Lucky 13 - Web 2.0 and YOU!

I have yet to find an easier way to deliver content than Smore. Smore allows you to create beautiful online newsletters, flyers, advertisements and invitations ... FOR FREE! You can include pictures, embed YouTube videos, audio files, event information and even include biographical information.

Check out this Smore LOADED with Web 2.0 tools!

Here's a Smore to help you get started with Smore!

Have you ever been teaching away and students keep interrupting your perfectly planned and executed lesson with questions leaving you frustrated and getting you off-task?

Use a backchannel! According to Wikipedia: a backchannel is the practice of using networked computers to maintain a real-time online conversation alongside live spoken remarks.

Todays' Meet is a FREE backchannel that requires no account and is VERY easy to use. Give it a try... Go to todaysmeet.com/Tots2013 and join our room by entering your name and clicking on "join."

Once you have joined our room, tell me your name and your Twitter handle if you have one. :)

Have you ever wanted your students to visit multiple sites, but find it difficult for them to type in URLs or navigate back and forth? Jog the Web offers a great solution - all of your sites on ONE PAGE! You create your web jog with all of your sites and share one URL with your audience. They can navigate to each site in a pane within one page making navigation a piece of cake!

Check out this web jog with my favorite sessions from TCEA 2012!

There are lots of online sticky note tools out there, but Padlet is my new personal favorite. It's easy to use and I have successfully used with students in grade 2-6. With Padlet you can have students post sticky notes in random order or in a feed.

Let's try it! Go to http://padlet.com/wall/tots2013 and tell me what YOUR favorite Web 2.0 tool is. :) Want to see some real-life examples? Check these out...

http://goo.gl/9WXQa

http://padlet.com/wall/9h0ghtl0ac

http://padlet.com/wall/9q5099fzze

Primary teachers, want something a little more "kid-friendly"? Check out Primary Wall.

VoiceThread lets you upload pictures and allows multiple users to add audio, text and even video comments. You can get a single user license for free or a class subscription for $60/year which allows you to have a class management system including student accounts and custom URLs.

Here's a funny example of what VoiceThread can do for you.

Here's a VoiceThread Smore with tutorials and classroom examples.

Jing is an excellent tool provided by TechSmith (who also makes Camtasia and Snagit) for recording screencasts and publishing them online. Your videos are uploaded to your screencast.com account where you get 2GB of storage and 2GB of monthly bandwidth. Use this tool for tutorial videos for students, help videos for colleagues, information videos for parents or check out how Amy Mayer, author of Fried Technology, uses Jing for video grading.

Your students will LOVE Voki and so will you because it is free, easy to use, and you don't have to sign up for an account to enjoy this tool (unless you want to!). Voki allows you to create customized speaking avatars. You can upload your own voice or type in your text to have a number of voices speak out loud. You can change the look of you avatar and the background to fit your context. With the free "no account" version, you can share your avatar with a link or embed it with HTML code, but beware - you cannot save it!

Check out these lesson ideas from Voki!

Take a look at how a 6th grade math teacher used Voki!

Use Little Bird Tales with big kids, little kids, and every age in between. This tool pairs your uploaded pictures (or digitally drawn within the tool) with audio files and text for an online book you can share with a link. (You have to pay to download the movie file.)

Below is an example of using Little Bird Tales for Cyber Safety with elementary students.

Google Docs are a great way to easily integrate technology into any lesson. Inside of a Google Document or Google Presentation, you and your students can perform Google searches, cite articles and even add and cite Google images. The Google Research Tool makes it easy to add information from the web to your documents and presentations.

Here's an example of how we used this tool in a 6th grade math class!

The SMART Notebook Express web application lets anyone access your SMART Notebook files from anywhere! While this is a limited version of the software, it is free and accessible online at express.smarttech.com.

Look here for instructions and an example.

This is a wonderful FREE site and app that allows you to create and share video lessons in your browser or on your iDevice! Go to www.educreations.com to sign up for an account or download the app in the iTunes App Store. You can even browse and search for public tutorials on the website!

Here's an example of Educreations tutorial videos that were designed by a 6th grade math teacher and shared on a Wix site that she created when she had to be out!

Remind 101 is a FREE service that allows teachers to communicate with students via text message without ever exchanging phone numbers. Need to remind your kids to study for a test? Use Remind 101! Forgot to tell them to wear tennis shoes for the field trip tomorrow? Use Remind 101! Or how about creating a parent group!?

Click here for step-by-step instructions on how to create an account and get started!

If you're looking for a quick, easy way to get the pulse of your classroom, Poll Everywhere is the way to do it! AND...you can let your kids use their own device to respond! Simply pose a question and allow students to respond either by text or online.

Try it here: http://goo.gl/kkiOz.

Delicious Bookmarks from Amy Mayer

Web 2.0 Tools Directory from EdTech Chic

Web 2.0 Guru - Web 2.0 Resources

High Tech C-Scope Verbs

Instructional Technology Specialist

Google Certified Trainer

Email: jessica@edtechchic.com
Website: edtechchic.com
Location: Brenham, TX
Phone: 979-277-3760
Facebook: facebook.com/edtechchic
Twitter: @edtechchic