Group items tagged

Authors: Ruth Getchius, April Wenzel, Patricia McKane, Tera Hafermann (Group 2) Category: test preparation Discipline: English, Writing, grades 10-12 Tutorial information: Help option in upper right corner offers explanations on how to complete any functions and activities of the program. Each section has a view option, to watch the action done for you. Possible Uses: Students can use this to see exactly how their ACT essay was graded. They can then work on improving for a re-take. Teachers and administrators can search score ranges and use the information to see where most students are achieving and also where the overall weaknesses are. Then, they can adapt their curriculum to strengthen that weaker area. Basics: This site is a collection of all the ACT writing exams. To log on, you must have your school's ACT code. Once inside, you can search for any combination of results to see how the students did on the ACT writing exam. The site shows the exact written exam the student wrote. They are scanned into the webpage. It also shows the comments of the graders to the essay and the English score and the overall ACT composite score. There is some personal information available too, like students names, addresses, and social security numbers. This is why you have to have the school code to access it. Positives: You see the exact essay the student wrote. It is online pretty quickly after the students take the exam. It provides good feedback for students wanting to re-take the ACT. You also have access to the writing prompts, and can then use them for practice prompts in the classroom. Negatives: The comments are fairly vague and similar. More specific feedback would be more helpful to students and teachers alike. Must have access code to enter.

Group 2: Wenzel, Gretchius, McKane, & Hafermann Tool Name: SuperKids URL: http://www.superkids.com/aweb/tools/ Category: Online educational tools Tags: Worksheets, iPhone apps., games Grade Level Use: K-12 Topic/discipline: Reading, vocabulary, music, math, language arts Tutorial Information: This site has all of the navigation information located on the left side. There is a link to about Superkids and contact us. Possible Uses: Use fun educational games in class. Use the PSAT and SAT flashcards for test reviews. This site can also be used from home for student practice. Basics: Superkids allows teachers and students to access practice assignments and educational games for almost every subject area. The site also reviews and rates educational software. There are articles on important educational issues listed on the site. The site also has PSAT and SAT review information. It has iPhone apps that can be downloaded for use on the go. Positives: Easy to use and easy to navigate through. The site uses games to create a more interesting learning environment for the student. Negatives: There are not that many games or tools to use so the site may only be able to be used for so long before a student has played all the games in a particular subject area. Also, there is no way for the teacher to grade the work the student does on the computer.

Group 2: Wenzel, Getchius, McKane, & Hafermann Tool Name: MeeGenius URL: http://www.go2web20.net/site/?a=MeeGenius Category: Online Library for kids Tags: Reading Grade Level Use: K-5 Topic/discipline: Reading Tutorial Information: There is a section to contact the authors of the website. There is also an About Us link to find out more about the website. Possible Uses: Using the web to interest students in reading. Also, allows personalization of the stories so students can become part of the book. Basics: The site allows children to access books online and they can either read them on their own or have a narrator. The site also allows you to personalize the book. Positives: Being able to personalize the book allows the reader to really become part of the story. Negatives: The selection of books is very small and limited to younger grade levels.

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: 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: Regilio, Saal, Costello, Stroh - Group #5 -Tool Name: Yedda - Tool URL: http://yedda.com -Category: Ask questions, search and ask questions -Tags: actively finding the best answers from the most relevant people. Just for you -Grade level use: Middle school and older -Topic / discipline: Arts, Humanities, Science, Math, Auto, Health, Social Science, Society and Culture, Money, Finance, Sports, Computers, Internet, Education, Reference, News and Events, Music, Technology, Environment, Politics, Government, Religion -Tutorial Information: There is no formal tuitoral. There is a link at the bottom of the home webpage for "FAQ's" and "About" which answers some questions on how to use the site -Possible uses: Have students submit questions about topics that they are currently learning about and compare the answer to the information they already know. When a teacher wants to make a student find their own answer, the student can use this site as a resource or starting point. -Basics: Anyone can create an account. Type your question into the main question bar and wait for a response back. -Positives: Yedda is going to be releasing a new version of the site soon. Site is easy to use and navigate. Shows affiliation with AOL. -Negatives: Don't know how reliable the resources or people answering the questions are.

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.

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 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.

Costello, Regilio, Saal, Stroh; Group 5 Tool name: Book Builder http://bookbuilder.cast.org/ Category: digital books Tags: diverse learners, individual needs, Universal Design for Learning UDL, digital books Grade level use: All Grade Levels Topic/discipline: Literacy, special education Tutorial information: On the home page there is a button labeled "Learn About Universal Design for Learning." After clicking on this link you have the choice to watch videos or read about the site. Possible uses for students, teachers, and/or administrators: Teachers can use this tool to create books for their students to read and listen to online. They also have a large library of "model" books for students to view and read. Basics: This website provides tools for teachers to create books their students can listen to and read. Teachers are able to attach images, text and sound to create their book. Teacher can also search the model books for topics that are relevant to the class. Positives: Struggling reads can use the listening option to help them with unfamiliar words when the teacher is unavailable. Because the teacher can create books they can be on any topic and at whatever level students need. You can also access books created by other who are willing to share them. Negatives: Some of the books already on the site where being read word by word. It was very choppy reading and could have a negative effect for a student who struggles with fluency.

Group Members' Names (Group Number 4: Belcher, Kaufman, Knowles, Duffy) Category- Manipulatives Grade level- K-12 Topic/discipline - Math, Science, Technology, Art Tutorial information - Users can click on each manipulative and find brief instructions on the right side of the screen. For more detailed directions users can click on Instructions at the top of the screen. Possible uses- This tool could be used in math. Instructors could use this with a projector/Smartboard instead of using an overhead. This could also be used in science to graph results from experiments. There are other manipulatives too such as tessellations that could be used in teaching art. Basics - Teachers and students of all ages can interactive with various math manipulatives from different disciplines. Positives - All manipulatives that teachers might purchase for their classroom are available free on this site. All students have access to their own set of manipulatives online. Basic operations are available for free use via the website. Negatives - To gain complete access to all the features of the manipulatives, one can download the free trial and then purchase the tools for $39.95.

Costello, Regilio, Saal, Stroh; Group 5 Tool name: ReadWriteThink Note takers http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/readwritethink-notetaker-30055.html Category: organizing, summarizing Tags: Outline, Notes, Summary, Graphic Organizer, Research Grade level use: 3-12 Topic/discipline: Literacy, writing Tutorial information: One the main page students click "Get Started" to begin a new outline. Before beginning the outline there is an option for a tutorial on how to use the outline. Possible uses for students, teachers, and/or administrators: Students can use to take organized notes while reading. It can also be used to help students develop ideas as a prewriting activity. Teacher could use to quickly create notes for students. There is also an option to have an HTML assigned to your outline for Internet access so teacher can make it available to students anywhere. Basics: You begin by entering your name and the topic of you outline. The first time using it watch the tutorial. There are only a few buttons to use while creating your outline so it is very simple. Positives: It would be helpful to a student who gets bogged down by handwriting and outline format when trying to take notes. It is easier to use than formatting bullets on Word. Can be accessed on any computer with Internet connection. Negatives: The help section within the actual outline is not very helpful. It only explained what the tutorial demonstrated.

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 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 1 (Bulfer, Sennett, Gourley, Carl) Category: History Grade level use: 6-12 Topic/discipline: Social Sciences Tutorial Information: The interactive map does not come with information, but it is easy to navigate. Possible uses: Support a World War II Lesson in U.S. or World History. Basic explanation: This website breaks down different topics from WWII in each theatre (U.S. Europe/Africa, and Asia. The students choose a theatre and then can choose various topics from that happened in the area. Once the topic is chosen the website offers information on the topic as well as pictures, video and useful primary sources. Positives: Has many quality primary sources and it is information. Negatives: There are a few topics that could use more information or more primary sources. The video does not always load quickly on a few of the topics.

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

- Authors: Reglio, Saal, Costello, Stroh - Group #5 - Tool Name: CoolMath4kids - Tool URL: http://coolmath4kids.com - Category: Math games/puzzles -Tags: education, math, puzzles - Grade level use: elementary - Topics/Discipline: Math practice, remediation or acceleration - Tutorial information: At the top of the page is a tab to practice before selecting a category - Possible uses: To introduce Math concepts, small group or individual practice - Basics: The user selects a Math skill set ranging from puzzles, flash cards, to geometry. A few of the skills are timed while others allow for opened responses. -Positives: All skill areas can be accessed via the homepage, it is visually reinforcing to the user, has an adequate amount of problems to practice before a saturation effect takes place. -Negatives: The site is very busy, has lots of movement, and is distracting to the eye.