Ed-Tech Links
Advice--Collection of articles, related to a multitude of topics, but all having to do with educator professional development.
Prof Dev Articles
Varied and diverse. Basically whatever "hits" me. These are in my LiveBinders. Click and check-out how cool they are. (Note: unfortunately LiveBinders doesn't play well with the Opera browser).
Audio-Visual--Tools & Software related to audio and/or visual presentations.
Audacity
Free, open source software for recording and editing sounds.
Sketchcast
Sketchcasting is a new way to communicate something online by recording a sketch, optionally with your voice speaking. Any sketch can then be embedded on your blog/ homepage for people to play-back, and you can also point people to your sketchcast channel here (or let them subscribe to your sketchcast RSS feed).
Jing
Screen capture and screencasting. This is what I use to make "how to" videos for my students.
Slideshare
"Upload and share your PowerPoint presentations and Word documents on SlideShare. Share publicly or privately. Add audio to make a webinar."
Capzles
"Combine your videos, photos, blogs and mp3s into rich, multimedia storylines."
Gcast
Your own audio broadcast, where you can easily record voice messages, mix in your favorite music, and share it all for the world to hear.
Figgo
"Build a video blog, the next YouTube or just a private place to share videos."
Animoto
"a web application that automatically generates professionally produced videos using their own patent-pending technology and high-end motion design. Each video is a fully customized orchestration of user-selected images and music. Produced on a widescreen format, Animoto videos have the visual energy of a music video and the emotional impact of a movie trailer."
Bubbleshare
Another photo sharing site. You can add clip art and create slideshows. They even have some cute little frames.
LoonaPix
"LoonaPix.com is a free photo editing online service. You can make it funny using LoonaPic effect or embed your face from the photo to the various templates, add photo frame or just trim it. In other words, we can help you to make your photo funny and unique. And, notice, it is easy and free!"
Photopeach
"You can create a rich slideshow in seconds to engage your friends or family in a natural way. This is done by allowing two-way commenting right at each photo in the show and automatically pausing so you have time to express yourself before continuing."
PicArtia
Create a photo mosaic. There is a free version, or if you want a high res picture for blowing up and framing you can opt for the pay version. Either way, the outcome is pretty cool.
Pixelpipe
"Pixelpipe is a media gateway that allows users to publish text and upload photos, video and audio files once through Pixelpipe and have the content distributed across over 95 social networks, photo/video sites and blogs, and other online destinations. We provide free mobile & desktop applications, liberate your media and share your life."
Skitch
Slide
"Our users can share popular videos, send virtual gifts or even throw sheep at each other."
My Frame
Add frames to your photos.
Slideflickr
"Create and embed Flickr slideshows in 3 steps."
Stupeflix
Web service that turns your pictures, videos, and text into professional videos.
Yodio
"one-stop digital publishing service where anyone can go to self-record, produce, and share audio recordings (podcasts) and personal broadcasts (audio synchronized with digital photos)."
Prezi
"Prezi allows anyone who can sketch an idea on a napkin to create and perform stunning non-linear presentations with relations, zooming into details, and adjusting to the time left without the need to skip slides."
Preezo
Use instead of PowerPoint. No need for extra software.
VoiceThread
"A VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to navigate pages and leave comments in 5 ways - using voice (with a mic or telephone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam). Share a VoiceThread with friends, students, and colleagues for them to record comments too." If you go to the "library" tab you will see some good ideas about using this in the classroom.
Glogster
Glogster is so much fun! You can make an interactive, digital poster. Very, very cool options. The link I have provided is for the edu account.- Glogster Tutorial
- VoiceThread Examples Slideshow
Tips for using Voicethread in the classroom. - Voicethread Ideas
Another slideshow with 17 ideas.
Collection Sites--These sites actually offer a collection of links (sort of like this page). Most of the links are tools/software, some of which are repeated on my site.
Teach Web 2.0
A collection of Web 2.0 tools for teachers.
Tech Farm
"This site is intended to provide information and resources on technologies for classroom use."
Sue Water's Favorite Tools
"take the time to share our most useful tools because we should be welcoming people new to using the Internet by sharing our tools - so here is my post - hopefully it will be of help for other educators wanting to get involved with elearning."
25 Tools 2009
"The 2009 Toolbox contains 25 categories of learning tool."
Farr Out Links Web 2.0 Links
Another collection of web 2.0 tools.
Open Culture
The best free cultural & educational media on the web.
Web Apps for Students
"web tools I would put in my backpack were I headed back to school tomorrow."
Favorite Tools
OpenOffice
Free productivity suite. Compatible with MS Office (even 2007 version)!
Google (everything!)
Mail, docs, reader, and much more!
Diigo
Social bookmarking. Save all your bookmarks in one place. Add the toolbar to your browser and you can highlight and save snipets and even add notes.
Box
Online file sharing and collaboration. Or, just a place to store documents "in the cloud" so that you can access them from any computer.
LitTunes
One of their missions: "to inspire educators to reach the disenfranchised with their own language - music." Includes lesson plans!
SimplyBox
The most visual free service to Capture, Organize, and Share anything you find on the web. Simple, yet powerful, collaboration around the content YOU find! This is a really good place for students to capture information while they are researching.
Wordle
"Wordle is a toy for generating "word clouds" from text that you provide."
WebNotes
"Highlight text and add notes to web pages, just like you would with a printout. Quickly organize your annotations into nested folders for later access. Easily generate research reports to share with your colleagues or clients. All with WebNotes Basic."
Booklet Creator
"BookletCreator is a free online tool that allows you to create a booklet from a PDF document. It reorders pages so that after printing and folding the pages, a small book is created."
Facebook
Just in case you live under a rock and don't know what Facebook is: "Facebook's mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected."
Easybib
The Automatic Bibliography & Citation Maker. MLA formatting is free!
Docstoc
Find and share documents. It's sort of like to Box.net (which I like a bit better).
Cartoon Me
Get a hand drawn cartoon from any picture that you upload. **Please note that this is a paid service. I have not tried it yet, but it looks interesting.
Lovely Charts
Online diagramming software. With Lovely Charts' extremely simple and intuitive drag'n drop drawing mechanism, you'll be able to focus on what really matters. You won't have to draw boxes or arrows, and you won't have to worry about what symbol to use.
Awesome Stories
Enjoy an interactive learning experience as you see thousands of hand-selected and relevant links to pictures, slide-shows, videos, audio-clips, artifacts, manuscripts, documents and other primary sources linked, in context, within each story.
Lit Trips w/Google
"This site is an experiment in teaching great literature in a very different way. Using Google Earth, students discover where in the world the greatest road trip stories of all time took place... and so much more!"
Letterpop
Create newsletters and so much more!
Kosmix
"users explore the Web by topic, presenting a dashboard of relevent videos, photos, news, commentary, opinion, communities and links to related topics."
Issuu
Issuu turns your documents into beautiful online publications.
Miro
Play any video, even You Tube, right on your desktop.
Lulu
"Lulu eliminates traditional barriers to publishing and enables authors to sell their work directly to their particular audience - no jumping through hoops to find a publisher who is likely to reject their work."
Wayback Machine
Browse through over 150 billion web pages archived from 1996 to a few months ago.
Scratch
Scratch is designed to help young people (ages 8 and up) develop 21st century learning skills. As they create and share Scratch projects, young people learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively.
One Two Fiver
One Two Fiver works by starting you off on a single, pure, isolated word. Spelling out a single word is not writing as such and so escapes the consideration, planning and concerns that the act of writing carries. The same is true for two words. At five words syntax comes into play and you have the scope to form a simple sentence or phrase. Ten words brings you into the realm of standard sentence length.
Mixbook
Here you can turn your photos into a real hard cover book. I haven't used this particular site, but I did use one like it for a book my mom wrote and illustrated. It's very cool!
Jigsaw Planet
Ok, so this isn't a website that does much, it's just really fun and cool. Go here to create and play your own jigsaw puzzles.
Mad Men Yourself
Fun site to make your own avatar. Silly, but fun.
Caption Bubble
"Here you can quickly and easily add bubble captions to your photos and images."
Wallwisher
It's like a big corkboard where you can stick post-its. You can even add it to your blog or website.
Stripgenerator
Create interesting "comic" strips.
Springnote
This seems similar to Google docs. Here's what the site says: "Springnote allows you to create pages, to work on them together with your friends, and to share files. Springnote is also a great tool for group projects as it allows group members to easily collaborate. Advanced search, numerous templates, and 2GB of FREE File Storage are only few examples of how Springnote can help you."
Pixton
Really cool comic creator. I can see this being a very useful tool. Students could make a comic after reading a book. "Award-winning click-and-drag comic creator. Customize everything right on the page. Move characters into any pose. Use in any web browser, Mac or PC. Certified for use on interactive whiteboard."
Pikikids
Create a "comic" using your photos.
Piclits
"PicLits.com is a creative writing site that matches beautiful images with carefully selected keywords in order to inspire you. The object is to put the right words in the right place and the right order to capture the essence, story, and meaning of the picture."
Mutapic
Mutapic helps you to create artwork. It is a tool for designers, artists and craftsmen. It can be used to create logos, patterns, decorative elements, and just for fun!
Muchobeets
Flashcard maker.
Co-ment
"co-ment® makes it possible for you to write or upload your own texts, submit them for comments, process the comments and revise the texts accordingly."
Sumopaint
Because not everyone can afford Photoshop.
Timetoast
"Timetoast allows people to create interactive timelines, which they can share anywhere on the web. Anyone can join Timetoast and start creating and sharing their own timelines, all they need is a valid email address. It's completely free!"- Glogster
Glogster is so much fun! You can make an interactive, digital poster. Very, very cool options. The link I have provided is for the edu account. - Glogster Tutorial
Brainstormer
"The Brainstormer is a random story idea generator. The Brainstormer has three wheels of words. Each click of the "random" button spins all three wheels. If you're struggling to develop an idea to start a fiction story simply click the "random" button to spin the wheels of the Brainstormer."- Wordle In The Classroom
Slideshow with 38 tips for using Wordle in the classroom. 
Literature Map
Type in the name of an author and receive suggestions regarding other authors you might like.- Facebook-Educator's Guide
- Google Tips
My Evernote collection of Google tips related to the various apps. Subscribe in your RSS reader so you never miss an update.
Information Sites--These are sites that aren't really blogs, so I don't have them in my RSS reader; and they don't provide specific applications or software; they are mainly about information.
English Companion
Jim Burke's site. Awesome resources. One of my mentors in English education.
Microblogging--Resources related to learning about Twitter and how to use it in and out of the classroom. Plus other microblogging sites you might want to explore.
Twitter
Twitter site. Tell your "story" in a 140 characters or less.
Twitter Educators
A list of educators who use Twitter. Nice spreedsheet that includes their Twitter ID, plus the subject they teach, and more.
Twitter Educators II
"This wiki was created to easily help educators find other educators on Twitter that have the same interests as them (that teach in the same content area). Check out the list of educators on the pages linked below and add your Twitter name to the appropriate list too. "
Edmodo
Private communication platform specifically built for teachers and students.
Shoutem
This is very neat! Like Twitter, but under your control.- Twitter Articles
My collection of articles (stored in my Evernote account) related to Twitter, and using Twitter in the classroom.
Ning Sites--Ning sites are wonderful places to give and get information. These are my favorites.
Smartboard--Links and advice.
TeacherLED - Interactive Whiteboard Resources For Teachers
"This site is designed to provide teachers with access to free high quality teaching resources for use on Interactive Whiteboards."
ETC @ NSC Interactive Whiteboard Links
"Here are some links that can be powerful whole-group instructional tools when used on an interactive whiteboard."
41 Tips & Tricks For Using Your IWB
Smartboard tips and tricks.
Video Sites
TED
IF YOU ONLY TAKE ONE THING FROM MY SITE, THIS SHOULD BE IT. I use TED talks in my classroom and my students go crazy for them. I cannot say enough good things about these videos.
Neo K12
Educational videos for FREE.
Snag Films
SnagFilms.com is a website where you can watch full-length documentary films for free.
PBS Video
"On PBS Video, award-winning national programming and locally produced shows are just a click away. Watch your favorite shows and catch the episodes you may have missed, all on your schedule."
TeacherTube
"It is a site to provide anytime, anywhere professional development with teachers teaching teachers. As well, it is a site where teachers can post videos designed for students to view in order to learn a concept or skill."
Authors @ Google Video
"Authors@Google is a speaker series where thought-provoking, Zeitgeist-making, trend-setting authors come to the Googleplex to read from their works and share their thoughts with us."
Fora.tv
"We gather the web's largest collection of unmediated video drawn from live events, lectures, and debates going on all the time at the world's top universities, think tanks and conferences. "
Common Craft Show
"Our videos may surprise you. They're short and simple. They use paper cut-outs. They cover subjects "in Plain English." But lurking under the simple surface are lessons that have been crafted with great care. Despite our fun and lighthearted style, we take explanation seriously." Super neat site with great ideas that can be used in the classroom.
Academic Earth Lectures
"We are building a user-friendly educational ecosystem that will give internet users around the world the ability to easily find, interact with, and learn from full video courses and lectures from the world's leading scholars. "
SpaceTimeTV
Watch educational videos online from full length documentaries to short video clips!
The Future's Channel
"To produce and distribute high quality multimedia content which educators in any setting can use to enliven curriculum, engage students and otherwise enhance the learning experience."
Bookwink
Very cool site!! A new, short video each day about a different book. Click on the video archives link at the bottom for previous talks. Or, if you simply want a suggestion for a book click on the links at the top; choose grade level, subject, author, title. This is geared toward grades 5-8.- YouTube in the Classroom
A video with tips for using YouTube in the classroom. 
YouTube
I'm not sure why this site has received such a bad rep. It's a terrific place to find videos for use in the classroom. If you haven't explored, go ahead and give it try.
Vocabulary-Dictionary-Words
Wordnik
"Wordnik wants to be a place for all the words, and everything known about them. "
Wordahead
Superb vocabulary site that has high level SAT words (as well, as low level). In addition, each word has a corresponding sentence and video.
Weboword
Build your Vocabulary Visually!
VocabGrabber
VocabGrabber analyzes any text you're interested in, generating lists of the most useful vocabulary words and showing you how those words are used in context.
Fotopedia
Photo encyclopedia.
Photographic Dictionary
Dedicated to defining words through the literal, figurative and personal meanings found in each photograph. *I see this used mostly in the lower grades as most of the words are basic.
Lexipedia
A very cool "visual word web". Includes antonyms, synonyms and "fuzzynyms".
Pop-Up Lexicon
A year's worth of vocabulary words! Includes definitions, sentences and quizzes. What more could you ask for?
Wordsift
This site is really hard to explain, it simply must be experienced. The best I can say is you get a visualization of texts, but in a unique way that includes pictures, a tag cloud and a visual thesaurus.
Websites-Blogs-Wikis--Sites where you can create your own websites, blogs or wikis.
PBWorks
Perfect place to set-up a Wiki.
Zunal
With Zunal Teacher Website, you can create teacher websites to keep students and parents informed outside of the classroom.
Wordpress
In my opinion this is the big daddy of sites. Unfortunately with the free site (what this is) you don't get unlimited options. However, it's really user friendly and the one I highly recommend.- *Blogging
Articles, tips and how to's all related to blogging and/or using blogs with students. - *Teaching With Wikis
Nice site @ U of Minnesota that helps with using wikis in the classroom. - Wordpress--Create One
This is a pretty detailed video about setting up a free Wordpress.com account. I think the set-up is pretty intuitive, but just in case, here's a bit of visual help.
