Dushare

What it is: Dushare is an incredibly easy way to share files.  Dushare lets you transfer files via a web browser as fast as you can upload.  The site could not be easier to use, just pick your file, decide if you want it password protected to download, and then share the file.  Dushare requires NO login or registration, it really is simple to use!  While the transfer is in progress, you can chat with the person you are transferring the file to over Dushare.  File sharing just doesn’t get much easier than this!

How to integrate Dushare into your curriculum: Dushare is a great way to quickly share files with students, colleagues, or Twitter friends.  In a computer lab setting, quickly share a file with all of your students via url.  If they can access a website and have downloading privileges, they can access the file.  Students can use Dushare to quickly turn in work or send in work that needs a quick review.  Need to send something to a colleague but your work email limits the size of an attachment? Dushare can make sharing that file a breeze.  Dushare works when an IM transfer fails, it’s too big for email, or someone is blocked behind a firewall.  Share away!

Tips: Dushare doesn’t view chats or files, they just facilitate the transfer of files over a secure connection.  Dushare sets absolutely NO limits on file sizes of file types making it easy to send whatever you need to.

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

Safe Share TV

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What it is: Safe Share TV is a fantastic way to share You Tube videos with your students. Safe Share TV removes all distracting and offensive elements that surround a video on You Tube and allows you to share the video with a unique link.  Safe Share TV also gives you the option to crop videos before sharing them.


How to integrate Safe Share TV into the classroom: I love the way that Safe Share TV eliminates all of the related videos, comments, links to other videos, etc. from a You Tube video and makes it available with a unique link.  You Tube has some excellent videos to use in the classroom on demand. The problem? You Tube can share too much with your students.  Related videos may be inappropriate for the classroom, or comments left by others may be offensive.  Just today I was searching for a School House Rock video for one of our first grade teachers.  I found the video on You Tube but shared it via Safe Share TV so that the distracting content would be excluded.  This is the perfect way to share You Tube videos with students on a projector, interactive whiteboard, or as part of a center activity on classroom computers.


Tips: Safe Share TV includes cropping capability for You Tube videos, it is simple to crop videos down to the exact clip that you want to use with students.


Leave a comment and share how you are using Safe Share TV in your classroom.

Wizlite

What it is:  Wizlite is a handy little web tool that lets you highlight text (just like you would on paper) on any page on the Internet and then share it with others.  Wizlite uses a a Firefox extension or a bookmarklet to show and store selections.  It is free and easy to use!

How to integrate Wizlite into the classroom:  Wizlite is a handy tool for directing your students to specific information while they are learning on the web.  Use Wizlite to teach your students to find the main idea on a webpage.  Students can create groups on Wizlite and share pages with their highlights with other students.  Wizlite is also very useful for sharing portions of webpages with  your colleagues quickly and easily.  

 

Tips:  Wizlite does require you to install an extension.  This is easy to do and the Wizlite site walks you through the steps. 

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Wizlite in your classroom.

Picasa

 

 

What it is:  Picasa is a free download from Google that helps you organize, edit, share, and create using photos.  The edit feature allows you to fix red-eye, crop, and fix any blemishes or scratches.  Picasa lets students create turning photos into movies, collages, and slideshows.  Picasa also makes it easy to upload albums to the web to share.  Picasa has been around for a while as a Google tool but the big news this week is the release of the beta version of Picasa for Macs.  The neat thing about the Mac Picasa release is its integration with iPhoto.  The features are pretty neat and definitely worth a look for either platform but with the announcement of iPhoto ’09 yesterday, they aren’t as impressive.  HOWEVER, Picasa is completely free while iPhoto ’09 is not.

 

How to integrate Picasa into the classroom:  Picasa  is a great way to organize photos you are taking of your classroom in action.  Create a web album, parents always like to see the great things their kids are learning.  Students can use Picasa to organize images they find online or pictures they take on a field trip.  These pictures can then be used to create a movie, collage, or slideshow directly in the Picasa software.  Students could create a class story in pictures, create a movie out of it and share it with other grades.  Students can also collect historical images, scientific images, etc and easily create a movie or slideshow displaying their knowledge.  

 

Tips:  Picasa is available for Macs in beta version and Windows and Linux based in alpha.  

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Picasa in your classroom.

Diigo

What it is: Diigo is a site I learned about from David Warlick’s 2Cents blog. Essentially Diigo is a social bookmarking site like Delicious or Digg but it has some features that are great for educational uses! Diigo lets students and teachers actually highlight, sticky note, and share the web. You can access and search your findings from any computer or phone. This is an outstanding research tool for students and allows for collaboration on any website they may be using.

How to integrate Diigo into your curriculum: Do your students work on group research projects? If so introducing them to Diigo could be a great time saver and collaborative tool for them. Students can highlight important facts on the website and leave virtual sticky notes for each other about points of interest. Teachers, you can use Diigo to create a field trip around the Internet for your students. Just set up bookmarks on any subject you are studying and highlight pertinent information and leave sticky notes about tasks that should be completed on each website. Cool! You could also use Diigo personally as a way to share sites with family, friends, and colleagues.

Tips: Diigo is free to try so set up an account and take it for a test drive today!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Diigo in your classroom.