diigo - engage & respond to text

http://www.diigo.com/

Highlight, Clip and Sticky-Note for any webpage - Just as you would on paper ⇒ Write on any webpage! - Make them private or public ⇒ Interact on any webpage!
One of the 12 strands of the Primary Literacy Framework is to 'Engage with and respond to text'. Diigo is a tool that can enable this.
Suggestion taken from Tom Barretts blog......
All you need is a story, add a table with children's names & photographs - if focussing on looking at opening hooks just a few paragraphs are needed. Above the table of children’s names add some simple instructions such as:
Take your time to read the opening to the story below. Your job is to respond in two ways.
1 - Add a sticky note, using the Diigo toolbar, under your picture or name and explain how you feel about this opening.
2 - Highlight some text and comment on part of the opening you enjoyed or want to talk about. Add you initials to your comments.
The idea is that children click on Sticky Notes in the Diigo toolbar and add a typed comment, then go a step further and (after clicking refresh in IE to see their friends comments - a good tip!) add further comments to their friends Diigo stickies. They can roll over the sticky bubble icon and then roll over the Actions menu at the top right. Then its just a case of going to “Add Comment” and the children are engaging with not only the text but each others’ responses.

FlickrCC

FlickrCC , a search engine drawing solely from Flickr’s Creative Commons licensed images. Really easy to use - search on a theme - results are presented as a wall of thumbnail images, download a range of sizes for use.
Creative Commons Licence definition:
a non-profit organization dedicated to reforming copyright laws to permit the free use, alteration and distribution by others of copyrighted creative works, such as music, film or software.

Top 5 Times Tables Resources

Thanks to Tom Barrett for these links.....they look great as a maths resource for ks1 and 2.
Multiflyer by Dan Perkins - A wonderful resource that can be used throughout a child’s practise of times tables.

Times Attack - from the site multiplication.com The demo is free and just allows you to play, quite adequately, on a single level.

BBC Skillswise Times Tables - ideal for the IWB.

Maths Trainer - a great game for one person. Also take a look at Speed Maths and

Reaction Maths
Multiplication Puzzle - you can alter how much time the children have to work. You can change the length of time for the whole activity or based on how many questions they need to answer.

Zwinky

Create your own customizable Zwinky character by choosing your eyes, hair, skintone as well as your shirt, pants, shoes, pets and other accessories. Then visit Zwinktopia - a virtual world where you can play games, chat with friends, and shop for exclusive clothes.

Ferry Halim

Tom Barrett (tgbarrett@btinternet.com) writes:

Ferry Halim is a digital artist and has created a site showcasing current projects and flash artwork. As part of the little site is a part named Morning Sunshine which has about 60 interactive games.....
So when I first began playing them I discovered their simplicity and visual appeal would work perfectly for early years children. So I sought to spread the word about the site and I produced a document that allowed staff to see the different skills used by the children in every one of the games. For example the Game Type or Screen, Specific mouse control skills and other skills required."
Go to Tom's site to download the document....tom barrett edublog

flickr badge

Flickr badge may be gimmicky but I like it....it adds an extra something to a blog and once again very easy to use.
step 1 - choose the type of badge you want - html or flash
step 2 - choose which photos you want to display
step 3 - choose a colour scheme
step 4 - get the code to copy and paste into your blog
For an example of how it looks see my: Ainscough Family History blog
The really great thing is the images on the badge change automatically!

Visual Hub

Thanks to David Baugh I have just successfully managed to create my first videoblog and it was so simple I will definitely do it again...
I used Visual Hub to convert a full quality Quicktime DV file into the H.264 Codec for itunes - Im pleased to say I now have a full license for VisualHub and I cant imagine how Ive managed without it! I would definitely recommend it, its simplicity.... so intuitive I didnt need to read the instruction file. Upoad to YouTube and copy the code ready to paste into my blog- for an example see 14-19 ipod blog

David Baugh writes....
"It is interesting that YouTube is actually re-encoding all their material into H.264 video from Flash to boost the quality. And herein lies the issue. Maintaining quality but keeping the size down. How important is the quality to the end user? I can indeed see some circumstances when a DVD quality video would be useful in the classroom. I use a great tool on the Mac called Visual Hubto convert to Flash and other formats such as H.264"

Box.net

Box.net File Sharing

See the Box.net filesharing widget - Instructions
for adding this to your blog.

You can share very large documents, photos, videos, and music files with your blog readers by uploading files to Box.net and adding them to the Box.net widget in your sidebar. The first gig of storage is free. You can see one of their widgets in action on this page.

Examples:
Ive created a sample widget which can be seen in this blog (look in the right hand column) and also another example can be found in my "Ainscough family History blog", where I use box.net to share relevant files such as family trees contributed by other blog readers: Ainscough familyhistory blog

webbliworld

webbliworld is an exciting, stimulating, virtual world that kids can explore, inhabit, belong to and share. It is a world that promotes caring, responsible behaviour and gives kids the opportunity to voice their opinions on topics that matter.

Scratch

Scratch is a new programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art -- and share your creations on the web ....designed to help young people (ages 8+) develop 21st century learning skills. As they create Scratch projects, young people learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also gaining a deeper understanding of the process of design.
Scratch is available free of charge, go to Download.
Currently available for Mac OSX and Windows (system requirements)

The Podcast Recipe: Producing a successful show

Podcast Seminar

The Podcast Recipe:
Description: Find out what it takes to perform a great-sounding podcast, produce a professional show, and promote a podcast to reach as many people as possible.
For a listing of all of the seminars and events currently being offered visit:

Apple Seminar

Adam Burt - homepage

Adam Burt's Homepage

Adam is a fellow Apple Distinguished Educator and a very talented one too! he never ceases to amaze me regarding his ability to develop and create. Check out his homepage, here you can find a selection of items that you my wish to download and try out.....

Vienna

Vienna is a freeware, open source RSS/Atom newsreader for the Mac OS X operating system. It provides features comparable to commercial newsreaders, but both it and the source code are freely available for download.
A summary of some of its features:
* Subscribe to Atom/RSS news feeds and podcasts.
* Simple and intuitive user interface.
* Built-in tabbed browser.
* Smart folders for organising related feed articles.
* Custom article display styles.
* Three separate reading layouts.
* Blogging integration.
* Filter the displayed articles.
* Manual reordering of the subscription list.
* Full AppleScript support.
* Localised into several languages.

GhostReader- text 2 speech

GhostReader™ allows you to listen while your Mac does the talking. It's the new name (it used to be called TextParrot) for a multilingual text to speech solution for Mac OS X that allows you to listen to your documents with naturally sounding voices in a language of choice. Just like a ghostwriter writes for someone else, GhostReader can read for you! You can also use it to create your own personal podcasts or your own audio books by exporting to iPod ready iTunes tracks. Or just use it to speak selected text in a handy reader window with play, fast forward and rewind functionality. In some applications, such as Safari, GhostReader enables you to listen to text by just pointing your cursor at the text. Now you can sit back and relax while GhostReader reads the text under the cursor. Read more...
GhostReader can save you time and effort in many ways, including through the conversion of documents to audio files that you can listen to on your iPod. Read more...
Educational uses: GhostReader has many educational uses such as facilitating the learning of foreign languages or helping out students with reading difficulties. Read more...

Tondoo - cartoon strip creator

ToonDoo - The Cartoon Strip Creator - Create, Publish, Share, Discuss! ... Create your own cartoon with ToonDoo, a nifty comic strip creator. ... Want to create a logo using that hard-to-define but easy-to-recognize Web 2.0 style?

Podcaster - Kudlian

Podcaster is now Available for Windows and Mac Users. A podcast is an easy and effective method of publishing recorded talk and music through the internet, in a way that will automatically share your material with your listeners.
Podcaster publishes podcasts and *enhanced podcasts quickly and easily. Broadcast your productions through your network, or worldwide through the internet.
Specifically designed for use in education, Podcaster is also finding a following amongst home and professional users, due to its ease of use.

Profcast

Profcast
is a versatile, powerful, yet very simple to use tool for recording presentations including PowerPoint and/or Keynote slides for creating enhanced podcasts. ProfCast provides a low cost solution for recording and distributing lectures, special events, and presentations as podcasts. ProfCast offers an integrated workflow that makes creating, recording, and publishing podcasts easy. It's as simple as Launch, Load, and Lecture!

Griffin iTalkPro Stereo Microphone for iPod 5G

italk
According to Griffin, iTalkPro will be able to record for 3.5 continuous hours on a fully-charged 60GB fifth-generation iPod, or 1.5 hours on a 30GB model before the battery runs out, a limitation based largely on the 5G iPod’s need to spin its hard drive all the time during recording. These recording times also assume that the iPod has sufficient hard drive space for recording; Apple’s firmware saves files in high-bitrate WAV format rather than in compressed MP3 or AAC.

iQuiz for ipod

iQuiz. A new way to learn with iPod.
iQuiz
iTunes games

You already know that iPod extends access to learning beyond the classroom. Now with iQuiz, the new trivia game for iPod, your students can reinforce their learning on the go. From Math to Geography to Structural Biology, you can create your own trivia packs to share, or add trivia packs created by others. The possibilities are endless.
Download our samples or add your own.

Media-Convert

Media-Convert is 100% free... Document, Compressed archive, sound and video converter. No software is needed, and you don't have to register. You only need your favorite Internet browser. Your files are ready 7/7 days 24/24 hours.
How to convert a file ?
To convert a file located on your computer : Check File mode, click Browse and choose the file, select input format (if autodetection fails) and output format, submit the form.
To convert a file located on a webserver : Check URL mode, enter the file URL, select input and output format.

Comic Life Windows B2

Comic Life is one of my favourites.....it's been bundled free on a new macs for sometime now and is loved by all, both young & old. so it was great to see this Beta version for Windows on the Plasq website.
Comic Life Windows B2

The second Comic Life for Windows Beta is now available for download - with ongoing thanks to our encouraging and patient beta-testers. Thank you all for your kind words and helpful feedback!
This latest beta includes many small improvements relating to installation, usage and stability. You can find the download, new beta serial number and release notes in this forum post here.
Comic Life Windows B2

iShowU

iShowU software to capture and record video from your screen into a Quicktime movie, in realtime.
Create tutorials, make a demo for the web, record your favorite game (World of Warcraft!), collaborate on UI design, show tech support what's really going on with that broken program.

Skitch + mySkitch

Skitch is an amazingly fun and super useful duo. Everyday we all share images, ideas and have fun with friends online — this should be easy… right!?
Watch the intro video!
Your friends are global… you can send them links… but what if the action is on your screen? ... Point out a quick suggestion to a colleague or pass on that funny moment from an IM chat, post images to MySpace, eBay, forums or via email..Skitch is the Internet age's Camera and it Rocks!"

Sequel

Sequel turns you into a producer, and gives you your own fully-loaded music studio. You need HipHop beats for your latest track? Or want to surprise your friends at your next party with your own electro live-set? Sequel gives you everything you need to produce pro-quality tracks at home, on a plane, in the rehearsal room or even live at a club.
And best of all, Sequel is so easy to use that you can get creating your own music straight away."

Sequel is the nearest thing to GarageBand on the PC, it is a new application but unlike Garageband's tight integration with imovie and iphoto etc etc it's a stand alone application. So you can't import video - but you can use loops and record your own midi and sound/real instruments it's about £55.00 Sequel

BubbleShare

BubbleShare is an easy and fun way of sharing your photos and the stories that go with them. Create a slideshow and share your photos with friends & family via Bebo, Blogger, Piczo, Myspace, Yahoo 360 and many more.
You can view an example of a bubbleshare slideshow on my Ainscough-family history blog at this link:
Cowley Burials, June 7th 07
Ainscough familyhistory blog

snip url

Do you ever have to handle an extremely long URL in e-mail? .... why not try URL shortening with the snipurl tool.

j2e

Web based document creation: Create : Share : Learn


What is it? j2e
It's a web based document processor, designed for Education. Use it for all your word processing needs, eg homework and worksheets, as well as your web publishing...so easy!
All your documents have their own unique www address - you can access them from any web browser, share them with teachers, pupils, family and friends.
Currently FREE of charge for individual users. Schools can purchase j2e on 30 days approval terms.

ipod in education

If you're interested in developing the use of ipods in education then visit ipodined
A site which devoted to doing exactly that, designed to help you find out about using iPods and Podcasting in Education, administered and run by David Baugh, Apple Distinguished Educator.

shortText.com

http://www.shortText.com/
ShortText is a simple tool to post text online, with minimum fuss. No sign ups, no sign in, just instant web presence for your information.
Don't have a website? Don't want a blog? Want to share a piece of code...perhaps a recipe? Just paste your text below and click 'Create URL'!
shortText.com now supports direct linking to your images and video.

zamzar

http://www.zamzar.com/
They've just launched support for WMV video file conversions - read their blog for more information.......