Monday, January 31, 2011

Voki : a fun and free animated avatar tool for educators

Voki is an animation website. It is “ a free service that allows you to create personalized speaking avatars and use them on your blog, profiles and in email messages”. This web2.0 tool is very important in education as It enables teachers and students to express themselves on the web in their own voice , using a talking character. A voki can speak using your own voice , an uploaded file or by typing in a message. The vokis you create can be posted on your class blog, website or anywhere online”.( Definition taken from Voki ).

What are some features of voki ?

Voki has several features that make out of it a friendly tool to be used inside the classroom , among these features :
  • Voki is a free service
  • It is easy and user friendly
  • You can publish and share links to your vokis
  • It helps in lesson planning
  • It provides numeric resources for teachers.

Voki

How can I get started using Voki ?

Here is a set of illustrated photos I have created to explain how you can create your own customized avatar
First log on to Voki main page
You can either start using the site without registration but I would recommend that you open an account with them .
Once you are registered click on “ create “
voki
Customize your avatar , read the instructions in this snapshot

Voki

Get it a voice
Voki
Players

Voki

Backgrounds

Voki

Resize your avatar


When you finish creating your avatar , click on publish and give it a title then hit save . Now you can either send your work to a friend using the “ send to a friend” option or add it to your site using the embed code attached.
To learn more about Voki read their FAQ page .
To see an example of a voki I have made just look up , you will see a male avatar on the right hand corner , click on play and you will hear my message to you .

Voki for education

Voki is not only a web2.0 application but a community where educators share their thoughts and learn from each others.
There are several ways you can use Voki in your classroom. Check Using Voki in Your Classroom  to learn more about how you can integrate Voki into your teaching.
You can also access “the lesson plans” sections and share your experience in lesson planning with others .

You can visit “ Teacher’s Corner” page to learn and get inspired by a wonderful community of educators.
That’s it about Voki : a fun and free animated avatar tool for educators.

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Sunday, January 30, 2011

Neok12 : a resourceful tool for teachers

Neok12 is a comprehensive collection of educational videos, lessons and games for k12 students . This website is more or less like Schooltube which is dedicated to educative videos as well. Founders of Neok12 believe that “ kids learn best when they see how things work, when, where and why they happen. Watching educational videos is a great way to learn because it allows kids to build visual picture or model in their mind. The visual dimension not only helps them understand concepts better , but also stimulates curiosity and encourages self-learning.

neok12


What are some features of Neok12 ?

Neok12 features several interactive ways to improve learning , these include :
School presentation tool : This is a mashup of flicker and wikipedia allowing students to create and share interesting presentations online.
Educational games, puzzles and quizzes : This page is included to make learning fun and improve thinking and planning skills , here are some examples of its content :
  • Brain games
Brain games
  • Puzzles

puzzels

  • Quizzes
quizzes , diagrams and games
Interactive diagrams : These diagrams cover topics like : life sciences, human body, physical sciences, earth and space, history and social studies.

neok12

a page containing 1000s of pictures assorted by topic .
neok12


Applications of Neok12 in education

Neok12 is one of the best educative websites online . Teachers, educators and students can use it to benefit from its various educative resources. It has the best educative videos which have already been reviewed by experts in the field in order to secure its appropriateness for students and kids .
Students can use it to :
  • Create online presentations through choosing pictures from flickr , reading about the subject in wikipedia and adding text.
  • They can share their online presentations with their teachers and their fellow students as well.
  • They can also use it to improve learning via quizzes, games and puzzles available in Neok12 digital library.
  • Students can do their assignments using Neok12 by watching videos , playing related games, and creating presentations.
As for teachers, here are some suggestions on how they can use Neok12.
Teachers can use Neok12 to :
  • Pick the relevant videos and presentations to reinforce their teaching
  • They can use it to create and share video playlists complete with notes and instructions for their students.
  • They can also create assignments within Neok12 that include instructions and notes for their students and these latter can complete and work on them later on at home .
  • Teachers can also use Neok12 to spark creativity in a topic , expand on previous learning and introduce new learning using games and puzzles.
  • Teachers can use puzzles as teasers to introduce new topics or revise old ones.
You might also have other ideas or additions to these suggestions , feel free to share them with us below.
That’s it about Neok12 : a resourceful tool for teachers.
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QuiteWrite : A quite place for writing

QuiteWrite is a free online editor . It is a quite place where you can bring your thoughts and words into harmony . Producing a good piece of writing needs so much focus , but this focus comes only where there is quietness and peacefulness around . Most of other word editors are crammed and cluttered and full of the unnecessary . QuiteWrite  is different in that it provides a peaceful writing workplace to think, to ponder and to dream .
You can use QuiteWrite  in the anonymous mode without signing up , but as I have already mentioned in my previous posts , if you want to really benefit from web 2.0 tools I am blogging about you need to open accounts with them . The process is easy and simple , and in case you do not want to be using your official email address for fear of spam and junk mail then you can use the temporary email services , they do the same job . You can try for example: tempinbox and mailinator
QuiteWrite

Why sign up with QuiteWrite  ?

If you want to use QuiteWrite  but do not want to sing up then you risk the following :
  • Losing your writings when you switch browsers and computers
  • You wont be able to publish any of your writings
So why not give it a minute and sign up !!

What are some of the features of QuiteWrite ?

Here are some of the features that make QuiteWrite  a friendly tool to be used with our students :
  • Your work is automatically saved , every minute a revision of your work is saved
  • You can review past revisions
  • You can delete work from your past revisions
  • Formatting options together with subsets of html are provided for your writing
  • You can publish your work and share it with others
  • You can interact with others through activating the respond option in your settings
  • You can also export your writings to Wordpress

How can I start using QuiteWrite ?

Log on to QuiteWrite  and click on the new button on the top right and you will be directed to the word editor .
QuiteWrite
As you can see in the snapshot above there are five buttons :
The” revisions” button allows you to see your past revisions
The “settings” buttons for whether you want responses or not
QuiteWrite
The “review” button which allows you to see a preview of what your writing will look like when published
The “publish” button to publish your writing online .This option works only when you are signed up
The “export” button to export your writing to wordpress blog

QuiteWrite

By the way , there is also another important online word editor which is Typewith.me . This web2.0 tool is very useful in group work and classroom projects as it allows students to collaborate in writing a single piece of work , you can read more about it in Typewith.me: a quick educative online tool

Apllications of QuiteWrite in education

I personally think that QuiteWrite is a very essential tool for both teachers and students .Its simple and easy to use interface makes out of it the perfect kids and young learners .Students can use it to write their homework assignments , exercises and to review their each others’ writings .
Teacher assigns a topic to students and each one writes something on it then they activate the “respond” option to read each others works and interact through leaving responses on others pages
You can think of other ways to use it in the classroom and if you think you have other ideas or additions to what have already been mentioned here , then feel free to share them with us below .
That’s it about QuiteWrite : A quite place for writing

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Friday, January 28, 2011

MultiUrl : combine multiple urls into one short link

MultiURL is a very important web2.0 tool in education.It allows to” combine multiple links into one short link that you can quickly and easily share with your friends ,colleagues,on your blog or any other website”. It makes the process of sharing multiple links at once much easier, quicker and safer.
multiurl
For example, you want to share the following list of urls :
www.educationaltech-med.blogspot.com/
www.Wikipedia.org
www.youtube.com
I will group all these links under the group name “My links”.
Now when you click on the link next to browse link you will get this:

If you want to share the list of links you click on “ share”.

What are some features of multiurl ?

Multiurl allows you to :
  • Organize your links into one list
  • All your links can be edited at any time
  • You can add new links or delete old ones
  • You can protect your links with a password if you want
  • You may see how many ones have clicked on your links, this is a premium service
  • You can have your own branding by attaching a slogan or link to your site
  • All your links are automatically shortened, so no fear of long links being broken.

Applications of multiurl in education ?

You can use multiurl in education to :
  • Share a list of links of sites you think will benefit your students
  • Students can use it to share lists of links of their blogs or related educational articles with each others.
  • It can also be used in the personal professional development as teachers exchange lists of links with their colleagues locally, nationally and internationally.
  • You can also use it for personal purposes.
You may think about other ways we can use multiurl in education and in case you have new suggestions or additions , feel free to cite them below.
That’s it about MultiUrl : combine multiple urls into one short link.

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Thursday, January 27, 2011

AlarmTube and SchoolTube in education

AlarmTube is an online alarm that wakes you up with the youtube video that you choose. I personally use it as a reminder rather than an alarm. I have a couple of educative videos that I consider worth watching but because of lack of time I scheduled a time in AlarmTube to watch them .Before I was using AlarmTube I used to save videos but never go back to them because of the huge load of work I am doing online but now the problem is solved , I no longer miss the important videos I want to watch.. It is really a practically useful web2.0 tool that is worth considering .

alarmtube

Since youtube is a very important service in the web ( by the way it is provided by google ) , many other web2.0 applications have been created around it . Next to AlarmTube we are talking about in this post , there is also the famous SafeshareTv application . This free tool is of paramount importance in education .It allows its users to crop and eliminate the distractive features around youtube videos ; you can learn more about it in SafeshareTV the educative way to share youtube videos

How can I use AlarmTube ?

Log on to AlarmTube main page  and in the “set alarm time” box type in the alarm time using natural language like: in 40 minutes, tomorrow, at 7am,9:30 .

alarmtube
And in the “ pick youtube alarm video” you either click on “ search videos by tag” to select the video you want to set for your alarm or click on “ youtube featured videos” for a list of predefined videos to choose from.


alarmtube



Applications of AlarmTube in education

If you are the kind of teacher who is :
  • On the go all the time
  • Busy with a full schedule during the whole school year
  • Interested in learning through media and have collected a set of educative videos
  • Afraid to miss watching interesting videos because of lack of time
The AlarmTube is the solution , try to use it as a reminder of the important videos you want to watch . Give AlarmTube a shot and I am sure you will like it .You might introduce it to your students and give them a chance to use it too .

                   SchoolTube

Since we are talking about videos in education , I would invite everyone of you to start using schooltube . This is really a very important media site for educators. SchoolTube is the “ largest moderated video sharing website that provides students and educators with a safe and free video sharing website that is exclusively endorsed by leading education associations”.

school tube

Log on to SchoolTube  and start exploring its great features .You can sign up and have your own channel to begin viewing and sharing educative videos with both your colleagues and students.
That is about AlarmTube and SchoolTube in education .

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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

DisposableWebPage: a great web2.0 tool for educators

DisposableWebPage is a site where you can create a page with your own content and share it with others. Each page has a countdown clock. You can set a time up to 90 days for the life of a page and after that 2 more weeks are added before it is deleted . When you create a page, you will be given a master key to :
  • Edit the disposable page
  • Create an editor key for friends to co-edit the page
  • Set the disposable date of the page
LiveBinders , Weblists, and Wiggio are also another web2.0 applications that are kinda similar to DisposableWebPage .You can learn more about these tools in the following posts :

Disposablewebpage

What are some features of DisposableWebPage ?

Here are some features that characterizes DisposableWebPage :
  1. Easy manipulation and creation of webpage content
  2. Flexibility of its interface which makes it student-friendly
  3. History of  revisions of all edits
  4. Bookmarking facility
  5. Rich text editor
  6. 5 photos upload
  7. Sticky notes and sticky notes player

How can I use DisposableWebPage ?

Log on to DisposableWebPage  .You can either start using it without signing up or open an account which i would recommend for you. Click on free account and create one
disposablewebpage

Now click on create a disposable webpage

disposablewebpage

Application of DisposableWebPage in education

DisposableWebPage can be used in education to :
  • Create a disposable webpage for a certain event at school or in your classroom : the teacher sets the count down
  • It can be used a count down to coming exams or weekly assignments
  • It can also be used as a webpage where the course contents and objectives are explained and a count down is set ( this is for semestrial courses )
  • Stuents can use it to work on class projects with everyone editing and adding to the content of the page
  • DisposableWebPage can be used for some personal purposes like :
  • Set a countdown for students holidays , an upcoming trip with students, someone’s birthdays or new year’s eve.
Make sure whenever you create a disposable webpage to push students to brainstorm ideas and plans on the page.
That’s it about DisposableWebPage : a great web2.0 tool in education.
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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Weblist : teachers’ dynamic content sharing site

Weblist is a free web2.0 tool. It allows its users to “ create a list to share with others using a single url. This list can include anything from a collection of web pages, images, documents, videos and more. The list can be saved as a bookmark or homepage . The visual feature of weblist makes it student-friendly with each website saved in the form of a snapshot together with its name and description under it . Weblist is free of charge and very simple to use. You can use it without having to create an account, however, creating an account is highly recommended as it will allow you to access your lists and edit them in the future.

What are some features of weblist ?

Weblist opens a wide range of possibilities for you online :
  • You can create a list of webs you like on a certain topic
  • Add videos , docs, pdfs, and links to your list
  • Browse through the different categories and find public lists on different subjects. These are the categories you can browse through:
weblist
Weblist’s content is dynamic as it is constantly updated , users add and update their lists
It’s a free service and you don’t need to create an account butto edit your lists you need to create one.
How can I start using weblist ?
Log on to weblist

weblist

To create a list, just type in the name of your list in front of list name
weblist
To add details to your list like : description, tags, and list option ( whether you want it private or not ) you need click on “ click here for additional list settings”

If you want to add items to your lists , go to “ add items to your list” tab and select from the options there.
To learn more about weblist , you can read their FAQ page.
Here is an example of a weblist containing links to websites about education.

weblist

Applications of weblist in education :

There are many ways we can incorporate weblist in education :
  1. Teachers can use it to quickly share a collection of sites with students.
  2. Students create their own weblists of sites they like
  3. Students share their weblists’ content with each others
  4. Students check weblists of students nationally and internationally and use the voting service to collect students views on the links they are using during learning.
That’s it about Weblist : teachers’ dynamic content sharing site.
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Dushare : unlimited file transfer in education

Dushare is is “ a simple direct file transfer service .It makes sending unlimited file sizes between two people as simple as clicking on a link”. Dushare is  really an outstanding web2.0 application, files have never been this easier. It does not require any registration only select your file and you decide whether to protect it with a password or not and then share it.
I have already posted two articles on more or less similar applications as Dushare . Sendspace and ifileit , both of these web2.0 tools are free file sharing services that you can learn more about in ifile it a free online storage service and sendspace, a free file sharing service.

dushare


What are some of the features of Dushare ?

Some of the features that distinct Dushare from other services are :
  • Sending unlimited file sizes
  • No need for upload or download into central servers
  • Communication with your peers through chat during the file transfer
  • High security protection
  • File transfers are very rapid , the moment you dushare a file the other peer starts downloading it instantly in real time

How can I get started using Dushare ?

Log on to Dushare and click on the “ send a file “ button and upload your file , after a couple of seconds , a link will be generated for you to share with your peers to start the direct transfer.
When your peer opens the link , this is what it will look like

dushare

As you can see in the right corner side of the snapshot , there is a little chat window you can use to communicate with your peer while the transfer is taking the place.

Applications of dushare in education

Teachers can use Dushare to :
  1. Quickly share files with their students.
  2. Share docs , files , pdfs etc with parents of the students , colleagues, and friends.
  3. Send assignments to students to do at home
Students can use it to :
  1. Share files between each others
  2. Use it in class projects as a collaborative tool between the participants
  3. Submit homework corrections or questions to the teacher.
You can also come up with other ways to use it .
That’s it about Dushare : unlimited file transfer in education
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Monday, January 24, 2011

Wiggio : The educative way to communicate and work in groups

Wiggio is one of the best social media application to try into the education field. It is a new aggregator and collaborator tool for both teachers and students. Wiggio makes group work much more easier as its easy and straightforward design provides everything you need to work productively in your groups. It is simple to use and has a very nice and flexible interface that makes it easy for students, parents, and teachers alike.

Who can use Wiggio?

Wiggio( whose first letters stand for working in groups ) can be used by :
Established groups:
  1. Clubs
  2. Sports teams
  3. Organizations
  4. School and universities
  5. Religious committees
  6. Business, academic departments
Informal groups like :
  1. Groups planning a trip or an event
  2. Groups working on a project
  3. A group of friends / roommates

What are some Wiggio features ?

These are some of the most interesting features wiggio offers :
  • Sharing and managing files
  • Managing a group calendar
  • Poll your group
  • Post links
  • Set up conferences calls (include voice , webcams, shared whiteboard space, and screensharing.
  • Chat online
  • Send text message
  • Send voice or email messages to entire group.

wiggio

How can I start using Wiggio ?

Log on to Wiggio and click on sign up on the right hand corner
wiggio

Now that you are signed in you can start creating your groups . To create one , click on the “ create a group button “ on the right hand side

wiggio

To invite people to your groups just use their emails to send invitations , it’s easy and takes only a minute.



To share a calendar with your group member and be able to send real-time text message reminders about meetings and locations click on calendar.
To set up a meeting click on “meeting” button and select the one that suits you

calender

Click on “message button” to select the kind of message you want to send you can choose from text message, email, sticky notes, voice note

wiggio

If you want to learn more about Wiggio , you can check their FAQ page.

tutorial on wiggio

Applications of Wiggio in education

Wiggio can be used in education to :
  • Create a class group with students and families
  • Update parents about the latest of their kids’ classrooms
  • Students use it to access the documents and resources teachers share with them
  • Organize virtual meetings online with parents and specialists in education
  • Create students groups and set up study meeting to offer extra a support or mentoring
  • Use to do list to remind students of their class projects and assignments.
  • Students work together on Wiggio to collaborate and  fix meetings to talk online and share resources and links
  • Wiggio can be used to connect multiple classes within a school and around the globe.
That’s it about Wiggio : The educative way to communicate and work in groups.

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Saturday, January 22, 2011

Phile ; a great crowdsourcing tool for educators

Phile is a very important web2.0 tool. It is the kind of application the 21st century teachers and students should be using to keep pace with the changing learning environments.
Phile ,as defined by its founders, is “ a service that lets groups work together to create an online guide to the things they love. Whether you are into gardening , horror movies, or rock climbing, Phile lets you get together with like minded people to turn your knowledge and opinions into your own lively and useful website.”
Phile

Who needs Phile ?

Well , since this post is included in this edublog  ,then it goes without saying that teachers , educators and students are the first ones concerned here . Anybody else can use it too , if you are a person who has a passion about a certain topic and you want to build a solid body of knowledge around it with everybody adding up to it then Phile is the solution. With Phile you can create an outstanding community of collaborators and learners through gathering information on a shared passion in one place.
Phile

What are the distinctive features of Phile ?

These are some of the features that make Phile one of the best web2.0 applications to opt for when creating a site about shared passionate topics. Phile lets you
  • Structure your site to gather exactly the information that matters to your community.
  • Phile keeps your site organized as people add to it .
  • Phile adds to your site a social touch through using conversations and information sharing
  • Information in a Phile site is organized into stacks and every stack is about a single topic
phile
  • Phile also provides you with forums for free form discussion
  • Phile allows you to export all data from their site at any time to use in other platforms
  • Phile is in beta period now and is completely free , however , there is a paid version with additional functionalities
If you want to learn more about Phile you can visit their About page

How can I get started using Phile ?

As I have said , Phile is a free service so all you need is to open your account there. Give your group a name and pick a starting template. You can customize your site using drag and drop. To learn more about creating and customizing a group watch this video

Tutorial on how to use Phile

Applications of Phile in education

There are many possibilities of using Phile in education
  • Teachers can use it to collaborate and cooperate with each other through creating groups and sharing information
  • Phile can be used as a directory of educational online conferences , webinars and virtual seminars.
  • Using Phile , teachers can exchange videos, educative links, lesson plans, and websites in their area of specialty.
  • Students can use it to create learning communities and groups about specific topic like for example : literature groups, games groups, grammar groups, etc.
If you want to see an example of a site created by Phile then check Ediform
That’s it about Phile : a great crowdsourcing tool for educators.
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Friday, January 21, 2011

The 21st century pedagogy teachers should be aware of

Interpersonal learning , personalized learning, second life learning , 3d learning, collaborative learning and virtual learning , these are just some of the few buzz words you would be hearing so often in today’s educational literature. Things have changed , old methods and pedagogies are no longer relevant. The teacher-controlled learning where deconstructed and reconstructed information is presented in a highly formal and standardized classroom settings becomes very obsolete. The urgent questions we should , as educators , ask ourselves are : what is it that made this huge transformation in learning ? and Do we need a new pedagogy to better enhance learning ?
21st century pedagogy
Globalization, the information age , and the knowledge era are the key terms you need to ponder about . Advancements in technology and particularly social networking technologies are changing the whole educational framework . Users now can have access to information whenever and wherever . Blogs , wikis, socializing sites, podcasts, networks are more and more democratizing knowledge and creating huge impacts on the process of schooling.
It is evident now that the fact that the 20th and 21st century learning is different in terms of skills and perceptions, the need for a new educational model , a serious rethinking of the nature of schooling , its goals, pedagogies, curriculum , structures,and assumptions is persistently urgent. In brief, We need a new pedagogy with specific features that would meet the new century expectations.
If you want to learn more about teacher’s skills in the 21st century then read  the 21st century skills teachers should have
Watch this short video to see how different the 20th century teacher from the 21st century one

20th century and 21st century teachers
In their ALCE international conference that was held in Sydney , participants insisted that ”in the 21st century pedagogy , the schooling experience must be relevant to the life each student chooses to pursue and the skills required to live in today’s world.”In other words, students must be taught how to become managers of their own lives, members of both local and global society, influential participants in the workforce and active contributors to a changing environment.
Watch this video to learn more about the difference between the 20th century education and the 21st century education.

the difference between the 20th century education and the 21st century education.
This is exactly the kind of learning that the 21st century pedagogy develops . It is basically a life long learning which prepares for future , continuous engagement in solving real problems, dealing with real events and competently coping with the dynamics of real life

What are some of the 21st century pedagogy features and skills ?

The skils that are pivotal to achieve  the 21st century pedagogy goals are :
  • Critical thinking
  • Active learning
  • Problem solving skills
  • Communicating, making connections,creating and expressing oneself in a variety of ways
  • Contextualized knowledge. As you can see in the learning pyramid , uncontextualized and non-activity based learning could result in a low retention rate.
learning pyramid 
  • Collaborative team work. This mainly achieved through web2.0 technologies and social networking tools . If you have read the UNESCO’S publication “ The four pillars of education “  you would realize that collaboration is the core element of the four pillars which are :
  1. Learning to know
  2. Lerning to do
  3. Learning to live together
  4. Learning to be
four pillars of learning
21st century pedagogy develops some particular kinds of fluencies in students :
  1. Technology fluency : know how to use technological tools
  2. Information fluency : know how to gather, process and validate information
  3. Media fluency : know how to view , select , and use media.
To conclude , here is a diagram provided by Andrew Churches  that summarizes most of what we have talked about concerning the 21st century pedagogy features :
21st century learning diagram

Watch this conclusive video to clear all your doubts about the 21st century pedagogy
21st pedagogy
That’s it about The 21st century pedagogy teachers should be aware of.
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