Rewordify: This user-friendly website allows you to adjust the reading level of a text. All you need to do is copy the webpage URL of the text you want to adjust and paste it into the yellow box at the top of the site, then click “Rewordify text.” Rewordify will simplify the text to the reading level you selected in the settings. If you don’t want the whole page to be Rewordified, you can copy, paste, and Rewordify text excerpts as well. You also can change how the text is displayed. My favorite part of the tool is to have simpler words displayed next to the challenging words that were in the original text. Finally, if you click on the “Print/Learning Activities” page, Rewordify will create vocabulary lists with definitions from the text, generate vocabulary quizzes for the text, and create close activities for the text. With this website, you can make more challenging texts accessible to all students.
SMMRY: This is a handy website that summarizes any text or webpage to the exact number of sentences you want. Like Rewordify, all you need to do is copy the text you want summarized and paste it into the box on the page, set the number of sentences you want, then hit the summarize button. You can also paste in URLs to summarize an entire webpage or upload files to summarize. What makes this tool even more user-friendly is you can drag the bookmark widget to your toolbar so that when you are on a website you want summarized, all you have to do his hit the SMMRY widget and it will summarize the page without even going to their website. I learned about this great tool via Eric Curts’ (@**ericcurts**) amazing blog, which every teacher should bookmark!
Viewpure: I use videos every day in my classroom. Most of these videos I access via YouTube. This can be a scary proposition for most teachers, as you never know what type of ads, comments, or suggested videos will show up. Viewpure takes the fear out of opening up YouTube in your class. All you need to do is copy the video URL and paste it into the box at the top and then click the purify button. The site then generates a new URL with all the clutter removed. Like SMMRY, Viewpure also has a toolbar widget. Just drag the purify button up to your toolbar. Then the next time you are on YouTube and want to use a video, just click the Purify button and it will remove all the page clutter without you having to go to the Viewpure homepage.
360 Cities: One of the greatest aspects of being 1-to-1 in a global studies class is that I can show almost instantaneously the places that we are studying via their laptops. One of the websites that I use frequently to do this is 360 Cities. I’ve found nothing fascinates students more lately than 360-degree imagery, and 360 Cities has 360-degree images from across the globe. Type the location you want in the search bar and I bet they have that location. I haven’t been shut out yet. 360 Cities has also recently added ambient noise to many of their newer panoramas. Finally, if you have VR sets, there is a VR setting that you can click so students can view through their VR devices.
Google Earth: I like nothing better to take my students to the location we are studying via their Chromebooks, and the relaunch of the new and improved Google Earth evolved what was once an underutilized resource into one of my most frequently used websites. What is awesome about Google Earth is that by clicking the pegman you can explore the location via Street View. We were studying Lagos, Nigeria, a couple weeks ago, and my initial activity was to have my students go to the city and traverse the city streets. As they did, they recorded what they saw as well as what questions they had. Their observations and questions launched our inquiry into the challenges Lagos is facing. Another cool feature of Google Earth is the Voyager tool. These tools are tours that give detailed information and stories about spots on the tour. We just used “Finding Home” in my class. This Voyager story describes the journey of Nourelhuda Altallaa, who fled her home in Syria due to the civil war. “Finding Home” includes text, photos, and video that document Nourelhuda’s dangerous trip from Syria to Verl, Germany. Google Earth is adding new Voyager tools all the time and they are an incredible resource for any Social Studies teacher.
Google Tour Builder: This is a tool that I just started using. It allows students to create tours very similar to the ones in Google Earth Voyager. Students just click the “add location” button and they will add a pin to Google Earth at that location. Students can add text to describe that location’s significance as well as photos and videos. They can change the order of the tour by moving the slides. If you are looking for samples of what tours could look like, check out the gallery on the Tour Builder website.
Pear Deck Flash Card Factory: I’ve never seen a game in which studying vocabulary was so much fun. For this game, students are paired with a partner. They must create flashcards for a list of words that you have uploaded. One student writes a sentence showing the meaning of the word while the other uses their laptop to draw an illustration of that word. Once they are both done, they submit their word for quality control. You review the completed cards with your class and determine which ones should be added to your flash card pack. If their card is selected, the team is awarded points. For an added bonus, you can upload these completed decks to be played using Quizlet Live. The directions to get started with Pear Deck Flash Card Factory can be found here. I learned about Pear Deck Flash Card Factory from Steve Wick’s (@**WickedEdTech**) outstanding edtech blog http://rechargelearning.blogspot.com/.
TodaysMeet: I was an introvert when I was in junior high. I hated to speak in class. I wish we had TodaysMeet. This is a backchannel tool that can enhance conversations in your classroom. I most frequently use TodaysMeet for Socratic Seminars. Instead of those in the outer circle taking notes about what was said, they to can participate in the discussion by typing their reactions to what the inner circle was saying, posing questions they have to the inner circle participants or include links to stories that either support or refute their claims. You don’t need to have a Socratic Seminar to use TodaysMeet, though; it can be used during classroom presentations, or you could split your screen as you show a video and have students react as they watch. Another great feature of TodaysMeet is you can print a transcript of the chat so you can review exactly what each student said.
Edpuzzle: This website allows you to make videos you are already using interactive. You can also turn them into formative assessments. Just upload a video you want to use or search their gallery of countless Edpuzzle videos that other teachers have already created. Once you upload your video, you can clip the video to only include portions of the video. You can also add audio narration or comments to the video. The coolest feature, though, is you can embed both multiple-choice and open-ended questions as well.
Listenwise: I am a huge fan of text sets, and I often want my text sets to include items that are not just articles or photos. Listenwise allows me to add great audio components. Listenwise has aggregated public radio broadcasts on a wide variety of subject areas. You can browse their collections to find relevant stories for your topic. Then just click the share button to get a link to take the students to this audio recording. Listenwise also provides discussion questions for each story as well as pre-made Socrative quizzes.
*11. Bonus Resource:GeoGuessr: If my closure activity ends early and I have a couple of free minutes before the end of the period, my go-to website is GeoGuessr. This website drops you in a location on Google Street View. You have to look around and observe clues in your surroundings before you try to guess where in the world you are. Then you drop a pin of your guess on the map in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. The closer you are to the location the more points you get. In addition to the default world game, you can choose other games about famous places or individual countries. Ed is one of our #worldgeochat bloggers. #worldgeochat is a professional learning network at its finest—a community of learners who work with each other and for each other.
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100+ Great Google Classroom Resources for Educators
Create some fun activities to review and create projects for specific concepts and content. Use these sites to engage your students for creating fun and engaging animations.
Doink – create fun animations with this incredible free animation / drawing tool
Canvastic – create simple animations on this free canvas
Zimmer Twins – creating animations for elementary kids
Anim8tor – create 3D animations while using algebraic and calculus functions
Assessment and Evaluation
Online assessment is optimal for a more paperless classroom environment. Students enjoy the chance for interactive online assessments. There are sites that allow you to make review flashcards and asses student learning. Sites where you can make and download rubrics are also available. These can then be linked or embedded.
Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or an indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input, such as sound or graphics. Creating something like this with concepts in the classroom would be amazing!!
ArtToolkit – Washington Univ. download and develop augmented graphic arts.
Some of my favorite tools for blogs in the classroom. Create a classroom blog so that students can share and discuss topics inside and outside of class. Believe it or not, kids will actually visit back often to see who is reading and responding. Reluctant classroom participants usually love this outlet to share ideas and new concepts. I actually heard one of my teachers say that her non-writers posted more than anyone on her reading blog. Sample Blogs – Academic Examples
WordPress- Easy to set up and monitor the comments on your blog. One of the best out there.
Creating charts in many classes can be a chore and if you don’t have Excel or know how to design a simple chart these tools can help you!
See what you think.
Many Eyes – upload data sets and create amazing looking data representations
Collaboration
Collaboration experiences assist with opening up the lines of communication for students, teachers, parents and communities. Students love to share with each other and others from outside of the class. They thrive on sharing their expertise and knowledge to people who are interested. Try using these tools when students are expected to work in groups and communicate to complete group projects. They will thank you for the experience. The great thing is that kids will have the 24/7 access to their work. They will not need to be sitting at a specific computer or network since all of these sites offer storage and interactivity.
Nota create interactive note pages that allow you to post docs, video, audio, maps and comments. edit together.
Notesake take notes together share and collaborate
Browzmi – browse the internet together. Great for collaboration and research!!! What a great tool!!
Weblin – download and install this simple app to create an avatar and search the web with others
Yoowalk – browse the internet with others, fun and interactive.
Kaltura – collaborate with this video tool. Create a video together.
A.nnotate- publish files and annotate them online.
Lefora- create a public or private discussion forum network
Collaborizeclassroom – a great networking resource for teachers to create a safe learning env. for kids
Twiddla- instant canvas for sharing, creating, chatting and more. Get started instantly!
Show Document - instantly collaborate on any document. Original doc is not altered just annotated.
Collanos – keep all of your files in one desktop area
Mixedink – create collaborative arguments or with your opinions and facts
flockdraw – draw and create together -invite and share on twitter
Thumbscribes – create collaborative poems, haiku, stories songs and more with this simple tool
Justbeamit – beam anything over the web simple drag and drop.
Communication
Allowing students to communicate and or chat during class or outside of class will open up the lines of communication between you and your students. Many of these resources allow for monitored chat rooms, quick webcam communications, and more. The nice thing is that you can create and open a room during class and then close it outside of class if you are worried about posts outside of class.
Skype in Education – download and install for quick video conf. purchase a webcam for about $35. Kids love showing off when doing reports, labs plays, demonstrations. http://education.skype.com/
Wetoku – create online interviews with people from anywhere in the world, share and publish
Anymeeting – create free online meetings or webinars for up to 200 participants. They say it’s always free.
Meograph – a new way to create 4 demensional stories, maps, pics, vids, audio, timelines
Canva ( http://canva.com ) is a great service for creating infographics, slides, and photo collages. On Canva you can create infographics, slides, and photo collages in much the selecting a template then dragging and dropping into place background designs, pictures, clip
art, and text boxes. Canva offers a huge library of clip art and photographs to use in your designs (some of the clip art is free, some is not). You can also import your own images to use in your graphics. Your completed Canva projects can be saved as PDF and PNG files.
Canva offers a free iPad app that works in much the same way as the web version of the service. Check out Canva’s education page ( http://bitly.com/ftcanva ) for lots of great lesson plans built around the idea of telling stories with visuals.
PicCollage ( http://piccollage.com ) is one of my favorite Android and iPad apps (iPad users should check out the PicCollage Kids http://apple.co/1HAtGXh) . It is a free app that allows you to quickly arrange pictures, video, text, and stickers into collages. From the app you can share your collage to Google Drive, Instagram, Facebook, Dropbox, and many other file sharing services. You can also simply save your collage to your tablet's camera roll.
Google Drawings and Google Slides can both be used to create simple collages. Into each service you can import images from your desktop or your Google Drive account. You can drag and drop images into any placement that you like. Both tools now include options for cropping
images and adding borders. Word art is available to use in each service too. When you're ready to use your collage in ThingLink, download it as a PNG or JPG file.
PicMonkey ( http://www.picmonkey.com ) is a browserbased tool for creating collages. PicMonkey provides image filters like those you find on Instagram, image cropping tools, and templates for building collages. PicMonkey doesn’t require students to register in order to use
the service. Collages can be downloaded directly from the site.
Once your students have finished their collages they can enhance them by using ThingLink ( https://www.thinglink.com/edu ) to add an interactive element to their collages. A video tutorial for that process can be found at ( http://bitly.com/ftcollage).
Thematic ( http://www.thematic.co ) is a service designed for building and sharing visual stories. Thematic allows you to display up to twenty pictures organized around a theme of your choosing. You can add one line of text to each image in your story. Your completed story is displayed in a vertically scrolling format with each of your images occupying all of the available space in your browser. Creating a Thematic story is rather easy. After creating an account you can import pictures from your desktop and or from Dropbox. I recommend
importing high resolution images as smaller images will become pixelated when enlarged to Thematic's full size. After importing your pictures you can add text and rearrange the sequence in which your images appear on your screen. Completed stories can be shared
publicly or kept private. Each public story can be shared via Twitter, Facebook, email, or by embedding it into a webpage.
Storehouse ( http://apple.co/1QfpNLM ) is a free iPad app for telling stories through images, videos, and text. Each story has a vertical layout reminiscent of a widescreen blog post. To create your stories you can import pictures and video from your iPad’s camera roll, from
Instagram, from Dropbox, and from Flickr. You can arrange the sequence of the media by dragging and dropping it into place. You can add text above and below each picture or video clip in your story. Completed Storehouse stories can be shared via email, Facebook, and
Twitter. Stories published through Storehouse are given their own URLs for online viewing.
Adobe Slate ( http://apple.co/1HABcBn ) is designed to help you create a visual story from the pictures on your iPad, from the web, from an Adobe online account, or from a Dropbox account. You start your story by importing a cover picture and writing story title. You then add
pictures onebyone and write captions for each. You can also write headlines for each image.
MyStorybook ( http://www.mystorybook.com ) is a nice online tool for creating short story books. MyStorybook provides blank pages on which you can type, draw, and place clipart. Your storybook pages can also include pictures that you upload. After signing into your
MyStorybook account you can start creating your first book. Click on the text fields to edit any existing text in the title and author fields. You can add more text by clicking "text" in the editing menu. To add a picture of your own select "items" in the editing menu. At the bottom of the "items" menu you will find an option to upload your own images. MyStorybook provides lots of stock imagery that you can place on a page or use as the background to a page. If you want to branchout beyond text and images, use the drawing tools on your pages.
Picture Book Maker ( http://bitly.com/ftpicturebook ) allows students to create six page stories by dragging background scenes into a page, dragging in animals and props, and typing text. All of the elements can be sized and positioned to fit the pages. Text is limited to roughly two
lines per page. Completed stories are displayed with simple page turning effects. Stories created on Picture Book Maker can be printed and or saved as PDFs.
Little Story Creator ( http://apple.co/1Rv3KU6 ) is a free iPad app that students can use to create multimedia stories on their iPads. The app was designed with students in mind and is therefore rather easy to use. On the app students can create multiple page stories. On each
page of their stories students can add images and videos, type text, draw, and apply digital stickers. Students can also record audio on each page to narrate their stories. The stories that students create on Little Story Creator are automatically saved on their iPads. Students do not
have to register on the app in order to use it or save their work. To share work students must have a parent or teacher login
and share the story.
Disposable Email Accounts – Use for New App Site Registrations
Create an account for these tools. No email… No problem. Use disposable email accounts to create your accounts.
Purpose Games – create and play games for topics that you study and teach
Immune Attack an amazing reality tour and game into the human body. Kids will never want to stop playing and learning!
Games4Change or G4C – a great network of experts and professionals passionate about learning through purposeful games. Join and learn about some amazing game platforms.
Deal or No Deal – play online Deal or No Deal games for reviewing fun information
Kodu – create and play your own virtual games with this Microsoft open source software
ClassTools - Create interactive flash games for class review.
Club Penguin and Webkinz – introduce your students to virtual worlds with these kid friendly environments. Allows for digital skill literacy and students can beging managing $, time, and pet responsibility. Writing prompts can be used with these worlds.
Java Math- interactive java base math simulations and examples
Tutpup- play simple math and spelling games for reinforcement, challenge other global players and beat the clock
Sploder – create and your own virtual games for others to play
Roblox – create your very own virtual world great designing for kids
Tweegee is a virtual world that mixes e-mail, personal organization, and Flash gaming. It centers on an anime-like avatar that users build part by part. kids can use similar building tools to make their own hosted site that comes ready-made with templates based on what the kids are interested.
Wumpa’s World – a fun site for young students to learn about the arctic
Fusion Fall – Cartoon Network a virtual game where kids can be avatars and play in virtual environments – PG13
Free Realms – a virtual game where kids can play games, buy pets and more A++ Problem Solving
Game Classroom – free fun games for K-6 students, review math, spelling, grammar and more!
Peace Doves – create peace before a nuclear fall out.
Pod Game – a real life threat and the player must remain calm to overcome it
Quest Atlantis an amazing multiuser game that is designed to enhance the lives of children while helping them grow into knowledgeable, responsible, and empathetic adults.
Re-Mission - play this fun game while destroying malignant cancer cells.
Danger Zone – students find a solution to a serious global issue
GWAP – games with a Purpose – amazing fun and purposeful
EVOKE is a ten-week crash course in changing the world.
Global Connections in the Classroom
Create connections with other classrooms from around the world. By joining these networks, you can search for global partners to connect and share lessons and experiences with. Create valuable international learning experiences for your students.
ePals create international connections through safe email and classroom project connections!
Global COIN – Global COIN allows international connections via the World Wide Web for researching and collaborating with different cultures and their societies.
Kidopo – create and draw with kids a coloring application for coloring pages, which simulates a real coloring experience
CB Model Pro – download for free and create 3D Models with an advanced look
Networking and Online Learning Communities
I will put some sites here that may overlap into other areas, but for the most part they are networking sites. Students can use these to communicate and network with peers and their teachers. Even professionals from around the world.
Collaborize Classroom – create a free safe online classroom in seconds, is free and will always be free!
Grouply – a better free alternative to social learning networks
Bloust – an exciting new networking tool for teaches who want an online classroom environment
Edmodo – create class microblogging networks for your students.
Everloop – create a free and very safe social network for kids!
Schoology – a great alternative to social networking with your students. Free and easy to set up.
MybigCampus – free site for learning and more! Check it out!
RCampus – an online learning management system for teachers and students
Dweeber – totally cool site for students to join to connect, learn and become gurus A++++
Muchenough – create free online learning platforms with a webcam and a shared writeboard
Note Taking, Graphic Organizers, Concept Mapping and Flow Chart Tools
Have your students take notes, create concept maps, and time lines online. Simple tools to use with computers in the room. A great way to engage your learners and share the information together.
Writeboard- create a board to write and collaborate. So simple and no strings. Check with RSS feeds.
Webnote – create an instant web page for class notes. An RSS feed is provided for keeping track of updates. Share the url to allow others to add information and notes.
Dabbleboard – instant collaboration in real time!! No registration required, simply share the link.
Scriblink– an instant interactive whiteboard, invite and use.
Evernote – download the apps for any platform and use it interchangeably
Popplet – create interactive concept maps for brainstorming
Slatebox – create a collaborative concept map and notes during your learning
Wallwisher- drop post-its on the page to discuss and share
Postica – create post-it notes and share easliy… twitter
Stickr – create post-its in your browser, annotate the web and share Stixy – create sticky notes in a collaborative way
Print What You Like – print only the information that you want on any website use the bookmarklet
Writtn – an instant note taking site that can be shared
aMap – argue your point – create an online argument…take a stand and get the juices and replies flowing
Shutterborg – create instant documents no sign up at all
Xmind – create and collaborate on projects and concept maps
VUE – Visual Understanding Environment – created by Tufts Univ. open source
Sketch Swap – create online notes or drawings in an instant
Primarypad a great site for kids who are brainstorming together
Crocdoc – upload files, edit, collaborate and discuss
Edistorm – a free online mapping or brainstorming tool for learning
Thinkfold – an online collaborative environment for thinking with others
Edhelper – printables for great graphic organizers
Simple Diagrams – a simple app for download, create diagrams easily with this tool
Yolink – plug in for your browser, collect and create citations for your online resources
Minutes.io – a great way to take notes and minutes for classes and meetings
Online Interactive Classroom Environments
Online classroom environments allow you to extend your classes beyond its walls. These environments are free, interactive and available for free. They provide extended content, communications and collaboration opportunities for teachers and students. See if you can use any of these.
Make your home page for your browser look and do what you want it to do. Customize your home page!! Put the content that you want at your fingertips…as soon as you open your browser!!
Podcasting can really assist students with more audio and verbal outlets for learning. Students can record learned content to a podcast site or store readings of text passages for a later time. Oral reports can also be recorded, stored and shared at later times outside of the class. Students who are often reluctant to participate in front of peers will create podcasts and audio recordings more readily than participating live in class discussions. Give these sites a try and see who participates. Allow students to share by writing or verbally relaying specific answers or reactions. They will really enjoy the experience.
Evoca- create a classroom channel and record or upload media files. Embed into sites or play directly from the channel.
Vfolio – create free online e portfolios for professional use
Wix – a website tool that allows for amazing digital portfolios
Backpack – create a free online class and get your students their own eportfolios
Mahara – download and install on a server. Freeware!
Presentation Tools
When creating presentations it is not necessary to purchase Microsoft Power Point. Create great looking presentations and gain 24/7 access to edit and share them. No need to use a thumb drive to bring your presentation to and from school. Give these sites a try. These are great tools for creating, sharing and collaborating on presentations.
Google Docs Upload or create and share new presentations
These networks are ones worth joining to learn, share and build collegial relationships. Connect your classrooms and students for global connections and real world learning.
QR Codes are a fun way to display information and have students use creative ways to display information. A great way to model responsible mobile use in the classroom.
QR Stuff – the best QR Code generator site, build, share and buy cool products
Mozy: Up to 2GB free storage. Requires a free download of the Mozy software; this helps you figure out which files to back up.
Omemo: Still in beta at the time of this writing. Works as a peer to peer network to create an immense virtual hard drive.
Box: Up to 1 GB free storage; pricing plans available.
DropBoks: Incredibly easy and simple to use – can upload up to 1 GB of your files here.
MediaFire: Probably one of the best free online storage sites out there. Not only can you upload files here, but they give you lots of extra options (MySpace help, folders, galleries, etc.).
in.solit.us: Requires free registration; lots of online storage plus neat features such as public file sharing.
divShare: Upload all kinds of files here, including multimedia. Includes integration with Facebook and WordPress.
Omnidrive: Up to 1 GB free online storage; integrates with Zoho and Snipshot.
I call them the Tubes, you know “YOU” and “TEACHER”. They are the rage in society and schools so why not utilize them for learning? Truetube is something a little different. A site where people share contriversial news events and where older students can discuss the nature of the video. Great for debates in class.
Youtube- upload and share videos made for class. Youtube Editor - edit and splice youtube vids
Teachertube- upload, share and watch education based videos only. Students could build demonstrations and more.
Truetube- watch and discuss real world contriversial news. Discuss and share thoughts!! Teen content not suitable for young ones.
Schooltube- upload and watch school related video and tutorials.
Studio 4 Learning – Learn and share about almost anything Amazing site!!!!
Grab-Tube – grab any youtube video and convert it.
Tutorialized – tutorials for just about any application
Virtual Field Trips
Google Earth - allow students to explore the world and create interactive GE field trips and vacations. This is one of the best strategies and works well. I personally used this in the classroom and students didn’t want to miss class.
Gigapan – create or explore panorama images from around the world. Similar to a virtual field trip.
CommunityWalk – create maps, save and share specific locations A+++
Virtual Worlds in Education
I do not always recommend the use of virtual worlds with students under 18. There are many of these sites that are not safe for kids. Just be careful introducing these to young students.
Also a nifty name for video podcasting. A great way to get students to share and present live. Create private classroom channels where students can broadcast content via a webcam and mic. Only share it with people you want. A great way to motivate kids to write, collaborate and communicate effectively.
Google Youtube – create live hangouts, and streams right from your computer.
Ustream.tv- create a live public or private video broadcast channel. They can be recorded, embedded, for later viewing.
Livestream – create a free channel for live video streams
Mogulus- very similar to ustream … create a free online video channel protect it with a password
So you want students to create a website and you don’t have Dreamweaver, Front Page or iWeb. No worries. These tools are so simple to use and easy for students to understand. They can build excellent looking web sites without knowing a thing about stand alone applications and code. A great way to start them on a web presence.
Google Sites- Easy and great for site collaboration and building.
Webnode- great design, easy to use and deveolop nice looking web sites.
Daftdoggy – visit the sites you need, record them and save
Wikis
Build and collaborate with these wiki tools. Allow students to create and share content. A great resource for building online information together. Create it together!
10 Free Tech Tools & Websites Every Teacher Should Know About
https://blog.education.nationalgeographic.org/2018/01/26/10-free-tech-tools-websites-every-teacher-should-know-about/- Rewordify: This user-friendly website allows you to adjust the reading level of a text. All you need to do is copy the webpage URL of the text you want to adjust and paste it into the yellow box at the top of the site, then click “Rewordify text.” Rewordify will simplify the text to the reading level you selected in the settings. If you don’t want the whole page to be Rewordified, you can copy, paste, and Rewordify text excerpts as well. You also can change how the text is displayed. My favorite part of the tool is to have simpler words displayed next to the challenging words that were in the original text. Finally, if you click on the “Print/Learning Activities” page, Rewordify will create vocabulary lists with definitions from the text, generate vocabulary quizzes for the text, and create close activities for the text. With this website, you can make more challenging texts accessible to all students.
- SMMRY: This is a handy website that summarizes any text or webpage to the exact number of sentences you want. Like Rewordify, all you need to do is copy the text you want summarized and paste it into the box on the page, set the number of sentences you want, then hit the summarize button. You can also paste in URLs to summarize an entire webpage or upload files to summarize. What makes this tool even more user-friendly is you can drag the bookmark widget to your toolbar so that when you are on a website you want summarized, all you have to do his hit the SMMRY widget and it will summarize the page without even going to their website. I learned about this great tool via Eric Curts’ (@**ericcurts**) amazing blog, which every teacher should bookmark!
- Viewpure: I use videos every day in my classroom. Most of these videos I access via YouTube. This can be a scary proposition for most teachers, as you never know what type of ads, comments, or suggested videos will show up. Viewpure takes the fear out of opening up YouTube in your class. All you need to do is copy the video URL and paste it into the box at the top and then click the purify button. The site then generates a new URL with all the clutter removed. Like SMMRY, Viewpure also has a toolbar widget. Just drag the purify button up to your toolbar. Then the next time you are on YouTube and want to use a video, just click the Purify button and it will remove all the page clutter without you having to go to the Viewpure homepage.
- 360 Cities: One of the greatest aspects of being 1-to-1 in a global studies class is that I can show almost instantaneously the places that we are studying via their laptops. One of the websites that I use frequently to do this is 360 Cities. I’ve found nothing fascinates students more lately than 360-degree imagery, and 360 Cities has 360-degree images from across the globe. Type the location you want in the search bar and I bet they have that location. I haven’t been shut out yet. 360 Cities has also recently added ambient noise to many of their newer panoramas. Finally, if you have VR sets, there is a VR setting that you can click so students can view through their VR devices.
- Google Earth: I like nothing better to take my students to the location we are studying via their Chromebooks, and the relaunch of the new and improved Google Earth evolved what was once an underutilized resource into one of my most frequently used websites. What is awesome about Google Earth is that by clicking the pegman you can explore the location via Street View. We were studying Lagos, Nigeria, a couple weeks ago, and my initial activity was to have my students go to the city and traverse the city streets. As they did, they recorded what they saw as well as what questions they had. Their observations and questions launched our inquiry into the challenges Lagos is facing. Another cool feature of Google Earth is the Voyager tool. These tools are tours that give detailed information and stories about spots on the tour. We just used “Finding Home” in my class. This Voyager story describes the journey of Nourelhuda Altallaa, who fled her home in Syria due to the civil war. “Finding Home” includes text, photos, and video that document Nourelhuda’s dangerous trip from Syria to Verl, Germany. Google Earth is adding new Voyager tools all the time and they are an incredible resource for any Social Studies teacher.
- Google Tour Builder: This is a tool that I just started using. It allows students to create tours very similar to the ones in Google Earth Voyager. Students just click the “add location” button and they will add a pin to Google Earth at that location. Students can add text to describe that location’s significance as well as photos and videos. They can change the order of the tour by moving the slides. If you are looking for samples of what tours could look like, check out the gallery on the Tour Builder website.
- Pear Deck Flash Card Factory: I’ve never seen a game in which studying vocabulary was so much fun. For this game, students are paired with a partner. They must create flashcards for a list of words that you have uploaded. One student writes a sentence showing the meaning of the word while the other uses their laptop to draw an illustration of that word. Once they are both done, they submit their word for quality control. You review the completed cards with your class and determine which ones should be added to your flash card pack. If their card is selected, the team is awarded points. For an added bonus, you can upload these completed decks to be played using Quizlet Live. The directions to get started with Pear Deck Flash Card Factory can be found here. I learned about Pear Deck Flash Card Factory from Steve Wick’s (@**WickedEdTech**) outstanding edtech blog http://rechargelearning.blogspot.com/.
- TodaysMeet: I was an introvert when I was in junior high. I hated to speak in class. I wish we had TodaysMeet. This is a backchannel tool that can enhance conversations in your classroom. I most frequently use TodaysMeet for Socratic Seminars. Instead of those in the outer circle taking notes about what was said, they to can participate in the discussion by typing their reactions to what the inner circle was saying, posing questions they have to the inner circle participants or include links to stories that either support or refute their claims. You don’t need to have a Socratic Seminar to use TodaysMeet, though; it can be used during classroom presentations, or you could split your screen as you show a video and have students react as they watch. Another great feature of TodaysMeet is you can print a transcript of the chat so you can review exactly what each student said.
- Edpuzzle: This website allows you to make videos you are already using interactive. You can also turn them into formative assessments. Just upload a video you want to use or search their gallery of countless Edpuzzle videos that other teachers have already created. Once you upload your video, you can clip the video to only include portions of the video. You can also add audio narration or comments to the video. The coolest feature, though, is you can embed both multiple-choice and open-ended questions as well.
- Listenwise: I am a huge fan of text sets, and I often want my text sets to include items that are not just articles or photos. Listenwise allows me to add great audio components. Listenwise has aggregated public radio broadcasts on a wide variety of subject areas. You can browse their collections to find relevant stories for your topic. Then just click the share button to get a link to take the students to this audio recording. Listenwise also provides discussion questions for each story as well as pre-made Socrative quizzes.
*11. Bonus Resource: GeoGuessr: If my closure activity ends early and I have a couple of free minutes before the end of the period, my go-to website is GeoGuessr. This website drops you in a location on Google Street View. You have to look around and observe clues in your surroundings before you try to guess where in the world you are. Then you drop a pin of your guess on the map in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. The closer you are to the location the more points you get. In addition to the default world game, you can choose other games about famous places or individual countries.Ed is one of our #worldgeochat bloggers. #worldgeochat is a professional learning network at its finest—a community of learners who work with each other and for each other.
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100+ Great Google Classroom Resources for Educators
The easy tool educators are using every dayby Vicki Davis
http://www.coolcatteacher.com/google-classroom-resources/
Web 2.0 Tools and Resources
(http://web20guru.com/by-category/)
Education Chats On Twitter
Education Chats on TwitterChrome Web Store
Chrome Web Store - Free ApsA Resource for Special Needs Students
A resource for special needs studentsResources by Category
Animation
Create some fun activities to review and create projects for specific concepts and content. Use these sites to engage your students for creating fun and engaging animations.Assessment and Evaluation
Online assessment is optimal for a more paperless classroom environment. Students enjoy the chance for interactive online assessments. There are sites that allow you to make review flashcards and asses student learning. Sites where you can make and download rubrics are also available. These can then be linked or embedded.Augmented Reality
Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or an indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input, such as sound or graphics. Creating something like this with concepts in the classroom would be amazing!!Blogging
Some of my favorite tools for blogs in the classroom. Create a classroom blog so that students can share and discuss topics inside and outside of class. Believe it or not, kids will actually visit back often to see who is reading and responding. Reluctant classroom participants usually love this outlet to share ideas and new concepts. I actually heard one of my teachers say that her non-writers posted more than anyone on her reading blog. Sample Blogs – Academic ExamplesCharts and Spreadsheets
Creating charts in many classes can be a chore and if you don’t have Excel or know how to design a simple chart these tools can help you!See what you think.
Collaboration
Collaboration experiences assist with opening up the lines of communication for students, teachers, parents and communities. Students love to share with each other and others from outside of the class. They thrive on sharing their expertise and knowledge to people who are interested. Try using these tools when students are expected to work in groups and communicate to complete group projects. They will thank you for the experience. The great thing is that kids will have the 24/7 access to their work. They will not need to be sitting at a specific computer or network since all of these sites offer storage and interactivity.Communication
Allowing students to communicate and or chat during class or outside of class will open up the lines of communication between you and your students. Many of these resources allow for monitored chat rooms, quick webcam communications, and more. The nice thing is that you can create and open a room during class and then close it outside of class if you are worried about posts outside of class.Conversion Tools
Convert Text to Audio- iSpeech – convert your blog, docs, rtf, rss and more to audio. Sound quality is pretty good.
- Online Conversion – convert anything
- Koyote – freeware for converting audio files and more
Convert Video and Audio FilesConvert Word to PDF and Vise Versa
- Convert PDF to Word
- DocRaptor - Convert to PDF
simple online free converterCelebration of Success – Award and Certificate Makers
Desktop Publishing
Dictionaries/Glossaries/Data
Digital Storytelling
art, and text boxes. Canva offers a huge library of clip art and photographs to use in your designs (some of the clip art is free, some is not). You can also import your own images to use in your graphics. Your completed Canva projects can be saved as PDF and PNG files.
Canva offers a free iPad app that works in much the same way as the web version of the service. Check out Canva’s education page ( http://bitly.com/ftcanva ) for lots of great lesson plans built around the idea of telling stories with visuals.
images and adding borders. Word art is available to use in each service too. When you're ready to use your collage in ThingLink, download it as a PNG or JPG file.
the service. Collages can be downloaded directly from the site.
Once your students have finished their collages they can enhance them by using ThingLink ( https://www.thinglink.com/edu ) to add an interactive element to their collages. A video tutorial for that process can be found at ( http://bitly.com/ftcollage).
importing high resolution images as smaller images will become pixelated when enlarged to Thematic's full size. After importing your pictures you can add text and rearrange the sequence in which your images appear on your screen. Completed stories can be shared
publicly or kept private. Each public story can be shared via Twitter, Facebook, email, or by embedding it into a webpage.
Instagram, from Dropbox, and from Flickr. You can arrange the sequence of the media by dragging and dropping it into place. You can add text above and below each picture or video clip in your story. Completed Storehouse stories can be shared via email, Facebook, and
Twitter. Stories published through Storehouse are given their own URLs for online viewing.
pictures onebyone and write captions for each. You can also write headlines for each image.
MyStorybook account you can start creating your first book. Click on the text fields to edit any existing text in the title and author fields. You can add more text by clicking "text" in the editing menu. To add a picture of your own select "items" in the editing menu. At the bottom of the "items" menu you will find an option to upload your own images. MyStorybook provides lots of stock imagery that you can place on a page or use as the background to a page. If you want to branchout beyond text and images, use the drawing tools on your pages.
lines per page. Completed stories are displayed with simple page turning effects. Stories created on Picture Book Maker can be printed and or saved as PDFs.
page of their stories students can add images and videos, type text, draw, and apply digital stickers. Students can also record audio on each page to narrate their stories. The stories that students create on Little Story Creator are automatically saved on their iPads. Students do not
have to register on the app in order to use it or save their work. To share work students must have a parent or teacher login
and share the story.
Disposable Email Accounts – Use for New App Site Registrations
Create an account for these tools. No email… No problem. Use disposable email accounts to create your accounts.Ebooks or Audio Books
Great resources for listening to royalty free and public domain publications. Excellent resources!Games for Education
Try some of these sites for reinforcing the specific skills and content. MORE About GAMES for ED and LEARNINGVirtual Type Games in Education
Create Your Own Games From Scratch
Games with Purpose – Purposeful Gaming
Global Connections in the Classroom
Create connections with other classrooms from around the world. By joining these networks, you can search for global partners to connect and share lessons and experiences with. Create valuable international learning experiences for your students.Keyboarding
Learn how to type online with these free online interactives.Mobile Tools for Learning
Multimedia
Video, Audio, and Image editing at your fingertips.Audio Production and Editing
Downloadable Video/Audio Resources
- Discovery Education
- Merlot Multimedia resources an amazing resource for tons of ed. resources
- Golden Classics Kiddie Records – an amazing collection of musical classics for public domain books.
- PBS Videos
- NeoK12 – a wealth of k-12 online educational videos
- Audacity – download and install a free audio mixing tool
- Animoto – create photo stories with audio
- Evoca- a free audio podcast channel
- Ujam - create your own free music in the cloud
- Vocaroo- record audio for free and send as email or embed on the net
- Vuvox- create an online audio channel
- Jaycut - create videos easily with your photos and video
- Jamstudio- create your own music and download it.
- Pinnacleshare- upload, edit and share your video
- Open Cast – a open soure free college lecture capture tool A++
- Snag Films – documentaries and a full collection of incredible life stories
- Splicd – snag and download only sections of youtube videos
- Keepvid – download the youtube vids for local playing
- Snagit – snag vids by techsmith
Free Audio Resources and Clips- Free Audio Clips- free clips to download
- Freeplay Music for presentations
- Soundsnap – free sounds to download and share
- Brainy Betty - Free Clips
- More Free Sound Effects
- 55 Great Websites for free Audio Clips
- Justhearit – Search for any song
- SpokenWord – Podcast Resources – listen and learn to some of the best podcasts on the net
- Spreaker – create a free online radio station and podcasts
- MP3 Cut – quick and easy mp2 editing tool
- Audiotool – create audio tracks right in your browser an extensive tool for great tracks
- Soundation – easily create and save free audio tracks online
- Creaza – wow what a cool site, create audio files, cartoons, movies and more. A++
Video Production and Editing / Screen Recorders- Jing – create video training as you record your desktop!
- VidiNotes – create notes for your video files
- Screen Toaster – instant screen recording tool
- Wetoku – meet, record, interview from anywhere share on twitter
- Capzles – wow a great tool for creating amazing multimedia timelines
- GoView – excellent and easy ap for screen recorders
- Eyespot / Jumpcut / Cuts – Online video editors
- Video Toolbox – edit your video collections for free
- Pixorial – create and share your videos socially
- Flixtime – create video with photos, it’s so easy!
- Viddler- upload, edit and share your videos.
- Climgenerator – create fun movie clips with your photos
- Jumpcut – create your own videos
- Kaltura – create and collaborate on your videos
- One True Media - share your photos in a video montage
- Masher – an easy way to mash it all, audio, video, photos and then share
- Voicethread - upload ppt. images and video and respond with comments
- Ustream.tv - broadcast live and record to your own free online channel
- Fliggo – create your own video site
- Seesmic – create online videos and share
- Mogulus – create a free online video channel and share
- Youcastr – create a free online sports channel – great for kids to write and share about their favorite sports!!
- My Studio - Free educational videos for download or streaming
- 5minutes – create a 5 minute demo or instruction
- VistaZoo- create free virtual tours on your own map portal!
- Screencast-O-Matic – record your desktop screen to create a demonstration
- Freescreencast- capture your desktop and share online
- Qik- video streaming from your cell phone
- Molv- video streaming from your cell phone
- Nimbb - create 30 second videos with your webcam download and embed
- WingClips- movie clips and trailers for inspiration and discussions
- Animation Resources for creating movies and more!
- Video Search Resources
- DoInk create free fun animations
- Xtranormal – create animated movies with this fun tool.
- Superflix Studio – add pictures and make movies easily with this tool
- Smilebox – create movies, photo stories and more with your pictures and video
Image EditorsNetworking and Online Learning Communities
I will put some sites here that may overlap into other areas, but for the most part they are networking sites. Students can use these to communicate and network with peers and their teachers. Even professionals from around the world.Note Taking, Graphic Organizers, Concept Mapping and Flow Chart Tools
Have your students take notes, create concept maps, and time lines online. Simple tools to use with computers in the room. A great way to engage your learners and share the information together.Online Interactive Classroom Environments
Online classroom environments allow you to extend your classes beyond its walls. These environments are free, interactive and available for free. They provide extended content, communications and collaboration opportunities for teachers and students. See if you can use any of these.Personalized Web Browser Pages
Make your home page for your browser look and do what you want it to do. Customize your home page!! Put the content that you want at your fingertips…as soon as you open your browser!!Podcasting
Podcasting can really assist students with more audio and verbal outlets for learning. Students can record learned content to a podcast site or store readings of text passages for a later time. Oral reports can also be recorded, stored and shared at later times outside of the class. Students who are often reluctant to participate in front of peers will create podcasts and audio recordings more readily than participating live in class discussions. Give these sites a try and see who participates. Allow students to share by writing or verbally relaying specific answers or reactions. They will really enjoy the experience.Polls/Surveys
Create classroom polls and surveys for students to respond. Assess student learning and concept attainment.Portfolios – Digital/Online
Presentation Tools
When creating presentations it is not necessary to purchase Microsoft Power Point. Create great looking presentations and gain 24/7 access to edit and share them. No need to use a thumb drive to bring your presentation to and from school. Give these sites a try. These are great tools for creating, sharing and collaborating on presentations.Professional Learning Networks
These networks are ones worth joining to learn, share and build collegial relationships. Connect your classrooms and students for global connections and real world learning.QR Codes Generators and More
QR Codes are a fun way to display information and have students use creative ways to display information. A great way to model responsible mobile use in the classroom.Research
Check some of the online resources to assist with factual information. Also find out if urban legends are really truth or legend.RSS Aggregators
Collect your favorite Headline RSS feeds and store and share them online.Search Engines
Social Bookmarking
Save and share your favorite web sites.Social Platforms in Education
Storage – online storage and for files
Studying and Help
Text <>Speech
Texting Tools for Social Learning
The “Tubes”
I call them the Tubes, you know “YOU” and “TEACHER”. They are the rage in society and schools so why not utilize them for learning? Truetube is something a little different. A site where people share contriversial news events and where older students can discuss the nature of the video. Great for debates in class.Tutorials for Everything
Virtual Field Trips
Virtual Worlds in Education
I do not always recommend the use of virtual worlds with students under 18. There are many of these sites that are not safe for kids. Just be careful introducing these to young students.Vodcasting – Video Broadcasting
Also a nifty name for video podcasting. A great way to get students to share and present live. Create private classroom channels where students can broadcast content via a webcam and mic. Only share it with people you want. A great way to motivate kids to write, collaborate and communicate effectively.Web Design
So you want students to create a website and you don’t have Dreamweaver, Front Page or iWeb. No worries. These tools are so simple to use and easy for students to understand. They can build excellent looking web sites without knowing a thing about stand alone applications and code. A great way to start them on a web presence.Webinars
Create online virtual classrooms for before, during and after classroom hours. Kids will love this opportunity for the time!WebQuests
Create engaging project or inquiry based activities with webquests. Constructivism in practice!Wikis
Build and collaborate with these wiki tools. Allow students to create and share content. A great resource for building online information together. Create it together!- Wikispaces – the best wiki tools aound!!
- Wikidotcom – a free service for free wikis
- Wetpaint- free wiki tool great for educators provieds the navigtion and page set up.
- Pbwiki- free wiki for anyone
- Bluwiki- another great wiki resource
- Wikimatrix – compare all the wikis
How to use wikis…Word Processing
Create share and collaborate at these sites. Build documents on the go. 24/7 access.Other Collections of Free Open Source Software
How Educators can use Twitter