What You Need to Know About Creative Commons and Copyright

I stumbled upon this when I was catching up on some blog reading.  This is from Rodd Lucier who is the author of the Teacher 2.0 podcast and an e-learning consultant at London District Catholic School Board.

Creative Commons: What every Educator needs to know

View more documents from Rodd Lucier.

Other Web2.0 Findings Today

Here are some other useful Web2.0 tools I stumbled upon today.

Jog The Web - "Create a synchronous guide to a series of web sites."

Purpose Games - "is host to educational quiz and trivia games created by its members."

Pupil Tube - Collection of how-to videos, tutorials, and explanations.

Embed Google Books

I am not sure how long this has been possible, but I just learned that this can be done. You can embed Google books into your blog or website.

All you have to do, is find a book on Google Books and click the link tab. Then, copy the embed code and paste it to your blog, wiki, or webpage.

So, I could post an assignment on my blog that tells students to read Act I Scene 1 of Macbeth and post the book like below.

Online Notice Board - Wall Wisher

Wallwisher is an online notice board where students can post text, images, videos, and music. This would be great for brainstorming activities.  Also, you can embed your wall on your blog, wiki, or website for easy sharing. 

Benefits:

• No user registration required to post
• You can choose to approve posts before they appear.
• Drag and drop to rearrange posts.
• Easy to remove posts
• FREE
• Wall are easily embeddable.

I embedded the demo wall below.  To embed your call, click on the "Do More" tab on the top right and choose "Embed".

Rogue Security

If you have ever been haunted by a rogue "Anti-virus" you know how unrelenting they can be.  The most recent one I encountered was on my mother's computer.  It hid her desktop and would not let her install any legitimate anti-virus program.  I have used Combo-fix, Malwarebytes, and Avast to remove viruses like this.  Recently, I read an article about this in the Doctor section of Maximum PC which directed readers to this URL.  For some reason, I knew I should keep it for future reference.

So, as the article recommends, I had her install SUPERAntiSpyware (The free version).  Of course, the rogue "security tool" would not let her install it.  I had her restart the computer in safe mode (hold the F8 key while your computer is booting) and install the software.  She ran the quick scan and it found a bunch of things.  She removed all threats and restarted. 

This fixed the problem, but I still had her install Malwarebytes.  Since I use free anti-virus software, I feel safer when I use two.  This way if one misses something, the other will catch it.  One my computer, I use Avast and Malwarebytes and I have not had any problems.  It beats paying 50-60 dollars a year.

Very Easy Jeopardy for Classrooms

If you use (or would like to use) Jeopardy-style games in you classroom, you need to check out http://jeopardylabs.com/ .  If you have every created Jeopardy games in PowerPoint, you know how much work goes into it.  Well, with JeopardyLabs, most of the work is done for you.

A great feature is the ability to create your games on any computer and access them from any computer.  Also, they are password protected so only you can edit them.

Once you click "Start Building!", you will see the screen below.

To add a question, you just click the dollar amount you want to add a question for and you will see the screen pictured below.

Also, you don't have to use every square.  For example, you can fill in only three categories with only three questions each and click save.  You will be given links to play and edit the game.  When you start to play the game, you are asked for the number of teams. Then, you will seen something similar to the screen below.

When you click on a dollar amount, you will see the "answer" and you have the option to display the correct "question" after students have answered (remember Jeopardy is backwards).  Then, you can click the + or - sign under the appropriate team and they will be credit the points based on the question's value.

Youtube Captions

Youtube now has an automatic caption feature that utilizes Google's automatic speech recognition.  As an educator, I can uses for this in classes with hearing-impaired students or if your speakers are not loud enough for everyone to here.  Not every video has captions yet.  But, as a video owner you can upload a text document and Google with take care of the timing for you. 

WordAhead

WordAhead provides vocabulary videos for difficult words.  You can also enter the Study Room where you can watch the vocabulary videos in a distraction free environment or view flash cards that you can flip over at your own pace.  Teachers can also create customized vocabulary lists based on the academic ability of their students.

Noodletools - Bibliography composer and  online notecards
     According to their site, "NoodleTools provides innovative software that teaches students and supports teachers and librarians throughout the entire research process."
     They also have a "Choose the Best Search" option that helps students find the correct information they are looking for.  http://noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html


Shmoop - Study guides and teacher resources
     Shmoop helps students see how history and literature are relevant today.

ThatQuiz - Create Free Online Quizzes
     ThatQuiz a free online quiz creator.  There are also pre-made quizzes. 

Wolfram|Alpha Homework Day

October 21, 2009 is the first Wolfram|Alpha Homework Day.

This will be a live event that allows students and educators to explore the uses of Wolfram|Alpha in school, college, and real-life.

Students have the chance to submit their toughest homework problems before the event.

Students will:
* Learn tips and tricks.
* Learn new ways to study.
* Chat with the experts behind Wolfram|Alpha
* Have a chance to win prizes

Teachers will:
* Hear how other teachers are using Wolfram|Alpha in their classrooms.
* Chat with the experts behind Wolfram|Alpha

For more information, visit http://homeworkday.wolframalpha.com/

Using Activotes with ActivStudio

I just created some tutorial screencasts for using Activotes with ActivStudio.

http://mrruddle.wikispaces.com/activotes

I will be creating some tutorials for ActivInspire in the near future.

Geek Brief Windows 7 Video

I just watched this video about Windows 7. Cali shows us a few of the new features and tricks.

http://www.geekbrief.tv/video-i-like-windows-7-as-much-as-os-x-642

If you are thinking about getting Windows 7, I would recommend watching this.

Free Flash Cards in Open Office

Open Cards is an extension for Open Office. To create flashcards, you will need Impress (their version of PowerPoint). Basically, you use the title section as the front of the card and the slide contents section as the back. Once you install the extension, you will notice a menu option labeled "Open Cards". When you are viewing the "front" of the flash card, you can choose to show the rest of the card after you have tried to recall the information. Once you see the answer, you can rate your ability to recall the information. You are provided with the following choices: perfectly, well, so so, hardly, and not at all. There is also a Long-term Memorization Manager. This tool allows you to organize all of your flash card files and review your progress. For more information, visit http://www.opencards.info/

ABCya! - Computer Skills for Elementary

ABCya.com provides computer games and activities that are designed to reinforce basic computer skills at the elementary school level. There are activities available from kindergarten to fifth grade.

Screenr

I just tried screenr.com. I usually use Jing for screencasts, but I think this is a viable alternative for someone who uses multiple computers. If you are at a computer that you typically don't use and need to create a screencast, you might not want to install Jing. Or, maybe you don't the administrative privileges necessary to install new software. If that is the case, you can use Screenr which uses Java. This means you can use it on any computer that has internet access and the latest version of Java. You can see the example I made below.

Latest Finds

• 16 Apps That Make Sharing Large Files A Snap

• 20 Simple Productivity Tools for Bloggers 20 tips to make you more productive when blogging.

• JourneyEd.com - Academic Software Discounts! Educator pricing on software and hardware

• twitcam Stream Live on Twitter

• TweekMyPC How to Remote Control your Windows PC with Email or SMS

• Add Multimedia to Your Website with One Click – Apture.com Enhance your blog posts and articles with interactive videos, images, Wikipedia, maps and more from 50+ sources without making readers leave the page.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Latest Finds

Here are some useful resources I found this week.

• Aviary Screen Capture : Talon - "Do screen capture INSTANTLY. Save it to your clipboard, desktop or even online."  They even have a Firefox Add-on.
  

• TreeSheets - Free Form Data Organization

• 10 Technology Enhanced Alternatives to Book Reports - TheApple.com

Posted from Diigo. 

Quick Note About Google Docs

As of two days ago, you are able to upload .docx (word '07) and .xlsx (excel '07) documents to Google Docs. Simply upload them the same way to do for other formats.

Bing - Microsoft's Improved Search Engine

Bing (www.bing.com) is Microsoft's search engine which was formerly Live Search. You are able to search by images, videos, maps, local, news, or travel. When you submit a search query, you will notice that there is a "panel" on the left that shows you related searches and a search history. Bing also has a translator that automatically detects the language that you input (bing.com/translator). Bing was officially launched on June 3rd. You will notice that if you go to the MSN page or the Windows Live page, the search bar is now a Bing search bar.

Online Flashcards!

I just stumbled upon FunnelBrain.com and I would recommend that every educator at least look at this site. According to their site, they are a "site that provides an environment for team based learning and multi-media flashcards".

On FunnelBrain, you can create online flashcards for students or they can create their own and share them with their friends. Flashcards are a good way to study, but I always find them laying in the hall. I like to think that they are laying in the hall AFTER the students have used them properly. Online flashcards cannot be lost in the hall and students don't have to remember to take them home. All they have to do is access a web address, which you can post on a wiki or convert to a tinyURL.

You can enter simple text questions or you can add video, audio, photos, or math formulas. The only additional thing I would like to see is a way to easily embed your flashcards into a blog or wiki.

You can see the sample deck I made here.
Or, you can watch the demo videos here.

Latest Finds

Here are the latest things that I have bookmarked.

• Create A Graph Easy online graphing tool. Create-a-Graph provides five different graphs and charts for you to choose from.

• Medical Animation Library View free animations about everything from cancer to allergies.

• 180 Technology Tips 15 hours of free computer training in 180 easy to follow 5 minute lessons.

• Wallwisher.com :: Words that stick Wallwisher is an Internet application that allows people to express their thoughts on a common topic easily.

• PennTeacher high quality online professional development designed to increase teacher knowledge and skills to improve student performance.

• WorldWide Telescope WorldWide Telescope (WWT) enables your computer to function as a virtual telescope, bringing together imagery from the best ground and space-based telescopes in the world.

• YouCube It allows you to map YouTube videos onto an interactive 3D cube and then save it to a database so you can show your friends.

• 27 Twitter Tools To Help You Find And Manage Followers

• SendItHome Have you ever needed to work on a school project at home, but your e-mail is blocked? No thumb drive in sight? SendItHome is for you.

• Edmodo Edmodo provides free private microblogging for educators

• 9 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do (with Internet Explorer)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Read Websites Without Ads

If you have ever tried to read an article online, you know how annoying advertisements can be, especially when they are in between paragraphs. There are also widgets and other "unnecessary" objects on pages. Those of you that have Iphones and smartphones know exactly how big of a hindrance these objects can be. That is why they made TidyRead. TidyRead extracts text from just about any website and presents it in an easy to read format without ads and other objects. All you have to do is go to http://www.tidyread.com and drag the link to your browser's bookmarks toolbar. Or, if you have an Iphone, you can install their program directly on your phone.

If you have firefox, you can get the add-on here. This puts a nice little icon on your status bar. If you choose to use the Firefox add-on, make sure you disable smart mode or else it will automatically convert every page you visit. To do this: Click Tools - TinyRead - Settings - Disable Smart Mode.

If you like this tools, also check out http://www.quietube.com/

Make 3D Movies for Free

If you have ever wished you could make a 3D animation, check out Xtranormal.com. Xtranormal allows you to make a movie in minutes, share it with your friends, embed it on your website/blog/wiki, or upload it to YouTube. There are pre-made characters and backgrounds and the characters say whatever you type. There are also emotion and gesticulations you can add. Their tagline is "If you can type, you can make movies".

Visit http://www.xtranormal.com/

They also have a blog at http://www.xtranormal.com/blog

Woopid: Video Tutorials

Watch free video tutorials related to computers, software, and gadgets. There are videos for Windows, Mac, and Ubuntu. And, the videos cover just about everything from Microsoft Word to Google to configuring a router. This site is definitely worth a look technology novices and gurus alike.

Visit http://www.woopid.com/

Woopid also has a blog at http://blog.woopid.com/

YouTube Without Distractions

If you are showing YouTube videos to a class of students, chances are they don't even notice the comments and other links on the page. But just in case you find it to be a distraction to them, you can use a new tool called "quietube".

Visit http://quietube.com/

Drag the little button to your tool bar. Then, go to YouTube and click the button while a video is playing. The video will open in a window all by itself without any other distractions on the page.

This works on some other video websites as well.

Google Docs: New Drawing Feature

You can now add drawings within your documents on Google Docs. To start drawing, go to the "Insert" tab and choose "Drawing" from the drop-down menu. It is that simple.

YouTube EDU

Yesterday, YouTube launched YouTube EDU. YouTube EDU is a volunteer project designed to be an "educational hub" that provides access to lectures, student-made videos, and sporting events from different universities. So, you can go to http://www.youtube.com/edu and access lectures from MIT, Yale, Stanford, and Duke just to name a few. For more information you can visit YouTube's blog entry from yesterday.

Free Interactive Whiteboard Links

This site just came to me via my Twitter network. The Educational Technology Center, which is located at the National Science Center in George, has compiled a list of useful sites that can be used with Interactive White Boards (Promethean, SMART, Polyvision, etc.). The resources are provided for free to educators worldwide.

There are resources for the following disciplines: math, science, social studies, language arts, art, music, and physical education.

http://www.ettcnsc.org/Instructional_resources/other/interactive_whiteboard_links.htm

This site is definitely worth a look.

Something to see.

This was sent by some other technology teachers. Maybe you can see some educational use.

http://roxik.com/pictaps/

Free Act 48 Credits

As part of Microsoft's Partners in Learning Program they have partnered with CaseNEX to offer Act 48 hours free of charge for Pennsylvania educators. The 48 hours are free to schools in Classroom for the Future and Project 720. Everything for these classes is completed online.

To register for the classes, click this link.
http://casenex.com/casenet/jsp/registrationPages/classregPAPiL.jsp

You will need you PPID. If you don't know it, click this link.
https://www.perms.ed.state.pa.us/Screens/wfPublicAccess.aspx

District CFF Newsletter

I have released our first printed CFF newsletter in the district. Before now, I always just posted resources to my wiki and blog. However, I have received some interest in having a printed "digest" version. So, I am going to compile the most useful resources and stories on a bi-monthly basis to be printed and placed in the teachers' mailboxes. The first newsletter was sent out this past Tuesday. I am also going to be saving the newsletters as PDFs and posting on the district website. To see the current newsletter, click the link below.

February/March 2009 Newsletter

Here are some ideas I have about the newsletter.
1. I might make it a monthly newsletter next year.
2. In the interest of saving paper, I might eventually release it only in PDF format so teachers can print it if they so desire.

AuthorStream - Share PowerPoints

Authorstream allows you embed PowerPoint presentations in your blog, wiki, or website, or save them as videos on an Ipod or Youtube. Different from some other sharing methods the presentations remain the way you created them. Any animations, timing, music, etc. that you added will remain intact. So, if you had a presentation you delivered in class, you could post it online for students who missed a day of school (or for students who need to see things more than once). To embed a presenation on your site, all you have to do is copy the embed code after you upload the file.

http://www.authorstream.com/

Word 2007 Tutorials

Many of you have expressed a concern over the differences between Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007. Here is a good website that offers a tutorials for 2007. http://www.fgcu.edu/support/office2007/Word/index.asp

This is provided by Florida Gulf Coast University. They also have tutorials for Excel and Powerpoint. Just look for the links on the left side of the page.

New Media Literacy

Here are some notes from Dr. Jason Ohler's workshop at Pete&C. (New Media Literacy and Narrative in Education)

The Overuse of Music
The #1 Infraction of Digital Storytelling is the overuse of music. To prove this point, you can shoot 30 seconds of video and remove the sound. Show the video and ask everyone what they think the story is. Now, add three different types of music to the video to prove how the music can change the story. You don't always have to have music in a story.

New Approach
1. Story Idea
2. Story Mapping
3. Story Boarding

Why? All story boarding does is make sure you story flows logically. So, if you have a boring story, you will end up with a boring story that flows logically.

Digital Storytelling: Dr. Jason Ohler at Pete&C

Our keynote speaker for the DEN pre-conference at Pete&C was Dr. Jason Ohler. http://jasonohler.com/index.cfm
Here are some notes from the session.


Screasel = Screen + Easel
Dr. Ohler talked about a term he coined: Screasel. The screens our kids are using are not just screens; they are also easels. The kids are using these things to view and create things. ex. a cellphone is both a screen and an easel. Students use it to view things, but they also use it to create things.

9 Digital Literacy Guidelines
1. Shift from text-centerism to new media collage (Look at most websites. They are no longer just text, they are collages of text, images, and other forms of media).
2. Value writing more than ever
3. Adopt Art as the 4th (Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic, aRt)
4. Follow the DAOW of literacy (Digital, Art, Oral, Written)
5. Attitude is the aptitude
6. Practice private and social literacy (we need to collaborate and edit each others stuff)
7. Develop literacy about digital tools
8. Fluency, not just literacy
9. Harness both report and story...embrace story! (Sometimes when kids say "I'm bored", they really mean "where's the story". Most information we want the students to "get" can be presented in the form of a story).

Assessment
Put the story first, and the tech second. What to you really want the students to be learning.

Avoid the "A for anything that moves" syndrome. Assess the process and not just the product.

There is actually too much about assessment to type here on the blog, so you can access Dr. Ohler's assessment page here. http://jasonohler.com/storytelling/assessment.cfm

Something to Think About
The kids are banging to get in and we have to listen to hear where they are knocking and open the right door for them. We are the gate keepers.

Ecofont - Use less ink/toner

As educators, we use a lot of paper and ink on a regular basis. I was recently made aware of a new font that reduces the amount of ink/toner you use. The font was designed by a company called Spranq and it is called Ecofont. Basically, what they did was remove as much of a letter as possible while still having it remain recognizable. They accomplished this by removing small circles from within each letter. I am not sure exacty how much ink you will save, but you will use less.

You can download the font from this location:
http://www.ecofont.eu/downloads_en.html

If you don't know how to install a new font, click the link below.
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B314960&x=12&y=12

Once the font has been installed, you will find it under the name Spranq eco sans.

If you are having trouble getting Windows 7...

By now, I am sure many on you have heard that Microsoft has made Windows 7 Beta available for free. They have extended the availability until January 24. I have not downloaded and installed it yet, but I have heard that some people have been having issues getting the product key. Here is a post from LifeHacker that will explain what to do if you are one of this people. http://lifehacker.com/5128193/how-to-get-your-windows-7-beta-product-key

Also, if you have never been to the LifeHacker website, you might want to check that out too. They provide various tips for making life easier.

Crayon Physics: Make your drawings come to life.

If you haven't tried Crayon Physics, you are missing out on something big. Usually, I don't get this excited about a program you have to pay for. But, I think this game is definitely going to be worth the money.

Crayon Physics is basically a physics puzzle game. You are given problems to solve using physics. Whatever you draw comes to life and moves like it would in the real world. I only downloaded the free demo, but a colleague and I had a lot of fun with it. The full version cost only $19.95 and has over 70 levels. If you are interested in trying this click here. If you are still unsure, watch the video that embedded below.


Crayon Physics Deluxe from Petri Purho on Vimeo.