ACE Notebook

Instapaper

Catherine — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:24:40 +0000

My “can’t do without” tool this summer. How many bookmarks do you have for sites or resources to check later? Chances are you haven’t even taken time to organize those bookmarks into specific folders, complicating identifying the bookmarks later. With a quick install of the Instapaper tool, a “Read Later” button appears in the toolbar, permitting users to “Read Later” articles, web pages, blogs, etc. and then deciding whether to bookmark the resource permanently in an appropriate folder.

When time permits to review your Instapaper collection, users have the opportunity to archive, delete, print, share, send to Kindles, and many more options.

Instapaper could be a tremendous resource for students working on research papers or class projects. Instead of printing every article a student finds on a topic, he/she could “Read Later” the articles when he/she actually has time to read and sort through content, eliminating a need to print everything.

Filed under: Classroom Technology, Computers in the Classroom, Online Collaboration, Technology Integration, Web 2.0 Tools Tagged: Instapaper

Bag the Web

Catherine — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:46:47 +0000

Teachers and students often resort to bookmarks to gather Internet resources for research and study. Perhaps, as a teacher you have created a website for class studies, or used curation tools like Scoop It, Pinterest, or Symbaloo. Bag the Web for Education is a new curation tool that has many possibilities for teachers and students, particularly since there is an education component for this tool.

Once an individual has created a FREE account, “bagging” a resource (text, images, videos) is as simple as copying/pasting a URL. “Bags” can be made public or private.

In less than 15 minutes, this “bag” for Edgar Allan Poe was created.

http://bagtheweb.com/u/acenotebook/bags/published

Imagine the possibilities that this new tool can provide for your students and yourself. Take time to review the information for teachers and students and don’t miss the New Story of one 5th grade teacher and his students using Bag the Web.

Filed under: Classroom Technology, Computers in the Classroom, Technology Integration, Web 2.0 Tools Tagged: Bag the Web

Let’s Start a Discussion…

Catherine — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:16:39 +0000

The ISTE professional development series help create an understanding of the technology and pedagogy that faces educators in this 21^st century. Join us, as ITIP Ohio offers online book discussion of the recently published ISTE book titles. Collaborate with your peers and teaching colleagues to share your reactions to the ISTE selection and to define strategies and implementation of ideas from what you have read. For more information, contact hours, and pricing, check out ITIP Ohio Book Reflections. ITIP Ohio accepts registration from educators throughout the World Wide Web!

Upcoming titles:

Connecting Students to STEM Careers
Online Book Reflections Dates: April 1-15, 2012

Media Literacy in the K-12 Classroom
Online Book Reflections Dates: May 1-15, 2012

From Fear to Facebook
Online Book Reflections Dates: June 1-15, 2012

NETS for Administrators: Profiles
Online Book reflections Dates: July 1-15, 2012

Filed under: Classroom Technology, Computers in the Classroom, Online Collaboration, Technology Integration, Web 2.0 Tools Tagged: ISTE Books

What’s the Diffen?

Catherine — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 22:26:53 +0000

Helping students see the difference!

One of the hardest writing assignment for students is the comparison/contrast–how are two items alike and/or how are they different? Perhaps Diffen will eliminate the confusion for those students. Try comparing Steinbeck and his contemporary Hemingway. A science teacher might ask students to compare cells: animal cell vs. plant cell. Or perhaps a health teacher might challenge students to compare/contrast the abdomen and the stomach.

Diffen has the capability of searching Wikipedia to develop a comparison/contrast chart; however, students can also complete the chart with information gleaned from classroom studies or other research tools. Also, check out the categories of predefined subjects for comparison.

Filed under: Classroom Technology, Computers in the Classroom, Technology Integration, Web 2.0 Tools Tagged: Diffen

ShinySearch

Catherine — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:04:57 +0000

Students enjoy personalizing everything from their notebooks, lockers, to their clothes and hair styles. Bring that love of personalization into the computer lab with a personalized search desktop. A student only needs to login to ShinySearch by selecting a style/interest category and typing his/her name. ShinySearch then produces the Google search page into a customed-designed seach page for the student. Students can use ShinySearch at home, and once customized by their interests and name, save the site as a homepage. As a homepage, ShinySearch provides additional features with a quick link to email accounts, social networking sites, news, and more resource sites. Guaranteed a few adults might like this as a homepage as well.

Filed under: Classroom Technology, Computers in the Classroom, Google Tools, Technology Integration, Web 2.0 Tools Tagged: ShinySearch

Logotype Maker

Catherine — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:27:32 +0000

Do you need a personal logo for a blog or a website? Perhaps your students are working on marketing projects and need logos for their business ventures. Either way, personally, professionally, educationally, LogoType Maker is a delightful Web 2.0 tool to create those logos quickly and easily and for FREE!

Type your name or company name in Type Here box. Select Generate Logo. Twelve logos appear. If none of those interest use, choose Refresh. Once a logo appears that interests you, click on the “gear wheels” of the logo, and a new screen appears to customize the logo a bit more with choices of font styles, color, and even new icon choices. When finished, save as a png, pdf, or zip format.

Filed under: Classroom Technology, Computers in the Classroom, Desktop Publishing, Technology Integration, Web 2.0 Tools Tagged: Logotype Maker, personal logo

One Word

Catherine — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:31:42 +0000

Writing in class today? Need a quick warm-up activity to jump-start the process. Consider using One Word. –a simple interface, with the word “Go.” Try it without creating a username and password; however, regular use requires registration. Upon selecting “Go,” students will see “one word” and are asked to write for one minute about that word. When a minute has elapsed, students can email the activity to themselves or to the teacher.

Possible extensions for the activity:
- At the end of a week, have students select one warm-up activity to turn into a descriptive paragraph
- At the end of the week, challenge students to write a short story using all 5 of the warm-up words

Filed under: Classroom Technology, Computers in the Classroom, Technology Integration, Web 2.0 Tools Tagged: One Word

Cacoo

Catherine — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:49:40 +0000

Test drive this online collaboration and diagramming tool, FREE until June 2012. There is a specific academic plan that provides a complete, FREE package of Cacoo through June 2012. After June, an abbreviated FREE program will still be available or an option for a special educator pricing program will be offered.

Take a moment to view this brief demonstration of

Or check out this quick overview of Cacoo.

Select this link for an overview and to sign-up for the Academic Plan

Additional icon sets and templates are available for purchase.

Please share your ideas for using this tool in the classroom.

Filed under: Classroom Technology, Computers in the Classroom, Online Collaboration, Technology Integration, Web 2.0 Tools Tagged: Cacoo, Collaboration, Online diagrams

Qwiki

Catherine — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:06:42 +0000

Qwiki

Still developing, the possibilities of Qwiki are limitless. As advertised, it is truly “An Information Experience.” To describe this tool as a search engine, would be a misnomer. You must “experience” it to understand Qwiki.

Registration is not necessary at the site. As you “research,” provide time for the audio to load. During that time, look at the other screen results that become available: “related” and “more on.”

For your first search: Type the “city, state” of your hometown or favorite vacation spot.
Secondly, research a topic or subject that you would have your students research.

Caution:

As Qwiki moves from Alpha to Beta in development, hopefully there will be a filter for educational purposes as some content and images may be too mature for younger students.

As happens with text-readers, occasionally there will be mispronunciations of words. (An “Improve this Qwiki,” permits users to notify Qwiki of mispronunciations, and/or suggest additional information to be added to the site.)

Non-related, but extremely interesting–click on the link at the bottom of the homepage: “Work Here-It’s Awesome”

Filed under: Classroom Technology, Computers in the Classroom, Technology Integration, Web 2.0 Tools Tagged: qwiki

Punchfork

Catherine — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:36:27 +0000

With the holidays approaching, Punchfork may satisfy your cooking anxieties and culinary creativity. (Okay, Punchfork might not be a “typical” classroom web source, but I have a few thoughts how it might be used, which are shared at the conclusion of this post.) This resource is my holiday gift to each of you who have become loyal followers over the last six months. Enjoy!

Punchfork aggregates cooking sites and recipe blogs to provide the most up-to-date recipes, nutritional dishes, and traditional and international cuisine recipes. The mouth-watering photos provide a magazine appeal, leaving the visitors to explore the beautiful photographed dishes before searching for a specific recipe.

Take time to use the search box for a specific recipe: cheesecake or search by ingredients. You have a few zucchini left in the garden, some fall spinach to pick, and cheese in the frig–so what can you make? In the search box of the site, type: zucchini cheese spinach and be impressed by the results. Pumpkins, sweet potatoes, cranberries, and of course, leftover turkey recipes will surely please those looking for something new for the upcoming events of the holidays. Maybe you’ll even discover an interesting cookie or appetizer for the annual staff holiday party!

Classroom ideas:

Culture studies and Foreign Language – have students search for recipes by country, using the adjective forms: Middle Eastern, Danish, Chinese, Swedish, American, etc.
Math – create a list of the ingredients, research prices at the grocery, determine cost per serving
Library – research unknown ingredients
Culinary Arts – cook something new! Try a new soup or create a new holiday dessert or pastry.
Or SHARE your idea by posting a comment on this blog!

NOTE: The blogger of this site can not be held responsible for over-indulgence or weight gain from the recommendation of this site.

Filed under: Classroom Technology, Computers in the Classroom, Technology Integration Tagged: Punchfork