When I checked just now, I discovered that it was two years ago yesterday that I wrote my first post here! At that point, I had never subscribed to a blog and was blissfully unaware of the ‘edublogosphere’. I didn’t know what I was doing, and I had no mentor to answer my questions. All I knew was that I wanted to share some of the amazing free digital educational resources that I was discovering. Writing this blog has turned out to be a rewarding learning adventure, and I’ve learned far more than I could ever have anticipated!
The greatest reward for me by far, has been the online personal learning network I’ve discovered. I’ve become part of an amazing network of wonderful people, mostly educators from around the world, who have contributed in countless ways to my personal and professional growth. Professional development has never been more rapid nor more exciting for me. So in my 227th post, I want to say thank you! I’m thankful for all that’s been shared, for the ways that my thinking has been challenged, stimulated, and extended. I’m grateful, too, for the acceptance and affirmation that has been offered.
Kate Ahearn has just tagged me for a meme that is designed to help bloggers get to know each other a little better. I like that because I think our learning networks become even more meaningful and more powerful as we know each other better as people. At the heart of any network is relationship, and context makes relationship more meaningful.
When I started writing this post, I intended to “do the meme” here, but I’ll leave that for my next post. After that, I may even get back to writing about some of the amazing free resources available to educators online.
There was terrific news reverberating through the blogosphere yesterday. Ewan McIntosh, Jeff Utecht, and Michelle Eckstein‘ are just three among numerous bloggers who wrote about it. I’d like to add my echo here for the sake of anyone who might miss it elsewhere.
Animoto Education Program It was love at first sight when I discovered Animoto late last summer, and I’ve had a great deal of fun with it since. I wrote about Animoto back in October, and then in January. The free version of Animoto allows 30-second videos, but after making only a few 30-second creations, I willingly put down the $30 for an “All Access Pass” that allows me to put together and download an unlimited number of “full-length” videos for a period of a year.
Now, teachers are being offered the All Access Pass free of charge, along with the same pass for each class member.
Animoto is an application that allows you to use digital photos to create videos easily and quickly. The shots are “animated” according to the accompanying music that is selected. You can choose from a variety of music tracks built into the program, or you can upload your own sound track. (By uploading your own track, you have the option of including spoken narration.) Finally, if you aren’t satisfied with your movie, you can “re-mix” and create a new and different version with the click of a button.
The potential classroom uses of Animot0 are limited only the imaginations of learners and teachers. Please take a look at Voices of the World, a project where schools from around the world have worked together and used Animoto to share their national anthems. You can also check out an Animoto example, created in the UK by Doug Belshaw to stimulate interest in a secondary school history course.
As an itinerant, I don’t have my own class to work with; but I do present at, or participate in, numerous workshops for adult educators. Sometimes it’s fun to put together an Animoto video to share before the workshop is over. The first embedded example below is from a Linda Burkhart workshop in Vancouver in January. The second example illustrates a personal use of Animoto–to package and share family memories. This one was of a special day we spent recently with our son and grandchildren.
Loyal subscribers will notice that it’s been a while since my last post. I’m probably more sorry about that than you are. That’s because there is just so much that I’d like to write about! Sometimes, there are neither enough minutes in an hour, nor enough hours in a day. I’m back with one of those resources that has really grabbed my attention because of the potential it offers to all learners. Thanks once again to Molly, everyone’s favourite Demo Girl, for sharing it and for demonstrating what it can do.
Twiddlabills itself as a free “web-based playground” that requires no set up. Twiddla is indeed an online tool that offers a real time collaborative white board where people can work together to accomplish a variety of tasks with all manner of digital media. I think there’s also potential to use Twiddla as a presentation tool, as a study aid, and for creative expression.
For collaboration, Twiddla offers a whiteboard that can be shared by multiple users, as well as built-in audio and/or text chat that allows people to communicate conveniently while working together. In addition to putting whatever you want on the virtual whiteboard to brainstorm, or to create an effective presentation, you have the opportunity to bring web pages into Twiddla and to mark them up. It seems to me that marking up web pages is a terrific study aid for the learner or teacher who is doing or sharing online research.
Twiddla’s user interface is straightforward and extremely easy to use. Molly’s screencast at DemoGirl.com shares some additional features and does an excellent job of showing how it all works. I’ve embedded that here for your convenience. If you want to see a larger version of the screencast, you can do just that by going directly to DemoGirl.com.
This post is a significant departure from what I normally share on my blog. I’m not going to write about a free resource available on the net. Instead, I want to share a little inspiration. For a while, I’ve included a widget in the side-bar here that shows the last 5 videos I’ve added to my VodPod. That’s my somewhat eclectic collection of online video. For this post, I’ve decided to use my blog to share today’s video from Rocketboom.
New Design High appears to be a school where educators are implementing a bold vision that moves the context for learning beyond typical traditional boundaries. There is also evidence in the video to suggest that 21st century technology is being used appropriately and effectively to support learning and creativity. This is exactly as I believe technology ought to be used in all schools.
It’s almost 2 years since I started this blog, and if you’ve been reading it for a while, you will have noticed that it has evolved somewhat over that period. I hope you share my view that it has improved. Without a doubt, the biggest factor in any improvement has been the growth of my online personal learning network. The power of sharing simply cannot be overstated!
In response to my last post, “cerebraloddjobs“–well known to anyone who has ever had reason to go for help to the edublogs.org forums–left a comment with links to an incredibly valuable resource. I want to highlight that resource here so no one misses it. Now that I’ve had some help finding him, I can hardly believe that I haven’t been aware of Gizmo Richards until now. Apparently, there are more than 130,000 regular subscribers who want to know what Gizmo has to say.
Tech Support Alert is a website that deserves to be bookmarked by anyone who ever uses a PC. Gizmo’s site offers a wealth of invaluable information in the form of “how-to” tutorials, independent reviews, incredible lists of the very best available free utility programs, and much more by way of practical tech support.
“The 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities” is much more than just a list of terrific freeware utilities. Each program on the list has been thoroughly reviewed and is described in considerable detail. Alternative free programs are compared and contrasted. All information is current and is clearly dated. The list of software has been organized under 46 helpful headings such as “Best Free Web Browser” or “Best Free Digital Photo Organizer”.
In addition to what Gizmo offers on his website, he writes newsletters. Subscribers to the free e-mail newsletter have access to “The Extended List - 71 Additional Best-ever Freebies”.
Today I’m sharing something I found on tumbl’n teachers, a micro-blog that has become one of my favourite sources. I highly recommend subscribing to it. You might even want to consider becoming involved in contributing to it.
Freebyte’s Guide to Free Graphics Softwareoffers an extensive collection of links to sites where free graphics-related software is available. This is free software for download and installation on your computer. (The site does not link to online applications.) The majority of programs listed run in Windows, but there are some for Mac and Linux.
The list of programs is organized helpfully by category, as illustrated in the screenshots below. The quality of the listed titles I am already familiar with is generally high, so I expect it will be worthwhile to explore more of the software listed here.
SEN Teacher“…provides cost-free teaching & learning resources for students with special needs and learning disabilities.” That’s how this major repository of special ed resources sums itself up. (SEN is the acronym from the UK that stands for Special Education Needs.)
SEN Teacher offers a substantial collection of “printable” downloads. There are links to websites that provide information about a wide range of disabilities. There is also significant list of websites that offer free online resources. Jane especially appreciated finding links to Tinsnips and Ispeek here.
Finally, there are numerous links to freeware download sites. The free software listed here includes programs to help develop basic mouse and other computer skills, programs to practice switch use, programs that support curriculum, and much more. There are even a few programs by SEN Teacher itself (eg. 1-5 Counting, 3D Shape Venn, Buried 3D Shape, Girl Face Matching)
The screenshots below show the free programs listed by SEN Teacher and the helpful way in which these are organized on the site.
MES Englishoffers free printable resources that can be downloaded “for teachers of young learners” This includes flashcards, worksheets, and games, with the focus on language development. There’s also a forum here for users of the site, as well as the opportunity to subscribe to a newsletter.
The collection of downloadable vocabulary flashcards is probably the most impressive resource here, with over 90 sets organized into 60 themes. Since the emphasis is on spoken language, many of the flash cards are not labeled. Still, these can be used effectively to help learners find and use words on speech generating devices and for a multitude of other learning activities.
MES stands for Mighty Education Systems, and it turns out that it is but one of several related sites owned by a prolific resource creator by the name of Mark. If you are involved in elementary education, it is well worth taking time to check out what Mark has kindly made available free of charge. Here are links to his other sites:
Childtopiais a website from Spain that offers a collection of online early learning and primary activities that can be accessed in English, French, Spanish, Catalan and Basque. Chiltopia accurately claims to be a “safe place to play and learn”, with countless online activities and printable worksheets. The screenshot below shows the range of available activities. Helpfully, the name of each category is spoken as you mouse over its button.
I believe that the “Listen and Reading Comprehension” section is especially impressive. Beautifully illustrated stories are read aloud, with each word highlighted as it is read. Each story is accompanied by a set of comprehension questions that are also read aloud. Independent readers, however, have the option of reading the stories and questions to themselves. The “Tales” section offers 7 traditional fairy tales. These are illustrated and read aloud with the text onscreen, but text is not highlighted as it is read.
Apart from having the opportunity to purchase Childtopia’s activities on CD for use when you cannot be online, there is no advertising on this site. All activities on the CD’s can be used free of charge online.
I mentioned my colleague Jane Rondow yesterday, and the presentation she will be making in Winnipeg next month. Jane is a gifted special ed teacher who works with me as an assistive technology consultant with SET-BC. Like me, Jane is a proponent of the principles of UDL. Jane and I presented together at Closing the Gap last October. Now Jane has helped me write this post. Collaboration and working together is a beautiful thing. We plan to do several more posts together over the next few days. Thanks Jane!
Speaking Of Speech is a major online resource for speech/language pathologists and teachers who are “interested in the speech and language development of children”. It is a place where professionals can share ideas, lesson plans, materials, and even IEP goals.
Among other things, the materials exchange houses printable Boardmaker games, communication boards, and social stories that can be downloaded free of charge in pdf format. Some of the resources are helpfully organized by theme and according to school level. Your contributions to this exchange are encouraged, with clearly stated guidelines.
Pat Mervine, the experienced SLP behind Speaking of Speech, has created an invaluable resource that deserves to be well known.
