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8 Helpful Assistive Technology Tools for you classroom

This is a great study tool. You can use for many ways to study. The site allows you to use it as traditional flashcards or you can create a quiz or games. Students can choose what tool they would like to use. A difficulty of this site is that it may be blocked by the school district technology department. Best flashcards for your computer or smartphone. Study online or with an app. This is a great tool to use and post key vocabulary to study for a unit.

It's as simple as joining the team. The Copyright Alliance Foundation has complied a library of free curricula to be used in the classroom that actually teach copyright education and can be incorporated across many subjects and grade levels. This is a wonderful tool for instructors who not only have to be careful with adhering to copyright guideline themselves but should always ensure their students have the same understanding and knowledge to adhere to copyright guidelines in media and literacy. The library of curriculum breaks downs activities by grade levels and is catered for grades K-12. This is a robust tool that gives resources but also gives links where to find more resources from the free curriculum they provide like those suggested at www.isafe.org. . This tool is a must for anyone in the K-12 setting. While the site does request donations they are not mandatory and usage of the curricula do not carry any fees.

Animation Factory is one of my most favorite animation related websites. It contains a variety of .jpg, and .gif. Users can set up an account for free however, they will have to pay for a membership. Once they have access to the objects, the user is able to use graphics at will for their needed purpose. It is royalty free as the author is not expected, other than their membership fees, to make additional payments if in fact they make money from their website, project, etc. that they produce. The intended audience are professionals in a plethora of fields. There are graphics displayed that are related to business, technology, education, healthcare and a number of other fields. There are three levels of membership. A gold membership is 59.95 and you have access to Animated Clipart, Media Elements, and Tiled Backgrounds. A platinum membership is 99.95 and users have access to all tools on the Gold level and Power Clipart, PowerPoint Backgrounds, PowerPoint Templates, and Video Backgrounds. Lastly, the pro membership is 199.95. The user has access to all tools on the gold and platinum level, and access to Flash, HD Video Backgrounds, Sound Effects, Sound and Music, and Video Elements. Each membership payment is good for one year from the start date. The quality of the graphics is phenomenal and can be used continuously on website, reports and etc. due to the high resolution provided by the website's download tools.

Users of resources on this site are advised to refer to the policy, web site terms, and licensing pages: http://www.animationfactory.com/en/company/policies.html, http://www.animationfactory.com/en/company/terms.html, http://www.animationfactory.com/en/company/licensing.html

Convert files like images, video, documents, audio and more to other formats with this free and fast online converter. This resource is a great tool that can be used by teachers or students. It can be used to create multimedia projects that help teachers to delivery content information. In addition students can use it to create various types of projects that they can embed into power point presentations or if they are trying to make a movie project. A problem that could possibly arise may be that the school district has put a block on the website. To get mitigate this issue the teacher should contact the technology support team and ask for them to take the block off of this particular website. Also students will need to be explicitly taught copyright laws and citing procedures.

The link provided is the hidden search engine provided by Google that will enable the user to search for copyright free images. This search engine can be used with a member from any audience but definitely those in the teaching sector. The wonderful part about this search engine powered by the Google Analytic team is that it searches multiple sites like http://www.teachnet.com/how-to/..., http://www.sxc.hu/, http://gallery.schoolcenter.com/, http://www.pics4learning.com/, and http://www.musicgraphicsgalore at one time. Once visited the search tool can even be added to your Google homepage or a blog or webpage. This feature is highly effected and can be utilized by the Advanced search tools in the regular search engine Google also provides. There is no fee to use or add this resource deeming it very effective and a needed resource. Suggested for K-20 sectors.

This website offers a collection of out of copyright recordings, which would greatly serve to enhance a podcast. The site is easy to navigate and allows the user to download the audio file (MP3) to his/her desired location. After this file has been downloaded to the computer, students could then import the file into Audacity in order to edit the audio file to better fit their podcast. Student created podcasts would be a great way for middle school and high school students to convey their ideas or topics to a class. These can be done as individual or group projects. I especially see this type of activity being well suited for a Social Studies context, especially as a way to present research information. The correct application of music, to serve as an intro in a podcast, could greatly assist in the development of a polished final product. However, I would recommend sticking with the instrumental music for most uses within the educational context. But, the creation of a podcast within a history course could be enhanced with the accurate incorporation of time appropriate music. I believe for these music files to be incorporated into a podcast, to benefit the listener, the creator must have a working knowledge of Audacity. However, with the ability to pair Open Music Archive with Audacity can give the individual the tools necessary to create a product that would benefit learners through the multimedia platform.

This is a website designed for free downloads of a variety of types of sound. You can click on the sound tab and browse and find what you would like to download and it is free. This website can be used in an educational resource for middle school or high school age students doing a video project or PowerPoint project that will require background sound. Some difficulties I have found is the sound quality can vary between some of the sound clips. In order to download the sounds you must register an account you'll be able to begin. This could also be a difficulty for some students in a school setting depending on the school's firewall and if the student has an email. The tool I have found most useful with this site is the search bar and assisting you with finding the sound clips you want to hear or download.

The title rhymes with crescendo. This website allows artists to display their music and share it with others. The intended audience is anyone who has an ear for music as well as they want to display the music with others. The rules of the website are simple: You can copy, distribute, advertise and play this track as long as you: Give credit to the artist Don't use this album for commercial purposes Distribute all derivative works under the same license This website is only possible due to the use of Creative Commons licenses. I found that the sound quality of the tracks was high quality and each user has easy access to the music. In addition, it's a great tool to use when editing and searching for different styles of music overall.

Resources on this site protected under International Copyright Laws and are royalty free, but there may be constraints of use for any particular item. Users of resources on this site are advised to refer to the terms of use of each item within the repository. See this page: http://www.jamendo.com/en/termsandconditions

Originally shared by Julia Hollins on 15 Jul 13. The original post was removed and this one shared instead, due to technical issue with the original post. Webtools and resources for online educators. Digital images and video were the first two forms of this communication and have played an integral part of human interaction. The ease of creating and capturing digital imagery has enabled proliferation, making our interactions with online learning sources largely visual. With that being said, the content to express ideas through music, visuals or other forms of art has contributed to the proliferation of online repositories (Chang, Smith, Beigi, & Benitez, 1997). Visual imagery and information is assessed and evaluated according to multiple forms (e.g., still images, video, sequences, computer graphics, animations and stereoscopic images), which extend to multi-view devices and 3D videos. This was one of the reasons why the following websites were selected for this discussion and evaluation (Chang, Smith, Beigi, & Benitez, 1997).

SHMOOPDOTCOM:At Shmoop, they work for kids, not just the bottom line. Founded by David Siminoff and his wife Ellen Siminoff, Shmoop was originally conceived to generate a love of learning in kids, who were still learning with the same tools that they had used when they were in school. Every day we provide 10 million + users consistent, reliable support for their 21st century educational needs. This is currently a Channel on Youtube.com They have 524 videos on varying topics ranging from elementary to ACT and SAT prep. This is a great resource. One challenge in using this resource is of course taking time to find what you need. This might be a challenged for the overworked educator. The owners of this Channel are working on organizing the videos to be useful to its users. Math teachers, English teachers look out this resource is full of videos to be used in your classroom. We used the following video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAai4HTxYZM in class this week when discussing Irrational Numbers in Math. More resources can be found a www.shmoop.com 1 post for the UWG Photographers

There is a wide variety of copyright free music that is free for some educational uses and some student uses as well as personal YouTube videos. However, there is a price involved with using the audio clips in other formats. You can search by music type, and then you are presented with a great selection. You can also upload a video clip and apply your audio selection to it. Another useful tool is the ability to create playlists of your favorite selections. Music can add that extra element to a presentation or lesson and this would be a wonderful site to use for that. This site could be used in any subject area and all grade levels.

This site provides an immense library of clip art images that can be used by teachers and students royalty free. Each item comes with a choice of size and format and even gives instruction on how to use proper citations for school projects. This is a tool that can be used for projects or presentations made my teachers and students and could be useful in engaging learners by giving them visuals that are associated with the material that they are learning in any discipline. The only issue that I can forsee with using images from this site is making sure the proper citation is included in the project or presentation. But, this is is a teaching moment for many of us outside of our discipline in which we can stress the importance of giving credit to sources where we borrow images, ideas, video, and more.

Edupics offers free downloadable coloring pages, pictures, and photographs.  The website images are clearly classified and easy to navigate.  There are word search and crossword puzzle image downloads, which would benefit primary and middle grades. There is even a collection of school appropriate animated videos. The color online tools available appear to target the primary age group, however, there is a variety of content appropriate for making any subject interactive. The only limitation I see to this site, in comparison to others is the limited content available.

Free coloring pages, crafts, drawings and photographs. Children can use these images to learn about many different subjects. Pictures for educational use. This site is loaded with pictures, ways to create coloring pages, already created coloring pages, puzzle maker, games, and crafting ideas. This site is geared to the k-5 education setting. You can do a multitude of activities with this site and the resources available. The pictures can be used for any activity. There is no fee listed, and you do have to create a login.

This website is loaded with opportunities for teachers. It is a very well organized, searchable website that contains pictures that may be colored, photos, black and white printables, crafts. This site is Great for all grade levels pre-K through high school. For social studies teachers, it has religious categories, history, famous people... Science- animals, energy, environment and more... Language arts- emotions, fairy tales, film and television...

This is free educational blogging site. It could be used for any subject and grade level, but it is probably best for students ranging from 3-12 and higher education. It contains images, videos, audio, and visuals. This online resource allows students and teachers to collaborate, share thoughts and ideas, and so much more! There are tools within this site that allow you to upload quizzes, set due dates, and post assignments or required readings from the web. This website can be used to facilitate discussions about lessons you teach in class. For example, after reading a story or book with your students, the teacher can pose an open-ending discussion question on the blog. Students would then be asked to answer the question during center time or even for homework. Other students in the class will be able to read and respond to each other's posts to create a rich discussion. Teachers can also use the blog to post upcoming events, tests, or quizzes in the classroom and parents can use it to stay informed. Teachers can also use the website to post videos, podcasts, and documents they create. Students are able to view these things at home. This is especially helpful when parents are unsure how to help their child with homework because they do not understand the concept you taught that day. For example, if you introduce a new concept in math and assign homework that night, parents and students can watch a lesson you recorded to get a better understanding of the material. Using Edublogs is a safe and easy way to integrate technology in the classroom! As I reflect, I think about the possible difficulties this resource could possess. Being that it is not a program you can purchase and install on your computer, problems could occur with the being able to connect. Since it is a resource that anyone could use, a lot of people can be on the website at one time and cause it to "crash" or free up. Also, I think about routine maintenance or updates that must be d