Group items tagged

Read, write, vote, read, write, vote again. Students compete with their writing.

A great way for children to learn the art of story openings. They have 1 minute to write from a one word stimulus. The site asks for a name & email. I usually just cut and paste the work into Word instead. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/English

Entri is a free collaborative tool for writing and sharing documents. Say you are writing an article for your blog and you want to share with your readers before you publish it to get feedback and allow changes.

Taking Yourself Seriously: Processes of Research and Engagement is the working title of a book by Peter Taylor and Jeremy Szteiter that assembles the tools and processes from research and writing courses taught in the Graduate Program in Critical and Creative Thinking. The most up to date version of the book can be viewed at http://cct.wikispaces.umb.edu/TYS (and associated links, including a link to a full pdf of the book). "For your research and writing to progress well, your questions and ideas need to be in alignment with your aspirations, your ability to take or influence action, and your relationships with other people. Shorten these items to head, heart, hands, and human connections. Your efforts to bring these 4H's into alignment is what we mean when we invite you to take yourself seriously." Some comments from former students looking back on the influence of the research courses out of which this book has arisen: Jane, a healthcare professional and story-teller: I learned is to 'hold my ideas loosely', which means accepting my own idea as a valid one but always leaving the space open to take in the counterarguments. I learned to give myself permission to be circular and come back to previous steps or thoughts, and I actually became more comfortable doing so. I was able to get engaged in a project that I was able to actually use in work, which was extremely satisfying. The whole process encouraged me, and I felt very empowered as a change agent, which could be an exhilarating feeling.

From site: "The fastest way to better writing. EssayRater is a writing support tool that proofreads your texts and protects you against: plagiarism, poor grammar, spelling errors, punctuation mistakes, poor word choice."

This sounded like a great answer for teachers wanting to help students improve their essays. However, to get the results for scanning a document, you have to pay a minimum of $19.95 a month.

A great, and fun twitter bot account provides items which can be used as a writing prompt.

A Twitter bot that will respond to a message with a list of things you are carrying - great writing prompt tool

Free website takes students through each step of the writing process to write a research report. 

Tool that supports students in writing lab and class reports. This tool is geared toward middle school and high school students.

useful info for blogging and reflective thinking

TelescopicText.org has just gone live. It is an extension of telescopictext.com, and is primarily a set of tools for creating expanding texts in a similar way. The tools can be found by clicking Write in the navigation at the top. Texts will house an ongoing collection of selected texts. Resources provides help for using this website, and also any news, updates, guides, support and a Q&A. If you need further information or help, contact info@telescopictext.com. You can Register in order to save and publish texts, or Sign in if you already have an account. If you like what you find here and you want to help support it you can Donate.

"Picturing the 1930s," a new educational web site created by the Smithsonian American Art Museum in collaboration with the University of Virginia, allows teachers and students to explore the 1930s through paintings, artist memorabilia, historical documents, newsreels, period photographs, music, and video. Using PrimaryAccess, a web-based teaching tool developed at the university's Curry Center for Technology and Teacher Education, visitors can select images, write text, and record narration in the style of a documentary filmmaker. They can then screen their video in a virtual theater. PrimaryAccess is the first online tool that allows students to combine their own text, historical images from primary sources, and audio narration to create short online documentary films linked to social studies standards of learning, said Glen Bull, co-director of the Curry Center. Since the first version was developed in collaboration with U.Va.'s Center for Digital History and piloted in a local elementary school in 2005, more than 9,000 users worldwide have created more than 20,000 short movies. In creating digital documentaries, students embed facts and events in a narrative context that can enhance their retention and understanding of the material, said Curry research scientist Bill Ferster, who developed the application with Bull. Besides increasing their knowledge about the period, "Picturing the 1930s" enhances students' visual literacy skills, Ferster noted, adding that PrimaryAccess "offers teachers another tool to bring history alive."

Practical writing process ideas using a range of Web 2.0 tools 

Great ideas!

free tool designed to allow anyone to write and publish interactive stories. It's perfect for writers who want to try out interactivity, but also for teachers and students looking to mix computer skills and creative writing.

A blog about a teacher's experience with using Diigo and other web tools to facilitate student's research writing.

"MixedInk takes a fresh approach to collaborative writing. It's a fun, democratic and elegant way for people to weave their best ideas together. (Plus, it's free!)"

Site lets users create interactive maps of any location. Users add pins, then share stories or information, images, etc. Could be a good tool for students learning about historical places, local communities, etc. Also a good tool for writing short expository texts.

Multimedia online note taking tool. Students can capture screen images, make audio recordings for notes, or write text notes to accompany drawings. These different media can then be organized into videos!  I envision it being similar to Evernote with more interaction capabilities and with the great addition of being able to create videos of the information gathered. I like this tool!

"Are you looking for some random writing prompts or story starters for your journal, blog, or other creativity-related project? Well then, you've come to the right place!"