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Category Archives: Desktop Publishing

iaza

19 Sep


iaza

For my personal blog, I wanted a canoe picture. Finding one on the Internet, I saved it, but was not satisfied with it–it appeared too modern rather than an image from the 50′s. Enter iaza and my problem was resolved. Check the before/after below. The “after” effect has sephia adjustment and vignette crop.

Standard canoe

This is absolutely the simplest photo editing app available. Upload your picture and then select, one feature after another to be applied to your image.

Repurposed canoe

No directions are needed-click on the link above, upload your picture and edit. When you are satisfied with your image, right-click and save the image to your desktop or picture folder.

 
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Posted by on September 19, 2011 in Classroom Technology, Computers in the Classroom, Desktop Publishing, Technology Integration, Web 2.0 Tools

 

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Read Write Think

14 Sep
Language arts teachers have been familiar with this site from the National Council Teachers of English, for a number of years.  However, the interactives are for students of all ages and curriculums. For instance, a bio-cube is not just for author study or character sketches.  The bio-cube activity could be used for world leaders, Civil War generals, music composers, or even animal identification.  All teachers should take time to explore the possibilities for cross-curricular tie-ins with these engaging tools.   The link above will take interested educators to tabs for the “Featured” and “Most Popular” interactives; however next to the Student Interactives title, is a link to See All the Student Interactives–55 of them and short descriptions!
Select any one of the 55 interactives and begin brainstorming an activity for your students.
 
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Posted by on September 14, 2011 in Classroom Technology, Computers in the Classroom, Desktop Publishing, Technology Integration, Web 2.0 Tools

 

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Face Your Manga

17 Aug

Face Your Manga  (Note:  Having just finished an online course on Web 2.0 Tools, I will be sharing those class resources over the next few months.  If you haven’t subscribed to ACE Notebook yet, consider doing so now.  Subscribe by email or RSS Posts from the right navigation panel.)

Students always enjoy sharing their school picture with one another, but on the Internet and with school policy, safety concerns are an issue. Instead, consider allowing students to create an avatar to identify themselves anonymously, particularly if you are having students blog or participate in online collaboration. (Students can even paste their avatars into Word documents, to personalize their papers.)

Click on the link above to Face Your Manga. You do not have to have an account to make an avatar, but more choices are available if you register. Select “Start Now” and click on the various options on the right-hand navigation. (Change facial features with the word links and use the icon links to add details and personalization to your avatar.) Once you have created your avatar, select “Save” from the upper right screen and complete the short email/information request. An email will be sent to you with your avatar file.

Click on the link in the email; at the next screen, scroll to the bottom of the page and select “Download Avatar.”

Alternative avatar sites of interest, as resources to explore and/or bookmark, at your convenience.

South Park Avatars Simpson Avatars Dopple Me WeeWorld
 
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Posted by on August 17, 2011 in Classroom Technology, Computers in the Classroom, Desktop Publishing, Technology Integration, Web 2.0 Tools

 

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Glogster

10 Aug
Click on the image for Glogster
Glogster allows the student to experience and engage in 21st Century skills. These interactive posters can be used to demonstrate knowledge of ALL classroom studies–biographies, health reports, English studies, social studies events, and so much more. Students are able to add text, photos, videos, and sounds for the project-based activities.

My teacher-students just finished an online class on the Michael Printz Young Adult award-winning novel, Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi.  As part of the graduate component of the class, teacher-participants were required to create a “glog” to provide background information (anticipatory set) for their student literary circles.  Here are a few examples of their work.

To see a few additional Glogs created for educational activities, check out these examples.

Using Glogster is FREE, but to have more options within the program, subscriptions are available. See the complete listing of features on the What is Glogster edu? page.

Now, to get started with your own Glog, select this link to the Glog-Creation Interface, then select “Try Now.” 

This screen capture imagine will help you start your first Glog.

 
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Posted by on August 10, 2011 in Classroom Technology, Computers in the Classroom, Desktop Publishing, Technology Integration, Web 2.0 Tools

 

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Museum Box

24 Jul
Museum Box Home
Click to go to Museum Box
Museum Box allows students to build an argument or create a description of an event, person or historical period by placing items in a virtual box.
  • Perhaps a student will collect items to describe his/her life.
  • With a project on American Presidents, a student might assemble representations of George Washington’s military and political career.
  • Another student, presenting an argument for green energy, might find artifacts, videos, charts, to establish his/her viewpoint.

Text files, audio files, and digital images are only a few of the files that can be added to a Museum Box. And Museum Boxes are shareable with other to view or for comments.

Check out these sample Museum Boxes to see the diversity of projects.

  1. Einstein of the Renaissance
  2. The Decades

NOTE:  Currently teachers in my online course, reading the 2011 Newbery Award-winning novel Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool, are each developing a Museum Box.  Their boxes will contain background information (images, videos, sound files, and text) about The Great Depression, World War I, and cultural/literary references mentioned in the novel to “hook” the students in their literary circles as they begin reading the novel.  The teachers have been very patient–just as the  course started  Museum Box announced a transition to a new server to accommodate the growing number of “boxes” being created.  The transition is to be completed by the end of July 2011, and it should be worth the wait.    

 
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Posted by on July 24, 2011 in Classroom Technology, Computers in the Classroom, Desktop Publishing, Technology Integration, Web 2.0 Tools

 

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My Story Maker

17 May

Carnegie Library – My Story Maker

Click to go to StoryMaker

This application is extremely user-friendly and intuitive. Select the logo image to access the site.   At the homepage of the site, select “My Story” on the right-hand navigation pane, then “Click to Begin.” Follow the screen prompts for your name, choosing a character, and setting a goal. (There is no registration required for this program.)

Double click on the directions image to build and complete the story. Writing and illustration were never so easy and kinesthetic!

Explore the various characters: scientist, a pirate, a ghost, a dinosaur, a robot and so many more. A desert, the sea, the moon, a forest, a room are just a few of the setting options.

Created stories are stored online for a month, but consider printing the stories to include in student portfolios.

 
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Posted by on May 17, 2011 in Classroom Technology, Computers in the Classroom, Desktop Publishing, Technology Integration, Web 2.0 Tools

 

Letterpop

12 May

Click on the image for Letterpop

Communication is key in the learning community, with many administrators and teachers regularly sending newsletters to parents and/or the community. Perhaps either Publisher, Pagemaker, InDesign is being used, each with various, and often, difficult learning curves.

Think about the advantages of taking your publishing needs online with this easy and affordable tool.

Drag, drop, click, and edit your way to stunning classroom newsletters or project newsletters.

  • Impress your parents and administrators with informative class or all-school  newsletters.
  • Provide students an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of an author, a period of history, a scientific discovery, and much more with a project newsletter.

Click here to see how LetterPop works  (Below the “Surprisingly Easy Learning Curve” video, are quick tutorials for creating an account, uploading images, and creating a newsletter.)

This reasonably priced service begins at $4.95 for 10 newsletters a year to $39/year for educators for 365 newsletters a year.  Various plans/pricing are additionally available.   See Pricing

Firefox or Google Chrome is the preferred browser for this application.

NOTE:  Once you have created your account, an account activation link will be sent to the email address you provided.  Click on the activation link in the email, and you can begin creating your first newsletter. 

 
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Posted by on May 12, 2011 in Classroom Technology, Computers in the Classroom, Desktop Publishing, Technology Integration, Web 2.0 Tools

 
 
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