Monthly Archives: January 2009

Tech Tip of the Week: Drop.io

http://drop.io/

Drop.io   is a super easy online file-sharing or file storage tool.  You add a “suffix” to their drop.io/ web address and then you upload up to 100 MB of files.  You can share the new URL that you created with whomever you wish where they can download the file or comment on it.  As the creator, you can password protect this site and even give others the rights to edit the file you’ve uploaded.

Applications: 

  • Share this site with your older students who work on technology projects at home and try to transfer files to school.  Great substitution for the ever-virus-infected flash drives and no more excuses from students that the file size was too large to email to you from home.  
  • Or this would be great for those teachers who teach in more than one building…make sure your important files are uploaded and as long as you have internet access, all is well!  🙂 
  • Create a PowerPoint at home and it is too big to email to yourself at school…drop it here at drop.io and then access it once you get to work in the morning.
  • Have students working collaboratively?  Have them upload the group project and all who are given the URL can access to preview or if you choose the correct settings, they can even all have access to work on the project and save the newest version.

District In-service Comments: January 19, 2009

Personal Learning Networks (PLN…another great educationl acronym) using web-based tools like blogs, wikkis, and social bookmarking sites are a great opportunity to grow as a professional educator. Reading blogs is a wonderful place to start….leaving comments on blog posts is a logic next step. This post is here for you to participate by leaving a comment!

Take a few minutes to comment on what you’ve found valuable from today’s district in-service. Remember that your comments will be viewed by anyone using the internet. Think before you post. Keep your comments positive…if you have complaints or negative comments, this is NOT the place to put them, please. Mom’s rule holds true here: If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

If you’ve never posted a comment to my blog before, your comment will not show up until I have approved you for the first time. After I’ve approved your comments once, your comments will automatically appear in the future. After a couple of days, check back and read your colleague’s responses…continue the conversation if you’d like!

Some things to think about while you compose your comments:

  • What did you learn today that you’ll take back and use immediately?
  • Was anything you saw today a totally new idea for you? What are your thoughts on that concept right now?
  • What are you excited to learn more about so that you can implement it in your classroom?

Challenge:  After you’ve responded to this post, re-read some of the earlier posts on my blog and post your own comments there as well!

Bonus Tech Tip of the Week: Bookr

Bookr

http://www.pimpampum.net/bookr/

Awesome resource for making online books that search Flickr photos (an online photo storage and sharing site) and allowing students to post online. No registration required!  No account to create!  A URL is created after that can be put into blogs or web pages as links…or embed code to show a mini version of the book like this: (click the corners to turn the page)

Lots of great uses for students to “publish” work and have an authentic audience.  Idea for ELL/ESL learners:  Have student choose a topic, help them select the photos to use, then require sentences describing the photos to be added.  Post and share!

Tech Tip of the Week: Thinkfinity

http://www.thinkfinity.org/

This week’s Tech Tip focuses on Thinkfinity, a superb web portal for educators. Formerly known as MarcoPolo, this resource was revamped and renamed when Verizon took over its sponsorship. Thinkfinity is a great starting place to search for reviewed, reliable web resources from well-respected partner sites. The search field allows the user to narrow the search by grade, subject, state standard, or resource type (lesson plans, interactive resources, media, reference materials and others).

Partner sites that provide the content include: ArtsEdge, Read-Write-Think, Econ Ed Link, Sci Nets Link, EdSiteMent, Smithsonian’s History Explorer, Illuminations (from NCTM), The Literacy Network, National Geographic Expeditions, and The Verizon Foundation.

By learning to effectively use this educational portal when you’re searching for web-based resources, you can save the time and hassle of using a full-blown search-engine that returns unrelated or inappropriate sites that have a loose connection to your search term. Especially become familiar with those resources called “interactives” that fit your subject area as they are motivating to students and address learning styles that are difficult to reach through normal classroom strategies.

Tech Tip of the Week: News Paper Clip Generator

http://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp

Try this website for creating an image of a newspaper clipping that is so realistic you’ll be amazed.  The creator decides on the paper’s name, enters a headline and date and then writes the text of the “article.”  Clicking submit creates an image file that you can download and insert anywhere you’d normally use an image file.  Below is an example:

Just a little forwarning:  this website does have some advertising, and there are some other “creators” that may attract students’ attention that some would deem “unappropriate” (like a cigarette packet creator…probably not really school appropriate!).