Group items tagged

Free tool to make visual data charts and graphs

Awesome article on very cool things you can do with Dropbox. Some of these can save teachers a lot of time.

visual boolian search engine

Listing of different types of eportfolio systems

Not about the tech or the tools, it's about the learning!

Prezi allows anyone who can sketch an idea on a napkin to create and perform stunning non-linear presentations with relations, zooming into details, and adjusting to the time left without the need to skip slides.

just watched a presentation on prezi. a new take on an old(er) tool. nifty.

Presentations in the cloud

If you run Microsoft Office 2007 and you are a teacher, you simply MUST download this learning essentials 2.0 set of tools. From periodic tables to all sorts of things, it is really cool. I'm going to email it to my teachers now.

The must download pack of goodies for Microsoft Office 2007 for educators. Periodic tables, etc. I don't know why I missed it.

Fascinating link for social studies and some samples. I LOVE how some web pages were inserted using bitty browser. What a cool tool. This site also features several dipity timelines. This is a GREAT site for history teachers to see.

Great site with tons of history examples.

Intel Mashmaker is a tool that you download and "mashup" sites together. It is supposed to allow average everyday people to be able to mashup google sites, flickr, almost anything with what programmers call an api.

That notion has helped to rekindle the browser wars and has resulted in the latest wave of innovation. Firefox 3.0, for example, runs more than twice as fast as the previous version while using less memory, Mozilla says. The browser is also smarter and maintains three months of a user's browsing history to try to predict what site he or she may want to visit. Typing the word "football" into the browser, for example, quickly generates a list of all the sites visited with "football" in the name or description. Firefox has named this new tool the "awesome bar" and says it could replace the need for people to maintain long and messy lists of bookmarks. It will also personalize the browser for an individual user. "Sitting at somebody else's computer and using their browser is going to become a very awkward experience," said Mitchell Baker, chairwoman of the Mozilla Foundation.

Google for Educators launches Geo Education today! Cool. It includes information on Google EArth, Maps, Sky, and Sketcup and lesson plans from teachers. It also includes tips on getting started with these tools in your classroom. As you plan your summer PD, Geography teachers simply must get this on their list for fall!

Geo Education launghces today

Time for K12 online conference proposals: "We are pleased to announce the call for proposals for the third annual "K12 Online Conference" for educators around the world interested in the use of web 2.0 tools in classrooms and professional practice. This year's conference is scheduled for October 20-24 and October 27-31 of 2008, and will include a pre-conference keynote during the week of October 13. The conference theme for 2008 is "Amplifying Possibilities." Participation in the conference (as in the past) is entirely free. Conference materials are published in English and available for worldwide distribution and use under a Creative Commons license. Some changes in the requirements for presentations are being made this year and are detailed below. The deadline for proposal submission is June 23, 2008. Selected presentations will be announced at NECC 2008 in San Antonio, Texas, USA on July 2.

K12 online 2008 call for proposals.

Article describing real science being done in virtual environments. Excellent read. Also discusses use of second life as an educational tool.

Anyone with a microphone and an Internet connection suddenly seems to have a podcast, and for good reason: It's very easy to produce and upload audio clips. The tools are cheap, the files are easy to share, and just about anyone can do it. Does it make sense for your classroom?

Tutorials about how we share video and overcome the "youtube barrier."

This page outlines how we are sharing video on the Horizon project this year. After literally hours of testing to overcome the "youtube barrier" we have worked out how to use Ning as our video sharing and embedding platform. Using tools like a firefox plug in that allows downloading of any video AND zamzar, these 7 videos literally show you how you may "snag" and edit any video. Just remember to follow copyright laws when you do this. This innovation was quite an epiphany for us and the videos were our effort to make it easy and take the video sharing aspect of the project out of the teacher's hands.

This is the best example of how professional development works.

I love this post. This is how Web 2.0 spreads. I want to quote from the author: "Then I showed him wikispaces and the lightbulb went off. In a voice full of what I can only describe as awe, he said, and I'm paraphrasing him, "This could change the way we teach." (Cue the heavenly music). While I was showing him each tool, we discussed how he could integrate it into his teaching practices. I know I probably overwhelmed him, but he's excited and energetic. He left with a brand new Google account and having created his classroom wiki. That and he's vowed to share what he's learned with his fellow teachers. Here's hoping this goes viral - if at least a little." I love it. It is the one on one time and the lights go off. This is how it works best. we need to have more one on one time planned in order to promote change. People want the attention -- no one likes to feel like an underappreciated cog in an overworked machine.

I can say without hesitation that all my traditional educational experiences combined, everything from grade school to grad school, have not taught me as much about learning and being a learner as blogging has. My ability to easily consume other people's ideas, share my own in return, and communicate with other educators around the world has led me to dozens of smart, passionate teachers from whom I learn every day. It's also led me to technologies and techniques that leverage this newfound network in ways that look nothing like what's happening in traditional classrooms.

"A discussionn on methods cell phones can be utilized as classroom learning tools."

Mac users, I've heard this is a great tool.

OK, This came from gregorielouie on Twitter -- and OH YEAH Gregory - YOU ROCK! This helps your inbox become more powerful. Am testing now and if you follow getting things done, it is a great tool to try.