Showing posts with label applications. Show all posts
Showing posts with label applications. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

3 web sites you should check out soon!!

If you use Google Forms with your students as a formative assessment tool, and you want your assessments to be graded automatically, then you need to look into Flubaroo.  Simple and easy to use, and it does all of the work.  Seriously check it out.

From Tech & Learning:

Friday, November 18, 2011

Scribble Maps

I found this web site (free but register to save work), http://www.scribblemaps.com/, that lets you draw, create, save and print your own modifications to any online interactive map.  The maps can be based around Google maps, Street maps, Astronomy maps, Terrain maps, Topography maps, or a hybrid of some of these maps.  You can zoom in on the maps and get real definitive with your lines, shapes, scribbles, and labels or you can zoom out and place pushpins, arrows, people, and other signs on the map.  A really neat web site that can be great for a variety of activities both personally and with students.

I recently used this web site, to sketch out and draw pipe lines and sewer system mounds and to label each system and pipe material, for my dad who owns a company that installs sewer systems.  He was pretty amazed that this can be done, because the printed product will provide a for sure way for his workers to know exactly where to dig, exactly where to install the system systems, and exactly what material to use throughout the project.  A picture is below.


Thursday, November 3, 2011

Technology Professional Development

Here are some Technology Based Graphic Organizers that you could:

-Create, print and individually provide to the students
-Create and project through your LCD projector to work as a class
-Put on your SchoolFusion page for students to individually use on the laptops and then print for their portfolio or as an assessment piece

Interactive

Downloadable Organizers


KidSpiration/Inspiration


-Reading/Writing has Comparing, KWL Chart, Venn Diagram, StoryBoard
-Math has Fact Families, Measuring and Comparing Furniture Sizes
-Science has Alike and Different, Cause and Effect, Comparison,
-Social Studies has Community Comparison, Culture Comparison, Wants & Needs, Where I Live

Monday, October 31, 2011

More Web Sites

Mostly every night I watch TV and look at web sites that I think could be beneficial for both teacher and student uses.  I am looking for web sites that either require no login or are easy to login, and provide differentiated technology experiences for both teachers and students.  Listed below are some I have ventured into and feel could be of beneficial use if further explored.  Please take a look.

This web site lets you upload any picture that you have and apply effects to it from simply rotating, resizing, and coloring it to cutting things out of it, enhancing a part of the picture, and shaping the picture.  Plus all of this is free, no account needed and the final product can easily be saved back onto your computer.

This game applies critical thinking and problem solving.  You have to problem solve to unlock certain items which in turns provides english, math and science questions to help you move from scene to scene.  So even though it provides questions for you to answer you have to unlock certain items for the questions to even appear at first.

This web site showcases games, quizzes, online worksheets and downloadable worksheets for teachers and students to use to better help with music, musical composition, lyrics, music media and musicians.

This web site provides reiterated topics related to math such as bisecting an angle, finding a certain measurement and locating the center of a circle to name a few.  You go through 3 rounds, learning the same concepts except with different problems, and you click to add your answer and you get rated based on the time it takes you to add your answer and how close you are to answering it correctly. 

Type in a poem, a story, your own creative writing into a talking card to express your meanings.  You can play the talking card to everyone in the class or your can email the talking card for others to easily view.  No account needed to create and/or send your talking cards.

Simulations are created and demonstrated on this science simulation web site, related to a variety of science concepts and topics.  Science concepts can easily be learned, showcased and demonstrated through these simulations.

Take the opportunity to run a farm.  Buy and plant crops, buy and take care of livestock, buy tools and machinery and keep yourself and your family safe.  Learn how to run a farm and how to make a profit to be able to earn money as a farmer.

Apply your creative thinking and problem solving skills to a few games in math, english, science and social studies.  

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Using different Preview features

Preview is an application associated with Mac/Apple computers to open up PDF files and/or pictures and is very similar to Adobe Reader, except it can provide some additional features that can be of beneficial use for teachers and students.
First, to open up Preview look for this icon
in your dock at the bottom of your screen or within your Applications folder.
or
Open up an PDF file and/or picture and it should open up in Preview.

After you have a PDF file and/or picture opened up in Preview a few additional features that you can explore are:

Zooming=Zoom in or Zoom out using the + or - signs

Selecting=Select a part of the picture or PDF file, and the copy and paste it into a document





Annotating=Add additional text, circle/underline something important, use arrows to point to important words or an important part of a picture, etc.




Bookmarking=If reading an article through Preview you can Bookmark the page you left off on, or an important page






Rotating=Rotate to the left or rotate to the right




Slideshow=Take your pictures or PDF files and easily turn them into a full screen slideshow

Monday, October 10, 2011

Web Sites Galore

50 Sites in 60 Minutes: Version 2

Shmoop
We Speak Student is the motto for this web site.  This web site provides student and teacher resources related to US History, Economics, Music, and Literature to name a few.  This web site is trying to take these educational concepts and turn them into a language the students better understand showcasing "In a Nutshell" what the information is and "Why Should I Care" to support the reasons teachers are showcasing this information in class.

Online Professional Development
Knowledge Delivery Systems is providing the opportunity for concepts to be learned, while teachers earn state license renewal, continuing education credits, salary advancement and more.  Some of the concepts show are, A Framework for Teaching, Understanding the Digital Generation, Authentic Innovation in the 21st Century, Manage it All, and Differentiation to name a few.  Syllabi's are available to download to check out the course content.

Arcademicskillbuilders
Arcade + Academics = Fun Learning.  This web site provides academic arcade games related to addition, subtraction, money, fraction, geography, language arts, typing and more.  With these games they can be played individually or the students can create multi-player games where a student can setup a room and other students can easily join the room to play with the other students or against the other students.  Great way for students to interact with each other while on different computers.

Discovery Education: Teacher Resources
Even though Discovery Education does not provide the web sites, videos, interactives and more through DE Streaming, they still do provide teacher resources such as lesson plans, worksheets, learning adventures and brain boosters for science, english, social studies and math.  They even break this information down into K-5, 6-8 and 9-12.

21st Century Cool Websites

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Tech&Learning Web Sites

These web sites were showcased in the latest edition of Tech&Learning online and in its current magazine.

A Google A Day
This web site can be addictive in counting how much time it takes for you to find the answer of a daily question through the use of Google searching.  It tests your searching skills through Google.  Can be something to showcase to your students during the last few minutes of class to keep them busy.

Voocaroo
A web site that allows you to record, just like a podcast, for free and then provides you with a link to establish on your web site for others to click on and the instantly listen too.

Sophia
Provides popular packets on Applied Sciences, English/Literature, Humanities, Learning Strategies, Math, Sciences and Social/Behavioral Sciences.  These popular packets provides great ideas for teachers and learners alike from other teachers and learners.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Creating a Picture Slideshow in iPhoto

To get to iPhoto click on the icon in your Dock or open your Applications folder inside your Macintosh HD and look alphabetically for iPhoto.     




Once you have uploaded your photos into iPhoto or if you already have photos in iPhoto, make sure you click on the + sign in the bottom left hand corner to add an album to drag and drop pictures into.  You can only play a slideshow through an album and dragging and dropping the pictures into the album only duplicates the original picture(s).



Once you have an album of pictures made just click on the Slideshow play button which is located in the bottom middle of the iPhoto screen underneath the pictures.

Once you click on the Slideshow play button you will then get 3 options to adjust before you Play your slideshow.  You can pick between 6 different themes, you can pick your music which some is already provided or you can import songs from your iTunes libraries, and you can adjust the settings for how long each picture is displayed, if your slideshow should be repeated, if your pictures should be shuffled and more.  

Sunday, September 25, 2011

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.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

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.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

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.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

A Variety of Web Sites

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.
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.
Interact with scientists ranging from volcano watcher, fossil hunter, seed reader, zoo vet, reef doctor, diving officer, moon measurer and more.
Just like it sounds.  Write your text upside down.
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.
Easily draw in real time with others, anywhere.
Meet with others online for an online meeting if you are un able to all or a few to meet face-to-face.
Fill out a PDF, sign it and send in all online.  Easily add your e-signature to a form online.
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.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

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.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

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

Thursday, September 1, 2011

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.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Stickies

Ever need to keep track of something on the computer for a short period of time or keep track of something that you repeatedly need to do every single week, but have no where to put it.  Well now you do, with the use of Stickies.  Stickies are like digital post-it notes.  To open up the Stickies application click:

Go in the menu bar at the top of the screen and then Applications




















then look alphabetically for Stickies.



Once you double click on Stickies, a blank sticky note will come up that you can type your short list or long list of reminders to.  Other options within Stickies, mainly located within File, Note and Color on the top menu bar are to add a New Note, make each note a Floating Window and/or Translucent Window, and to change the color of each note.

1 thing I do is I make sure that Stickies opens up when I login to my computer each time.  You can do this by 2-finger clicking on the Stickies icon in the dock,

 then hovering over Options and then clicking once on Open at Login.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Dock

Did you know that the applications at the bottom and sometimes on the side of your computer screen are just short cuts?  Where they are located is called the Dock.  These are not the full applications just the short cuts and if they are deleted (poofed) off of the dock they are not lost.  Also the applications in your dock can be removed and others can be added as the dock usually starts off with a default group of applications.

DVD Player

One application that probably does not effectively get used a lot is the DVD player.  Click Go at the top of the screen and then Applications.















and then look for DVD player and double click on it.