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Free Online Documentaries

Tech-news site, MakeUseOf, has posted a great list of free online documentaries. Several of them would be great discussion starters in Science, Social Studies, or Health.
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-awesome-free-documentaries-watch-online/

While you're at the site, make sure you check out their other offerings. Of particular interest is a great selection of how-to guides and cheat sheets for lots of different tech topics.

Get Going With Gliffy

http://www.gliffy.com/ - Is a cool online diagramming software.
Gliffy can be used as... Flowchart software
Network diagram software
Floor plan software
Org chart software
SWOT analysis
Wireframe software
UML software
Business Process Modeling
Web Site Map Software
Venn Diagram Template Software
...and more!

Quietube - Youtube Without Distractions

Got a video on YouTube, BBC, Viddler, or Vimeo that you want to access in the classroom, but can't because DansGuardian is blocking it? Frequently, this is because the comments contain foul language and it's tripping the weighted phrase limit.

Use Quietube to strip out everything but the video! This quick tutorial will show you how to add a bookmarklet to your firefox toolbar. Then, when you get the block message (or just want to remove all the extra stuff from your page) click on the toolbar button and voila! Watch your video.

http://quietube.com/v.php/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEaaLFzEXhI

eduTecher.net

If you're trying to figure out how you can make the transition from a classroom full of technology consumers to a classroom of technology producers, make sure you take time to visit http://www.edutecher.net.
Among other things, eduTecher provides links to thousands of Web Tools and provides concise information on how these tools may be useful in the classroom setting.
I found out about a cool classroom friendly Youtube search engine from the links provided - http://ytinstant.com.

Interactive Math and Science Links for Elementary Grades

http://guest.portaportal.com/redskins has a large collection of online elementary resources. Check out the multitude of interactive math and science activities this site provides links to.

5 Free Online Encyclopedias Suitable For Kid

Makeuseof.com has a nice article about online sites with reference material that uses language a kid can understand.

Meet Me At The Corner

View lots of kid friendly videos, or even better, learn how to create and submit your own to the site! You could even be paid for your entries!
MEET ME AT THE CORNER, Virtual Field Trips for Kids takes you to meet fascinating people from all over the world.
New educational, kid-friendly episodes are uploaded every two weeks. Included are links to fun websites and our Learning Corner with follow-up questions.
Check out The Big Apple Book Club filled with video book reviews for kids by kids.

National Educational Technology Standards for Students

How can you expose your students to the National Educational Technology Standards for Students?
Check out this EdTech Wiki for lots of links and ideas - http://nets-implementation.iste.wikispaces.net/.

Multimedia Creation in a Web 2.0 World

Who needs fancy desktop software if you've got Internet access?
Aviary is a suite of powerful creative applications that you can use right in your web browser.

I especially like the audio editor and music creation tools.

You might want to check out Sumo Paint while you're at it. It's an amazing online photo editor - http://www.sumopaint.com.

Audio in Google Sites

Trying to get an audio file on your Google Site?
Try the tips mentioned in this blog post:
http://www.bloggertipsandtricks.com/2009/09/google-sites-host-music-files.html

GoAnimate - Make Cartoons and Animations

http://goanimate.com/

Notes from 9-16-10 Alan November Presentation

Educational speaker Alan November presented at Plymouth HS on 9/16. His lecture notes are shared at this site. Check them out for many resources you may use in your classroom.

tiny.cc/novembernotes

If you liked the way he zoomed into certain portions of his screen while presenting, check out ZoomIt by SysInternals. It's a free program to let you do the same thing on a PC.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897434.aspx

Khan Academy

http://www.khanacademy.org/ - A great non-profit organization dedicated to providing learning for everyone, anywhere.

"View a vast array of videos on many topics: SAT prep, Algebra, Geometry, Chemistry, Biology, History, Trigonometry, Calculus, Economics, Brain Teasers, Banking and Money, Statistics, Finance, Physics, and more..."

TeachersFirst Summer Sparklers

TeachersFirst: http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/spectopics/summersparklers.cfm This collection of editors' choices from TeachersFirst will spark summer excitement for parents and kids alike.

Reframing Google's Search Options: The Poster, by Joyce Kasman Valenza

This is a great article about some cool, little known Google search tools that could really help out in your classroom. (And anywhere else...)

Join the Microsoft Partners In Learning Network & Get FREE STUFF!

Join the Microsoft Partners In Learning Network today!

http://us.partnersinlearningnetwork.com/Pages/default.aspx

The Partners in Learning Network is a free online resource that lets you connect and collaborate with like-minded colleagues from across the globe or around the corner.

• Create or Join Communities and Discussions
• Find Lesson Plans and Activities
• Access Free Tools and Learning Programs For Your Classroom

Don't want to join? That's ok, I'll cheat and give you a couple of the links...

http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/Home.aspx - "The WorldWide Telescope (WWT) is a Web 2.0 visualization software environment that enables your computer to function as a virtual telescope—bringing together imagery from the best ground and space-based telescopes in the world for a seamless exploration of the universe."

http://photosynth.net/default.aspx - "Photosynth takes your photos, mashes them together and recreates a 3D scene out of them that anyone can view and move around in.Different than static photos and video, Photosynth allows you to explore details of places, objects, and events unlike any other media. You can’t stop video, move around and zoom in to check out the smallest details, but with Photosynth you can. And you can’t look at a photo gallery and immediately see the spatial relation between the photos, but with Photosynth you can."

Student Cell Phones in Classrooms? - SOUNDS Good To Me!

It may be time to reconsider the ban on cell phones in the classroom. Check out some of these great resources and think of the possibilities...

www.polleverywhere.com free version doesn't allow tracking or approving :(

 

Google SMS http://www.google.com/mobile/products/sms.html#p=default

text 466453 for Google "answers"

 

http://www.cellphonesinlearning.com/ great site

 

http://voicethread.com sharing, commenting on (verbally) other's documents

 

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ make your own online talk radio show....
http://www.ipadio.com/ - make your own phone blog (phlog).

 

http://celtx.com/ storyboarding!

 

flickr, picassa, etc....

 

Have students associate cell phone w/teacher's twitter account...

-7PM, everyone gets, "Remember quiz over bla bla tomorrow...."

-field trip to the zoo, teacher tweets, "Time to get back to the bus!"

Now you can write and direct your own movie!

Check out http://www.xtranormal.com/index . It is a cool site that lets your students write a script and direct a movie. Really, you've got to check it out. Come on, what are you waiting for...
Lots of educational potential here! Reenact historical events. Make a commercial for your new product. The characters remind me of the Lego rock band people, or those Playmobil figures with the bowl-cut, plastic hairdos.

****UPDATE**** ***Caution*** Some of the user created videos can be a bit racy. And, some of the included props/characters are of the adult nature... Rats!

But, if you'd like other options, check out this nice blog post: http://eduhowto.wordpress.com/2010/02/08/fun-and-creative-ways-for-students-to-make-online-video-projects/.

Microsoft Education Labs

Who says Microsoft is only in it for the money? Well, ok, they are. But they also do a lot of neat research projects.
This site has a few cool prototypes for educators. I'm sure some of you would like the Math Worksheet Generator:

http://www.educationlabs.com/Projects/MathWorksheetGenerator/Pages/default.aspx#

Enter a math problem and the program analyzes it. Then it creates a worksheet with similar problems. Neat!

K-12 Learning Links

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/k12links.htm - Internet4Classrooms has a great clearinghouse of links for K-12 education. I like the mouse skills games in the Pre-K section! ;-)
http://www.mouseprogram.com/ - Here's a site dedicated strictly to mousing skills. There's even a link to a cheesy <ha!> windows program - Larry's Master the Mouse.
http://www.thinkfinity.org - Verizon has their own learning portal that is pretty good too. Check out their comic strip creator.
http://www.kidinfo.com/young_children/young_children.html
http://www.suelebeau.com/primary.htm
http://www.gamequarium.com/learntousemouse.html - Online activities to practice mouse skills.
http://www.teachersfirst.com/index.cfm - How do you integrate "Web 2.0" into your classroom? Start with these ideas.
http://www.timetoast.com - Create online, interactive time lines.
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/ - AT&T's Knowledge Network site "Filamentality", is a fill-in-the-blank tool that guides you through picking a topic, searching the Internet, gathering good Internet links, and turning them into online learning activities.
http://www.multiplication.com/interactive_games.htm - Lots of interactive math games.
http://tweentribune.com/join - "TweenTribune is an online newspaper that is written exclusively for "tweens", 8-14 years old. The goal is to get kids hooked on reading and seeking out news on a daily basis. To promote this behavior, TweenTribune updates daily with stories that are kid-friendly from reliable sources (such as AP and CNN). Two other appealing features are the ability to comment on articles and post your own stories.
http://www.thatquiz.org/ - nice site with lots of pre-made quizzes on various topics.

Pre-Algebra Sites:
http://www.math.com/homeworkhelp/Algebra.html
http://www.coolmath.com/algebra/08-lines/index.html
http://www.purplemath.com/modules/index.htm
http://www.purplemath.com/modules/strtlneq.htm
http://www.mathvids.com/subtopic/show/124-graphing-lines
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/math/prealg/prealg05/extra_examples/index.php4/

More Free Interactive Websites

Got a projector or smartboard in your room, but need some ideas on how to use it? Check out the sites below for some hints.

http://www.literactive.com/Home/roadtoreading.asp - Primary level, beginning reader site.
http://www.teacherled.com/ - Nice collection of flash tools that would work great with your smartboard!
http://www.learnanytime.co.uk/index.htm - Directory of free website resources, broken down by subject.
http://mywebspiration.com/ - Like the idea mapping program Inpiration? Try this web version - Currently free as a public beta.
http://www.topmarks.co.uk/Interactive.aspx - Free online activities to use with your interactive whiteboard.
http://www.scriblink.com/ - Teachers with projectors can use this to have a virtual whiteboard that they operate from their computer.  Class notes, etc. can be saved and emailed to students.

Google Earth for Educators

Need more ideas on how you can use Google Earth in the Classroom? Track migration routes, monitor global warming and more: http://www.google.com/educators/p_earth.html .

Ideas for schools and teachers to use to save money!

I found this link on the Tech & Learning website. Appropriate timing, huh? Ideas for schools and teachers to use to save money!

Groupwise Tips

http://www.brainstorminc.com/groupwise-7-tips/ lists several tips for getting more out of Groupwise.

Google Apps - How to get started

HOW-TOs - Tips for using Google Apps straight from Google themselves.

Tips and Tricks to Using Google Sites

I was looking for more information on how to make my Google sites page look better. I found this site very helpful: http://blog.practicalsocialmedia.com/articles/google-sites/ . He has a couple video tutorials at the bottom to introduce beginners to the page creation process.

DigitalBob8 created the neat "tech head" element I used in the blog header.