Small Changes; BIG RETURNS

Tools We Like: A-P 

Adobe Premier Elements 4 (iMovie clone)

($) Premier Elements delivers what it advertises: it is just like using iMovie, and there is a good help file and telephone support. Also if you install Moyea's FLV Importer plug-in (check online for the cheapest download), you can also import FLV files and so can edit FLV's or just save them to another format.

WARNING! If you try the trial Moyea version first and then decide to purchase, completely uninstall the trial & reinstall using the link that will come via e-mail. I didn't and almost crashed my computer.

Bubbl.us

(*) With this simple mind-mapping tool, students can brainstorm before they start a project or review by making a web. Work can be saved, edited, printed, embedded, or shared -- nothing fancy, but fast and easy for kids to use.

Dipity

(*) This is a tool for making timelines. You can input text, images, videos, and source links. The work can be displayed as a timeline, in a list, as a flipbook, and if you input locations, on a map. [Note: we love this, but our district won't upgrade to IE 7, so we can't use it any longer.]

Easybib

(*) NO more tears bibliographies, this tool takes all the struggle out of what we all know can be a nasty task at the end of a project. Have students record all sources as they go along. Any not used can be later deleted. They no longer have any excuse not to do this, and you can refuse any work that is not accompanied by a list of sources.

Firefox Add-on: Video DownloadHelper

(D) Nearly 40,000 people a day install this downloader. It's simple and fast and will grab just about anything you want -- video, picture galleries, and audio. Note: be sure you have the right codecs or an FLV player to watch these. My preference is K-Lite's codec pack with Media Player Classic.

Flowgram

(*) Flowgrams enable you to take viewers through a collection of resources you've found online (photos, news, videos, websites, blog posts) with narration in the form of sticky notes or background audio. No downloading of the final product, but you can embed the code in a blog or add the link to your collection in Freepath.

This flowgram about Web 2.0 for Writing is worth a look.

Freepath & my Freepath

($) Pack your lecture, lesson, or unit with all its multimedia files into a single Freepath playlist. I use this for all my presentations and would not leave home without it, but it's pricey by teacher standards so you'll have to make the decision about whether to purchase.

MyFreepath is the online companion site where you can store and share Playlists. After you download and install FP, you can join myFreepath. [REQUEST: When you join, use more than your first name as your 'username'. The list of people who have joined MyFreepath already has 3 Jerry's, 8 John's, 3 Stephen's, and 4 Bill's!]

We want to say a special thanks, to the people at Freepath for making it possible for us to attend ILC 2008 in San Jose last fall. We've come a long way since then, but they had enough confidence to invest in a couple of middle aged women from Canada and helped us believe in ourselves. Thanks to Lou, Dave, and everyone else for your support.

If you'd like to join the bigreturns group, sign up for myFreepath first. Then you can access and download the playlists we have posted there.

Glogster

(*) How many posters to kids make over the course of their K-12 education? Now they can do one online by mixing graphics, images, video clips, music and text and then share their creations online. This looks really cool!

Gmail Overview

(*) We now use a generic Gmail address to register for online tools and resources for school or workshops. Students and participants then sign in under that account, but don't get access to our personal email addresses. Also if you want to use any of the other Google apps (Google Docs or Calendar), you'll need an account to sign in.

Google Docs

(*) I'm loving this one -- in fact my husband who has been frustrated by computers all his life has recently purchased a tiny one I call Lola. I've had to show him how to use a Google Doc (collaborative document -- we can both work on it -- even at the same time!!) so I can compete with Lola for his attention.

Posterous

(*)This is where I have my blog. You e-mail all your stuff and they set it up for you!

This link will take you to Sue's Small Changes; BIG RETURNS blog. I email everything in and then edit it once they've posted what I submit. I will admit, over the past year I have learned a little HTML code. It's kind of like knowing enough of a second language to get around in a foreign country. There's lot of online help.

PowerPoint Jeopardy

Ready made templates for Jeopardy and Double Jeopardy. Give the students a carefully constructed list of clues to develop, and they will really learn their stuff. [Note: you'll have to play with the animations and transitions a little to

Tools We Like: Q-W 

Quizlet

(*) Flashcards either you or your kids can make to practice vocabulary or key concepts. There are several games format for review and youcan also create practice tests (Matching, Written Answer, Multiple Choice, & T/F).

Scratch

(D) 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.

It's kind of like the lego of the animation world. You click together th animation blocks. They have a great set of tutorials. There's lots of opportunity for 'social' interaction on the site.

Slideboom

(*/D) Animate your Powerpoint with a program called iSpring and then upload it to Slideboom. These people give great support. The link for the free download of iSpring is on the Slideboom site.

Snagit

($) You should have a good screen capture tool. I loves the people at Techsmith. The trial version is 100% fully functioning (no watermarks!) for 30 days and they gave me great e-mail support even during the trial period -- both of which sold me on their product.

Here are 2 free screen capture tools I also recommend: MWSnap (http://www.snapfiles.com/get/mwsnap.html) and Snippy (http://www.bhelpuri.net/Snippy/).

Teachers' Domain

(*) Teachers' Domain is like a huge library of learning resources, but better because you can set up your own personal resource filing cabinet there. Once you register, you can create folders to collect resources you like from their library and also set up links to any other sites with resources you want to keep.

You can give groups read-only access to your folders. Students can also register and set up their own resource collections.

ToonDoo

Use a goofy tool to get students to create editorial cartoon strips in 1 to 3 frames. While they either giggle or scoff, they'll be doing some great higher order thinking. Plus your own children can have lots of fun with this.

VCASMO

(*/D) I'm not really sure about this one yet, but I think it will be the kind of thing I want to use for vodcasting. You can sychronize video and slides (PPT!!!) and download an offline version of the presentation. The day I looked at this there was an instructionalvideo to teach Bi12 students about blood types, and it really , finally made sense. That's what I'm after.

Voicethread

($) This is a multimedia tool that is interactive in that it allows the students to respond using text, microphone or webcam. Sign up for the $10 educator account to create VT's for the kids to learn from and then get a school subscription if you want the kids to be able to make VT's of their own. There just isn't enough storage in the free accounts to be useful.

Rebellions revised

Debra made this Voicethread by creating and uploading a PowerPoint about the Northwest Rebellion. The students can revisit slides over and over by clicking the panel on the bottom right. As Deb continues to rework this and adds questions for them to anwer, they'll click the icon on the bottom right to add their own responses.

Vuvox

(*) Build dynamic slide shows and collages to which you can add music and other video and sound files. We did our Earth Day '08 project here. Unfortunately the original is degraded because I cleaned out what I thought were unused resources the kids created for this project and inadvertently ruined their work. [Note to self: resist the urge to clean!]

Near Cache Creek

Here's a collage Sue did when I was playing with some photos in preparation for a fossil- hunting field trip.

Wikispaces

(*)This is where Sue built our tools wiki. Be sure to ask for an educator account.

Small Changes: BIG RETURNS wiki

Our list of Web 2.0 tools

WiX

(*) As they say: "you can make stunning we content in minutes." Well mine (next link below) took rather longer than that and sometimes there are glitches and it load r-e-a-l-l-y s-l-o-w-l-y, but the results are gorgeous and I'm sure my students will love this.

wrlc.sign.in on WiX

This is the page Sue did to welcome our kids back to school.

Other Resources 

A few additional resources in no particular order

Internet Tip - Roylaty Free Music at No Charge

A list of several sites where musicians are making their tunes available for use FREE.

flickr Creative Commons

Did most of us even know this was there? All of the images in our students' Earth Day project came from derivative 'OK' bins.

Google Operating System: Download YouTube Videos as MP4 Files

Lou at Freepath sent me this tip. Save the link as a bookmarklet by dragging the little box that says 'Get YouTube video' to your Links bar (in Firefox, Safari) or right-clicking and adding it to your favorites (in Internet Explorer, Opera).

Frontline: Growing Up Online -- Inside the Revolution

This is the full version of the PBS program that was in part responsible for starting Sue on her journey away from the 'dino-hood'.

WorldWide Telescope

(D) From Microsoft -- you may also have to download some plugins or utilities so you can see this, but it's worth it.

List of portable software

For those of use who cannot download in school, we can carry a lot of neat programs on memory sticks. I have yet to try this, but I will get to it this school year. This is a wikipedia list with links.

FeedMyInbox

(*)RSS? Not for me -- I like my e-mail box. "Only 3% of computer users are familiar with how feeds work, and are using feed readers to get up-to-date information from their favorite sites. They don't think the other 97% should be left out in the cold, so now you can subscribe to a feed with your email address."

Educational Vodcasting

If I were still in classroom teaching this is where I'd be going. It turns the traditional classwork/homework paradigm upside down by sending the kids home to listen to lectures and watch vodcasts as homework and then using class time for helping them discuss, practice, and apply what they've learned. One of the reasons I left classroom work was that the only time I had to work with the kids was after school. I was a talking/demonstrating mathhead in class.

Jane Hart's Directory of Social Networks for Learning Professionals

"This list was set up in response to requests for help in finding social networks aimed at learning professionals. The list contains a mix of networks for both educators and workplace learning professionals. Use the list to find one or two relevant networks to join."

I'm linked into Diigo and to Jane's New Tools for Learning club (find the link under "N". I'm hoping soon my bigreturns group in Freepath will be there.

Where you can see us . . . 

NECC (National Educational Computing Converence) 2009

In Washington, DC (June 2009)

Elgin Park Secondary (last week of school pro-d)

In Surrey, BC (June 2009)

2009 STA Annual Convention

In Surrey, BC (May 2009)

LearnNOwBC virtual school spring conference

In Vancouver, BC (May 2009) -- NOTE: for e-learning venues we do a session called "The Distance Between Us is Not Very Far."

CUEBC: Horizons 2008

In Vancouver, BC (October 2008)

Innovative Learning Conference 2008

In San Jose, CA, (October 2008) -- kindly sponsored by FREEPATH, Inc.

6th Annual Canadian e-Learning Conference

In Calgary, Alberta (June 2008)

Clicking for Kiva 

Kiva: Loans that Change Lives

"Kiva lets you lend to a specific entrepreneur in the developing world -- empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty." These are individuals looking for small loans to set up a business. When the money is repaid, you can lend it out again. It's what a 'world bank' should be.

Kiva's link to Wikipedia

" Kiva Microfunds is an organization that allows people to lend money via the Internet."