NECC2008 Session: Free - the Price is Right

Here are my notes from the third of my favorite four sessions from NECC2008, The Price is Right: Free Online Resources for Educators, presented by Alma Row.

Handout available on del.icio.us/almarow - top link on right is PDF of all of the information she presented (something like 27 pages!)

Applications
Voki – creates audio animation
Dragnifier – allows you to magnifiy a part of the screen – it’s good for magnifying the website when showing it on a presentation
GoogleEarth – make tours
FlashEarth is alternative to Google Earth
Sketchup – CAD type to make 3D – free version for educators
SMART notebook can be used without the SMART board – demo of frog dissection (download education library, but it’s very large and takes some time – but worth it)
Moodle is free, but requires tech support (can create wikis, lessons, etc)
Skype – online video conferencing – IM on steroids
CamStudio (camstudio.org) – like Camtasia
Audacity
PhotoStory
Stellarium – like Google Sky
BlockCAD – electronic Legos
Yahoo Widgets

JourneyEd – company that sells commercial programs cheap for teachers, students, parents (have to prove you are a teacher)

Web-Based Opportunities
clipart of newspaper – Fodey’s Newspaper (www.fodey.com)
UStreamTV (www.ustream.tv)
Thinkature.com (concept mapping – chat and live audio if each has an account)
Gliffy – same thing
Bubbl.us – same thing
mypodcast.com – download software – record and click “publish” and it uploads to your account
Gaggle.net – email for students
SpellingCity.com
Visible body – biology (download one file, but everything else is online after that)
FotoFlexer.com – manipulate picture
PhotoShop Express – same thing (smaller version of PhotoShop)
StoryTop.com – online story telling
ConvertTube.com – download online videos (only one per 15 min time period)
ScribLink – online whiteboard (can share with others who have account)
Voicethread.com – digital story telling (online slide show)
Box.net – file transfer / storage site
MailCatch.com – temporary email (cannot send – only receive)
TappedIn.com – online community
Mosaickr (take photos from flickr and make a mosaic – need > 100 photos)
Weebly - ???
BeFunky.com – make cartoon from photo
Blabberize – take photo, cut mouth and create sound file and it makes the mouth move video (use photo with closed mouth)
Dumpr.net – make Rubrics cube etc from photo
Wordle – creates graphic

NECC2008 Session: Farmer's Market of Internet Resources

Here are my notes from the second of my top 4 NECC2008 sessions:

A Farmer’s Market of Healthy and Productive Internet Resources, presented by Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson
Website: eduscapes.com/sessions/farmer

Students should know the “Classics” websites and “skip the junk food”
get kids into the Zone while they are working – intense involvement

notetaking with google notes
build these sites into staff development and curriculum (instead of Google!)

check publisher websites (Scholastic, etc.)
TV networks (PBS, etc.)
newspapers often have lesson (New York Times Lessons)
state lesson resources (and even other countries)

Google for Educators – get involved with them
on google, you can search within a site – site:URL keyword (site:nationalgeographic.com Mayan)

Match needs and standards with web resources:
1 - what are the essential questions?
2 - how will you excite and motivate young people?
3 - what resources will help young people develop deep understandings?
4 - how will students communicate their understandings and reflect on the experience?

Students need to do more than just copy and paste information!

Think in a different way:
Finished vs. under construction (Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore)
Outside vs. inside (body, cross section of boat, candy bar, anything)
Famous people vs. orginary people
Big events vs. smaller events
National impact vs. local impact
The classics vs. the others

Examples:
instead of a picture of the statue of liberty, have them find a picture of it under construction
Mt. Rushmore – what order did the heads go up?
a famous building – look at inside instead of outside
human body – look at inside instead of outside
“The Ultimate Book of Cross-Sections”

Try it – open PPT – create a "think different" image archive
use google images to see unique examples
search a keyword and “cross-section” to find visuals
search line drawings, sillhouettes
on PPT – check size of image, cite source, copy URL into Speaker Notes

Compare: (Journey to the Center of the Earth novel vs graphic novel)
who is the author or sponsor?
what did they include? what did they leave out?

Government websites and resources
many government sites have multiple languages
you can search for images and news on the gov site (usa.gov)
usually a “kids version” of the page
government agencies (NASA, NOAA, CDC, NPS – national parks service, etc.) (email the park people during off-season and get a response, info, etc.
Libraries – library of congress, online archive of California, etc
Interactives – google search with keyword and “interactive”
Pathfinders take websites and add standards, questions, reviews of images, etc.