Group items tagged

Authors: Group 2 (Hafermann, Getchius, Wenzel, McKane) Category: Social network for book lovers Grade level use: All levels Topic/discipline: Language Arts, Literature and Composition Tutorial Information: "Help and Questions" link located at the bottom of the page once you log into your account. Help page has a drop down box that provides several different features for the user. In addition, you can ask the "shelfari community" questions. Possible uses: Journaling, book reviews, independent reading, reader's workshop, literature circles, social networking Basic explanation: Shelfari has the same concept of facebook, where as you are social networking with friends, however, you are able to keep track of books you have read, books you want to read and books you are currently reading. Another feature is that you are able to send e-mails, or look at your friends' bookshelf to see what they are currently reading or written reviews on. Positives: User friendly, provides a visual of all book covers, appeals to the younger crowd. Negatives: Users are able to post on other user's shelves, which could present a problem if the messages are inappropriate.

Group Members: (Group 4 Belcher, Kaufman, Knowles, Duffy) Category: Social networking site for book lovers Grade level: All levels Topic/discipline: Language Arts focus with cross-curricular potential Tutorial information: There are tabs on the homepage for Shelfari discussion groups which include FAQ's and a forum for asking questions. Possible uses: Teachers and students can create virtual bookshelves, join groups and invite friends. Book suggestions can be made, discussions, and networking. Basics: Users are able to create virtual bookshelves by searching for books or get ideas on what to read next through automatic suggestions or by joining a group. Positives: Ease of navigation, free, blog, media widget for both Facebook and MySpace Negatives: interaction with strangers, potential for misuse

Group Members: (Group 4) Belcher, Kaufman, Knowles, Duffy Category: Online communication and collaboration Grade level: All levels Topic/discipline: All Tutorial information: Overview link available for members of groups that create accounts with gaggle Possible uses: Communication and collagoration between students, parents, and teachers (blogging, message boards, mobile texting, digital lockers, homework drop boxes, integrated calendar) Basics: Gaggle provides applications that allow students and teachers to communicate and collaborate online. Positives: Multiple applications/services: blogging, message boards, mobile texting, digital lockers, homework drop boxes, integrated calendar Negatives: $$ - gaggle is not a free online tool

Authors: Group 2 (Hafermann, Getchius, Wenzel, McKane) Category: Electronic books/Writing tools Grade level use: Grades 9+ Topic/discipline: social sciences, reading/language arts, science, technology Tutorial Information: Tutorial video on home page Possible uses: group reading, summation of books, book discussion tool - teachers can post questions about the book and students can respond, upload personal written material and have other review it, Basic explanation: This tool allows you to read books online and chat with others who are reading the same book. Positives: comments about book can be left by paragraph or page, allows for teacher to student interaction as well as student to student interaction about books, provides book discussion prompts to get started, if the book you want is not offered you can request it or you could find an electronic copy online and upload it, some books are free! Negatives: not geared towards younger age groups, you have to pay for some books, limited number of books - may not have classroom books listed in database, must create account to log in.

Group Members' Names (Group Number 4: Belcher, Kaufman, Knowles, Duffy) Category- Online Story Telling, Games, Grade level- PreK-1 Topic/discipline - Reading, Writing, Literacy Tutorial information - Instructions and information on how to operate the activities can be found on the main webpage. When children click to play an activity directions are given orally. Possible uses- Young children can use the tools on this website during reading workshop to build their reading skills. Teachers can use the tools in a small group to reinforce difficult concepts. Basics - There are several activities available in this site related to reading. There are word study games, e-books, poetry, printable worksheets, ESL activities and pre-reading activities. All the activities are broken down by discipline and level. Positives - The wealth of activities and tools available is wonderful. There are activities that can meet the needs of almost all the young readers. Negatives - The site is free but you have to create and account to use it. Therefore, if you want young children to use it independently you will have to log on ahead of time or teach them how to log on. Another downfall is that the site cannot track the progress of each student. So the teacher cannot see how well they have done on their activities nor can it keep track of where they left off.

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.

Group Members: (Group 4) Belcher, Kaufman, Knowles, Duffy Category: Web-based timeline creator Grade level: All levels Topic/discipline: Social studies, language arts Tutorial information: Description of how to use the timeline creator is provided on the homepage. FAQ link provided. Members have access to tutorial link. Possible uses: Creating timelines that are available to all members of a group Basics: Users are able to create and edit interactive timelines that can be manipulated with a simple drag of the mouse. Positives: Templates, easy to use drop boxes to enter data, can export timelines to a PDF file, can insert images, teacher support services, customizable privacy. Negatives: There is a one-time joiner fee of $19. Could be difficult for younger users due to required reading.

Authors: Group 1 (Bulfer, Sennett, Gourley, Carl) Category: Brainstorming/Collaboration Grade level use: All levels Topic/discipline: Social sciences, language arts, science, technology Tutorial Information: There is a link to an example mind map which shows the features of bubbl.us. A blog link is on the website but was not active. There is a help section once you begin brainstorming. Possible uses: brainstorming for writing, concept maps in science/social studies, group collaboration Basic explanation: Online brainstorming tool that lets you create colorful webs or mind maps. You can share, print, email or save your work. Positives: Easy to use, can create colorful webs that would be good to display to a class Negatives: Younger students would not be able to use it on their own but could contribute as a group.

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: personalized Ajax home page service Grade Level:All Topic/Discipline: All Tutorial Information: This wiki provides a great overview and tutorial on how to get started. http://techwithme.pbworks.com/PageFlakes+For+Education Possible Uses: digital storytelling, main page for website, personal learning environment, widgets to search information, information feeds etc.. Basics:It's a page similar to My Yahoo!, iGoogle etc.. that allows the user to view feeds from multiple sources in one location. Positives: great platform for student products, blogging, guided research

-Authors: Regilio, Saal, Costello, Stroh - Group #5 -Tool Name: Ning - Tool URL: http://education.ning.com/ -Category: Educational Social Networking -Tags: Education, Ning -Grade level use: Students 13 years and older -Topic / Discipline: Can be used for any school topic -Tutorial Information: There is a ning help tab on the main page of the website. Click on that link and it answers commonly asked questions, how to get started on the website, popular articles, and more -Possible uses: Create a social networking opportunity for the classroom to interact with each other or with other classrooms and schools across the world. -Basics: Individuals or groups are able to create accounts. Once logged in, people can blog with other members, classrooms can blog or chat with each other, teachers can create groups with their students and have them complete work or discussions within the site. -Positives: Very comprehensive and detailed site. People have joined this site from all over the world which creates great social networking opportunities -Negatives: Site is kind of confusing to me. In July, only paying members will be able to join. Students 13 and older can only join due to legal issues.

-Authors: Regilio, Saal, Costello, Stroch - Group #5 -Tool Name: Glogster -Tool URL: http://www.glogster.com -Category: Interactive Poster -Tags: images, picture, pics, pix, photos, text, music, video, clips, poster, -Grade Level Use: High School and College -Topic/discipline: history, art, english -Tutorial Information: There is just a tab at the bottom for FAQs -Possible Uses: Class presentations, Posters for Clubs -Positives: Posters can be made quickly and easily for presentations. Free -Negatives: This site has no "crowd patrol". It might be too "open" for the education field.

Group Name: (Group 4 (Belcher, Kaufman, Knowles Duffy) Catgegory: free interactive posters Grade Level: All Topic/discipline: social networking and expressing ideas in all content areas Tutorial Information:edu.glogster.com offers great resources for teachers including several links for specific tutorials from the homepage. Possible Uses:Links, images, text, videos, music come together together to represent personal diaries, research project information, digital scrapbooks, lab reports Basics: Students and teachers can create interactive posters which can be embedded in wikis or websites. Very easy to creat! Positives: free, can create student accounts, easy to click and drag, resize etc.. Negatives: I really haven't found any weaknesses other than sometimes my perfectionist students get a little carried away with the details!

Group Members: (Group 4) Belcher, Kaufman, Knowles, Duffy Category: free online private diary and personal journal Grade level: All levels Topic/discipline: Language arts, social studies, writing Tutorial information: Users clink on the help link to receive assistance. Possible uses: Journaling, reflections, summaries Basics: Students are able to compose their own personal writing entries. Entries can be kept private or students can allow others to view their entries online. Positives: Easy use, privacy, can insert images into writing entries, autosave Negatives: Information at help link is limited, many other means of journaling available

Group 2-Tera Hafermann, Ruth Getchius, April Wenzel, Trish McKane Category: online presentation maker Grade Level Use: all levels Topic/Discipline: all topics and disciplines can use this tool Tutorial Information: On the Prezi homepage click on the Learn tab at the top of the page. This will direct you to a variety of how-to topics. Click on the Prezi in 3 Minutes lesson to read about creating a Prezi and to see an embedded YouTube video on creating a Prezi. Possible Uses: A Prezi can be used by the teacher to introduce and then guide students through a unit of study. Students can create a Prezi as a culminating project for a topic of study. Basic Explanation: A Prezi is an online presentation tool. Unlike a PowerPoint presentation, which is linear in nature, a Prezi allows the presenter to go wherever they need to in the presentation quickly and easily. A Prezi allows the presenter to zoom in on a topic to highlight an important point. It is a more dynamic way to present information. Positives: This is a very dynamic way to present information and keeps the audience engaged. It allows for zooming in and out, layering of information, and grouping of information. Negatives: Presentations can cause motion sickness and feel chaotic if not done well. Time would need to be spent on teaching students how to make their presentations less chaotic. There is a tutorial on the Prezi site that addresses this issue.

Group Members' Names (Group Number 4: Belcher, Kaufman, Knowles, Duffy) Category- Instructional Videos, Presentation Grade level- All Topic/discipline - All Tutorial information - Video and text tutorials are available on the teacher section of the website. Possible uses- Students can share information and research topics on this site. Teachers can find resources such as lesson plans on School Tube. Basics - School Tube is similar to YouTube, but safer. This website only allows appropriate materials to be posted so teachers can feel safe about letting their kids view and post videos on School Tube. Positives - The site is a safe place for children and educators to visit. Negatives - There are many videos on the site. Finding an appropriate video might be a challenge for students.

Group Members' Names (Group Number 4: Belcher, Kaufman, Knowles, Duffy) Category- Presentation Grade level- All Topic/discipline -All Tutorial information - Users may click on "Learn" to read about the basics of Empressr. For additional support, users may click on "Support" to find answers to frequently asked questions. Possible uses- Empressr may be used as a way for students to share their PowerPoint presentations with others. Teachers and students may view other Empressr presentations. Basics - Empressr is an online storytelling database. Users can easily create presentations on Empressr or upload a PowerPoint. These can easily be shared through email or social networking sites. Positives - Empressr does all the animations for your presentation so you do not have to spend a lot of time doing that on your own. It also allows others to view your presentation easily online so file sharing is a cinch. Negatives - Teachers should be careful using this in the classroom, since it is open to the public. It might not be a good idea to let students use the sight independently.

Group Members' Names (Group Number 4: Belcher, Kaufman, Knowles, Duffy) Category- Online Story Telling Grade level- PreK-8 Topic/discipline - Reading, Listening, ESL Tutorial information - At the bottom of the screen users may click on TumbleTour to learn more about the website. Possible uses- Students could listen to books independently during reading workshop, or free time. Teachers can also project the stories for children to watch. Basics - Students across all grades can use this as a way to read books online, listen to audio books or watch video of their favorite story books set to animation. Positives - The website is full of popular texts and extremely engaging. Negatives - The site is not free. However, most local libraries purchase the license and allow public access. To get to Tumblebooks you will have to go through your local libraries webpage.

Group 2: Tera Hafermann, Ruth Getchius, April Wenzel, Trish McKane Category: online poster maker Grade Level Use: all levels Topic/Discipline: reading, language arts, social studies, science, math Tutorial Information: On the homepage of the website you can choose to create a glog for free. This allows the user to play with the different features of making a glog without committing to signing up for an account. Possible Uses: Students can use this to create posters for any subject as the culminating project for a unit. Basic Explanation: Glogster is a site that allows teachers and students to create posters and lessons online. Posters contain photos, videos, links to other sites, and audio explanations. It is an interactive way to get students more involved and engaged in learning. Positives: Glogster is engaging. It is beneficial to students who struggle with reading and writing because it allows them to show what they have learned through a multimedia presentation with less writing required. Negatives: Does require an account, however a basic educator account is free.

Group 3: Sarah Vaughn & Sara Reich Category: interactive poster Grade level use: junior high, secondary Topic/discipline: any Tutorial Information: Very intuitive- a little bit of playing around and students can figure out most everything you can do with a glog Possible uses: posters for presentations, summative assignments Basic Explanation: Glogster takes the idea of the old posterboard assignment and allows students the opportunity to "paste" in pictures, add information, add video and music, include podcasts Positives: Easy to use, students enjoy presenting this "posters" Negatives: Some difficulty saving and finding glogs, students may need to convert files to add to glog

Group Name: Group 2-Tera Hafermann, Ruth Getchius, April Wenzel, Trish McKane Tool Name: Capzles Category: online timeline creator Grade Level Use: 2nd grade+ (with guidance for the younger children) Topic/Discipline: social studies, reading, science, math, language arts, just about anything where timelines or how tos can benefit someone. Tutorial Information: The site allows you to view public capzles, or photo/video timelines. In order to create a capzle, you must join the site-this is free. Once in the site, choose to create a capzle and the site walks you through the process step by step. Possible Uses: create timelines of historical events in social studies, create personal timelines of events in language arts, create a timeline of a story or novel, create a how-to timeline in science or math. Basic Explanation: This tool allows the user to upload photos, music, and videos to the site to include in a timeline. It also allows you to upload voice recordings about the photos and to blog on the photo. The user can embed a capzle on their Facebook wall. It also has an app for your iPhone. Positives: Easy to use and explain to children. Engaging. This allows students who are fearful of writing long essays to show what they know in a format that encourages creativity. Negatives: Does require you to sign up for an account, but it is free. Younger students will need a lot of help with this at first.

Group Members: (Group 4) Belcher, Kaufman, Knowles, Duffy Category: Sharing and rating content on the web. Grade level: Upper elementary, middle school, high school Topic/discipline: All Tutorial information: A "take a tour" link is provided on the homepage that walks you through the five main aspects of digg and then asks you to join. An FAQ link is also provided at the homepage. Possible uses: Teachers and studetents can find web-based information and have an online discussion about the information/content. Students may also communicate with other students from other schools. Basics: Individuals post information or links to information on the web. Other users are able to comment on the information and rate the value of the information through comments. Positives: Very visual, easy to post information, ability to communicate with other students and teacher, exposure to vast amount of information. Negatives: Some information shared at digg.com will be blocked by schools' filters. Students may be distracted by other less relevant posted information.