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View Google Docs for Learning on Scoop.It

I've put together a collection of resources for using Google Docs for Learning on Scoop.It and I'm always looking for more.

If you have ideas to share, please take a minute to complete my Google form and share.

 To experience Thinglink, roll your mouse over the Apollo 11 collage I created below to see where the hot spots are, then click on any of them to enjoy the multimedia.


Directions:

1. Go to the Thinglinwebsite and sign up for a free account.
2. Follow the directions on the site to install the widget on your blog or wiki.
3. Upload an image to Thinglink..
4. Click on the paper clip icon in the upper left corner to Edit Tags.
   
5. Drag your mouse across an image. You should see the crosshair tool, or plus sign.
6. You will be prompted to add a link to a website or video OR click the orange button to record with SoundCloud. A free SoundCloud account is required.
   
7. Repeat as often as needed.
8. Click the green Save button.
9. Click on the Embed Image icon in the upper left corner.
   
10. Copy the code.
    
11. Paste the code into your blog or a wiki widget.
12. Voila!

Uses in the classroom:

• Create a themed collage with links to multimedia resources to support all learners.
• Create a word cloud using Wordle, then turn the largest words into hot spots with links to more information.
• Use an image as a launcher with links leading to student-created projects.
• Post an historical photo and use 3rd party software, such as SoundCloud, to give students the opportunity to record their voices speaking from the person's point of view.
  
• Use a Thinglinked image to create a scavenger hunt or modified WebQuest. 

Of course, the possibilities are tremendous here. These are just some ideas to get you started.

Try Thinglink 

*Go to my wiki to view my favorite copyright-friendly images sources for students and teachers.

Google Art Project is an interactive website that uses the same street view technology you've probably seen in Google Maps to allows visitors to virtually explore museums and view hundreds of pieces of art. Even better, visitors can view them at incredible zoom levels to get even closer than you could if you were actually standing in front of the original painting. Visitors can even create and share their own collection of masterpieces.

A Few Ideas for Classroom Use
I have collected some interesting suggestions for classroom use and used Kwout to publish the screenshots and attribution you see below. Clicking on the link under each excerpt will take you to the full blog articles referenced, and in most cases lead you to more ideas for integration. Have some good ideas of your own? Please consider sharing them here through a comment.




Explore at googleartproject.com

Jog The Web is a cool tool that allows users to assemble tidy packages of web content. For teachers it can be a tool for providing students with easy access to guided learning.

The websites within a Jog are live and can be explored right within the page frame, which solves problems related to students getting lost within multiple windows. Even better, Jog authors can annotate pages within the Jog and also create original pages with unique content.

This appears to be a very promising tool for education because it's user-friendly, engaging and interactive.

View Sample: A Jog for teachers, featuring several Web 2.0 tools
Using Glogster to Construct Knowledge

Zoom.It is a free and user-friendly Cool Tool for embedding, viewing and sharing images. Just copy an image link into the box on the website and in return receive a link or embed code to your zoomable image. Click on the tools at the bottom of this awesome poster, published by The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, to experience Zoom.It as you think about the 4 C's.

As educators, most of us  recognize the benefits of using video for learning and we also realize that exposing students to the wide array of content available on YouTube can be dangerous. Finally, it's here... The YouTube.edu site!




Launched this week, the folks at YouTube appear to have been listening to teachers and edtech gurus. At first glance, I'm quite impressed with the new education site for many reasons. Here are the top three:

1. Teachers can now create their own YouTube channel on the education site for easy student access. They can organize and archive videos for future use, ensuring that the content is safe and educationally appropriate.
2. The site offers 10 ways to use YouTube in the classroom and they have hit upon many of the things I believe we should be doing to provide digital content to help all students succeed. My favorites include suggestions for differentiation, an example demonstrating how to solve math problems online to help students and their parents at home, and of course using video to facilitate The Flipped Classroom model. They've even created an instructional section on creating screencasts to help teachers get started.
3. The folks at YouTube are clearly well aware of the opportunities that exist for extending the walls of our classrooms and opening the doors 24/7 and they've done their homework to help teachers succeed.

Recently Google released a new version of its online presentation software and with it comes some additional features that have been available in traditional presentation software programs like PowerPoint and Keynote. Here are some of the highlights:

• Include transitions in between slides
• Use simple animations, or "flying text" 
• Link images
• Include tables with improved formatting options
• Draw directly on a slide to create flowcharts, mind maps and doodles

Besides for it's attractive and visual format, one of the biggest differences between Scoop.it and a traditional blog is that the creator can choose to simply collect and display content without having to write about it. Of course, users can add a post of your own too, but if you'd prefer to simply share, Scoop.it will do the trick.

Scoop.it is a  user friendly tool. Simply install the handy bookmarklet in your toolbar and collect information yourself, or use the suggested resources collected for you based on the keywords you submit when you crete your page. Scoop.it will find images and descriptions of the pages you choose to display, or you can add your own with a few more clicks. The most important thing to remember when using this tool is to keep it simple and stick to one topic.

Click to view my Sample Scoop.it - Cool Tools for 21st Century Learners

Uses in the Classroom:

• Collect resources at a variety of reading levels on a particular topic or area of study.
• Collect news resources from different countries and/or perspectives to expose students to a current event or issue from a global perspective.
• Create a page of related resources using a variety of multimedia to provide students with multiple ways to access information.
• Collect and display primary source documents all in one place to help students bring it all together.
• Create a page of student-created projects for sharing on the web.

Qwiki is a multi-media search engine designed to improve the way people experience information by appealing to users on a human level. A Qwiki search delivers content in the form of a narrated, interactive slideshow that tells a story. Although it's relatively new, there are millions of topics available for searching now.






Here is an example of Oak Park, IL, qwikied

View Oak Park, Illinois and over 3,000,000 other topics on Qwiki.

Try Qwiki for yourself

As an instructional tech facilitator my goal is to help teachers progress through the stages of technology adoption to get to the point at which they are using technology as a tool for learning, rather than using it as an add on to supplement traditional learning activities. To do that successfully, teachers must adjust their roles, moving from traditional teacher to learning coach or facilitator. Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams are a couple of innovative teachers who have developed an approach to teaching and learning known as The Flipped Classroom, which certainly supports the idea of teachers as learning coaches. 


At it's most basic level, The Flipped Classroom approach means front loading the learning and assigning the  prep work as homework in order for students to come to class prepared to use it. This means the classroom  becomes a place for collaboration, critical thinking, creativity and communication where the teacher serves as a facilitator who interacts with students, assesses them, and spontaneously pulls together groups for reteaching and challenge. The Flipped Classroom is a place where students are actively engaged in applying the learning and it is noisy and unpredictable. Worksheets as homework become obsolete and students no longer sit in the classroom listening to lectures. Essentially, The Flipped Classroom is a place where "the teachable moment" comes alive.

If you want to learn more about The Flipped Classroom, please watch the video below and also check out The Flipped Classroom Network, a social network where Flipped Teachers share their experiences and learn from each other. As for me, I am excited to Flip the professional development classes I'm teaching this summer.

Multimedia projects provide students with opportunities to acquire 21st century skills by requiring them to gather, integrate and synthesize information as they collaborate and communicate within a digital environment.  Effective multimedia projects require students to construct knowledge and use higher-level thinking skills to remix and present content. 
There are many free and user-friendly tools available for creating multimedia projects and it's hard to know which tools to choose. I used Scoop.It to put together a collection of my favorites to get the school year started

.
View my collection of Cool Toolsfor Multimedia Projects on ScoopIt

Culture is a very popular topic of study in our 6th grade curriculum. Larry Ferlazzo has identified some great photo resources for Learning About Different Cultures on his blog, Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...for Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL.  I decided to combine Larry's resources with ThingLink, to create a visual launcher to help students expand  their visual and cultural literacy skills in the 24/7 classroom.





A ThingLink Launcher

Comics are a powerful teaching tools that provide educators with engaging visual content to support all learners. Not only are the appealing and kid-friendly, they provide an opportunity for reluctant readers to visualize as they read, as well as providing a means for reluctant writers to communicate a story with a beginning, middle, and end. There has been a lot of attention focusing on the benefits of using comics in the classroom. Here are some resources for getting started:




Rationale for use:
Tom Hark and Lori Weinstein have created a list of ways comics relate to Multiple Intelligences on their Story Ark blog, which I have captured and republished here:

Spell with Me is a quick and easy tool that translates letters in words into Flickr images. Type in any word and this tool will generate one image for each letter and then provide you with the embed code to include the image on your blog or website. Use this tool to create eye-catching graphics for your digital resources or let students use it to reinforce spelling or vocabulary practice, but be careful not to overuse it, a little goes a long way.

Twurdy is a Google powered search tool that displays results at appropriate readability levels. Just enter a search term to get color-coded results which determine how easy the page will be to understand. This is certainly a useful tool to help all learners succeed and also a good tool to add to any teacher's toolkit of resources.

If you think the name of this search engine will be difficult to remember, perhaps knowing that it was derived from a play on words, "Too Wordy?", will help you remember it.

Try Twurdy