Web2.0 and Education

Create your own Qwiki

2012-07-01T14:07:00.001+12:00

Go to Qwiki and sign up.

Add Youtube movies or Vimeo, add pictures from your computer, photos from Flickr streams, Google Maps and text. Export to Youtube and then embed in wikis and blogs.

Get a Calendar Widget for your blog or wiki

2012-02-11T20:56:00.000+13:00

Add a calendar widget to your blog or wiki by going to http://mycalendar.org
and search for your country. New Zealand calendars are found here.

New Zealand Calendar

or how about weather widgets

Weather in Auckland

Weather Today in Auckland

Post it Wars

2011-09-01T13:24:00.000+12:00

I saw @mrwoodnz tweet about Post-it -Wars and then I read his blog post. I was confused until I read the link to the herald story about Post-it-Wars in France. It is a corporate 'collage' war using Post-it notes stuck to windows.
Have a look at the 20 photos on the Herald page.

Shaun had created his own Post-it-War using Linoit which enabled him to use different colour Post-its. I tried it out, it is not as easy as it looks.

Sticky Notes on Win7 worked quite well and was quite quick to create notes but there is a limit of notes, so use wisely.

iCardSort (Free or NZ $8.29 ) is an iPad app that was easy to use and didn't seem to have a limit on sticky notes.

There are other apps available for the iPad

So how could this be used in Education?

create icons or emblems
create flags
take a popular graphic and problem solve how to make it with square shapes (i.e.stickies)
investigate how pictures are made up of pixels and plot/plan a picture on a spreadsheet and then make it with the sticky notes
have a post-it-war with other classes using the windows of the classes to show case your efforts
if you are using technology then post images to a wiki or a blog

Thanks Shaun for making me spend 4 hours investigating this...it was great fun!

Educaplay: Make your own activities

2011-08-16T15:16:00.003+12:00

Educaplay enables you to create activities and then embed in your blog or wiki. You need to set up an account. The default settings are Spanish, so make sure you select English.
Ways to use this in a classroom

spelling word activities
topic word activities
shared book activities (as shown below)
making crosswords about topics or books
specific grammatical activities like changing tense, adding endings, plurals etc
Comprehension activities

Make a Wordfind
Make a Cloze activity Make a Jumbled Sentence

Primary Wall

2011-08-01T15:26:00.001+12:00

Just came across this link on twitter today

"@Elle_Gifted Alternative to Wallwisher for primary sts shared by @plnaugle http://primarywall.com/ at Tech Smackdown #RSCON3."

Primary Wall looks like a great alternative to Wallwisher especially as it seems to be 'broken' quite often. It has a few different features from Wallwisher and is very easy to use.
Here is an example of what it looks like

And you can choose to send your notes to Wordle

And here is a list of ideas you could use Primary Wall and Wall Wisher for...

Vocaroo

2011-04-10T12:15:00.000+12:00

This has to be the easiest way to make a voice recording and then embed onto your wiki or blog.

Go to http://vocaroo.com/
Click on Click to Record and then click Allow

Record your voice by speaking straight into the microphone.

Click on Click to Stop

Click on Listen or Record again

Click on Post on the Internet. Copy the HTML code and then paste into the Widget on a Wiki or a HTML Gadget in a blog.

Photobucket

2011-01-13T15:55:00.001+13:00

Photobucket is an online storage site for your photos, it is a one stop place where you can edit and create slideshows.
Upload photos to Photobucket.

Media: Upload your photos, create albums, view as slideshow, get embed code to add to blogs or wikis

Themes: Change the theme of your Media page
Organise: organise your photos into albums
Edit photos: Fotoflexer is integrated into Photobucket so that you can edit photos.
Tags: add tags to photos
Photo Products: for a price turn your photos into cups, calendars, books etc
Tools: Create interesting slideshows using filters and themes

Embeddable Books

2010-11-25T09:31:00.000+13:00

There are several embeddable book and magazine makers on the internet and this was one I came across today. Create your book in Word or PowerPoint, save it as a PDF file and then upload to http://www.yudu.com
It embeds in this form

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;We're sorry, your browser doesn't support IFrames. You can still &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.yudu.com/item/details/252707/Where-the-Wild-Things-are-Activities?refid=74149"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;visit this item.&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;, however.&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
Enlarge this document in a new window
Publisher Software from YUDU

You can click on the above link to enlarge the document. This will be a great publishing tool for children and teachers to use, I could see them making story books and magazines, embedding on to their wikis and blogs and also downloading for off line reading.

Google Calendar widget in blogs

2010-10-09T16:16:00.000+13:00

Saw this great idea on Sarah's blog, adding a Google Calendar widget to the side panel in a blog.

Go to your Google Calendar

1. Click on the drop down arrow next to your calendar
2. Click on Share this Calendar

3. Click on Calendar Details

4. Scroll down to Embed this Calendar and click on Customise the colour, size and other options

5. Deselect Print icon, Tabs, Calendar List and Time Zone

6. Click on Agenda

7. Change the width to 250 pixels
8. Change the height to 400 pixels

9. Change the 'Week starts on' to Monday

10. Copy the code
11. Go to your blog, click on Design, click on Add a Gadget

12. Choose the HTML/Java Script, paste code, click OK
13. Move the new gadget to somewhere in your side panel

Clever Stitch - Panoramic Photos

2010-08-08T19:41:00.000+12:00

Download CleVR Stitcher to your computer. Upload several photos to Clever Stitch and the software will create a panorama mixture of your photos.

You can upload the finished photo to the Clever stitch site, and then copy the embed code to create an interactive Panorama on your wiki or blog.

Panorama of School View on CleVR.com

This is a panorama I made with my photos from Mount Eden

Lino It

2010-05-20T22:41:00.002+12:00

Lino It is a an online stickies wall. It is similar to Wallwisher where you can post stickers, add photos and movies. You can also upload links to documents. It is collaborative and can be embedded into blogs and wikis. This could be a great presenting tool for students.

Once you have joined up click on Create a New Canvas
Choose a Background, Name your Canvas.

Choose who has access and the Details you want to show. Click on Create a Canvas

Add Stickies by dragging a sticky onto the canvas and typing into it.
Add a photo by clicking on the Photo icon, insert a photo from your computer, add text by clicking on the Frame option.
Add a movie by making a choice from Youtube, Ustream or Vimeo, paste in the URL of the video.

Attach files to the canvas by clicking on the Attachment button. Choose a file by browsing and an upload link to the file will appear.
Add a Transparent sticky by clicking on the Transparent button, type your text in.

Extra Features
Click on the Information button on the Palette to show the embed code.
Dates can be added to text stickies.
Pin a sticky to a canvas by moving the mouse over the top right hand of the sticky, a pin will appear, click on it to pin it. To unpin it, click on the pin again.
Move the stickies behind or in front by holding down the (Option Key-Mac) (Alt key-Win) and clicking.
Add tags to stickies which enables highlighting of all stickies with that tag.
There is a peel off option, click on the tick icon at the bottom of the right hand side of sticky. Once it has been peeled it is gone forever.
Sizes and colour of text can be changed when editing.
Stickies can be resized by clicking and dragging on the bottom right hand corner.
New stickies can be highlighted by clicking on 'Highlight New'.

How to use Lino It

In the example below I have used Lino It as a Presentation instructional tool.

Other ways of using it

collaborative question answer (you would do this in groups on computers
as an alternative to PowerPoint presentations
as an instructional tool
introduction to new topic

Scribble Maps and Google

2010-05-20T13:43:00.011+12:00

One of the schools I visit are doing a Pacific Migration Unit and I showed some of the teachers how they could use Scribble Maps as an activity.

Each child can create their own Scribble Map illustrating where they or their family came from.
Type in the address, press Enter.

Markers

Click on the marker button

Select a marker from the choices, look at the drop down menu for more markers.

Mark the spot on the map.

Annotate your Markers

Add pictures and/or movies to the markers by clicking on the Advanced Editing choice. Images can only be entered by using a 'URL' Check to make sure the image you add is smaller than 300kbs. If it shows up to large in the map, you can change the width and height within the code 'width="500" height="370"' change the numbers to about width = 125 height =95

Draw a line using the line tool on the tool bar from one spot to the other.

Add text boxes by clicking on the ABC button. Click on the arrow button to move textboxes into place

Embedding

Click on the Menu button to Save and to embed into a blog or a wiki. Choose Widget/Embed.

The one problem I did come up with is in the embedding in blogs. I had to add a small bit of code to the html, so instead of this at the end

The Scribble map embeds fine in Wikispaces.
This example shows some of the Volcanoes in Auckland.

Other Ways to use Scribble Maps

plot places from a novel, journal story
famous landmarks in your own country, the country you are studying or world
plot a famous journey (Livingston, Shackleton, Hillary, Captain Cook)
retell the adventures of an explorer, famous person
retell your own family's migration story
make up your own incredible journey plot the places visited and write/illustrate what you found there
save the maps as pictures for inserting into Documents where students enlarge on what they have been writing about
use with an Interactive Whiteboard (or projector on a screen) to create collaborative mapping
improve students Geography by concentrating on a country at a time and find something indigenous to that country and adding it each day as a 'When we have a few minutes spare' activity

Keep up to date with new features from Scribble Map by reading their blog.
There are so many features that I haven't discovered yet, but I am sure your students will. This is an amazing resource which is always under development and being improved.

Twitter? I just don't get it! A guide for teachers

2010-04-29T10:46:00.002+12:00

I have heard the comment 'Twitter? I just don't get it!' so many times, so I have created a guide for teachers. I hope it helps!

Twitter? I just don’t get it!

View more presentations from Jacqui Sharp.

Fotobabble

2010-04-22T15:39:00.002+12:00

I was reading a post about the iPad written by @dakinane when I saw him mention a flash based application using photos 'Fotobabble.
With this application you can upload a photo, add your voice to it and then embed into your wikis or blogs.
Fotobabble could be used in many ways in the classroom

as an oral assessment for speeches
oral assessment for speaking in other languages
a way of publishing a piece of writing, (selecting a photo that represents the writing)
publishing explanations, narratives, persuasive and procedural
final assessment tool in presenting information
a linear slideshow presentation with several photos and voiceovers

This is a great tool for the verbal/linguist student. It is very quick and easy to use

The Amazing Web2.0 Projects Book

2010-04-22T10:40:00.004+12:00

This book has been compiled by Terry Freedman (@terryfreedman) website http://www.ictineducation.org/
Teachers and educationalists from all over the world have contributed examples of Web2.0 projects to this book and what a great resource it is. Teachers will find many practical ideas of how to use Web 2.0 technologies in their teaching and learning.

Amazing web 2 projects 2 online version

View more documents from terryfreedman.

Word Clouds for Juniors

2010-04-18T13:49:00.002+12:00

And yet another Word Cloud ABCya, (as tweeted by @mdanonbaird) which is perfect for Juniors.

Go to ABCya

Paste in text

Click on the Arrow

Click on Randomize to make changes to the Word Cloud

Click on Fonts to change the font,

Colours to change the layout colours

and Layout to change the direction of the text!

Click on Save to save to your computer or print out your Word Cloud.

Simple As!

Tagxedo 'Word Cloud'

2010-04-12T09:11:00.004+12:00

Thanks to Technololgy Bits, Bytes and Nibbles blog post and the writer @cyndidannerkuhn who posted it on twitter, I came across a new player in the 'Word Cloud' arena Tagxedo

There are a lot of choices with this Tag Cloud generator.

You have wide range of colours to choose from, interesting fonts (this example is called John Lennon).

Best of all, there is a variety of shapes or you can create your own word shape.

There are huge opportunities for this feature to be used in education.
The word shape could be

main theme or idea in book
main theme of a poem
the title of an essay/story
main idea of story
the focus of a science, history, social studies study

This was a blog post I wrote about Wordle in June 2008, all activities can be completed in Tagxedo
This link http://delicious.com/sharpjacqui/wordle are some of the sites I have found on Wordle or other Word clouds. This site (46 Interesting Ways to use Wordle in the classroom) by Tom Barrett is a collaborative Google Doc that anybody can add to with their ideas of how they are using Wordle.
Like Wordle you can save a jpeg or a png for printing out or inserting into blogs or wikis. But I'm looking forward to when you can embed an Interactive version called Tagxedo player like the example here on the Tagxedo site (Scroll down to the last example to see the Word Cloud dance).

Here is a great slideshow 101 ways to use Tagxedo by Hardy Leung

Apture - Snapshot tool for your wikis and blogs

2009-11-13T12:46:00.007+13:00

Apture allows you to save webpages within your blog or wiki without leaving your site.

First you will need to download the plug in, click on Download Plugin.
Select a blog type and then click on the Install the extension (in this example Firefox)

You will need to open a new post page and the extension will be added.
Follow the instructions to activate the link.
Highlight the text that will open up the Snapshot

Click on the Apture link button
Paste in the URL address for the snapshot, click Go
Choose whether you want an External Link or a snippet then click on Create Link

Hold your mouse over the Link below (don't click) to see the snapshot window

Here is a snapshot of another one of my blogs

Or click on the Apture Embed button, paste in URL and click Go

Wiki Instructions
For a Wiki click on Other Platform and click on Get Started now then Create a Super Embed

Choose from the selections; article, map, audio, document, person, news article, webpage
Type URL address, click Go

An image will appear of the website.
Click on Create an Embed
Click on Copy this code
Paste into your Wiki Widget.

Textoriser -Textorise your images

2009-11-02T22:37:00.004+13:00

Textoriser turns your pictures into words. In this example I have used the text from my ICT Teaching and Learning blog and my avatar.
First download the software from Textorizer, install the software. Upload a picture.

To use your own text, copy the text into a Word/Pages file and save the file as a .txt.
Click on the Change Text and browse to your text file.
There are two choices of Textorizing, the one I prefer using is Textorizer Two.

You will need to play around with the the font scale and text size (drag the blue bars up and down like sliders).
Click on Textorize when finished.
Maximize your screen before taking a Screen Capture

Here is an example of the same graphic with slightly bigger text.

Here is an example of a Picture created in KidPix, saved as a jpeg. The text was typed in Word and saved as a text file. Here are 3 different examples where I have adjusted the font scale, text size and Line height. Click on each example to see the full image.

Wallwisher in the classroom

2009-11-02T17:22:00.004+13:00

I have seen Wallwisher used in a few different ways by teachers, which has of course inspired me to write this post and come up with some more ideas of how to use it. So instead of writing the ideas in this post I have added them to the Wallwisher. Please feel free to add but additions are moderated.
If I was using this with students in real time I would not moderate it until later.
You do not have to set up an account, but for classroom use I would as you can save and view all of your walls.

First choose your wall colour and add distinguishing words to the end of your wall URL if you would like to personalise the wall. Click on the options of who is able to view or post notes. If you want to approve the posts click on the check box.
Type in a title for your Wallwisher by clicking on Click here to edit title and do the same for the Subtitle.

Add an Icon Picture to the wall by clicking on Click to select image. Choose one from the ones provided or upload a picture from your own picture library by clicking on the Browse button.
When you have finished click on the 'done' button in the bottom right hand of the screen.
To add a note, double click on the wall, type in your note which is limited to 160 characters.

You can add links to a website or to a movie by pasting in the URL at the bottom of the note.

The notes can be moved around and organised.
The notes can only be edited or deleted by the wall owner.
If you have given a unique name to your wall, anybody can view and add to it http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/ineducation but in this case I am moderating the comments.

Hero Machine Version 2.5

2009-11-02T12:10:00.004+13:00

Hero Machine Version 2.5 is another Superhero site. This one is very comprehenisive and offers many choices. I particularly like how you can add a companion.

There is also four choices of bodies.

Once you have added all the parts and features to your superhero then you will need to take a screen capture
Update 3 November 2009
Jeff the Designer left a comment about my post and told me that HeroMachine Version 3.0 is in Alpha mode, it looks amazing, heaps more options. Kids are going to have fun with this one!

Animoto for Educators

2009-10-22T10:35:00.005+13:00

The standard Animoto website allows you to make 30 second videos for free with about 12 items (photos or video clips). Add text over slides and spotlight the special slides. Add music by choosing tracks available from the Animoto library or upload from your own computer. Once the movie is generated it can be uploaded to Facebook, Twitter, or any social networking site, and it can be embedded in blogs and wikis.

Animoto for Educators allows more choices. Click on the Apply button to lodge an application for Animoto for Educators. Create longer videos and export to Youtube or download to your own computer.

PhotoPeach - Slideshows

2009-10-21T22:41:00.005+13:00

PhotoPeach allows you to make slideshows out of photos, add captions to each slide, add music and then finally add a quiz to the end of the slideshow. Once the slideshow is finished, the viewers can leave a comment in the comment box.
You need to sign up for an account first.

Step One: Upload photos
Step Two: Arrange your images into the order you want to present them
Step Three: Type in a title and choose your music. There is a choice of instrumental, classic, search YouTube or upload your own
Step Four: Click Finish
Step Five: Play the slideshow and add captions by clicking on Add caption
Step Six: Type in the caption, choose where you want to place it 'Center or Bottom'
Step Seven: Click on the next photo and add a caption, repeat with all of the photos

Step Eight: Finally, add a quiz by adding first a blank slide and then click on the Quiz button. Type in the Quiz. Complete the slideshow by clicking on OK at the top of the page.

There are several ways of sharing your slideshow.
Email to friends, upload to Facebook, MySpace, add a link to Twitter, embed a copy into your wiki or blog or copy a link to the slideshow that could be inserted into PowerPoint,Word, Keynote, Pages, Zoho or Google Docs.

Methods of Drafting on PhotoPeach

Voki - Animated Avatar

2009-10-21T14:30:00.002+13:00

A Voki is an animated avatar.

You can customise the avatar's look.

You can add voice by typing in some text and a computer generated voice will read it out, or record your own voice using the microphone.
You can add backgrounds.

And you can publish to your blog or wiki.
You can also send to an email address and a phone
You will need to set up an account.

Get a Voki now!

More Superhero Avatars

2009-10-21T12:50:00.002+13:00

Following on from my blogpost about The Hero Factory, there is another Superhero site. Marvel has their own website for creating superheroes.
Click Begin and then create your base.

Then go through all of the tabs to create your superhero.

To save the Superhero you need to set up an account or you can click Download and then take a screen capture.