Sketch : the educative way to communicate with your students

Sketchcast is a very interesting web2.0 tool for educators to try with their learners . Sketchcasting is “ a new way to communicate something online by recording a sketch , optionally with your voice speaking . Any sketch can then be embedded in your blog homepage for people to play-back , and you can also point people to your sketchcast channel or let them subscribe to your sketchcast RSS feed. “
If you still didn't have the chance to learn what RSS Feed is and how we can use it in education then you are recommended to read :  RSS Feed in Education

How can i get started using Sketchcast

Log on to Sketchcast main page and register with them .
Once you are logged in click on “ create” link on top ¨
Provide a title for your sketch . If you want to record using your voice then tick “ with voice” box.
Choose a category for your skecth , you can choose from :

• Tutorial
• fun
• art
• other

then you click on start recording draft .



Type your text , draw something, or delete what you typed use the graphic tablet buttons as shown in this screenshot.




When you finish making your sketch and after previewing it , you can then press “ publish”. You can either make it public or private .

Applications of Sketchcasting in education

Here are some ideas of how we can integrate this awesome web2.0 tool in our classrooms .
As for teachers

• They can use it to create tutorials on “how to do” formulae like experiments in science and physics , or math
• they can also use it to create online courses for students

As for students ,
they can use it to

• review vocabulary , grammar, math , and many more
• practice their writing skills
• project works with everyone contributing to the final sketch

You might also like :

• 21st century search engines teachers need to be aware of
• Bubblesnaps in education
• Evernote :a new way to get organized in education
• Springpad : teachers' free notes organizer web2.0 tool
• A great functionality to improve twitter in education
• Alphabetizer : organize students' writings
• Web2.0 the machine is using us
• The 21st century skills teachers should have
• The 21st century pedagogy teachers should have
• EmbedPlus :The educative way to use Youtube videos
• Evernote :a new way to get organized in education
• Springpad : teachers' free notes organizer web2.0 tool
• A great functionality to improve twitter in education
• Alphabetizer : organize students' writings
• Web2.0 the machine is using us
• The 21st century skills teachers should have
• The 21st century pedagogy teachers should have

Blogbooker : Turn an educative blog into pdf book

BlogBooker is a very cool and free web2.0 tool . It allows you to “ produce a high-quality PDF blog book from all your blog entries and comments . Archives can be generated from any blog running on Wordpress, Blogger , Live Journal and its derivatives . The whole process takes about 3 to 4 minutes depending on the size of your blog.”

 

How can i get started using BlogBooker ?

First log on to BlogBooker . You do not need any registration at all . All you need to do is to submit an export file provided by your blog system to BlogBooker :


1- To export your Wordpress blog
Follow the instruction in this tutorial : How to export your wordpress blog
2- To export your blogger blog :
follow the instructions in this tutorial : how to export your blogger blog
3- As for Live Journal
the export and back up are automatically handled .
When you finish exporting your file into a secure place in your hard desk , go back to BlogBooker main page and click on “ get your blog as PDF blog book” and select your blog system .



Type in your info and hit “ create your blog book”

Application of BlogBooker in Education

I think it is a very good idea to use Blog booker with your students . Introduce it to them and show them how they can use it to turn blog posts into PDFs . Provide them with blog and website urls and let them print the articles that you think might help them in their learning . They can also use it to save PDF books of educative blogs that they can check offline . As soon as they have a saved portable copy of a blog , then they can access its content without the need of internet connection .

You might also like :

• 21st century search engines teachers need to be aware of
• Bubblesnaps in education
• Evernote :a new way to get organized in education
• Springpad : teachers' free notes organizer web2.0 tool
• A great functionality to improve twitter in education
• Alphabetizer : organize students' writings
• Web2.0 the machine is using us
• The 21st century skills teachers should have
• The 21st century pedagogy teachers should have
• EmbedPlus :The educative way to use Youtube videos
• Evernote :a new way to get organized in education
• Springpad : teachers' free notes organizer web2.0 tool
• A great functionality to improve twitter in education
• Alphabetizer : organize students' writings
• Web2.0 the machine is using us
• The 21st century skills teachers should have
• The 21st century pedagogy teachers should have

SlideRocket your educative presentation tool

SlideRocket is an online web2.0 application that facilitates creating and sharing online presentations in the form of slides . It is like 280Slides, the other web2.0 tool i have talked about earlier in one of my posts entitled 280Slides in Education  . SlideRocket helps you build a better presentation experience with a compelling software .

Some features of SlideRocket

There are many features which make SlideRocket one of the best presentation tools in education . The following are some of the services SlideRocket allows you to do :

• share information with colleagues and friends
• save created presentations in pdf formats
• import PowerPoint presentations and edit them using SlideRockt platform
• create an asset library to manage your slides and presentations
• print your slides
• publish a public url to let others view your slides and presentation
• embed your slides into website
• It supports some cool authoring tools like: audio, video, animations, charts, tables, pictures, themes and layouts

How can i get started using SlideRocket ?

First you need to go to SlideRocket main page and register with them . There are two versions of SlideRocket one is for free and has less features than the pro one .
Select the one that suits your needs but the free version is enough for us here .
To walk you through a step by step tutorial on how to use SlideRocket , you need to watch this short video

SlideRocket Tutorial

You might also like :

• 21st century search engines teachers need to be aware of
• Bubblesnaps in education
• Evernote :a new way to get organized in education
• Springpad : teachers' free notes organizer web2.0 tool
• A great functionality to improve twitter in education
• Alphabetizer : organize students' writings
• Web2.0 the machine is using us
• The 21st century skills teachers should have
• The 21st century pedagogy teachers should have
• EmbedPlus :The educative way to use Youtube videos
• Evernote :a new way to get organized in education
• Springpad : teachers' free notes organizer web2.0 tool
• A great functionality to improve twitter in education
• Alphabetizer : organize students' writings
• Web2.0 the machine is using us
• The 21st century skills teachers should have
• The 21st century pedagogy teachers should have

edudemic a great online community for educators

Edudemic is really a great website for educators . It is  “a global community designed to keep educators , administrators, and everyone up to date on what is happening in the world of education and technology . It pulls from more than 100 different online educational resources to inform and connect the world of technology and education “.



Edudemic has articles related to education and technology, guides, news, top 10 lists , and tips and tricks . I really enjoy the resources in this site and am sure you will like it too .

How can i get started using Edudemic ?

First log on to Edudemic main page . You do not need any registration .
As you can see there is a tool bar at the top



To quickly give you an overview of what this site has to offer you , i will take you through a step by step tutorial using screenshots .
1- How to

2- In The Classroom



3- Tips and Tricks



4- Top 10 lists



5- Ultimate guides



Some of the advantages of this website is that it allows you to contribute to the knowledge building by adding your own posts . You can also submit your tips and share your expertise with thousands over there .
You might also like :

• 21st century search engines teachers need to be aware of
• Bubblesnaps in education
• Evernote :a new way to get organized in education
• Springpad : teachers' free notes organizer web2.0 tool
• A great functionality to improve twitter in education
• Alphabetizer : organize students' writings
• Web2.0 the machine is using us
• The 21st century skills teachers should have
• The 21st century pedagogy teachers should have
• EmbedPlus :The educative way to use Youtube videos
• Evernote :a new way to get organized in education
• Springpad : teachers' free notes organizer web2.0 tool
• A great functionality to improve twitter in education
• Alphabetizer : organize students' writings
• Web2.0 the machine is using us
• The 21st century skills teachers should have
• The 21st century pedagogy teachers should have

safe search engines for students part2

This is the second post in a series of posts covering some of the best search engines available online for our students. The common point between all these search tools is that they are very secure and adult content free . Although we can never trust any technological tool one hundred percent , the algorithm used by these engine’s filters is highly sophisticated and have already proved its efficacy . As I said before , when it comes to students /kids using internet , the human intervention is highly recommended .
If you have not read my previous post then you can visit Safe Search Engine for students  part one to learn about the other safe engines i included there .
1- Cybersteuth



Cybersteuth is a k-12 students homework helper,and educational resources . It is a dedicated search engine for students . The purpose behind the creation of this website is to provide a safe educational online database of links to help the students “ sift through the maze of information”.



2- Mymunka



Mymunka is another safe search engine for students. It is “ a family friendly learning and search engine that is fun and safe for everyone . Some features of Mymunka include :

• Browse and share thousands of digital flashcards and learning aids
• Offers different flash card categories
• Great for people with learning disabilities or ESL students
• It allows users to create and share flashcards
• It also allows users to share search results quickly and easily

3-  Kidsclick



Kidsclick is a web search side designed for kids by librarians with kid friendly results. This is indeed a very good site for students that I insisted to include here though it has the following warning. “ kids click is not an internet filter . It does not prevent client web browsers from being used to surf any URL address that the user inputs . It is intended to guide users to good sites , not block them from “bad” sites. However, it could be used in conjunction with a filter product where law allows filters to be used .



4- Yahoo!kids



Yahoo!kids is an online searchable directory of interesting sites for kids . The sites included here are constantly checked by educational experts to make sure the content and links are appropriate for kids aged 7-12. Next to its directory , Yahoo:kids has some fun features like :

• Games / sports / science
• Movies , Animals , and Dinosaurs .
• Reference section
• Parents and teachers guides .

5- KidzSearch



KidzSearch is an adult content free search engine . It works like Google and provides the same results without adult content .
You might also like :

• 21st century search engines teachers need to be aware of
• Bubblesnaps in education
• Evernote :a new way to get organized in education
• Springpad : teachers' free notes organizer web2.0 tool
• A great functionality to improve twitter in education
• Alphabetizer : organize students' writings
• Web2.0 the machine is using us
• The 21st century skills teachers should have
• The 21st century pedagogy teachers should have
• EmbedPlus :The educative way to use Youtube videos
• Evernote :a new way to get organized in education
• Springpad : teachers' free notes organizer web2.0 tool
• A great functionality to improve twitter in education
• Alphabetizer : organize students' writings
• Web2.0 the machine is using us
• The 21st century skills teachers should have
• The 21st century pedagogy teachers should have

safe search engines for students part1

With the advancement of technology and internet , cyber safety has become a real issue for parents ,schools and other educative agents . Integrating materials from the internet into our classrooms do not always prove to be the best solutions sometimes we risk our students safety or exposure to non relevant ads . In this regard , I have prepared a paper about some student-friendly and safe search engines we can use with our students at school.
If you are a teacher and you want to read my series of posts covering the best search engines teachers need to be aware of and use , then read The 21st century search engines teachers need to use .
The following are a set of search engines that offer a high filtering service and hence can be used with kids and students at schools. Remember , this is not an inclusive list and I will be adding up to it from time to time .
1- Famhoo


Famhoo is a search engine that filters out search results and makes searching online safer than before .As its engineers have said “ although our search engine methodology is confidential, we can tell you that we filter our results in a way that protects your family. We also sort the results in a way that we hope allows you to effectively find the most applicable websites you are searching for .”

2- KidRex



KidRex is a search engine made just for kids and powered by Google ‘ Safe Search Technology. Google uses this kind of technology to protect kids while they are online by deleting sexual content from their search results and eliminating most of the inappropriate material and adult content .
KidRex has a black list to which you can add  inappropriate sites.
3- Nettrekker



Netrrekker is a paid search engine for schools . It is “ the leading educational search tool for k-12 schools . It brings digital resources into the classroom in a safe , relevant and engaging way making it faster and easier to provide a more personalized and productive learning experience for every student.”
4- Ask Kids



Ask Kids is “ a search engine designed exclusively for young people ages 6 to 12 . It is a free , safe , fun way for kids and their parents to quickly and easily research school topics like science, math, geography, language arts, and history in a search environment that is safer and more age- appropriate than traditional , adult search engines .
Ask Kids has also some very practical , relevant, and child- appropriate materials for learning . It also includes identified communities and collections of websites linked to the core list and filtered in such a way to avoid and remove all adult content .

Read : Safe Search Engine for Students Part2

You might also like :

• 21st century search engines teachers need to be aware of
• Bubblesnaps in education
• Evernote :a new way to get organized in education
• Springpad : teachers' free notes organizer web2.0 tool
• A great functionality to improve twitter in education
• Alphabetizer : organize students' writings
• Web2.0 the machine is using us
• The 21st century skills teachers should have
• The 21st century pedagogy teachers should have
• EmbedPlus :The educative way to use Youtube videos
• Evernote :a new way to get organized in education
• Springpad : teachers' free notes organizer web2.0 tool
• A great functionality to improve twitter in education
• Alphabetizer : organize students' writings
• Web2.0 the machine is using us
• The 21st century skills teachers should have
• The 21st century pedagogy teachers should have

21st century search engines teachers must be aware of part 6

This is the sixth and probably the last post in a series of posts covering some of the best search engines available online for teachers . In today’s post I will be talking about : StinkyTeddy, Twick.it, Twurdy, Typedia, Worio, and Ziipa .
If you haven’t read the 5 previous posts then  here is a debriefing of what they are all about , click on any title to refer you back to the original article :

Part One

• Bing
• Biographicon
• Cyclo.ps
• Kngine

Part two

• Forestle
• Gofram
• Got
• Hakia

Part Three

• Lavva
• Leapfish
• Oamos
• Quintura

Part Four

• Refseek
• SearchMotive
• Search Cloud
• Slidefinder

Part five

• Specra
• Sperse
• Spezify
• Sputtik

1- StinkyTeddy



StinkyTeddy is a search engine that is powered by real-time gossip. It collects data relating to a search query from different social media websites and from other search engines before it finally gives you the best possible results .


2- Twick.it



Twick.it is an explain engine where you can find explanations for topics written and valuated by users . It is a kind of combination of twitter and Wikipedia. The results provided by Twick.it are based on user created content and are a max of 140 characters . Try it out , it is really a cool search engine .




3- Twurdy



Twurdy is a search engine that is “ created to provide people with access to search results that suit their own readability level”. It uses text analysis software together with a color coded system to help users determine how easy the page will be to understand .
Here is an example of a search result based on the term Web2.0 .



4- Typedia



Typedia is a search engine for fonts . It is” a community website to classify typefaces and educate people about them . Think of it like a mix between IMB and Wikipedia , but just for type .Anyone can join , add , and edit pages for typefaces or for the people behind the Type.”

5- Worrio



Worrio is an interesting search engine that brings you a “ personalized view of the social web alongside your boring old search results.” Worrio allows you to register an account and then create your own searches and add friends . I recommend checking it out .

6- Ziipa



Ziipa is a web2.0 search engine . This is different from other search engines in that it only focuses on web2.0 , start-ups, and applications . Ziipa results are provided in the form of thumbnail of the site with star rating system with voting options .

You might also like :

Bubblesnaps in education

Evernote :a new way to get organized in education

Springpad : teachers' free notes organizer web2.0 tool

A great functionality to improve twitter in education

Alphabetizer : organize students' writings

Web2.0 the machine is using us

The 21st century skills teachers should have

The 21st century pedagogy teachers should have

EmbedPlus :The educative way to use Youtube videos

Evernote :a new way to get organized in education

Springpad : teachers' free notes organizer web2.0 tool

A great functionality to improve twitter in education

Alphabetizer : organize students' writings

Web2.0 the machine is using us

The 21st century skills teachers should have

The 21st century pedagogy teachers should have