Group items tagged

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 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 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: (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.

Group 2: Wenzel, Getchius, McKane, & Hafermann Tool Name: Discovery Education URL: http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/ Category: classroom resources, assessments, lesson plans Tags: English, science, math, reading, writing, social studies Grade Level Use: K-12 Topic/discipline: English, math, science, reading, writing, social studies, and technology Tutorial Information: There is a help section in the upper right hand corner of the page as well as a contact us link at the bottom of the page Possible Uses: Teachers can use to create or edit lessons. Teachers can learn how to use media in the classroom as well as use some of the site's media information in creating lessons. Basics: Discovery Education allows teachers to utilize lessons and ideas to create new and improved lessons in the classroom. The site also has games available for classroom use. Positives: The site is easy to navigate and has a lot of useful information. The site also has a parent corner for parents to stay informed. Negatives: The school or teacher using the website must have an access log-in

- Authors: Reglio, Saal, Costello, Stroh - Group #5 - Tool Name: Watchknow - Tool URL: http://watchknow.org - Category: Educational media site -Tags: media, science, social studies, math, language arts - Grade level use: Pre-k - high school - Topics/Discipline: free on-line educational videos - Tutorial information: Found on the homepage is a button that provides a video demonstration on usage - Possible uses: cross-curricular, small group, individual, whole class, at home - Basics: The user can either type in a topic into the search box or choose from a variety of subject areas. After narrowing the subject, the user chooses a skill, from there the user selects a video to play. -Positives: It contains over 15,000 video clips which are cross-curricular and multi-aged. The site is easy, for an adult to navigate. -Negatives: An adult is needed to edit for content and age appropriate video selections.

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

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 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 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 Members: (Group 4) Belcher, Kaufman, Knowles, Duffy Category: Evaluation of student writing samples Grade level: Middle school, high school Topic/discipline: Language arts, social studies, science Tutorial information: A "project overview" link is provided on the homepage that outlines the three main phases of the evaluation process along with important details. Possible uses: Online objective-based evaluation of student writing samples provided by other educators. Basics: Teachers submit student writing samples. Other teachers, students, and professionals read and evaluate the work. EdSteps then will publish continuums ("emerging" to "accomplished" work samples) in different skill areas.The continuums are available online for teachers, students and families to view. Positives: Provides objective-based evaluation and feedback of students' writing. Evaluations provided by a variety of individuals of various ages, specializations, and affiliations. Results are made available online to students and families. Negatives: Time - the evaluation process takes time to provide feedback.

Authors: Group 1 (Bulfer, Sennett, Gourley, Carl) Category: Online Tutoring Platform Grade level use: 11-12 Topic/discipline: Could be used in for all disciplines. Tutorial Information: Click on "How it Works" pre-written Q&A. Possible uses: Study with fellow students are tutors. Basic explanation: Students sign up and find teachers for specific subject areas. They then set up a time to meet via Skype or chat and go over what the student needs help with. The website is the middle man for payments. The teachers are given a rating by each student as well. A teacher could set up an account and only work with his or her students and offer times outside of school to help the student through this website. Positives: Students have a chance to get help outside of school in a convenient way. Negatives: The students are not guaranteed to get a quality tutor. There needs to be much parental involvement. I think that safety needs to be addressed.

Authors: Group 1 (Bulfer, Sennett, Gourley, Carl) Category: language learning, social networking Grade level use: All levels Topic/discipline: foreign language Tutorial Information: Help section with numerous FAQs for each area of the site Possible uses: practice conversation in language students are learning or in students' native languages Basic explanation: My Happy Planet's purpose is to bring cultures together. Users can choose to chat with a native speaker or a 'study buddy'. They can communicate through text, voice, video, or messages. Positives: The site has privacy controls. It also contains a blog. Negatives: It would be difficult to monitor all students' conversations for appropriateness.

Authors: Group 1 (Bulfer, Sennett, Gourley, Carl) Category: study tools Grade level use: All levels Topic/discipline: Language arts, social sciences, math, science, technology Tutorial Information: FAQ section with help and support sections as well as space to submit suggestions or comments. Possible uses: Reviewing and practicing information in any content area Basic explanation: Teachers and students can create flashcards for any subject which they can then share with others. Registering on the site also allows users to access a database of flashcards. Flashcards can be printed or used online along with accessibility through an iPod application. Positives: Teachers can create multiple accounts under one email address if students do not have their own email addresses. The flashcard database can be searched by subject, level, title, or author. Negatives: This tool is free but does solicit donations made through PayPal.

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: Ruth Getchius, April Wenzel, Particia McKane, Tera Hafermann (Group 2) Category: educational videos, study guides Discipline: History, Biography, Current Events, Literature, grades 7-12 Tutorial information: There is no tutorial or help. There is a search site option, but is more content focused. Possible Uses: background information, historical information, biographical information, ties to TV shows Basics: commercial free educational related videos and tv programming Positives: quality videos, set up for education Negatives: history and biography heavy, not even across all disciplines

Group 2: Wenzel, Gretchius, McKane, & Hafermann Tool Name: Quizinator URL: http://www.go2web20.net/site/?a=Quizinator Category: Create, store, and print worksheets, study guides, tests, and quizzes online . Tags: All subject areas Grade Level Use: All levels Topic/discipline: Any Tutorial Information: There is a contact us link at the top of the page. You must sign up for Quizinator, which is free to do. Possible Uses: To create and edit quizzes, worksheets, and tests. You can also create different versions of tests and quizzes easily. Basics: The site allows you to store tests, quizzes, worksheets all in one online area. You can edit any of those items easily. They are all arranged in a specific order and grouped by categories. Positives: Can easily edit or rearrange items on worksheets or exams as well as create different versions of quizzes and exams. Negatives: Not able to have students view the quizzes, worksheets, and tests online.

Authors:(Group 3) Huebner, Vaughn, Reich, Hallatt Category: Cause and effect relationships Grade level use: all levels Topic/discipline: Science and Social Studies. Tutorial information: Easy training for organizational techniques of cause and reflect relationships. Possible uses: Helping students work on organizational skills by introducing a technology aide. Also can be used to visually see the relationships between events Basic explanation: Students can create connections between cause and effect relationships. Positives: Easily move throughout the website to find information. Helps students use technology to see connections in material. Negatives: The process of using the website lacks a great tutorial.

Costello, Regilio, Saal, Stroh; Group 5 Tool name: Illuminations http://illuminations.nctm.org/ Category: interactive Tags: math, lesson plans, activities, NCTM Resources Grade level use: All Grade Levels Topic/discipline: Math Tutorial information: There is no tutorial or help section however; this website is very easy to navigate. In each individual game there is a link for instructions. Possible uses for students, teachers, and/or administrators: Teachers find math lesson plans and activities for students at every grade level using every math skill you can think of. It also provides teachers with tools to create materials such as game spinners, times tables and graphs. There are also games and activities for students to so on the computer. Positives: This site is very easy to navigate. The search options for teachers are simple. The topics available for study are many. Negatives: There is no help or tutorial for this site. Some of the activities listed for multiple ages actually seemed to be a bit advanced for young children.