Season's Greetings

Smilebox is one of many online resources for creating digital greeting cards.

Free slideshow generated with Smilebox

Social Networking for Children

Not sure how I feel about this yet, but Lego has created a social networking site designed for children. Click here for some video tutorials to get a flavor for the product, and then comment on this post to let me know what you think!

Google Squared

Google Squared takes a category and creates a starter "square" of information, automatically fetching and organizing facts from across the web. The best way to understand how it works is to do a couple of Google Squared searches. Go to Google Squared and give it a whirl. I did a search for "Minnesota Authors" and ended up with a nice chart about  Minnesota authors. Click here for more information.

Zoomerang

Zoomerang is a very simple and practical online polling/survey tool. You can create a poll in a matter of minutes. Polls and/or surveys can be embedded or linked on a web page or sent out via email using the URL link that Zoomerang provides once the poll or survey has been created. Results can be shared with participants immediately. I like this! Link to My Sample Survey

Passwords, Passwords, and More Passwords!

I have been using a resource called KeePass to organize my passwords for over a year now and would like to suggest that if you plan to dive into Web 2.0 tools, you may want to do the same.  Within KeePass, you store your all of your login information in one place: usernames, passwords, web addresses, and notes. You are also able to organize them into various categories: personal, professional, Internet, etc. Just make sure that you use a VERY SECURE PASSWORD (one that you can remember but that no one would ever be able to guess) to access KeePass! http://keepass.info/

Schoology

 Facebook for School? Schoology allows teachers the opportunity to set up an environment very similar to Facebook but without some of the issues that accompany "friending" students. One nice thing is that Schoology allows for the creation of user accounts that are not tied to email addresses. Passwords can be generated by the account administrator giving members the ability to change them once they initially log in. Classes can be created to include only the students in a particular class, and different groups can be created within those classes. To test Schoology, I created a fictitious course called Cartoon Studies using characters from Charlie Brown. Students could assume fictitious identities to create some interesting entries. Think of a Schoology page for famous philosophers with students assuming the roles or a page for a book title with students assuming the roles of the characters within the book. Students love to create. This would also make them really have to think as well!

Avatar Creator

If you would like to create an avatar, a computer user's representation of himself/herself or "alter ego" whether in the form of a three-dimensional model used in computer games or a two-dimensional icon or picture that you can use on a website, blog, or other site, there are several programs that can help you do that. One that is super easy and FREE is DoppleMe.

Google Latitude: Oh, Mother, Where Art Thou?

Google Latitude allows you to see the location of friends and family on a map and, if you wish, in real time. Now, my family can see where I am at all times! In addition to accessing this information from our computers, we can also access from our phones. You do have the ability to change your privacy settings to decide when you want your "friends" to know where you are and when you don't ;- )

VoiceThread

After hearing and reading about VoiceThread and its power for the classroom, I have finally signed up for my (free) account. Here is an example of how one teacher has used VoiceThread with her students.

Wallwisher . . . A New Way to Communicate

 Wallwisher lets you place digital post-it-notes on a wall. You can add, delete, rearrange and, best of all, invite others to add their own notes. Feel free to go to my "wall" and add a note about your favorite web tool. (Update: I have found access to this resource to be a little unpredictable.)

http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/webtoolfavorites

Mixbook

I love creating photo books, but what makes this photo book site even "cooler" is the ability to post the book to your blog or web page. I see some great school potential here!

| View Sample Photo Books | Create your own Photo Book

Flying Alarm Clock

"My how time flies!" This might resolve the issue that I have with hitting the snooze button several times most mornings and will perhaps be my "geeky" gift request for 2010. When the alarm goes off, the little propeller "key" flies around the room making noise until you catch it and reinsert it into the alarm.

Prezi

Potential alternative to PowerPoint? It is a bit "dizzying" to watch, but there might be an occasion where ability to zoom in and out and change the view might be really engaging to the audience.

Poetry on Prezi

What I Am Currently Reading

Shelfari: Book reviews on your book blog

Dropbox

Dropbox is an online service that allows you to sync files from more than one computer. When you put a file in your "box," the file will be instantly available on any of your other computers that you've installed Dropbox on. Because a copy of your files is stored on Dropbox's secure servers, you can also access them from any computer or mobile device using the Dropbox website. My favorite Dropbox feature is the ability to invite others to access a document . . . great if you are working on a collaborative project because you can invite others to edit and revise the document (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and more) as well. A favorite new tool . . .
Take a tour: https://www.dropbox.com/screencast

Animoto

This video just took a few minutes to create.



Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Comic Life

Decided to check out Comic Life because TIES is offering training on the product, and it is included in our new Atomic Learning tutorials as well. It is similar to other online comic strip tools and is a very easy-to-use template driven program.

I probably should clarify that one of my assistants, Ms. Thompson, was having a little fun on our Halloween Dress Up Day. Perhaps, next year we will all dress up as the three witches from Macbeth!

(Comic Life does require a download.)

http://comiclife.com/

Nook from Barnes and Noble

I have had my nook for four months now and love it. While I was skeptical at first about whether or not I could give up the "feel" of a "real" book, I have found the reading experience on my nook to be great. And, the portability for vacation travel is wonderful. Before I left on a spring break trip, I loaded my nook with a bunch of books and put it in my purse. I read in the car, at the airport, on the plane, by the pool, on a bus, standing in line, and more.  I also love that I can purchase books over the their 3G network no matter where I am or what time of day . . . a convenient feature that could have significant impact on my credit card statement. I won't give up purchasing books for my home library, especially children's books and those with pretty covers, but will use my nook for much of my reading.

Fold and Play "Recycled" Speakers

A colleague showed me a pair of "fold and play" speakers last week. Very clever and green idea . . .

http://gadgetsin.com/origaudio-fold-nplay-recycled-speakers.htm

My New Reading Glasses

My granddaughter loved the reading glasses that I received as a Christmas gift. Yes, I know that this isn't a technology tool, but I thought it might be "geeky" enough to post here anyway. They have a built-in LED light on the side of each lens (and come with various magnification for those of us who might need it for reading ; - ) Perfect for planes, trains, and automobiles . . .

Click here to view these pictures larger

Slideshare Example

Offers users the ability to upload and share publicly or privately PowerPoint presentations, Word documents and Adobe pdf files. This is also a great tool for finding some PowerPoint presentations from experts in a variety of fields. I love the work of Joyce Valenza and found many of her presentations had been uploaded to Slideshare.

http://www.slideshare.net/

Reading20

View more presentations from joycevalenza.

My Shelfari Bookshelf

Shelfari: Book reviews on your book blog

Sample Voki

Voki enables users to express themselves on the web in their own voice using a talking character. You can customize your Voki to look like you or take on the identity of lots of other types of characters… animals, monsters, anime etc. Your Voki can speak with your own voice which is added via microphone, upload, or phone.

http:www.voki.com