IT Cohort 2014

I use bitly all the time! As a frequent user of Google forms, I shorten the link before I share it. Sometimes I'm asking teachers to write a link on their boards to share with students, so this makes is less cumbersome.

Very nice application. any idea how it compares with tinyurl.com? There doesn't seem to be much difference.

This is a nice web newsletter, full of very practical classroom tools for educators. Dulcinea is a character from the Man of La Mancha (Don Quixote), who had troubles finding the good in herself. This appears to be an effort to find the 'goodie' in instructional technology resources.

Symbaloo gives you a great place to book mark specific websites, videos, or documents to use in your classroom at a later time.

Symbaloo gives you a great place to book mark specific websites, videos, or documents to use in your classroom at a later time.

This is a very easy and colorful way to keep track of those bookmarks a user wants on multiple computers. This is very easy even for those who are not tech savvy.

A Web 2.0 that helps you schedule events and syncs to your calendar. 

This is very interesting - my wife uses Outlook and I use Google Calendar; we've been looking for something to help us sync! I could see teachers using this if their school is on Outlook and they use some other calendar for their smartphone...this would be a handy way to keep them organized. Have you tried it to see if it actually works. Ali?

I've use Doodle frequently, because I frequently am in charge of scheduling meetings for 3-10 participants. Doddle allows you to offer dates and times then poll meeting participants as to what works for them. You are then presented with the data and you can then easily select the date and time that works for the majority. Much better than playing phone tag or trying to keep up with multiple emails. It's free to the average user!

Skype in the classroom gives students and teachers a free and safe way to communicate with other students, educators, authors, or others who want to have input in the classroom!

I didn't know this existed! As Skype accounts are so prevalent, I could see as a teacher using this to Skype with a sister classroom somewhere else in the country (or world!) for project collaboration. Also it would be useful for interacting with an 'expert' in the field somewhere, using their desktop or smartphone Skype app. Other possibilities are Facetime, Google Hangout, and Zoom, but I believe Skype is the easiest one to configure.

Pandora is on my list of favorite Web 2.0 tools. There are times I need background music for student activities. Even with the free subscription, you can create a station, mark it so there are no songs with explicit language played, and I have found that if I use my ipad or phone, commercials are fewer in number!

I've seen this used in my daughter's kindergarten classroom by the teacher, for background music. You're right, Becky, it does make for great ambiance while the students are working. What 'channels' do you prefer? For alternatives, you might try GrooveShark (which is great because you can select specific CD's -- my favorites are the movie soundtracks) and I'm just now trying out SoundCloud, which has an Android and iPhone app. Soundcloud has fewer selections than Grooveshark, but a better interface and easier sharing/liking.

Blabberize is a fun 2.0 tool that allows you to record your voice with a static photo. Besides, they use a llama on their home page to demonstrate how it's used. What's not to love about that?

I could see a student using this to create an audio story for a classroom exercise. It's pretty ridiculous, but I imagine that's the appeal of it. It looks so simple that it would be a shame to not try it out! And I'm not aware of anything like it, except for JibJab, but that's much more limited in what you can do with it. I just am surprised that the Llama's audio is so poor...

Create inspiring quotes for your students...easy!

Can also be used for tweet chats; hence the name TweetChat :)

Technology-based blog with numerous resources, tutorials and advice!

I had no idea you could do this with videos! I think this would be a very useful tool in the classroom. I have often times gone through a video and picked out specific spots I want to show my students, so I ended up having to write down those exact times so that I would know where to skip to. This tool would be very helpful with that. I think this resource would be mostly used by teachers to share videos with students. I have not seen anything like this for videos. I recently heard of a site that you can copy the youtube URL in and it takes it to a place where you don't get all of the advertisements on the side. Which is nice because those aren't always the most appropriate for school.

This would be great for a flipped or blended classroom. Teachers could use this to edit videos and incorporate them into lessons as well. Students could also do this if they are presenting information and want to use a piece of a video. EdPuzzle is a similar resource that can do the same kind of thing.

Even though this app only works on iPads, I consider it a Web 2.0 tool as well because recorded "ShowMe's" are accessible on your computer. Similar to Educreations, it is an interactive whiteboard. I've used with with elementary students to create social stories. I use my iPad to take a picture of them doing the preferred activity, then have them voice record their own description. Very effective with children with autism!

Educreations can be used with an iPad or web browser. It is an interactive white board that allows you to create and voice record video lessons. I've used it to provide students feedback by taking a screenshot of their work, then annotating and recording my thoughts. I've also used it to flip a lesson and to provide lessons when my class is cancelled for weather. There is no such thing as a snowday with Educreations!

Check out all Angela has to offer with digital learning.

I've had the privilege to work with Angela in a previous job as part of our science department professional development. Her work is meant mostly for teachers to help them with digital learning in the classroom. I do wish she would update her work more often.

A list of blogs about technology integration in the classroom

This is the blog for Mimio.

Edudemic has a whole list of tools to use in the classroom using technology.

A wikispace that is geared towards the interactive classroom with lessons and downloadable resources.

Web 2.0 tools brought to you by Discovery Education and broken down into searchable categories.

A mind-mapping service with 1.5 million users and more than 3 million mind maps.

I have used bubbl.us in the classroom before for brainstorming activities. The part that I don't like about it is having to sign up and then you are actually limited on the free account. This is definitely program for student use. I really do enjoy this program, but with 1:1 iPads, we went with Inspiration instead.

"The most powerful Twitter tool for real-time tracking, organizing and engagement."

I really think that TweetDeck could be very helpful for my classroom. I have joined numerous twitter feeds on education and technology and at least TweetDeck will help me keep them straight. I think that TweetDeck is mostly for teacher use. I believe this because during the school day, most districts usually have sites like twitter and other social media blocked. I have also seen TweetCaster which is similar to TweetDeck with a free and paid version. TweetDeck is nice but TweetCaster also allows you to hide certain people from the twitter feed without actually unfollowing them.