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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.

Twiddla bills 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.

FREE online resources and downloadable programs for learners.

I’m highlighting another online resource that has been around since before the advent of the Read/Write Web. According to the copyright date, it looks as though this site has been facilitating user-generated content since 2002. This is a site where teachers or parents can create interactive online learning activities, with an individual URL for each activity. Kudos to Kathleen J. Chamberlain and Mark Cogan of the Oswego City School District for being in the Vanguard of the Web 2.0 movement!

OSCD Ineractive Games offers a platform for creating and sharing a variety of interactive online learning activities. The user interface for creating the activities is straightforward and user-friendly, with very clear instructions. Each activity is saved and assigned a unique URL. This means the activity is available for multiple users, and can be used again for review or re-enforcement at a later date.

OSCD Interactive Games is perfect for tailor-making classroom activities with specific content. It is ideal for differentiated instruction where content needs to be varied. It is probably best suited for learners at the elementary level, with most activities being some variation on matching. A multiple choice quiz builder is also available.

Here’s the link to a simple matching activity that I created in just a couple of minutes. The screen shot below shows the user interface for creating this activity.

As a bonus, this site contains about 60 pre-made math drill activities. These may be used as-is, or they can be used as templates for creating your own activities.

Welcome to this Treasure Chest of Free Stuff.

FREE online resources and downloadable programs for learners and their teachers.

VoiceThread has been my favourite digital story-telling application since it first appeared earlier this year. That’s mainly because it’s so easy to either speak or write about images, and then share it all. This not only makes VoiceThread versatile, it also makes it accessible to individuals who face challenges with writing. The potential uses of VoiceThread by learners and teachers are unlimited.

Now they’ve made VoiceThread even better! This week, the VoiceThread team has introduced a “Pro” version that they are making available to K-12 educators free of charge. (While a powerful free version will continue to be available, at less than $2.50/month the Pro features are a bargain for anyone who is not an educator!)

I haven’t yet had a chance to try them all out, but here are just some of the new Pro features:

• the animated “Doodler” offers the ability to draw on an image while commenting;
• multiple identities for one registered user–excellent for classes or groups of students;
• expanded media uploading options–jpg, gif, bmp, png, ppt, pps, pdf, doc, xls, also directly from Flickr or Facebook;
• comment moderation;
• easier sharing and embedding options;
• enhanced ability to enlarge and project VoiceThreads on a large screen.

You need to go to VoiceThread and see for yourself, but I’ve embedded a couple of threads below that I think illustrate at least a little of VoiceThread’s potential–one done by a grade 5 class and the other from grade 1.

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FREE online resources and downloadable programs for learners and their teachers.

Today I’m featuring a remarkable resource that has been made available to the world by a school in Courtenay, British Columbia. This online library is a tribute to the vision, talent and effort of Stewart Savard, the school’s librarian. It so happens that Courtenay is where I live, and it’s an honour to know Stew, and to get to work with him on occasion.

Courtenay Middle School Library (online resource) The growing collection of digital resources housed on this Vancouver Island middle school’s website is truly remarkable. In addition to some resources that you can download, there’s an extensive and well organized catalogue of links to some of the very best online resources available anywhere.

There is much of value here to middle school learners and their teachers everywhere. By virtue of the multiple ways that users can access material on the site, and because of way the library identifies the reading level of the material, the library is built firmly on UDL principles. (UDL= Universal Design for Learning)

Downhill skiing has provided the model for rating the degree of reading challenge for each catelogued item, as illustrated below:

Material is organized by unit under main subject headings and sub-headings. For example, under Social Studies, there are four main sub-headings: History; Current Events; Geography; Research Topics. Under History, you then find the following units: Ancient China; Ancient Egypt; Ancient Greece; Early Humans; Indian Empires; Mesopotamia; Middle Ages; Mongol Empire; Renaissance; Roman Empire. For each of these units, resources are organized under a helpful Table of Contents.

There’s a terrific Free Audio Book collection, with links to audio files of recorded human readers. There’s also a collection of novels available for “Assisted Reading“. The latter includes text files that can be downloaded for use with e-text reading software, as well as some KESI files that open in Kurzweil 3000. KESI files are available to download for some of the material catalogued under other subject headings as well.

There is much more at Courtenay Middle School’s online library, but no description I offer would do it justice. It needs to be explored and used to be fully appreciated.

Welcome to this Treasure Chest of Free Stuff.

FREE online resources and downloadable programs for learners and their teachers.

I seldom get as excited when testing a new resource as I did when I checked out Jing. For both usefulness and ease of use, it would be hard to beat! This one’s another crossover that blends an installed program with some Web 2.0 functionality. The one big caveat is that this resource may not remain free of charge after an initial period while it is “tested” by the public.

Jing This is a powerful program from TechSmith, the company behind Camtasia. Jing makes it easy to capture still screen images or to create video screencasts, and then share them. This is invaluable if you want to help anyone else learn to use software, or do anything else on a computer.

With Jing, it’s a cinch to make a screen capture or a video that includes audio commentary. Once that’s done, the image or video can be saved to your computer and/or stored online. Jing makes it convenient to share the online version. You simply paste the URL into an email or chat and then send it along. Unless you are going to be sharing the screencast offline, there is no reason to save to your computer. You can go back to Jing any time to retrieve screencasts that you’ve made in the past.

The quality of both the audio and video on a Jing flash file is excellent. I used Firefox to open and view a screencast that I emailed to myself, and I was thoroughly impressed. The files you store on your own computer are just as good. Click here to check that out for yourself. I made a 30 second screencast just to show you.

There are numerous potential uses for Jing. You can use it to prepare a series of tutorials for a course. Or, you can use it for remote assistance when you can’t be there to help in person. When giving a workshop, you might want to leave your participants with a set of screencasts that they can go back to afterwards. I haven’t tried this yet, but I can even envision ways of using Jing for digital story-telling.

Kudos to TechSmith for providing us with a great resouorce! Let’s hope they decide to offer it indefinitely as a free resource to educators.

Welcome to this Treasure Chest of Free Stuff.

FREE online resources and downloadable programs for learners and their teachers.
In my previous four posts, I’ve highlighted four different online mind mapping applications. There are others to consider, but I’m going to leave it there because I think these four give a pretty good idea of the range that is available. Gliffy is another powerful app that can be used effectively for mind mapping, and I talked about Gliffy last October. Today, I’m discussing a related online tool with all kinds of potential for learners and their teachers.

WikiMindMap (online resource) This is not mind mapping software that allows you to create your own mind maps. Instead, it is a remarkable online resource that enables you to find and visually represent the links between concepts. Wikimindmap also provides a quick way to find more information about any related concept that is represented on its mind map. This can be used as a tremendous research tool.

You simply type in a term to get started. (Unless you need your results in another language, be sure to select “en.wikipedia.org”. The default language is German.) Then WikiMindMap searches Wikipedia, and uses what it finds there to create a mind map. The mind map below shows what WikiMindMap created when I typed in Web 2.0. Once the mind map is on your screen, you can zoom in or out and drag the mind map to position it where you want it.

When you drag your cursor over the central concept, you get a quick summary as shown below. When you click on the term, you are taken directly to the Wikipedia article on the concept. You are also taken to the relevant Wikipedia article when you click on any of the related terms. If you click on the green circular arrows beside a related concept, then that concept becomes the central one, showing other terms that are related to that.

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Welcome to this Treasure Chest of Free Stuff.

FREE online resources and downloadable programs for learners and their teachers.

Here’s the fourth in my series on mind mapping applications that are available online. Each is unique, and all are worth a look.

Mindomo (online resource) By contrast with Bubbl.us, Mindomo is a “full-featured” online mind-mapping platform. There are numerous available formatting options that allow you to customize the look of your mind map. Sub-topics can easily be collapsed or extended. Notes can be attached to any topic or sub-topic. You can embed links to websites. There are conveniently built-in collections of icons and images that can be used in your mindmap. You can also import images from the web, including your own images if they are stored on the web.

As is the case with the other online mind mapping applications I’ve discussed, Mindomo is designed for easy sharing and online collaboration. Mind maps are stored on the Mindomo server, and can be made available as you choose. As a bonus, Mindomo mind maps can be exported in a variety of formats: txt (plain text); rtf (rich text); pdf; image (png, jpg, gif). Mindomo will also import mind maps from Mindjet and Freemind.

It is a major plus that keyboard commands are available for all of Mindomo’s common functions. The Mindomo editing toolbar, shown below, has a familiar feel and is easy to use.

This figure below gives a pretty good idea of what a typical basic Mindomo mind map looks like, without any icons or images. This is actually the Mindomo tutorial, and it is probably as good a way as any to explore Mindomo.

It should be noted that Mindomo wants to sell you a subscription to a premium version. With the free “basic” version, however, you get almost all the functionality. You can’t export in Mindjet format, and you have to put up with a little advertising (just Google ads, as far as I can tell). Perhaps the greatest limitation with the free version is that you can only have 7 mind maps on the go at a time.

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Welcome to this Treasure Chest of Free Stuff.

FREE online resources and downloadable programs for learners and their teachers.

Today I’m writing about a third online mind-mapping application. The recent proliferation of online mind-mapping applications suggests that there is a widely felt need for it. Today’s example is distinct from the previous two apps I’ve written about, but as is the case with the other two, I believe this one has tremendous positive potential for learners of all ages everywhere. Bubbl.us has less “bells and whistles” than the other two applications I’ve looked at, but it is still a powerful and effective tool, and there is some appeal in its simplicity.

bubbl.us (online resource) This online mind-mapping application bills itself as “brainstorming made simple”. I think that’s a fair description. Bubbl.us is indeed simple, with an intuitive user interface. In essence, bubbl.us, enables you to visually represent brainstormed concepts and then web the connections and relationships between them. The net result is quite similar to the brainstormed webs that teachers create on chalkboards, and that students are sometimes expected to produce on paper. If you click on the thumbnail below to see an enlarged view, I’m sure you’ll see what I mean.

There are some notable differences between bubbl.us mind-maps and paper or chalkboard webs. With bubbl.us it is far easier to make changes. Colour coding is also much easier. Perhaps most significantly, with bubbl.us it is possible to work collaboratively with others who are not physically present and to then share your work widely. Code is provided for embedding your mind-map on web pages. The mind-map you create in bubbl.us can be saved as an image file for use wherever you might find a need that. You can, of course, print hard copies of your bubbl.us mind-maps as well.

There are some things you can’t do with bubbl.us that you can do with other mind-mapping applications. You can’t import images, and there are no icons available to include in your mind-map. Nor is there a free-hand drawing tool. Nevertheless, it is hard to imagine an easier way to brainstorm online, either individually or collaboratively.

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Welcome to this Treasure Chest of Free Stuff.

FREE online resources and downloadable programs for learners and their teachers.

This post is the second in my series on online mind-mapping applications. I’m having fun trying these out. If you are at all interested, I suggest that you sign up for accounts and try them out as well so that you’ll know what works best for you or what you can recommend for your students. One size definitely does not fit all in education, so it’s great to have a range of options to choose from.

Mindmeister (online resource) This is another mind-mapping platform that facilitates online collaboration in real time. Mindmeister does not have built in voice or text chat functions, but it recommends using Skype for real time conversation while collaborating. Use of Skype is facilitated if you add your Skype ID to your Mindmeister profile.

With Mindmeister, each mind-map starts with a central idea on a card in the middle of the screen. To this, you can add as many related concepts or “nodes”. as you wish. You can then add sibling “nodes”. Once a “node” is created, you can drag it and drop it wherever you wish. Mindmeister provides convenient tools for zooming in and out, as well as for re-positioning the mind-map in order to focus on specific parts of it.

It is easy to format font, style and colour. Mindmeister also provides a set of icons that can be used on their mind-maps. Much in the manner of Inspiration, you can even create notes and add them to the nodes. Another helpful feature of Mindmeister is the ability to keep track of revisions. If you wish, you can choose to be notified whenever modifications are made to your mind-map.

Mind-maps can be printed or exported. You can also import mind-maps into Mindmeister from either Freemind or Mindjet (other mind-mapping platforms) Mindmesiter has made it easy to add tags and then publish your own mind-map if you wish.

Click on the thumbnail below to have a look at the user interface and an example of a Mindmeister mind-map.

NOTE: Mindmeister is a free service, but they do want to sell you a premium version for about $4/month. You get this premium version for the first month. After that, you can only have 6 mind-maps on the go at a time. You also lose the ability to embed your mind-maps. Unless you pay for the premium service, you can also expect to start seeing some advertising.

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Welcome to this Treasure Chest of Free Stuff.

FREE online resources and downloadable programs for learners and their teachers.

Today I’m beginning a series of posts about online mind-mapping applications. Available options have grown rapidly in recent months. The potential of mind-mapping for both learners and their teachers is limitless. While mind-mapping is especially helpful for visual learners, it seems that mind-maps are of value to all of us. The best mind-mapping platforms are true Web 2.0 applications, designed to be shared easily. This means they are useful for both individual and collaborative efforts.

Thinkature (online resource) This is a shareable online mind-mapping application that is appealing both for what it can do and for its straightforward interface. Thinkature has kept things simple by not offering an extensive range of options. The tools that are available, however, make for very effective mind-mapping, with a great deal of built-in flexibility.

With Thinkature, you can pile cards on top of each other as well as cluster and connect the ones that are visible. It’s a snap to add graphics either from your hard drive or from the web. There is also a convenient tool for free-hand drawing. For the student who can be online in the classroom, Thinkature could be a terrific note-taking tool.

The picture below, from the Thinkature website, gives a pretty good idea of how it all works. The picture does not show the convenient chat functions that are built into Thinkature. You have the option of using text or voice to chat in real time while working collaboratively. Any changes made to a mind-map by any participant also appear immediately on all screens.

Mind-maps created in Thinkature can be made public, or they can be restricted to invited participants. You can also print your mind-map.

The following Thinkature video tutorial by “bclothie” appeared on Teachertube after I posted this. I’m embedding it here for your convenience.

Download Video: Posted by bclothie at TeacherTube.com.

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