Group items tagged

Authors: Group 1 (Bulfer, Sennett, Gourley, Carl) Category: Word clouds Grade level use: All levels Topic/discipline: Any subject Tutorial information: FAQ section Possible uses: Presentations, to analyze, projects Basic explanation: Wordle develops word clouds based on the frequency of use of each word; words that are used more often are bigger. Users can copy and paste data from different sources to create a word cloud. Positives: Do not have to register to use, not copyrighted, can use your wordles however you want. Negatives: Wordle is not moderated or filtered, students might find obscene language.

Costello, Regilio, Saal, Stroh; Group 5 Tool name: Wordle http://www.wordle.net/ Category: "word cloud" generator Tags: word cloud, vocabulary Grade level use: All grade levels Topic/discipline: Most areas involving vocabulary Tutorial information: There is not tutorial on how to use Wordle though it is pretty simple. There is a significant section of FAQ. Possible uses for students, teachers, and/or administrators: Can be used to create word banks as well as show students which vocabulary words may be more significant about a certain topic. Basics: Enter a group of words you want to appear in your Wordle. Click "go" and the site generates your "word cloud." Then you can change the format, language, font and colors. You can also print your Wordle or save it in a public gallery. Positives: It's very simple and takes very little time at all. You can also put in a URL and Wordle.net will create your word cloud using the words on the site. Negatives: The only thing you can do on this wed site is create word clouds.

Group Name: (Group 4) Belcher, Kaufman, Knowles, Duffy) Category: Online comic generator Grade Level: All Topic: All Tutorial: http://toondooguide.wordpress.com/toondoo-what-it-is-and-why-to-use-it/ This is a teacher's handbook to using ToonDoo. I found it very helpful! Possible uses: summarize information, represent concepts pictorally, Basics: Students can easily create comics in various frame layouts or even creat books. Positives: increased student buy in, easily embedded into wikis etc.. Negatives: Reports of finished products having glitches with color, or text box location etc..

Authors: Group 2 (Hafermann, Wenzel, McKane, Getchius) Category: Online library Grade level use: All levels Topic/discipline: Social sciences, language arts, math, science, technology, history, primary sources (as tags) Tutorial Information: "Ask a Librarian" link is located at the top of the main page of the website. Once clicked, the next page is separated into 5 sections: 1) General Collections, 2)International Collections, 3) Digital Collections, 4)Special Formats and Genres, 5)Other Programs and Services Possible uses: Research projects, daily historical trivia, use of primary sources for lessons in Language Arts, Literature and Composition, and Social Studies. Basic explanation: The Library of Congress provides a vast amount of primary sources for teachers to use in the classroom. The site has five main features which can be found at the top of the main website. For example, the American Memory link provides free access to maps, audio, video, and pictures. Positives: Unlimited amount of resources to be used in the classroom. Free! Negatives: Too much information, students may not know where to begin.

Group 2-Tera Hafermann, Ruth Getchius, April Wenzel, Trish McKane Category: online flashcard maker Grade Level Use: grades 5 and up (though could be used for whole class on IWB for younger grades) Topic/Discipline: any discipline where vocabulary is involved Tutorial Information: A tutorial video is available on YouTube. The URL is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Diqf0P5dbNQ. Possible Uses: This is a flashcard generator and is used to create or download vocabulary flashcards for studying purposes. Basic Explanation: This site allows students and teachers to create or search for vocabulary flashcards and share them with a study group or class. Flashcards can be downloaded and printed, they can be exported, and they can be shared on Facebook as well as with specific individuals. The site also included games as a way to study vocabulary. Positives: This site allows otherwise disorganized students to organize their vocabulary lists neatly. It allows them to share with a study group and to seek out already created lists and export them to their account. It is free. It is also user friendly. The site was created by a high school student to help him/her study vocabulary. Negatives: The site is not really kid-friendly in the sense that students younger than 5th grade cannot use it easily. The teacher must do most of the work with students in the lower grades.

Authors: Kaufman, Belcher, Knowles, Duffy (Group 4) Tool Name: Technorati Tool URL: http://technorati.com Category: Social Bookmarking Tags: Technorati, Social Bookmarking, Technology, Science, Business, High School, News, Research Grade level use: High School Topic/discipline: Technology, Business Tutorial Information: Help Links located at top of page for all users Possible uses: Social bookmarking, research, news Basic explanation: Searchable index of user generated and/or submitted content including blogs, focus on technology, business, entertainment and lifestyles Positives: Easy use, content separated by categories Negatives: May be blocked by some districts, may have to search through a lot of information to find what you really want

Group Name: Group 4 (Belcher, Kaufman, Knowles, Duffy) Category: Web application that produces videos from user-selected photos, video clips and music Grade level use: All Topic/discipline: Video production across the curriculum Tutorial Information: blog with FAQ's on homepage Possible uses: digital storytelling, reports, book promotion, trailers Basics: This application uses pictures, music and text to create a video. Positives:free full-length videos for educator accounts, ease of use, no two videos are ever the same, ease of exporting, posting of videos is under teacher account Negatives: must apply for educator account which can take a few days