Welcome Back!!

New School Year...exciting!

Next week, Tuesday, September 20, I will start posting to this blog every Tuesday.

We will explore more Web 2.0 tools that will engage our students.

This summer, I did expand the Labels to include English, Social Studies, Math, Science and Career & Tech Labs.  When you click on one of these labels, you will see which of the Web 2.0 sites I recommend for each group.

Hope your school year is the Best!
See you next week.

Have a Fantastic Summer!!!

This summer I hope to put more tags on the Web 2.0 sites we already have . . . mainly academic tags, such as Science, Math, Social Studies, and English.  Then you will be able to click on your subject area and find only those Web 2.0 tools I recommend for your discipline.

Tech*Knowledge*Y Tips will return in September 2011 with a new Blog each week.  Thank you for your suggestions and comments!

FreeRice

FreeRice
http://freerice.com/
is a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Program. The site has two equally important goals. To provide education to everyone for free and to help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free. Students answer vocabulary questions and for each one they get right, rice is donated to feed the hungry. This is a great way to study vocab and help Change the World at the same time.

Just a website that we should not forget . . .
Use in the classroom the last 5 minutes!!!

Got Brainy - SAT Prep / Vocabulary Builder

Got Brainy
is a vocabulary building site with a twist. Students and teachers can create or view mock-motivational-posters or videos for vocabulary words that often pair ironic or sarcastic images with a word and definition. This site might be best used with an upper-level High School English class studying for standardized tests. (SAT/ACT) However, it can be used for ESL students as well to pair images with new vocabulary words and simple definitions.

http://www.gotbrainy.com/

Exploratree - Interactive Thinking Guides

Exploratree
     http://www.exploratree.org.uk/
Exploratree is a free web resource where you can access a library of ready-made interactive thinking guides, print them, edit them or make your own. You can share them and work on them in groups too.

Thinking guides support the thinking or working through of an issue, topic or question and help to shape, define and focus an idea and also support the planning required to investigate it further. Exploratree guides can be used as a basis for whole class discussion, or emailed to individuals or groups to complete. They can also be used as a presentation tool to share your findings and thinking with others. As well as providing a set of ready to use thinking guides, which are completely customisable and shareable, Exploratree also enables teachers and students to create their own simply and easily.

Take a look at an introductory video:   http://www.exploratree.org.uk/movie.php

With Exploratree you can:

• Use our ready-made thinking guides

• Make a new thinking guide from scratch
• Use it to set class projects
• Print them out (they can go as big as A0)
• Change and customise thinking guides, you can add or change text, shapes, images etc.
• As a teacher, you can set up the sequence that you want the thinking guide to be revealed in, so that you can stage the thinking activity
• You can fill in a thinking guide and complete your project on the website
• You can present your project
• You can send your thinking guide to a whole group of people
• You can submit a thinking guide for comments, so it can't be edited but just reviewed
• Work in groups on the same thinking guide

aMAP - "Argument Creator Map"

http://www.amap.org.uk/create/

aMap is short for ‘argument map’.  The idea is very simple – to promote the art of arguing by mapping out complex debates in a simple visual format.

aMaps come in two different formats:
- Interactive personalised aMaps, which you can make here

- Printed pocket-sized aMap “argument guides”, which you can buy here

Using aMap in the classroom! 

At its heart, aMap is about helping people get to grips with complex issues and getting people to think –  ideal for use in the classroom for lessons like Critical Thinking and other philosophical based subjects . . .
The underlying structuring of aMaps is based around “informal logic” – this is the logic people use to argue in everyday life.  Informal logic has a four-tiered structure:
- Your position (I think ...) – what you think overall
- Propositions (Because ...) – reasons that support your position
- Arguments (As ...)– supporting arguments that back up each of your propositions- Evidence (Supported by . . .) – supporting evidence to back up your arguments

This critical thinking exercise for teachers focuses on helping students to develop arguments – all part of aMap’s critical thinking educational resources for teaching critical thinking in classrooms across schools and colleges.

The ability to develop a good argument is an essential skill to have in everyday life – whether for professional or personal reasons, the ability to argue well will get you a long way in life.
Start an Argument!!! 
 http://www.amap.org.uk/create/

Museum Box

 Museum Box

http://museumbox.e2bn.org/

This site provides the tools for you to build up an argument or description of an event, person or historical period by placing items in a virtual box. What items, for example, would you put in a box to describe your life, the life of a tree or cell, the history of a career, the life of a Victorian Servant or Roman soldier, or to show that slavery was wrong and unnecessary? You can display anything from a text file to a movie. You can also view and comment on the museum boxes submitted by others.

MuseumBox is a cross curricular tool. It is particularly useful in areas of the curriculum where students have to assess, investigate or debate issues and explore and develop ideas.  In the Guidance for Teacher area, there are creative ways listed to use Museum Box in the classroom.

If you wish to review and approve your pupils' work then you will need to:
Register your school    Once you have been approved (can take up to 5 days) you can review their work.

Guidance for Teachers - Registration and creating student accounts

http://museumbox.e2bn.org/teachers/view.php?id=74

Ice Breakers

 Ice Breakers 

http://www.icebreakers.ws/

This site features instructions to several play tested. high quality Free Icebreakers, fun games, and team building activities.
Works well for group facilitation, the first day of school, training programs and icebreakers for meetings of all kind.

Zentation

Zentation - Online Presentation with Video and Slides

The next best thing to being there live . . .
Zentation combines video and slides to create online presentations that best simulate the live experience. Easily create high-end webinars, webcasts, elearning, training and virtual events.

Basic features with social media tools.

Easily synchronize your video and PowerPoint slides together in a single presentation format. The Zentation player provides your audience with a simple outline of your presentation so they can access any part of it without having to wait for it to download completely. Viewers can even use the comment section to blog about your presentation.

• Sharing a presentation is easy. Zentation provides thumbnail image links and embed code for a simple flash player that can be integrated into your blog or website.

How do I use the Zentation service (for free)?

• Upload your video to YouTube or Slideshare.
• Log into Zentation and create a new Account and "Add a New Presentation."
  • In the form, copy and paste the URL of your video from YouTube or Slideshare.
  • Then, upload your PowerPoint file or link a Slideshare slide deck.
  • Finally, you can use our ZenSync™ tool to provide precise start timings for each graphic in your presentation.

   See how this works . . .

 CLICK on PLAY

Uses in the Classroom -
Videotape your lesson presentation . . . 
Students can review or see the lesson from the day they were absent with you talking and the slides you presented!

What is a Voki?

What is Voki? Voki is a free service that allows you to create personalized speaking avatars and use them on your blog, profile, and in email messages.  Voki is intended for non-commercial use.   http://www.voki.com/Voki_for_education.php How do I get started? It's easy! You don't need any advanced technological knowledge to use Voki. Creating a Voki is a simple step-by-step process that anyone with Internet and a mouse can easily complete. If you have questions, please visit the FAQs page. Another great resource is the Newbie's Corner in the Teacher's Corner, where many savvy Voki users share their knowledge. You'll be an expert in no time! After all, "Who dares to teach must never cease to learn." (John Cotton Dana).
That's right! The new blog.voki.com is here!  Here are some recent posts:
Hello World! Video Interview with Mary Beth Interview with Lisa Nielsen The "Missing" Voki Embed Code

How can I use Voki in my classroom?
There are endless ways of using Voki in your classroom! You can use Voki for any subject and any grade. Users upload their lesson plans for your convenience. Additionally, please visit the Teacher's Corner to learn and get inspired by the Voki community of educators.