Grade Keeper

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

snisnip : shorten , crop and share videos

SnipSnip is a great video editing tool. I find it much better then many of the other video tools. SniSnip allows you to snip parts of video to share with your students . No need to play the whole video if you just want a specific part in it .I have already talked about two other video editing applications that can do the same work as SniSnip but are slightly different . You can check them at
VIEWPURE :HOW TO MAKE EDUCATIVE VIDEOS
TubeChop : The Educative Use of Youtube

Some of the features of SniSnip ?

SniSnip offers many features to its users;

It is completely free
It does not require any registration
It lets you crop only parts of a video
You can share cropped videos with others
You can also embed them in your blog or wiki
It eliminates all the distractive features around videos

How can i get started using SnipSnip ?

Log on to SnipSnip main page
Copy the YouTube video url and paste it in SnipSnip search box then select the start point and end time.
Yes it is this simple .
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Monday, April 25, 2011

gymnasium for brain: improve students thinking skills

Gymnasium for Brain is a cool website . I think the title says it all . This website is about puzzles. It provides some very challenging brain games for kids . The purpose is to sharpen students minds and improve their ability to think outside the box. Gymnasium for Brain provides intelligent puzzles together with their solutions , patterns , Speed Math and kid’s corner ;all of which are dedicated to the wellness of the mind . I would really recommend this site for educators dealing with kids .

Some features of Gymnasium for Brain

Here are the main features that Gymnasium for Brain offers to its users :

It is free
It is simple to use
No sign up or registration is required
It offers puzzles with step by step solution
It provides patterns to sharpen students creative skills
It offers speed math to improve thinking speed and make math fun
It also features kid’s corner where you can find activities , moral stories and answers to frequently asked questions by kids

Applications of Gymnasium for Brain in education

Gymnasium for Brain is a great site for educators .You can introduce it to your students and work on puzzles with them . Divide students into groups and let them select a name for their group then you start the competition . Give them a puzzle and assign some time for them to think about the solution before you do a whole class correction .Gymnasium for Brain will definitely help students improve their thinking abilities ,sharpen their minds, and develop their analytical and logical skills .
If you liked the post ( i hope you did ) then visit Gymnasium for Brain and discover more .
That's it about Gymnasium for Brain : Improve Students Thinking Skills .
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Bee PDF : Upload , Embed, and share your PDFs online

Bee PDF is a free hosting and sharing website . It allows its users to upload their PDFs and share them with others . I have always looked for such a website where i can get safe URLs for my PDFs and now here it is ; very simple and easy to use . Bee PDF does not charge you with any fee and it is completely free . Once you upload you PDFs into Bee PDF then you can use the generated URL to share with others and let them access your docs or you can use the embed code to include your PDFs into your website, wiki or blog . Bee PDF allows you to read and browse through PDFs published by others .

I am sharing with you this post because i know many of you need this tool in their work . You can upload PDFs you want to share with your students and give them their URLs or if you have a blog for your classroom then you can use Bee PDF to embed your PDFs there .

How can i get started using Bee PDF ?

Head over to Bee PDF main page and sign up for a free account . It is very quick and simple
Once signed in click on Upload and select the PDF you want to include
Once the Upload is finished click on Processed Files on top right side
You will see now your file you can either click on Edit to give it a title , description , and a category

Or click on its name to be directed to the page where you can view it and share it . Use the embed code on the left bar to embed it in your site .
That’s it about Bee PDF : Upload , Embed, and share your PDFs online .
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Lucid Chart : a simple mind mapping and flowcharts making tool

Lucid Chart is a flowcharts and mind map making tool . It looks similar to the other tools i have collected here under the Mind Mapping Tools tab . The only difference here is that Lucid Chart offers many more design options then most of the others .

Some features of Lucid Chart

Here is a list of the main features of Lucid Chart :

It is free for teachers and students
It is very simple to use and has a nice interface
It uses drag and drop technique to draw charts
It lets you upload your own images into your diagrams
It has an extensive library of templates and shapes
You can share your drawings and diagrams online via Twitter and Facebook
You can also embed them in your wiki , blog or website
You can invite others to collaborate with you in real time
It has a built in group chat so that you can chat with your colleagues while working

How can i get started using Lucid Chart ?

Head over to Lucid Chart main page and sign up for your free account
Watch this tutorial video to learn more about Lucid Chart

Applications of Lucid Chart in education

Lucid Chart is a very important tool in education . It is practically useful for visual learners . Introduce it to your students and show them how to use it to create their own flow charts or mind maps . Give them brain storming assignments and let them develop concept diagramming .
That’s it about Lucid Chart : a simple mind mapping and flowcharts making tool .
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Sqworl : Visually Bookmark Your URLs.

Sqworl is a great tool . It is an online “web application that provides a clean and simple way to visually bookmark multiple URLs”. Sqworl saves a screenshot of every web page you bookmark . I like this application because it is visually enticing . I have already covered other bookmarking tools that we can use in education like :

WEBLIST : TEACHERS’ DYNAMIC CONTENT SHARING SITE

Some features of Sqworl

Here is a list of the most important features that Sqworl offers to its users :

It is free
It is simple and easy to use
It requires a sign up
It has a user-friendly interface
it allows you to Make a personalized homepage for yourself
It lets you Take notes when comparing items
Create a step-by-step tutorial for other users
It lets you organize your bookmarks into groups
You can share your bookmarks through via a unique URL
It provides a version for the iPhone app
It provides a bookmarklet to help you easily bookmark your pages

How can i get started using Sqworl ?

Head over to Sqworl main page and sign up for a free account
Watch this tutorial video to learn more

Sqworl Screencast from Caleb Brown on Vimeo.

Thats it about Sqworl : Visually Bookmark Your URLs.
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Primary Wall : Students Sticky Notes Wall

Primary Wall is a great collaborative sticky note service .This tool is different from the other sticky notes applications in that it does not require any sign up . Primary Wall is created with elementary school students in mind .It allows users to organize their notes in such an easy way that no extra or advanced technology knowledge is needed . It is ideal for students and i would really recommend everyone of you who has not tired it to do so .

How can i get started using Primary Wall ?

Head over to Primary Wall main page
Click on create new wall

Watch this tutorial video to learn more

Applications of Primary Wall in education

Primary Wall is a very important tool in education . we can use it to collect and organize sticky notes that are relevant to our students learning needs and then invite them to visit the URL of the wall we have created and let them start editing it . They can click on”add notes” or double click on the wall to start writing their own notes .
That’s it about Primary Wall : Students Sticky Notes Wall.

Google Documents : Simpler File Upload .

Google Documents is a great application issued by Google . I have already covered the different uses of this app in education in a post entitled Google docs in education . Today i am adding some extra services that Google have just updated . As you probably know ; Google doc offers you an online storage capacity of 1024 MB and you can pay to have more . This virtual storage repertoire allows you to download a decent amount of docs and access them wherever you are . I personally depend on it a lot because i hate memry sticks and USBs .

A couple of months ago Google introduced the new functionality of Drop and Drag making it easy for you to drag any document from your desktop right into the upload box and start uploading it immediately . No more complications , uploading has never been this easy with Google Doc and it takes only a few seconds to upload your stuff . wow what a great time saver !
The second functionality is the Folder Upload . Google Doc has added Folder Upload via the new upload menu in the latest version of Chrome , Firefox and Safari . You just need to install a small applet into your browser to start using this service .

Lastly when you upload a document using the drop down menu a window will show up in the bottom right of your documents list and show upload progress. Picture

Once files are uploaded, they will appear in your documents list within seconds. You can also share them from the pop-up. Uploaded files go into the currently selected collection and have visibility set to private unless the collection is shared.

Visit Google Docs Blog to learn more about these services and many more .

That s it about Google Documents : Simpler File Upload .
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