Describes LinoIt and how to use it--a nice brainstorming and student collaboration tool, but it's great to see examples and how it can be used with students. Free.
Upload pictures, write text, and the program animates the message, and plays it as a sequence, then sends it to friends. Nice short writing assignment or digital story-telling adventure. Rec. by Russell Stannard.
This would be a great project base for students. They take photos, upload them and then record a voice description. Has connect to Facebook option also.
"By working your way through this web site and taking part in the exciting challenges and activities, you will learn all about the Internet." A nice Web activity for those learning about the Web. Emphasizes safety.
"Teachers who want to put web 2.0 technologies to work for them can find many different free options online. There are tools for creating online classrooms, social networks, student podcasts, web-based flashcards, elearning modules, and much more. Here are 10 free web 2.0 tools for teachers to try in the classroom this year." The first of these, Engrade, looks like it would be useful as an online assignment calendar, gradebook, IM, and progress report system.
Online books for kids, read by children, with illustrations and all. Very nice read along. Many free, and can be personalized with your children's names.
"Lit2Go is a free online collection of stories and poems in Mp3 (audiobook) format. You can:
* Download the files to your Mp3 player and listen on the go,
* Listen to the Mp3 files on your computer,
* View the text on a webpage and read along as you listen,
* Print out the stories and poems to make your own book."
You can save to desktop and so free your class of Internet requirements or read and listen on the Web. You can browse alphabetically by author, title, subject matter, or by Reading Level.
Create activities, matching games, crosswords, and quizzes. Save these resources online with your free teacher account and analyze results of quizzes and games.
A great collection of links to poetry of the ages for all ages. Divided geogrpahically by sources of poetry: Poetry of Africa, Poetry of the Americas, etc., and by specific authors, e.g., Mahmou Dariwsh, Vinicious de Morais, etc. Some bilingual.
"Digital stories-short and economical personal narrative pieces that use image, voice, sound effects, and music to convey meaning-can be a powerful form for creative and engaging student projects." Describes why digital stories make good collaborative projects, and how to do it, with examples and students' journal reflections.
A social blog oriented to middle-school learners. Teacher can set questions and request students to join. Free. Nice instructional video at the >Learn more about link. There are also many teacher/school district blogs to view as examples.
Children have a strong disposition to explore and discover. The Project Approach builds on natural curiosity, enabling children to interact, question, connect, problem-solve, communicate, reflect, and more. This kind of authentic learning extends beyond the classroom to each student's home, community, nation, and the world.
The Virtual Schoolhouse is a compendium of project-based learning practices from across the country. We invite you to explore the site and discover both the principles behind project-based learning, as well as the work of teachers and students who are making project-based learning happen in the classroom.
"4Teachers.org works to help you integrate technology into your classroom by offering online tools and resources. This site helps teachers locate and create ready-to-use Web lessons, quizzes, rubrics and classroom calendars. There are also tools for student use." Loads of tools.
This is a great set of podcast questions by students to be used as the basis of a cross-cultural exchange. Nice examples to get your students going. These examples are from 16-17-yr-olds. Students get some writing practice, too, by inputting the questions they read aloud.
Some word games, e.g. letters drop and you must make a word before letters build up to the top of the screen (see Drop-a-block). Doens and dozens of Flash-based games. (from Russell Stannard's TeachertrainingVideos.com)
Songs/music videos with lyrics side-by-side. Should be great for teens and young adult learners. (Also great if you never could understand those words!) Have your students write their own lyrics to songs. Or write their own music as a project. If using clips in a project, be sure to respect copyright.