Wordle Gifts, Classroom Polls, Comparing & Contrasting information, Word Walls, Current Affair and Document Analysis, and more.

Wordle word clouds are easy and fun to make. Word clouds are a great way for students to evaluate information and demonstrate learning. Watch this video to learn how.

Wordle from John Lustig on Vimeo.

Some additional Wordle resources:
www.wordle.net

I Can Back Off My Blogging, Turn Down My Tweeting, And Even Wrap Up My Wiki, But I Can’t Wane My Wordling...
An article about Wordle.net word clouds by Michael Gorman from Tech&Learning.com. This article includes links to other Wordle articles, tutorials, and examples about how Wordles can be used by students and teachers for learning.

51Interesting Ways to Use Wordle in a Classroom
Tips and examples for using Wordles in classroom lessons. Presentation originally created by Tom Barret.

Five Ways to Make Word Clouds from Text
Richard Byrne has a great post about using Wordle and four other word cloud generators to easily make word clouds from text. All five of these tools enable teachers and students to bring the power of word clouds into classrooms for teaching and demonstrating learning.

Sample Lesson Plan for integrating word clouds, such as Wordle, as tools for students to evaluate information and demonstrate learning.

Student Interactive Activities via the Utah Education Network

2011-04-19T12:21:00.001-05:00

Have you been to Utah? I never have, but I did visit the Utah Education Network website and found their collection of links to engaging online interactive activities for students of all ages.

http://uen.org/7-12interactives

The links to student interactive activities on the UEN site are grouped by grade clusters and categorized into subject and topic areas making it easy to locate fun, interactive activities the are designed to engage students in media rich learning experiences.

The interactive activities on the UEN site are great to engage individual students, small groups, and an entire class. Many features built in to the activities will be enhanced using them with an interactive whiteboard, creating learning experiences that engage students physically and academically.

Give them a look. You'll easily find a variety of activities that will engage your students differently in classroom instruction and as supplemental learning experiences.

Grades K-2
Grades 3-6
Grades 7-12

Online Resource - The Civil War at 150 Years

2011-04-14T12:03:00.000-05:00

Are you looking for resources to bring student learning and thinking skills about the events and impact of U.S. Civil War to the evaluation level in Bloom's Taxonomy?

The National Park Service has a great online resource that will help you and your students think and learn deeply about the U.S. Civil War and its legacy.

The Civil War: 150 Years - www.nps.gov/civilwar150

The NPS is commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War on its website offering glimpses into the past and connections to the present. The Civil War: 150 Years site scrolls as a time line spotlighting then and now, looking at significant events and people from 150 years ago and present day.

This week marks an update in the time line with the sesquicentennial anniversary of the Battle at Fort Sumter on April 12.

The then and now sections of the web site offer opportunities for students to explore and analyze as they compare and contrast the past with the present. For April 12, the then section provides links to online historical resources about the battle, Eyewitness to History, News in History, and the now section links to online resources that include a live view of the historic Fort Sumter via web cam and an online book, Five Flags over Fort Sumter, that explores the history of Fort Sumter and the beginning of the Civil War, from the National Park Services' History E-Library's Civil War Series.

The Civil War: 150 Years is a media and information rich resource for students and teachers. The evolving time line, links to historical documents and artifacts, and connections between the past and the present allow students of all ages to interact with history. Students and teachers can use this site for virtual field trips, investigating historical documents and testimonies, and taking their learning beyond traditional resources found on the pages of a textbook or in the frames of a video.

http://www.nps.gov/civilwar150

Vokilicious

2011-04-14T08:56:00.000-05:00

First off, I must say that I am a tools blogger. I love finding cool things to use in my classroom to enhance the learning experience. As a history teacher, I have had students choose a person from a time period and do an introduction of their person in the form of a Voki. I have heard of Spanish teachers who use it as an oral language test. You could use it to explain directions orally for students, place the Voki on your website with directions to an assignment. There is so much you can do with a Voki.

Voki is a free service and very easy to sign up. Students LOVE using Voki. I would love to hear how you use Voki or would use Voki in your classroom.