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Today there are new creative ways to use an iPod and similar Mp3 players to support learning in adult education programs. These handhelds or portable digital devices were originally developed as a convenient way to listen to music. Now their uses have evolved beyond just music, their new expanded role is providing both audio and video learning applications for education. Online tool and application resources are provided for completing adult education and training programs using internet-based audio and video technology.

Huge list of Web 2.0 tools

A wiki for school friendly media.

A wiki not just for school library media specialists but for all teachers to learn about cool new web tools, see how they can be used in school programs, and share ideas & success stories. 

A great downloadable programme for making computer games for a variety of platforms and devices. Drag and drop items to make your creations. It's provides a more mature environment than tools like Scratch and there are many more options and advance settings for talented students. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools

Open with, gives detailed info about most file extensions and links to free programs that can open these files

open obscure files

If you have a music program at your school, perhaps you should peruse some of the fascinating thing my new friend Christopher Amos, director of Distance Learning for Carnegie Hall is doing. (I met him at NECC.)

Carnegie hall has some music programs and cool activities on their website.

Stykz is the first multi-platform stick figure animation program in the world (as far as we know!), and it is COMPLETELY FREE! If you've ever used Pivot StickFigure Animator, you'll feel right at home and will appreciate the extra features that Stykz has to offer!

I'm not sure how the licensing is working for them. I didn't think you could have one app and share on 40 ipods, but that is what the Charleston County School District says they are doing. From the article: ""Everything from vocabulary, to e-book reading, to art, to science," said CCSD Media Services Coordinator Connie Dopierala. CCSD hopes to invest in a set of 40 iPod Touches for every school in the district, at $150 each. Students can learn math or grammar on inexpensive application programs. "We can download a 99-cent app and load it on all 40 iPod Touches or however many, and that's very cost-effective with taxpayer dollars," said Dopierala."

This permission form has many different tools including weebly, Google dlocs, voicethread, YouTube, Glogster, Xtranormal, Toondoo, and others. I'm not sure that Audacity has to be included as it is a program on the local machine, however. I do like how the teacher asks for permission "I agree to allow my student's work to be used as  a positive example of published work for demonstration or promotional purposes." Some parents are afraid their child will be made to look bad in online examples, this covers that concern although it puts the onus on the teacher to make sure he/she vets examples that are published.

Adobe has their new Digital School Collection which really makes some very powerful tools affordable to schools. (Goes live December 1st) - here are some great tutorials and presentations on the TES website about photoshop and graphic design. Sometimes for these tough programs it helps to use things that other teachers have already used.

Another exciting tool to use for the Hour of Code - there is a free module anyone can use, but if you purchase the class option you can track and you can use real names and other options for programming. You might want to try it and see what your students think.

Eureqa (pronounced "eureka") is a software tool for detecting equations and hidden mathematical relationships in your data. Its primary goal is to identify the simplest mathematical formulas which could describe the underlying mechanisms that produced the data. Eureqa is free to download and use. Below you will find the program download, video tutorial, user forum, and other and reference materials.

"Sharendipity is a web based creativity suite where anyone can build and deploy engaging and interactive web applications. Go. Build something wonderful today. Free creation tools inside the browser Integrate third-party web services No programming required Deploy your apps anywhere on the web"

Using Skype in the Classroom Desktop Voice and Videoconferencing Software in Education Discover how to communicate and collaborate with friends, colleagues, resource experts, and other classrooms using Skype. Skype is a program that allows users to communication with voice, videoconferencing, or chat for free between computers. Create a Skype account, add contacts, and conduct free audio and video conferences between computers. Explore creative ways to use this tool to enhance teaching and learning.

This is precisely why more of us should be implementing the "23 things" pd program with our teachers. Estie Cuellar from Houston Texas did an amazing job discussing her learning journey and did an amazing job blogging it as well. This is very impressive and displays the transformational nature of becoming immersed in these tools. I look forward to seeing what happens in her classroom! Again, I believe that embedded PD (professional development that is in pieces as part of our day) rather than binge PD is much more transformational! This is proof!

summary of Estie Cullear's learning from the 23 things project -- an excellent professional development method for EMBEDDING PD.

Strawpoll in twitter

Using a program called strawpoll to play with twitter polls. This makes it very useful. I'm going to include this on a blog post -- fascinating tool.

Cell phones and what the japanese government is doing about it.

Japanese government becoming "involved" in the overuse of cell phones by japanese teenagers. This program emphasizes cell phone addiction. 1/3 of japanese 6th graders and cell phones and 2/3rds of 9th graders have them. Interestingly, one panel wants to take texting off the phones? How about using texting iN school? How about letting them define words on it instead of using a dictionary? How about letting them use it in the classroom? Seems kind of like damming up the Mississippi - it may work for a while, but eventually, the dam is going to break. Yes, this is something to talk about and discuss... internet and cell phone addiction is a real issue with many kids I talk to reporting that they literally sleep with it under their pillow. However, just getting rid of texting, I don't think that is a good idea. As with anything in human history, every tool may be used for good or bad.

Mulitmedia resources for educators at all levels. There are ways to conduct International projects too.

digital media for the classroom

Some lovely video resources. For US educators, they have the resources aligned with US standards. You can register on the site and organize the resources into your own folders (like for your classes.)  "Teachers' Domain is a free digital media service for educational use from public broadcasting and its partners. You'll find thousands of media resources, support materials, and tools for classroom lessons, individualized learning programs, and teacher professional learning communities."

USA resource Thinkfinity.org makes it easy for educators to enhance their classroom instruction with lesson plans, interactive activities and other online resources. Thinkfinity.org also provides a wealth of educational and literacy resources for students, parents and after-school programs. All of Thinkfinity.org's 55,000 standards-based K-12 lesson plans, student materials, interactive tools and reference materials are reviewed by the nation's leading education organizations to ensure that content is accurate, up-to-date, unbiased and appropriate for students.

Students LIVE! is a program that invites twenty-four students from across Metro Vancouver and the Sea-to-Sky region to attend sport and cultural events during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and then share their experiences through social media tools. Twelve students will be selected for the Olympic Games and 12 will be selected for the Paralympic Games.