More Web 2.0 Tools-DE Streaming Alternative

IPTV:PBS Learning Media
This web site provides the immediate alternative for showcasing items related to Discovery Education.  PBS Learning Media provides opportunities for teachers to locate videos, digital resources, interactives, audio, photos and provided lesson plans to then be able to showcase on their computer to all of their students.  Currently this web site provides 3 free resource views and after the 3 have been used a free account needs to be created to further access the material.  This resource is brand new and would best be used solely by teachers to project and showcase to their students.

Go Animate
After creating an account you and/or your students can animate a story you have created on paper.  You can add your scene, choose your characters, type in your dialogue and choose the voice that your characters will speak aloud in and then preview your finished product.  So your students become the writer of their story, to the animation creator of their story, being able to type in the dialogue with each character for their story to be read aloud through animation.

Pic ReSize
Just like it sounds, this web site allows you to alter pics with reducing their actual size, reducing their memory size, and much more.  You can crop the picture, rotate the picture, resize the physical size of the picture, change the image extension to jpg, gif, png, bmp, and add cool effects to the picture.  After you apply these options you can then resave the picture to be used again and/or printed.

Socrative
This is a smart student response system that allows you to provide a plethora of question options and choices to students through an online "room," where they can then answer the questions and choices to better asses their learning.  The students do not login, they just access a certain web address along with typing in the correct room # that you provide to them, and it takes them to the student response system to gather their information based on the answers they have provided.  You are then supplied with visuals to showcase the student(s) responses.

Laptop Software Update-Safari-Reading List

Related to my previous post "Laptop Software Update," Safari is then updated and provides a new little feature called Reading List.  This feature is showcased underneath the Back Button and next to the Bookmark icon with a pair of reading glasses.  

This is different than bookmarking a web site as bookmarking a web site states that you want to keep that web site for future uses.  Adding a web site to the reading list, by clicking on the pair of reading glasses and clicking Add Page, states that you want to read information on a web site, but do not have time to read it now, and once you get done reading it at a later date, you want to discard the web site, as it is not needed for future uses.  

So for example you might find a web site that has an article related to 21st century learning that you would be interested in reading, but you do not have the time to sit in front of the computer to read it and you do not want to print the article as it would waste paper.  So instead you click on the pair of reading glasses, click on add page and then that web site article is stored in your reading list to read at a later date.

Laptop Software Update

If you have not done a Software Update on your laptop lately, you need to complete this task soon and regularly.  1 reason is it keeps your computer up-to-date and working properly, but another reason is that it provides new features for the laptop and for the applications.
To complete your Software Update, which should be checked at least 1 time a week, you click on the Black Apple in the upper left-hand corner of the laptop and go 2 down and click on Software Update.

It will either state that the latest software is installed or it will give you a list of software to update.  If it lists software, could be just 1 or as many as 10, click install and let it do its work. Most of the times, your computer will need to be restarted after the installation of the new items.

Some things to consider:
The Software Update has to be done while at school using the Schools wireless Internet
Allow time for the installation of the software and for the restarting of the computer to take place.  A good time would be to start the installation when you leave your room for lunch, or when you are teaching a class/period where you do not need your laptop.

Universal Access

Mac/Apple computers provide opportunities for assistive devices, called Universal Access, to be easily accessible and readily used by all users needing and/or showing assistance.

To get to the Universal Access capabilities go to the Black Apple in the upper left hand corner and click System Preferences:


Then in the bottom right-hand corner click Universal Access.







Once you click Universal Access, make sure you √ the option at the bottom to Enable access for assistive devices.

Within the Seeing tab you will be able to turn the Voiceover feature on or off, turn the Zoom on or off and/or have the Display be black text on white backgrounds or white text on black backgrounds.  When you turn the Voiceover on information and text is read aloud to you along with providing typed out descriptions or hints on what to do.

Within the Hearing tab you will be able to Flash the screen when an alert sound occurs.

Within the Keyboard tab you will be able to Display pressed keys on the screen.

Within the Mouse & Trackpad tab you will be able to turn Mouse Keys on so you can use the keyboard in place of the mouse, control the mouse pointer movement and make the size of the cursor larger.

All of these features cab be of a personal benefit or a benefit for students using your computer or you projecting items through your computer to students.

BookFlix-Stories being Read to Students

As part of IowaAEAOnline, Bookflix is a great resource to provide PreK-3rd grade readers the opportunity to watch books being turned into animated movies and to read books or have books read to them online.  Listening to reading is an effective tool for students as they are able to follow along with the book and words on the screen while learning how they are properly enunciated and put together into sentences.
Once you get to BookFlix, after you use the school assigned AEA Username and AEA password, you can explore a variety of options and resources to make BookFlix effective for your students as individuals on the laptops or effective for you to showcase to your students on your computer through the LCD projector.

A Variety of Web Sites

FluxTime

A great animation web site that allows students to easily animate stories, ideas and recollections to be able to save and display as a story or movie.

FoldingStory

Lets you or a group create, edit, and share stories online with each other or with random people.

Amazing Space

Look at the Hubble Gallery of pictures, visit online explorations, and visit tonight's sky through pictures, information and video.

Scientists @ The Smithsonian

Interact with scientists ranging from volcano watcher, fossil hunter, seed reader, zoo vet, reef doctor, diving officer, moon measurer and more.

FlipText

Just like it sounds.  Write your text upside down.

FileDropper

Upload your file and then share your personal link for others to download your file.  Similar to saving a file on a usb flash drive and exchanging it with someone.  Now you can upload the file safely online, and then share your personal link to others to download your file onto their computer.

FlockDraw

Easily draw in real time with others, anywhere.

FlashMeeting

Meet with others online for an online meeting if you are un able to all or a few to meet face-to-face.

Fill any PDF

Fill out a PDF, sign it and send in all online.  Easily add your e-signature to a form online.

Fav7

Add up to 7 urls to a short page with provides you with 1 link to share.  Otherwise each web site that might be associated with similar ideas, each have to have a short link.  Now you can have up to 7 similar web sites on the same short link to share.

Web Sites for Creating Outlines

Here are some great web sites for creating outlines online to keep online, to create online to make offline, and/or to create online to print.

Quicklyst
Allows you to take your notes with you anywhere on the laptop or other mobile devices.  Provides instant access to Wikipedia and the Merriam-Webster dictionary for help, assistance and ideas.  You can also share printable study guides with others as you see fit.

Knowcase
Provides opportunities to capture ideas, notes, and todos.  Provides opportunities to organize, prioritize, and hierarchically structure information using drag and drop, similar to how the Mac laptops work.  Provides opportunities to collaborate, share lists with your team or students.

Checkvist
This web site provides opportunities for hierarchical lists, sharing and collaboration, email notifications, due dates, tags, search and live filtering, and gmail integration.

CRLS Outline Maker
Provides a basic outlining tool, that can be typed in, previewed and printed for a finalized copy.  Just add your title, name, subtopic(s), first point with supporting evidence, second point with supporting evidence and so forth.  Very simple to use.

ReadWriteThink Notetaker
A great, interactive note taking/outlining tool geared towards elementary aged students.  Lessons are available to be able to coordinate this lesson with available ideas or wanted ideas.  Related classroom and professional development resources are provided to better source this interactive tool as a resource.  An easy way for students to outline their research, preview it and print it for a final product.

TwoUp

TwoUp is a great application to allow users to easily see 2 programs split on their screen at once.  

If you see the picture on the left in your menu bar at the top of the screen then you are able to use TwoUp.  If you do not see this picture you then need to launch TwoUp.  Note: Anytime you quit out of TwoUp, you have to launch the application again for it to be located up in your menu bar.  

To launch TwoUp you need to locate your Applications folder by going to Go at the top of your screen and then clicking on Applications.  

Within the Applications folder you need to locate TwoUp and then double-click on it to add it to your menu bar and to open it up.  

Once TwoUp is located in your menu bar you can use it by selecting the first application window you want to move then choosing between Left, Right, Up, Down.  Then click on your second application window and choose the opposite, so both applications chosen are split on the screen in half, either left and right or up and down.  

Very useful if you have information to look up on applications Safari/Firefox and you need type down the looked up information on the application Pages/Keynote.

More Information: http://osx.iusethis.com/app/twoup

A Few New Web Sites

Tech & Learning is a great web site that provides a lot of valuable information, resources and especially web sites.  I ventured to 10 web sites but found 3 that would be of beneficial use to a variety of teachers and subjects.

All About Adolescent Literacy
Provides a variety of tools and resources, specifically Processional Development Webcasts, related to making room for adolescent literacy, english language learners, and students getting ready for college.  This web sites also provides classroom strategies related to vocabulary, comprehension, and writing at times of before reading, during reading, and after reading.  These graphic organizers can be downloaded to be used in Pages or can be downloaded and used to view/print.  Lastly this web sites provides resources for helping struggling readers, books and author features, and the strategy library.

Poetry Foundation: Children's Poetry
Provides Articles about Children's Poetry related to essays, interviews and articles.  Also showcases Children's Video related to baby poetry, children poetry, and poetry everywhere.  A great web site that provides recommended book previews, featured authors, featured videos, featured book collections and 100s of poems related to Early Readers, Young Adults, Beginning Readers, Classics and School.

SEN Teacher: Free Teaching Resources for Special Education
Provides web links, downloads, math printables, literacy printables, and other printables for student and teacher us.  You can even customize the downloadable printables based on your needs and your students' needs.  For example you can print or download and make accessible online skeleton labels, alphabet cards, and multiplication grids to name a few.

To make accessible online for downloading you want to print the file,

then click on PDF and Save as PDF,

then save the PDF onto your computer and then upload it to Google Docs to share or to SchoolFusion for the students to download

I don't have time to read this - Repost

Well now you can easily bookmark it, to Read Later. Instapaper, is a web site that easily allows you to create a free account to be able to add a bookmark in your bookmark bar, so once you have a web site, document, newspaper article, etc. that you do not have time to read you can easily press the bookmark button in your bookmark bar, titled "Read Later," and it will be saved to your Instapaper account for you to read later.

Included with your free Instapaper account is the ability to print, send to your kindle, or transfer in an ebook (epub) format to your iPad, iPod Touch, or iPhone.

Instapaper also has an app ($4.99) suited for your iPad, iPod Touch, or iPhone to syncrouosly keep documents located on both your laptop and your mobile device.

A free app similar to Instapaper is Read It Later Free and it works in a similar format to the Instapaper app.