PSU Web 2.0

This blogging service is intended for classroom use only. Blog accounts are created by the classroom teacher. Teachers may use this service for professional blog publishing functions, and to manage and publish student writings. The teacher may add students as class users on their blog.

Internet4Classrooms is a website designed to assist teachers in using the Internet more effectively. The site contains information about blogs, Wiki, podcasting, photo and video management, social bookmarking, RSS resources and Web 2.0 tools.

This site allows you to create story maps, and writing webs on the computer. It basically allows you to brainstorm online.

This site allows you to create floor plans for an entire house or just one room. This could be used for interior design classes, drafting/construction classes, or even in a math class when dealing with building and furnishing a home.

This is an awesome site for book lovers! It allows you to browse through popular books, which I love to do, just to see what people are reading for an idea of what to read next. Then you can put books that you own on your "shelf". You can then have friends and share actual books with each other, if you live nearby. It is also a great place to read ratings on books. It then links you to Amazon and other libraries where you could check our or buy the books! You can also put your "bookshelf" on a blog to show off your interests to all your friends.

This site allows children to create their own books. It allows them to add pictures, either uploaded or clipart. It is a great writing tool for students to publish their stories.

Pictures for use in the classroom.

Google SketchUp is a free, easy-to-learn 3D-modeling program with a few simple tools to let you create 3D detailed models. The models can be shared in Google Earth. Lessons can be developed for SketchUp with certain features that must be contained in the model.

This site is a Web-based aggregator which allows you to create a webpage where personalized RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds can be collected on one site. The possibilities are endless in a classroom. Students can comment on a topic and share their opinions with others. The site could also be a place for students to listen to book talks by students, the library media specialist, or teacher.

If you like to travel this site be the right one for you. It gives user created reviews of various hotels. You can search for a city and availability dates and then see the reviews for the hotels that fit the search criteria. Not educational, but a neat site to look at if you are planning a trip.

This site shows how to make/do many different things. Shows step by steps instructions for a wide variety of projects with pictures to help you along the way. May not be used in schools, but with a little imagination who knows.

Google Earth allows you access to anywhere in the world and allows you to see geographic landscapes and terrain. Students have a a blast as geography can come to life!

Google Alerts you to get the latest updates of your desired information. This could be news, weather, markets, etc.

Free software to create and share your book digitally through this website. You can also purchase the book you created or sell it on their site. There is also a large library of other people's created books.

Skype has the potential to improve class participation and collaboration. It can also help cut costs by providing free voice and video calling to other Skype users worldwide. Some uses of the platform include multi-class and cross-district collaboration, professional development, and virtual field trips.

This site allows the user to create online surveys free of charge. Similar to survey monkey, but does not limit the number or questions being asked or the limit the number of responses. This could be used in schools for faculty or student surveys or even in the classroom for students to get data for a statistics project.

You can use this tool for digital storytelling. The site has a Mixbook for Educators Program which offers: free collaborative classroom tools for creating and sharing personalized Mixbooks, secure online environment for students and teachers to share and edit privately, and an education discount on printed products - (up to 40% off printed Mixbooks for your classroom.) Students can use this to create their own stories or younger elementary classrooms could use it to collaborate and create a class book.

Create personalized Photo Books, Photo Albums and Scrapbooks in seconds with our easy, online Photo Book software. Create and share online for FREE." />http://feeds.feedburner.com/mixbook

This site would be great for creating historical reports. It allows you to use video, sound, music, pictures and much more to help you tell a story.

Soshiku is a free online service that helps keep track of school assignments and due dates. This site is geared more towards high school and higher education students, but could also be used by teachers to keep track of meetings, tests and due dates.

This is a library of virtual math manipulatives. They are broken up into categories: PK-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. On the PK-2 category you will find manipulatives for a bar graph, place value, etc. A version can also be downloaded to the desktop. It would be a great thing to use for the SmartBoard as well as individual instruction.