web tools – Page 10 – iLearn Technology

Google’s Me On the Web- keep track of your digital footprint

June 15, 2011Kelly Tenkely1 Comment3094 views

What it is: Me On the Web is a new tool from Google. Announced just today, Me On the Web is part of the Google Dashboard that allows you to set up custom Google Alerts for your name in news articles. This was always possible with Google Alerts but now those alerts are coupled with tips and resources for helping students manage their online identities. Now everything can be tracked from one central location instead of scattered around in different places. Me On the Web is easy to set up, just visit your Google Dashboard to get started.

How to integrate Me on the Web into the classroom: There was a day when you could get away with not knowing and following your digital identity, that day is no more. We all carry digital footprints, and now more than ever it is vital for us (and our students) to know how to manage those digital footprints. Teaching students about their digital identity is the first step, Google’s Me on the Web takes that a step further by helping students manage their online identities through Google Alerts and helpful tips. Students must have an account with Google to fully utilize the Me on the Web features. After students have their account set up, they can create a set of Google Alerts related to them. This could be their name, email address, a sports team that they play on, the name of the school they attend, etc. Students will quickly see just how big a memory the Internet has and get a first hand look at their digital footprint and learn some strategies to take care of it.

If you are working with younger students without Google accounts (and most likely with a smaller digital footprint) you can share the School’s digital footprint or if you are brave (and after you know what will come up), your own. This gives even young students a good idea that their digital lives are not private and that what is shared their needs to be managed.

Me On the Web is a great way to begin discussions about social media, character education and respecting yourself and others.

Tips: Google even shares a section about how to remove content from a Google Search. Here is a hint, it is not as easy as just managing your identity PRIOR to needing to remove it. Good choices my friends, good choices. Anthony Weiner could learn a thing or two- just sayin’.

**By the way, if you haven’t seen the Google logo in honor of the lunar eclipse, it is definitely worth checking out- today only! 🙂

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Me On the Web in your classroom!

Current.im: a private daily journal 140 characters at a time

June 14, 2011Kelly Tenkely5 Comments3333 views

What it is: Current.im is a site I learned about from @MZimmer557 on his excellent blog, The Weekly Pursuit of Technology Integration Happiness. Current.im let’s students keep a private online journal 140 characters each day. The journal couldn’t be easier to use, students login with a username and password that they create, and type their 140 characters for the day. Current.im keeps a daily record of these bits of writing along with a time stamp. The Current.im is truly private, this isn’t a social sharing site where students (or teachers) are writing for an audience. It is a wonderfully simple tool created for one thing: recording daily thoughts.

How to integrate Current.im into the classroom: Current.im is an easy way to record writing daily. The limit is 140 characters making it easy to keep up with and add to everyday without being overwhelmed by the blank sheet of paper. Current.im can be used as a journal where students reflect on daily learning, a year-long creative writing project that students add to 140 characters at a time each day or a personal journal. Because students are only responsible for 140 characters a day, this is a fast activity that could be completed as a center on classroom computers. If your students don’t have access to computers where they can keep their own Current.im accounts, keep a class journal/story/reflection by compiling thoughts together using an interactive whiteboard or projector-connected computer.

One of my favorite year-long projects in the computer lab was having students take a picture of themselves using PhotoBooth every computer class. At the end of the year, students took all of their pictures and created a stop-motion type video combining all of the pictures into a movie. The result was a short movie where they could see themselves grow up that school year. Current.im would be a fantastic addition to this project. Students could start each class period with a picture of themselves and a quick 140 character update to go with the picture. At the end of the year not only will they be able to see their growth, they will be able to read reflections and thoughts they had throughout the year. This is great for one school year but can you imagine doing this EVERY year of school from k-12 as part of a digital portfolio? How neat would that be?! This is truly a 2 min. time commitment each day. Easy.

As a teacher, Current.im can be used to reflect on teaching practice, to record daily classroom (or student) observations or to record daily success (we all need to record those!). I always joked that I should write a book about funny student antics. Of course I never wrote all of these funny stories down so alas, I have no book. Had I known about Current.im, I could have recorded these stories everyday and had the book written for me by the end of the year!

Tips: Current.im doesn’t include any terms of service so I assume it is okay for all students to use. Registration for an account does require an email address. The email address doesn’t need to be confirmed so if you have students without email addresses, they can use an @tempinbox or @mailinator account (just add tempinbox or mailiator to the end of any word to instantly create an account).

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Current.im in your classroom!

eduify: virtual writing coach making writing easier

June 8, 2011Kelly Tenkely4 Comments2676 views

What it is: eduify is an online tool that acts as a writing coach for students. As students write they have immediate access to tutorials and writing examples, the built in ability to discover and cite sources automatically, the ability to verify citations and safeguard against plagiarism, the ability to store, share and edit documents online, and the ability to get help from friends and experts. eduify takes all of the guess-work out of writing and puts the focus back on…well, writing. Students can focus on getting their thoughts out and expressing learning, eduify helps take care of those little details that hang students up. Students can even find quotes and additional sources for their writing directly within eduify.

How to integrate eduify into the classroom: eduify acts as another teacher in the writing classroom. Because we don’t have the ability to work one on one with every student at once, eduify steps in and guides students until we can offer personal support. Students don’t have to wait around for coaching, they can get help as they need it. Students working on writing from home also have access to that support. In my experience students are hindered in sharing their learning through writing by the writing “rules” and process itself. They are so stuck on form that they lose the content and passion about a topic along the way. eduify gets them out of the writing rut, giving them the freedom to focus on content and ideas first and form second. Like a writing wingman. Awesome. Where on earth was this when I was in school?

Use eduify as a writing platform in a one to one setting where every student has access to a computer. Students can store their papers safely online for easy access both at school and home. Papers can share their papers for review online with the teacher or with other students. In a one or two computer classroom, set up computers as an eduify center that students can visit for writing support as an editing center.

Tips: eduify is in beta right now. Students (and teachers) can request a beta invite code, mine came right away.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using eduify in your classroom!

PSToM: Parents, Students, Teachers of Mathematics

June 6, 2011June 7, 2011Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment2229 views

What it is: PSToM is an online portal for math classes. With PSToM parents can follow their child’s progress and know exactly what their child is learning in math. Students can learn at their own pace, assess their own learning and know how well they are doing in math (and why!). Teachers can recommend math videos, know each students strengths and weaknesses and tailor classroom instruction to get more out of each class. PSToM has built-in math problems with an area to solve them, math videos that can be shared, built-in tests and a place to discuss learning. The site is simple but the learning possibilities are pretty incredible.

How to integrate PSToM into the classroom: PSToM is a fantastic supplement to the math classrooms. PSToM makes it simple to create a blended classroom with online content, discussion and problem solving supporting what is happening in the classroom. As a teacher it is easy to assign math videos and problem sets. All data is collected and shared with students, parents and teachers. PSToM is a great connection between the math classroom and home. The mystery of the math classroom is taken out for both the parents and students. Everyone knows what learning goals are being worked on, the progress and what skills need to be practiced.

Use PSToM as a supplement to your math classroom and to customize math lessons for your students. Give students the opportunity to work on math at their unique learning level in a computer lab setting or as a center on classroom computers.

Tips: Be sure to tell parents about PSToM, it is a great way for students to get some extra practice and opportunity for understanding in at home.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using PSToM in your classroom!

Min.us: Instant document sharing

June 6, 2011Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment2194 views

What it is: Do you ever find yourself wanting to share a file quickly and easily without relying on email to deliver it? You do? I thought so. Min.us is a great way to share files quickly and easily, it even provides file sharing options between devices! Students and teachers of all ages can use Min.us to share files. Just drag the file onto the screen and click “Start Sharing”. It could not be easier. Choose to share publicly or privately. Share using the unique URL that is generated. Easy peasy. No need for students to sign in. A built-in timeline shows all of the files that have been shared. Min.us has a desktop application that can be downloaded and placed in the task bar for sharing without opening a browser. Min.us has apps for sharing on mobile devices including the iPhone, Android, and Windows 7 with more mobile options coming.

How to integrate Min.us into the classroom: Min.us is an easy way to share documents with your students, colleagues and parents of children in your classroom. Drag and drop a document and share the link for fast, easy sharing. Include permission slips, class documents and make-up work as Min.us links in a weekly newsletter for easy access to EXACTLY the document that each family needs. No more sending emails full of attachments that get filtered or bounced back! Quickly share documents between teacher and student computers. Students can use Min.us to turn in work, teachers can use it to share documents quickly with classroom computers or share documents immediately with a computer lab full of computers.

Tips: Login to follow your documents (how many downloads, a feed of documents you have subscribed to and a full history of all of your documents).

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Min.us in your classroom!

19 Pencils

June 3, 2011Kelly Tenkely6 Comments3851 views

What it is: 19 Pencils is a beta site that provides teachers with a place to share websites, quizzes and video from one central, customizable location. From 19 Pencils you can discover, organize, manage and share content with your students for learning. 19 Pencils is very easy to use and makes it fast to share collections of online material with students. Collect and share websites, create and use ready-made quizzes and track student progress on that online content. Teachers can share one link and students can access all online content for the classroom from one location.

How to integrate 19 Pencils into the classroom:19 Pencils makes it easy for teachers to collect and share resources with their students online. Clear out all of those sticky notes and the bookmark bar crammed full of web addresses (or am I the only one that does that?) and compile them all in one place that is easy for everyone to access. Add websites (complete with preview picture), teacher-created quizzes and video to your 19 Pencils classroom space. Students can easily access all classroom materials from one URL on classroom computers, in the computer lab or at home. This is a fantastically easy site to use! Even the technology novice can put together a collection for students quickly. Create 19 Pencils collections for units of learning, subjects or just as a collection of learning site recommendations for students.

I am a big fan of the site visual previews, this is SO helpful for young students who are just emerging as readers. No matter what age group you are working with, more learning is possible when students aren’t spending times typing in long urls. 19 Pencils also makes it easy to share with your colleagues!

Tips: Want to create a comprehensive website for your classroom? Check out Weebly, Wix or Bloust!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using 19 Pencils in your classroom!

FlipSnack: Turn a PDF into an embeddable Flash Flip Book

May 27, 2011Kelly Tenkely8 Comments3543 views

What it is: FlipSnack lets students turn PDF documents into embeddable Flipbooks quickly and easily. Students upload a PDF (or multiple PDFs) to be included in the book and FlipSnack instantly transforms it into an interactive flippable book. In order to login to FlipSnack, students will need an email address (this can be a temporary email such as Tempinbox or Mailinator). Students can also login using a Twitter account, Facebook connect, Google connect or MySpace connect. FlipSnack has some neat options available that other pdf to embeddable book services like Issuu do not have. Students can choose a template for their Flip including classic, hardcover, coil bound and interactive. Student also have the ability to customize the background, size and buttons included in their embed. Students can share their FlipSnack with a unique url, on social media sites and email, or embed it in another website. The free version lets students embed the finished FlipSnack on a website or blog with a FlipSnack watermark.

How to integrate FlipSnack into the classroom: FlipSnack is a neat way for students (and teachers) to share pdf documents online. Students can save their work as a PDF and upload into an interactive book that can be embedded on a blog, wiki or website.

Use your classroom computers as a student created library. Students can upload original stories to a class FlipSnack account to create a library of student work. During silent reading time, give students the opportunity to enjoy their peers as authors. This is perfect for an elementary classroom that may not have the email addresses for each student to sign up for a separate account.

Create custom books for your students by combining PDF documents into one customized text-book. These can be embedded on a class blog, website, or wiki for students to access from anywhere they have internet access.

Upload school handbooks, resources etc. to the classroom and school website for easy access by students and parents.

One of the features I enjoy about FlipSnack is the ability to view statistics for the flip books. Find out how many views a Flip has had by day, month or all time.

Tips: I often use Issuu to share and embed PDFs. It has been my go-to favorite for personal use. I hesitated to use Issuu with students because of the collection of ALL user publications on the home page of the website. Sometimes these were inappropriate for elementary students. I like that FlipSnack doesn’t share user-created publications with little eyes.

Take a look at the FlipSnack I created for my new school, Anastasis Academy, embedded below:

Please leave a comment and let us know how you are using FlipSnack in your classroom!

Books Should Be Free: Free Audio Books from the Public Domain

May 25, 2011Kelly Tenkely1 Comment4304 views

What it is: Books Should Be Free is a fantastic collection of audio books that students can download and listen to for free from the public domain. Books are easily searchable by genre, keyword, title or author. Books can be downloaded as MP3 files, iPod or iTunes format. Each book includes a description of the book, full text from Project Gutenberg, a Wikipedia link, and the audio download. Students can play a snippet of the audio before deciding to download. The collection is pretty impressive, including my favorite classics.

How to integrate Books Should Be Free into the classroom: Not every child has an extensive collection of books at home, or parents who model a love of reading. Books Should Be Free expands every classroom and home library by giving students access to some of the most loved books of all time. Students can download both the audio and accompanying text for a read along or simply listen to the audio file. Audio books help students build comprehension, fluency and help students develop a love for story. Books Should Be Free is a great way to start a Reading Buddies program at your school with some MP3 players or iPods that can go home with students loaded up with good books.

Tips: Looking for some more ebooks to expand your classroom library? Check these out!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Books Should Be Free in your classroom!

Tiki-Toki: Create gorgeous multimedia timelines

April 26, 2011Kelly Tenkely8 Comments5806 views

What it is: Tiki-Toki is an absolutely GORGEOUS multimedia timeline creator. The results are truly a work of art-no joke! Tiki-Toki is very easy to use, after registering for an account, students are guided step-by-step through creating an interactive timeline. Students can add text, images (Flickr) and video (YouTube or Vimeo) to a timeline. Images can be uploaded from a student computer or found through a search on Flickr. Throughout the creation process, tool tips pop-up to guide students through creation. Students can share saved timelines with a unique URL.

How to integrate Tiki-Toki into the classroom: Tiki-Toki is a fabulous new way for your students to create and share online. Timelines are an obvious choice for history projects but can be used throughout the year for a variety of subjects and learning focuses. Students can reflect on and share learning using a Tiki-Toki timeline. Students can begin a timeline at the beginning of the year sharing videos, links, pictures and reflections each unit, week, month, or semester until the end of the school year. This is a nice way to encourage students to reflect on learning while providing them with a record of what has been accomplished throughout the year.

Students can create timelines based on books or literature they are reading. Young students can create a timeline with information about beginning, middle and end while older students can add supporting details, action, climax and concluding thoughts. A timeline book report is a welcome change for your logical/analytical thinkers- seriously, offer it as an option!

Timelines can also be used as KWL charts (Know, Want to Know, Learned). At the beginning of any learning, students can list the facts that they know about the topic. Next, they can brainstorm and write about what they want to know about a topic. At the end of the unit or semester, students can detail what they have learned including any relevant videos or images.

In science, students can use Tiki-Toki to detail an experiment or scientific method process they go through in a lab.

Tiki-Toki is probably too advanced a tool for primary elementary to use independently, but it can be used with an interactive whiteboard or projector-connected computer to create a timeline as a class. This is a good way to teach students about timelines while recording learning.

Create an account on Tiki-Toki and record a few pictures of your classroom along with a description of the learning that happened each day. At the end of the week the timeline can be sent to parents and administration to share what you are working on in your classroom. This is a fun change from the traditional newsletter and, because it is added to a little at a time, it will give you a break from the Thursday mad-dash-to-finish-Friday-newsletter thing you have going (oh, is that just me?). 😉

Tips: The basic Tiki-Toki account is completely free and contains enough features to keep kids creating with no problem. The paid accounts include features like shared timeline creation which would also be useful in the classroom. I’m hoping that Tiki-Toki catches on to the uses for education and comes up with an education version just for us!

A minimum age for use of Tiki-Toki is not specified in the terms of service. If you work with students who do not have an email address to share, consider using a tempinbox account or mailinator.

A BIG THANK YOU to @anderscj for mentioning Tiki-Toki on Twitter, I have a new favorite timeline creator!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Tiki-Toki in your classroom!

SnipSnip.It: Share the best parts of online video

April 25, 2011Kelly Tenkely2 Comments3591 views

What it is: I don’t know about you, but I am constantly finding great videos online to share with my students. The problem: I usually only want a small portion of the whole video. I use SnipSnip.It to crop the video down to only the parts I want to share with students. SnipSnip.It is easy to use, just copy and paste a YouTube url, choose the start and end point and click “snip”. Easy! After snipping your video you can embed the shortened video on a website or blog or share the shortened video with a link. The other benefit: all of the YouTube extras (a.k.a. distractions) are eliminated in the SnipSnip.It version. Not. Too. Shabby.

How to integrate SnipSnip.It into the classroom: If you happen to be in a school or district that has not blocked YouTube, you are going to find SnipSnip.It very handy! This is a great way to crop videos to share with students either by URL or embedding the shortened video into a class blog or website. Even if your school doesn’t have access to YouTube, this may be a great way to try out the Fisch Flip and encourage your students to watch the snipped videos at home in preparation for class the next day.

Tips: This service is so easy that I have no fancy schmancy tips; I’ll just leave you with this: stay classy!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using SnipSnip.It in your classroom!