Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Top 20 Websites No Teacher Should Start the 2010-2011 Year Without

I have to tell you that it was a tough call to make these decisions, especially when we’re talking every teacher no matter what grade level or subject, but I hope that you find a couple of gems to put away in your virtual treasure box. You may have others you’d like to add to the list. Please post them in the comments for all of us to explore.

A great photo editing tool is a must for teachers and I recommend Aviary, LunaPic, Picnik, or BeFunky with some being simpler than others, but all having unique features. Explore all the tools and choose the best option for your skill level.

Creaza and Jaycut are answers to the Windows XP Movie Maker and Flipcam problem. Both of these sites have online video editing tools where Flip videos can be uploaded for easy manipulation. Creaza also has a wonderful alternative for GarageBand and a rather incredible comic creator.

Delicious or Diigo are online bookmarking networks teachers need. Inevitably a wonderful link is shared with us that we think, “Oh, I know I’ll use that later” and then we forget what it was. Using one of these resources lets teachers save bookmarks in a webspace and allows networking.

Doodle is a groovy scheduling tool teachers can use when setting up a collaborative work meeting or building social committee event. One user creates the Doodle and shares the link with others. Everyone can share time availability and determine the prime meeting date.

Dropbox is one of my absolute favorite tools shared with me by Intel Teach buddies Glen Westbrook and Jill Summers. Dropbox is a 2 GB e-vault tool that allows teachers to drop files in an online folder and sync it with multiple computers. For example, I might create a file on my MacBook at school, move it into my Dropbox folder and then open it up on my Dell at home. No jump drives to lose or accidentally wash and no email files that are too large to send. Plus, as an added bonus, I can create collaborative folders in Dropbox to share with partner teachers. Love it!

Edmodo – Definitely my #1 favorite tool on the web for creating a social network within a classroom or amongst all the teachers in a building. It’s simply easier to have files, links, and discussions held in one location. I am going to encourage our principal to set up a group in Edmodo for all building communications which can reduce the number of papers in teacher inboxes significantly.

Free Tech 4 Teachers and Larry Ferlazzo tie for this slot as these are amazing resource blogs for any teacher. You know the commercial, “There’s an App for That!” These fellas are the ones who can share those apps. Bookmark them, add them to your Google Reader, and visit often for excellent resources all year long.

Glogster.EDU is one of those tools that opens dozens of lesson ideas to foster creativity and higher order thinking skills. No more will we have poster boards dropping off the walls in the hallways or students covered in Crayola markers down their arms. With Glogster teachers and students can create interactive posters for research, websites, presentations, reflection, and more.

Google Language Translator does a fairly decent job of language translation. Although we all know languages do not automatically translate due to grammar structure, idioms, etc. this tool does basic translation well if needed.

Google Tools for Educators. Here teachers can receive training on how to use the Google Suite of Docs, Reader, Picasa, and more plus find out what new and innovative things Google is adding. It’s a never-ending world of innovation for us this year.

LiveBinders is one tool that certainly is gaining teacher popularity this summer. For those moments when teachers need to share a set of links, create a webquest, Internet scavenger hunt, or content related sites with parents, this tool is the perfect ticket.

MyWebspiration and Dabbleboard (thanks McTeach) are brainstorming collaboration tools perfect for unit plan design, party planning, or big school event planning such as Field Day or as a great high school chemistry teacher I know who plans Mole Day each year.

Photos8 and Pics4Learning are two public domain image sites that are simply wonderful for student use. I’ve raved on these before, but teachers definitely need to bookmark them for student projects.

Prezi – Yes, I do enjoy Microsoft Office and Google Documents, but I really dig Prezi for student presentations. The concept of how it creates the “real” visual aid and allows for video embedding took my students to a different level during the speech unit this year. The tool does take a bit to figure it out, but with the excellent tutorial videos and a couple of clicks, the students are off and running.

Social networks such as Twitter, Plurk, DEN, Thinkfinity, and Intel communities are listed because every teacher needs a PLN - a place to connect with other teachers of similar subject and content areas. This is especially critical for those teachers in small schools where there may only be one or two teachers in a department. Believe me, when I was the sole member of the “English Department” for a year, my staff meetings went great, but it was difficult not having a support group. Now teachers can simply jump in, join in pedagogical conversations, share resources, and grow.

Troovi is simply a brilliant little gem for teachers collecting photos from multiple student digital cameras. Simply grab the URL directly above the logo and share it with the whole class. Students simply upload the images from their cameras to that URL (no login required) and within seconds everyone has an online album to share. No more having to bring the digital cameras up to the teacher’s desk one at a time. Yay!

Voicethread –From digital storytelling, reflection, photo essays, and more, this tool has been one of my students’ favorites. Also be sure to check out Voicethread for Educators Ning for ideas on using the tool.

Wordsmyth and Lexipedia are the dictionary and thesaurus tools I recommend. Where Wordsmyth offers a beginner’s picture dictionary along with a full dictionary, Lexipedia makes using a thesaurus fun.

Zamzar and MediaConverter for file conversions and Youtube downloads. Yes, there are always moments in the year where students turn in Microsoft Works or Word Perfect files that simply do not open nicely on a school computer. Zamzar will convert those files on top of downloading YouTube videos.

Honorable Mention for US teachers - Netflix is a service that I think every school library should have a subscription to check out documentaries and other films that aren’t easily accessible in most communities. In all honesty, I believe Netflix needs to start an education side of their service specifically for teachers and libraries to utilize, especially with all the films that can be streamed directly to a computer. I use Netflix significantly throughout the year for my classroom and encourage many of my peers to subscribe, as well.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Social Networking Power with Edmodo in the Classroom

After being in full time tech integration for nearly seven years, I’ve had the privilege to return to the classroom at such a pivotal time in education. With the use of wonderful Web 2.0 tools and the ability to easily collaborate across the globe, students have opportunities today that weren’t even envisioned three years ago. One of those opportunities involves creating a professional learning community through Edmodo, a teacher moderated social network where students can share ideas, publish their work, and learn how to communicate effectively online. What better place to build on our 21st Century Skills? What can Edmodo do? Let’s take a look at some of the features:

Accessing My Personal Library- A new feature that I recently discovered is the teacher personal library. Here any file I’ve uploaded or URL I have shared sits in an online storage area for me to quickly recycle next year. As one who works with multiple computers, this feature has certainly caught my eye. Similar to a curriculum map, I can walk through my Edmodo library and recall previous assignments and projects.

Building a Student/Teacher PLC – The best feature of Edmodo is having the ability to build an online community with my students. Quite often students have questions about current assignments or discussions after school or on weekends while they are doing homework. With Edmodo, my students can post a question directly to me or to the entire class, and within a few minutes responses are given. My students stated that this feature provided teacher support they had been missing in other classes, and that they felt part of a real group rather than an individual in a class.

Collaborating with Other Teachers – This is another new feature that I’ve enjoyed discovering. As I teach technology professional development workshops, I’ve begun to create Edmodo groups my participants as a place to collaborate, share ideas, and build our own community. It’s been wonderful especially for collaborative projects as new groups linking classrooms together can easily be formed.

Connecting with Absent Students – Edmodo has also provided a paradigm shift of communication for students who are absent. Even though they are not in class, most of them do have Internet access at home and can complete assignments before returning. I simply upload any handouts and answer any questions as though the student was in class. I’ve also set up discussions during class and the absent student participates in live time from home. Not having to grade late work is such a wonderful feeling, isn’t it?

Embedding Just About Anything - Can I just say this out loud? I LOVE this feature. Whether I’m sharing a YouTube video, Glogster, ProProfs quiz, Google Form, Voicethread, or Slideshare, this feature is such a treasure. Now, I must tell you that yes, indeed have a class wiki where I can embed, at least three steps are involved. In Edmodo, however, it’s a one stop paste of an embed code, and ba-da-bing – it’s there. Plus, now students are able to have a conversation around the embedded item. It’s brilliant!

Posting Handouts – Do your students leave handouts on their desks? Lose Rubrics? Leave homework in their lockers? Yes, my students do, as well, but I have found that uploading my handouts within Edmodo has eliminated much of this worry and reduced late work issues. With Edmodo’s document viewer, even the students who don’t have Microsoft Office at home can view the embedded document or print if needed. Talk about nice!

Providing Online Data Storage – How often do students lose their files? Jump drives crash or viruses run rampant), but with Edmodo, the students quickly upload any files they are working on for easy access in other classes or away from school. My students have commented often how nice this feature is for them, especially since many of them had lost their jump drives within the first few months of school.

Providing Teacher Big Brother Features in a Student Centered Environment – I believe Edmodo is successful for teachers because it allows us to set up a social network for our students while still being in control of the content. I love that students can send posts to me or the whole class without direct messaging their peers. Yes, I want to nurture the student dialogue, but I also want them to recognize that our professional learning area is not a Facebook environment. By having the ability to delete any posts that are inappropriate, the teacher can redirect discussions to a more focused topic.

Publishing Student Work – Quite often I have students utilize creativity web 2.0 tools such as Glogster or Voicethread, but when it comes to grading them, I have to login to those tools and search for student products. With Edmodo on my side, the students simply copy the embed codes for their products and post directly for easy grading.

Receiving Text Message Updates – The students rave over this one. Whenever I submit an assignment, question, or reminder to the students, they receive a text message on their phones. For those students who have organizational skill troubles, this has been wonderful. It was an instant reminder to login to Edmodo in order to complete an assignment or answer a question.
I, too, have the text message feature setup for direct posts. If a student has a question at any time, I instantly receive a text on my phone so I can address it quickly and easily. I can tell you late work diminished tenfold when they knew I would answer questions in a timely manner.

Setting Up Classroom Discussions – One of my favorite assignments is to provide “Edmodo Homework” every few weeks. I generally post an open-ended question on current classroom units, literature, independent reading, or projects and ask the students to pop in for class discussion that evening. It’s rather amazing to watch them do homework in “real-time” as I moderate the discussion or sit back and watch them communicate with each other. I get such a kick out of it, and grading is quick, as well. As they post, I update the gradebook. TIP – Assigning a whole class discussion can be lengthy and confusing for the students since responses are not threaded. I recommend sending conversation assignments out to groups of four to six.

Sharing Links – We’ve all been in a similar situation – students in the computer lab with the assignment of students visiting four or five websites. We’ve given handouts, written URL’s on the board, or created a list of hyperlinks on a wiki. With Edmodo, time is less wasted as I can instantly post a link and have all students there in less than three seconds. No files to open or URL’s to type. I can also say this feature was a dream during the research paper assignment. Each student researched a different topic and as finding resources online became difficult for a select group of students, I could easily provide support.

If you haven’t explored Edmodo previously, I highly recommend it for grades 3-12, especially if you teach in a 1:1 learning environment. No more having to set up shared drives on the server, posting stacks of URL’s on wikis, or waiting for student emails. Edmodo makes sharing files and communicating with students easy cheesy lemon squeezy. Give a go.