Create interactive timelines that are intuitive and easy to use. I love the clean layout of information, and I see great potential for organizing and sharing facts on obscure or trendy topics. Info can be harvested from a variety of places: Twitter, Flickr, Google Maps, YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, Wikipedia, SoundCloud and more. Simply organize your data into a google spreadsheet, upload to the Timeline generator, and embed on your website. Seems easy enough!
“HISTORY Here is an interactive guide to thousands of historic locations across the United States. The easy-to-use interface, photos, video and dynamic maps bring history to life anywhere in the country. Whether you’re on vacation or just running errands, the app makes it simple and fun to get the facts on the history hidden all around you, including amazing architecture, museums, battlefields, monuments, famous homes and much more!” The app is free, so give it a try! Visit itunes for more info….
A couple of weeks ago, Skype announced they are now allowing educators free access to their group video calling. This would mean that in a call with multiple users, you would be able to see the video feed of all the participants. Previously, this feature had been restricted to premium users who pay for the service. (From Powerful Learning Press)
Learn more… Free group video calling good for 12 months from the time you sign up. Sign up and get access to lesson plans and other ideas for using Skype in the Classroom.
Limited time offer… Explore Rosen’s Digital Literacy resources for free until April 15th. Get the details here…
I’ve been using Skype in my teaching practice in the Library this year. The possibilities are potentially endless. For lots of ideas and information about how to make use of Skype as a teaching tool, visit Skype in the Classroom.
No doubt you have already have a classroom website or will be required to create one in the very near future. Virtually every classroom teacher around the globe is being caught up in the development of this essential communication tool. Most of the early birds to this challenge went out and used providers such as Teacher Web. Now, more and more districts are implementing a provider that the entire district will use that provides continuity and uniformity. This obviously will have its benefits for staff development but may stifle creativity.
I started about 8 years ago with a variety of services, but about two years ago my district settled on one software host for us all to use. I dove in and decided to embrace the challenge to develop a comprehensive site that would be useful for students, parents, and teachers. Visit my classroom website to see how I have put many of the following ideas into place: The Borgeson Bunch. I would like to share with you some of what I have learned during that journey…
From Edudemic: 7 Online Quiz Tools Perfect for the Classroom.
I’ve been doing some workshopping with “Classroom Clickers” (voting eggs like ActiVote) and I’m really liking them.
They take the concept of instant feedback to a whole new level. They have applications for both assessment and evaluation. They also have the ability to take what could otherwise be – let’s be serious – really dry boring curriculum and spice it up a bit… make the learning fun.
The appeal for younger students is obvious. They are in active use in the Junior School here (up to Grade 5). But the applications for Middle and High School are there as well. It’s time to exploit the opportunity.
Learn (a little bit more) by reading the article titled “Why You Should Use Clickers in Your Classroom.“
With classrooms growing increasingly more technology-oriented, it makes sense that developers latch onto the education sector when creating inspired new applications. The past year (roughly speaking) saw many different launches aiming to keep students (and, in some cases, teachers) better prepared and informed for whatever academia hurls their way. Like these apps and tools!