SimpleBooklet - Create Your Own Booklet

Do you ever wish you could publish on the web but don't have any coding skills? Would you like to create a product brochure, an instruction manual, an invitation, a gift registry, a manual, a flyer, or even a booklet?  You can with a simplebooklet.

Just start with a blank page and add text, images, video, audio, embeddable widgets, and even files with a simple click. Then drag and resize each piece of content to create the layout you want. Once you've completed one page, make another and another. Simplebooklet.com is an easy to use drag and drop interface, and requires no technical skills.

Sign in to simplebooklet.com to access and retrieve your booklets from any computer or mobile device using your browser of choice.  Accounts are free.

When you have completed your booklet, you have a number of options to publish. You can add it to the public booklet library, email it in rich html, embed it in your website or blog, share a link to it on your social network, tweet it, print it on your printer, or just keep it private and only share a short URL with friends you want to have access.

WONDERSAY - Animate text with style!

Wondersay is a simple tool for creating animated text displays. The animated text displays you create with Wondersay can be embedded into a blog post or wiki page. To create an animated text display just type a few words then click the Wondersay This icon. If you don't like the display that is automatically generated you can customize the colors, fonts, and animation effects until you're satisfied with the display. See my animated text below.

Applications for Education
Wondersay could be a fun way to enhance the display on a multimedia project constructed on Glogster, Wikispaces, or other similar sites.

With Wondersay, you can use any simple sentence or twitter account to generate a cool animation! Wondersayings are easy to create, customise and share. No software programs to download (it's all online), no sign-up or passwords (save them by copying the link), and all for free.

Now, what you're going to wondersay is up to you! Here are some ideas that may inspire you...

·         Wondersayings can be more exciting than simple one line emails.

·         It can bring life to famous quotes.

·         You might want a better way to grab people's attention (maybe as a banner on a webpage too)!

·         It's a unique way to send a personal message.

·         For special occasions, sending wondersayings is a great idea (as well as gifts!).

·         Perhaps you'd like to embed your latest tweets on your website?

·         Or just for fun, and probably for many more reasons...

If you prefer to watch instead of make, then you can also subscribe to the best wondersayings of the day, browse the most popular and search for your favorite words.

made on Wondersay - Animate text with style

JUXIO

What is Juxio?

"Juxio is a new visual way to communicate. Individuals and businesses use Juxio to combine images, text and more into mashable, visual streams called Juxes to share across social media and in print."

How do you create Juxes?

Juxes can be created on both Web and iPhone/iPad apps - and there will be support for additional mobile devices in the future.

Signing up for Juxio is free:
1. Click on "Sign Up" in the top right hand corner of the Home Page.
2. Enter your name, email address and password in the popup screen.
Your password must include alphanumeric characters only.
Note also that you can change your password at a later date, but not your email address.

See a Tutorial:  http://www.juxio.com/beta/Help.php?page=Tutorials

How to integrate Juxio into your curriculum:

• Juxio is a fantastic online tool to use for online visual creation.  Students can mash-up text and photos to create their own Jux that can be used to organize information or display understanding. 
• Use Juxio for animal classification, vocabulary, historical time lines, changes over time, to tell a linear story, or display any information in an organized fashion. 
• Take pictures of a science experiment for students to turn into a Jux; they can start at the beginning of the experiment adding captions to each picture.  Text boxes can be added for students to type in their hypothesis at the beginning of the experiment and to add a concluding statement at the end. 
• Take pictures of a school field trip and create a Juxio to tell the story of what happened on the field trip. 
• The small area for writing makes Juxio an ideal place for creating media versions of poetry, and it would allow for teaching about how to choose a suitable image to match the tone of words.

A Jux can be created individually by students in a computer lab setting, or by a whole class using an interactive whiteboard.   After students create a Jux, they can save it as a PDF file, print it, or share it online via email, Facebook, Twitter, or url.

PRESENTATION RESOURCES ON LiveBinders

LiveBinders on Presentation Resources  Click her to see!

Here is a list of websites that students could use to make presentations - in some cases, could be alternatives to Powerpoint, keep your notes for class, organize by topic, etc.

If you haven't seen Live Binders, play around with it also!!

LiveBinders is your 3-ring binder for the Web

• Collect your resources
• Organize them neatly and easily
• Present them with pride

Best of all, it's free!
There are tons of LiveBinders already created.  
Here is one on iPad in Education:   http://livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=26242

Video Tutorials    http://livebinders.com/?type=video

• What is LiveBinder It?
• Add a binder icon to my desktop
• Use a Flickr image as my binder cover
• Upload a file (.pdf, .jpg, .doc) to my binder
• Import delicious bookmarks into a binder
• Install the LiveBinder Bookmarklet on IE
• Install the LiveBinder Bookmarklet on Firefox
• Install the LiveBinder Bookmarklet on Safari or Google Chrome

 

 

LiveBinders are free!
You can create, share, and present as many LiveBinders as you want for free. They plan to offer this basic service for free into the future.
The free version has the following upload limitations:

• You can upload any file size up to 5 MB. (This is the size of the individual file being uploaded.)
• Total upload storage for free is 100 MB per account.

Tagxedo - Word Cloud Generator with Shapes!

Check Out Tagxedo [tag-SEE-doh]

Word Cloud Generator  

There are two things that separate Tagxedo from similar tools like Tagul, Wordle, and Word It Out.   First, as anyone can see by visiting Tagxedo, it is very easy to customize the design of your word clouds. You can select from a variety of shapes in which to display words or you can design your shape for your word cloud. You can enter text into the word cloud generator manually or simply enter a url from which Tagxedo will generate a word cloud. As with other word cloud generators you also have options for excluding words from your word clouds.

The second thing that makes Tagxedo different from its competitors is a good variety of image download options. Tagxedo gives you eighteen options for saving your word clouds as png or jpeg files.



Applications for Education  Word cloud tools like Tagxedo can be useful for visual learners who need a visual depiction of the words of emphasis in a text. You could try having students use Tagxedo as an tool in the editing of their written work. Have students paste the text of an essay they've written into Tagxedo to see how often they use particular words or phrases. The students can then reflect on why they've used a particular word so often. 



Nov. 3 - Republicans
Take House, Democrats
keep Senate



Or you could pull up their Daily Tagxedo   http://daily.tagxedo.com/  Each day a Tagxedo is created from current events, trending topics or whimsical Idea of the Day!

Dipity - Create Digital Timeline

What is Dipity? http://www.dipity.com/

What it is: Dipity is a site that makes it simple for your students to create and share interactive timelines about any subject or topic. It allows students to embed You Tube videos, Twitter, RSS feeds, Blogger, flickr, Picasa, Last FM, and more right into their timelines.
Dipity makes timelines relevant and fun for students and best of all, students are creating timelines in “their language.”  You have to check this one out…look at a sample timeline to see how truly superior these timelines are to the traditional paper/pencil timeline.

How to integrate Dipity into the classroom:

• Create a timeline of your fieldtrip, demo in the classroom,
• Students can bring history to life by embedding relevant You Tube video into their timelines.
• Create a timeline of your day by combining Dipity with your classroom tweets from Twitter.
• Timelines can be created by students individually or as a class and posted on a class website as a study resource.

Dipity makes your classroom interactive and engaging for students. This is where real learning takes place! To introduce Dipity to your students, invite them to create a timeline of their day or their lives using Dipity (if they have a family Flickr account they can embed pictures right into their timeline).
Tips: Students can look at the content they add to Dipity in four different views:
Timeline, List View, Flipbook, and Map View (this only works if the timeline has been tagged with locations.)

Braineos - Flashcards and Custom Quizzes

Braineos - Flashcards and Custom Quizzes

There is no shortage of flashcard and quiz services on the web. Braineos is a newer entry into that market that you might want to take a look at. Braineos provides users with a platform to create their own flashcards or study flashcards created by others. Braineos provides users with four ways to study their flashcards' contents. Users can study through traditional flipping of cards (question then answer) or flipping cards in reverse (answer first, question second). Users can play a game called Papilio based on the content of their flashcards. In Papilio players zoom through scenes gathering correct answers as they go. Finally, users can take multiple choice quizzes that are generated based on the content of their flashcards.

You can use Braineos by signing-in with a Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, or Google Account.

Applications for Education
Braineos, like many similar services, offers students an easy-to-use platform for studying facts and definitions. One of the things that I like about Braineos is that students have a handful of different options for using the service without having to create yet another user name and password that they have to remember.

Here are some related resources that may be of interest to you:
Ediscio - Collaboratively Create Flashcards
Flashcard Flash - Search for Flashcard Sets
Quizlet - Create and Share Flashcards

JING - Free "Capture Screen"

Jing:

Instant screenshots and screencast. http://www.techsmith.com/jing/free/

Jing comes with free, online tutorials. So you'll be working smarter and faster - sooner.  This guide to taking your first capture will help you get started.

http://www.techsmith.com/learn/jing/

Install Jing and Sign Up for Screencast.com

Download and install Jing.

Double click the installer and proceed as directed.
You get 2 GB of storage and 2 GB of bandwidth per month for free.  You can also choose to host your captures elsewhere, such as Flickr or your own FTP server.

Is it private?    YES
You own and control all your content. Only people you choose can see it, and it’s only deleted when you delete it.

Find and Launch Jing
Did you notice anything has changed on your computer. Look carefully around the top edges of your screen. On Windows, the Jing Sun Launcher location is at the top center of the screen. On Macintosh, it’s in the upper right corner.  As you move over the “sun” three options will emerge. The most useful one is Capture.Learn More Cool Stuff About Jing!

JING has two great resources you should check out sometime. 

• The Help Center at     http://www.techsmith.com/learn/jing/? requestsource=productredirect&redirlang=enu&redirproduct=jing&redirver=2.0.0
• Their blog at http://blog.jingproject.com/ is a great place to learn the latest news, join the conversation, and see how others are using Jing! 

WallWisher- Post a Message

What is WALLWISHER?     http://www.wallwisher.com/

Wallwisher is an Internet application that allows people to express their thoughts on a common topic easily.

A wall is basically the 'web page' where people actually post messages.
YouTube video:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBn1EVzh6wk

What can I do with Wallwisher? 

• Brainstorming/ Idea Gathering




This is my WallWisher to use with Seniors.
Asking if they learned anything today?


• Homepages - a place to gather resources, post announcements, leave messages, provide homework help, etc.
• Skill building – note-taking, vocabulary, sorting and summarization work wonderfully on this.
• Portfolios of Student Work – either as a class or an individual.
• Classroom REVIEW of the day's learning.
• Book Recommendations
• Teachers can use these posts to gather feedback from students, have them ask questions anonymously, and pose their own thought-provoking queries.
• 29 Interesting Ways to Use WallWisher in the Classroom (@ SlideShare)  https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dhn2vcv5_436f8kscmdc

What if I just want a private wall?
Yes, you can set a wall to be private. In that case only you can see or add notes to the wall. Ideal for personal stuff like things-to-do.

Do I need to sign up to make a wall?
No you don’t need to. You can start building a wall straight away. We will, however, need your email address. A temporary account will be created for you using your email address so that you can come back and make changes to the wall. You can use this account for all your subsequent visits to this site, or if you dislike us so much, keep using the site as a stranger.

Do people need an account to post on a wall?    No

How much does it cost?   FREE

Note:   Some other online sticky note services worth exploring are Lino It, Stixy, Spaaze, and Postica. However, these services require all users to create an account before they can post sticky notes.

Glogster EDU - Multimedia Posters

What is Glogster EDU

Glogster EDU is the leading global education platform for the creative expression of knowledge and skills in the classroom and beyond.  They empower educators and students with the technology to create GLOGS - online multimedia posters - with text, photos, videos, graphics, sounds, drawings, data attachments and more. Instead of creating a poster for a presentation, students can create an interactive glog to display information.

Glogster can be used for history, math, language arts, book reports, science, social studies, and for public service announcements.
Start with the FREE EDU BASIC plan

• Click here to see many education Glogs!  http://edu.glogster.com/glogpedia/

• Here is a YouTube video on using GLOGS:    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvC47fUANLk&feature=related

• How teachers can use Glogster (No more Poster Boards or Tri-folds!)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7Go-piDcRg      from YouTube

There are 29 videos on YouTube describing "HOW TO." 

• Chech out their CATEGORIES OF GLOGS:    http://edu.glogster.com/categories/

Glogster's Educator Resource Library: 

The Glogster EDU Educator Resource Library is a database of outstanding examples of Glogster lesson plans and rubrics, standards alignment activities, and Glog building media resources.  The is a download as a PDF file.   
http://edu.glogster.com/download/glogster-edu-educator-resource-library.pdf
______________________________________________________
New Glogster Widget
If you have a Glogster account, now you can embed your posters directly into a wiki page, without ever leaving Wikispaces, and without having to copy any code.
Here’s how it works:
1. Go to your page and click Edit.
2. Click the Widget icon.
3. Choose Poster from the Widget menu, then click the Glogster EDU logo.
4. Enter your Glogster nickname and password, and click Log In.
5. Pick the glog you want, and either Insert it into the page, or View a preview.
6. Save the page.
It is that easy!!!
__________________________________________________________

The benefits of the Glogster Edu version are:

  Students can’t see content from the regular Glogster site when they are

     making Glogs in the EDU zone.

 You can embed your work in wiki pages.

 All Glogs made by students on the teacher page are PRIVATE.

 You can easily set up accounts for your students…just register for the EDU
     zone, fill in the number of student accounts or add accounts from your dashboard.

 Each teacher and all his students are connected, and students can leave

    comments on other student Glogs.

 You can see Glogs of your students on their profiles.

HAPPY GLOGGING!!!!

Khan Academy - Educational Videos

Khan Academy is a must-access resource for all parents, teachers and students. With the stated mission of providing a high quality education to anyone, anywhere, the Academy supplies a free online collection of more than 2,000 videos on mathematics, science, history, and economics.  There is an APP for Khan Academy from iTunes!  Students with SmartPhones can view these videos on their phone.

The Khan Academy has excellent resources for social studies, and hundreds of math and science videos, including full courses in Algebra I and Biology.

Join Khan Academy content-area groups and uncover thousands of video instructional resources in Social Studies, Math and Science.

Salman Khan is Bill Gates' favorite teacher.

FORTUNE Magazine, August 24, 2010:

http://www.khanacademy.org/press/fortune

Salman Khan is a Bangladeshi American born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana.   Khan holds three degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: a BS in mathematics, a BS in electrical engineering and computer science, and an MS in electrical engineering and computer science. He also holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Each video runs for approximately ten minutes.  Khan eschewed a format that would involve a person standing by a whiteboard, desiring instead to present the content in a way akin to sitting next to someone and working out a problem on a sheet of paper: If you're watching a guy do a problem while thinking out loud, I think people find that more valuable and not as daunting

Great way for students to review or a teacher to introduce a lesson.

See all the sessions:      http://www.khanacademy.org/

Salman Khan, founder of the wildly popular Khan Academy, recently gave a talk at TED.  In his talk he gives examples of how teachers are using Khan Academy to use classroom time more effectively, provide more data to teachers about their students, and provide students with more individualized instruction. Khan concludes his talk with how technology can be used to humanize classrooms and learning worldwide. Watch the video below, I think you'll get some good ideas from it. http://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education.html

DROPBOX - "Cloud Storage for Your Files"

DROPBOX
Have you ever just wanted a place to store your files where you could access them from your school computer, your home computer, your iPhone, etc.?  DROPBOX is your answer!  It is one of those "Cloud Computing" sites.

Watch a short video here to understand how this works.    http://www.dropbox.com/tour

You register at this same site.  AND you will need to download the software.
There is an APP for iPhones -
 Basic Service is Free - You get 2GB of storage for free.
                         If you wish, you may pay for more storage.

I have been using Dropbox for a over a year and it has saved me from trying to find a certain file that I worked on last night at home, but did not save to a FlashDrive or to my school account!  It is "in the clouds!"  When you saving on your computer, Dropbox will be an option, just like any other drive.  I can also save to Dropbox on my iPhone! 

Check it out   ....      http://www.dropbox.com        

          

PREZI - Use INSTEAD of Powerpoint!

 Websites to Use for 21^st Century Skills

 in the Classroom: 

              http://prezi.com

Check the video on the first page,

“What is Prezi?”1 minute video

 

Prezi is a Flash-based app that lets you build amazing, non-linear presentations where you can zoom in and out of a visual map containing words, links, images, videos, etc.  Cost: free and paid plans

     Here is an example of how one student used Prezi:  “30 things about  

            Me”         http://prezi.com/gco-vb9vvvy2  

     Students could create their own “About ME” Prezi projects.

     Also, can be used in similar ways that a Powerpoint has been used.

Cool intro to what Prezi can do: 10 ways to say it with prezi - Prezi is simple: You Write, Zoom, Arrange.Using these simple means, you can express many things - with great impact.Here are some basic examples such as timelines,

http://prezi.com/rhmtbwld0cvy/academy-10-ways-to-say-it-with-prezi

Engaging Your Students with Prezi  

This is a SimpleK12′s 2 Minute EdTech Talk. This episode of 2 Minute EdTech Talk is with Steven Katz, author and Technology Integration Specialist in South Korea.

TWITTER - My Personal Learning Network!

Twitter has become my Personal Learning Network and I hope that it will become yours this year.
The internet has so much information today that we can not hope to know everything!  Can't go to a conference for the latest in education?  Then get the latest trends, classroom help, information on your favorite hobby, or any of your interests are probably Tagged on Twitter.  Just try this amazing PLN for a month and let me know what you think!
Here is a quick tutorial on How to Set Up Your Twitter Account:
http://youtu.be/RO2o7pCaw4o

Here is a Downloadable ebook on Twitter:
  http://manuals.makeuseof.com.s3.amazonaws.com/twitter-guide.pdf

Once you have set up your account, please follow me by typing into Find People:  jenniferjdavis
My Twitter is mainly about using technology in the classroom.  After one month, I will guarantee that you will find at least a dozen tweets you can use!

100 Inspiring Ways to Use Social Media In the Classroom

Social media may have started out as a fun way to connect with friends, but it has evolved to become a powerful tool for education and business. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter and tools such as Skype are connecting students to learning opportunities in new and exciting ways. Whether you teach an elementary class, a traditional college class, or at an online university, you will find inspirational ways to incorporate social media in your classroom with this list.

Online Universties Home Online University Blog 100 Inspiring Ways to Use Social Media In the Classroom
http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2010/05/100-inspiring-ways-to-use-social-media-in-the-classroom/

Sections Include......

Ideas for K-12 Classrooms                        
Ideas for College Classrooms                                  
Ways Students Can Use Social Media
Communication
Class Projects
Promoting Community and Collaboration
Preparing for Employment

from Online University Blog

Blogging for 21st Century Skills

Blogging is a relatively easy and convenient way for teachers and educators to share their own thoughts, ideas and other plans with anyone they choose. From other teachers to parents of students, blogging can help deliver a message that would otherwise not be able to reach that many people.
This is my First Blog!  I started at http://www.blogger.com/. I wish to share with others all of the exciting websites that can enhance and engage our students today.Please feel free to leave me comments!
If you want to look at some great educational blogs search at http://classblogmeister.com/

This blog is to deliver Tech*KNOWLEDGE*Tips to teachers to use in their lesson plans and classrooms to enhance our students 21st Century Technology Skills.  http://techknowledgeytip.blogspot.com/