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Purpose of the Website: Screencastle is an easy tool to create screencasts using the Internet. The user can record animation on their computer and view it back in a video format. All you have to do is select the area of your computer screen that you would like to record and decide if you would like to record from a microphone as well. Grade Level: 7-12 Classroom Connection: Some way that this tool can be used include: - Offering an orientation to a new class - Presenting lessons to the class - Provide feedback for student work - Allow students to share work Negatives of this Website: Java is not working properly on all classroom computers in the district so there is some difficulty with this website since it is Java based.

Purpose of the Website: This website has a rubric available for teachers or other professionals to assess various podcasts and determine if they are appropriate for your classroom. There are a variety of questions listed that you can use to determine usefulness. The PDF is also able to be edited on the computer for convenience. Grade Level: K-12, Professional Classroom Connection: This rubric can be used by teachers, students, or other professional to identify how useful and appropriate a particular podcast is for use in the classroom. Negatives of this Website: The only downside to this website is that you are not able to edit the files. Most of the rubrics are perfect but might need a change or two depending on the particular assignment you are working on. It is great that you can fill in the form online, but you cannot edit any of the questions.

Purpose of the Website: This website is a tutorial created by a librarian at SUNY Albany. The tutorial is an introduction to using the Internet. The readability of the website allows for use by secondary students. The information covers topics such as domain names, programing language, how to search, applications, etc. Make sure you read the "About" section to see what the permissions are for using this website in your classroom. Grade Level: 9-12 Classroom Connection: This website would be great for a library or computer class in high school. Librarians or computer teachers can use this as a reading assignment for students and create an application based activity to go along with it. I am not very comfortable with which kind of activities would be appropriate for a secondary level students since I am an elementary teacher.

Purpose of the Website: This website is a tutorial that students can follow through to learn how to access and navigate the Internet. Each section, or lesson, has worksheets that help students navigate through the information and to assess students understanding of the tutorial. Some topics include The Beginning, Getting Started Online, Staying Safe, Using Your Browser, Searching Online, Trying Top Tricks, and The Welcome to the Web Challenge. Students learn things such as what the Internet is for, what links do, how to use the toolbar, etc. Grade Level: 4-8 Classroom Connection: This a wonderful resource to use with upper elementary and secondary students at the beginning of the year to help them review information they already know and introduce them to new information about the Internet. This can be completed independently in class or as a homework assignment. Negatives of this Website: Some parts of the website have a lot of information and is not extremely easy to navigate, therefore might not be used by younger students independently.

Purpose of the Website: This children-friendly search engine is a wonderful resource in any classroom. Students can type their search subject in the search box. When the search results appear, there are a list of websites that students can access to find more information on the subject. However, the difference between this search engine and others is that there is a space at the top of the webpage that shows words that are connected with the subject that has been searched. For example, if you search for cows, some of the other subjects listed include cattle, mammal, dairy, milking, and many others. These words are generated based on information that appears in the search results. This can help students search with other key words when they cannot find the other information they are looking for. Grade Level: 3-8 Classroom Connection: This search engine can be used when students are performing research on the computer. Negatives of this Website: The websites that are generated by the search are mostly children-friendly. However, teachers should still teach students how to evaluate websites to choose the most appropriate resources.

Purpose of the Website: This wonderful tool helps students to correctly develop a source cited for information taken from books, websites, newspapers, magazines, journals and film. The easy to use forms allow the user to input all of the important components of the sources they used. This information is then generated into a list in the appropriate format for all the sources used. You can also search for resource online and the form will automatically be filled in for you. Grade Level: 2-12 Classroom Connection: When completing research projects, many students have difficulty citing their sources in the correct format. This website helps students to correctly list their sources. This can be introduced to students along with the introduction for research either in the library or in the computer lab.

Purpose of the Website: This search engine allows students to search by subject, not only for a picture they are interested in, but also for images that might be relevant to that subject. For example, if you search for cows, you will see images related to farms, cattle, grass, etc. Grade Level: K-12 Classroom Connection: Since April is National Poetry month, poetry would be a great way to incorporate this website into your classroom. Students can choose a subject that interests them. When they search for that topic, students can choose one of the pictures that comes up in the search results and create a poem that is based around that picture. This will help students to take their subject and think outside the box.

Purpose of the Website: Users can access a variety of photographs that can be used various classroom projects and activities. Grade Level: K-12 Classroom Connection: Students can access a variety of photographs for digital storytelling or research projects. These photographs would also be a perfect multimedia addition to presentations that students are creating. Negatives of this Website: There is a limited selection of the photographs available for use.

Purpose of the Website: Users can access a variety of photographs that can be used various classroom projects and activities. Grade Level: K-12 Classroom Connection: Students can access a variety of photographs for digital storytelling or research projects. These photographs would also be a perfect multimedia addition to presentations that students are creating. Negatives of this Website: There is a limited selection of the photographs available for use.

Purpose of the Website: Students can get photographs from their favorite website and creatively edit the photos. This website is free. It does not require any downloads or registration. It is also available for the Android, so that would be a great way to introduce the tool in your classroom if you do not have access for the students to go to the computer lab. Students can upload a photo, apply photo or artist effects, insert frames, perform translations and reflections, etc. Grade Level: K-12 Classroom Connection: This would be a perfect tool for the art teacher that is looking to incorporate technology into their curriculum. Using this resource, art teachers can incorporate art and math by having students select a picture and create an artistic view on that photograph, as well as incorporating translations into the piece as well.

Purpose of the Website: This is a directory of podcasts that are professionally developed and available to the public. Users can search podcasts by subject to find podcasts that would be interesting to them. Grade Level: 5-12 (due to the level of material covered) Classroom Connection: Using podcasts, students can gather information and prepare a short oral presentation to share with a group each week. This can be put together almost like a book club. Students can choose a topics that interests them each week and listen to the podcast. They can provide a short description of the podcast, summarize it, and engage group members in a discussion.

Purpose of the Website: This website offers hundreds of different podcasts that are appropriate for use in classrooms. Using the directory, you can search by grade level and subject to find podcasts that work well for your class's needs. Grade Level: K-12, Professional Classroom Connection: Students can use podcasts on a weekly basis to help develop their listening skills. One way this can be used in a classroom is possibly listening to weekly current events and having the students create a class newspaper sharing events that are happening around the country or around the world. Negatives of this Website: A lot of the podcasts available of the website are created by students and schools. It might be a great idea to include some podcasts that are professional created and approved by teachers.

Grades K-8 Interactive science activities for students to go along with science curriculum. This site can be used with students to give them a visual component to different science topics.

Purpose of the Website: This website has a directory of fairy tale podcasts available. Students can listen to popular fairy tales read aloud to them. Podcasts can also be downloaded to iPhones and students can take them back to their desks. Grade Level: K-12 Classroom Connection: This is a great resource for any teachers that teach fairy tales during Readers Workshop in their classroom. One great way to use this website is as a listening center. Students can listen to popular fairy tales as an individuals or a small group. Following the listening activity, students can work on reading reflection activities. This would be a great way to prepare students for the listening portion of the New York State tests.

Create comics online.

4-12 This site is for students to create original works or would also be great for creating fan-fiction writing pieces. Students have the benefit of choosing their own layout and have many characters and props to choose from. The one con to this site is a biggee. The work cannot be saved, so students must print as they move along. After speaking with the creator, I have learned that he hopes to correct his-realizing how difficult this makes things. Another con (or more of a precaution). In internet explorer and Google Chrome, you are only able to print what is visible in the window. For this reason, it is essential that the strip be minimized to fit in the screen.

Create high-quality videos and give them an online home.

9-12 This tool can be used by teachers to guide students through computer programs-among its many other capabilities. I have recently used this to demonstrate for my colleagues a "how to" for setting up their grade books using engrade. One downside to this -for me- was that it took me a lot of trial and error before I realized how to properly use the software. Check out the video for how to use Screencast on the home page.

Grade level- 9-12 CC- Students can create a prezi for their favorite individual from the course as a form of an assessment. Overview- a new method to presentating information that is interactive, colorful, and digital. Cons- Students may need a tutorial on usage.

Grade level- 9-12 CC- A student can create their own social networking group to collaborate on a class and community project for a Project-Based Learning assignment. Overview- A user can create their own social networking group to their liking and control how it operates. Also it is free. Cons- Needs district and parent permission.

Grade level- 7-12 CC- At the beginning of the year, each student can make their own stixy to introduce themself to the class. Overview- This site allows a user to create their own bulletin site that can display important information and be can be designed their liking with different colors and pictures. Cons- Might need some time to get used too.

Grade level- 7-12 CC- A student that is on home tutoring or absent can get missed worksheets and other important documents from class to stay up to date despite missing class time. Overview- This site allows a user to save their important videos and other imformation online to be accessed by whomever the creator allows. Cons- Need district and parents permission