Happy Holidays

The EDge21 Catch of the Day is taking a holiday break. I hope all of you and your families enjoy a pleasant holiday season.

COD will return on Wednesday, January 4, 2012. Yes, 2012!

And, what would Christmas be without the Griswolds?

COD - 12/20/2011 - Trello [Organization]

Trello is a collaboration tool that organizes your projects into boards using a list and card metaphor.

Organize your projects and tasks. Trello tells you in one glance what's being worked on, who's working on what, and where something is in a process.

Cards are for individual tasks. A card tracks something that needs to get done. Add attachments, embed video, assign users, add due dates, make checklists. Cards are organized in Lists. Drag lists into place to represent a workflow. Show progress by moving a card from one list to the next. A Board is a collection of lists. You can create a board for each project you’re working on. Add and start using a new board in seconds.

Trello is web-based and designed to go mobile. Nothing to download or install and it's free to use.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

COD - 112/19/2011 - Searcheeze [Curation]

Searcheeze users can search and curate content collaboratively. Collect, curate, and publish content about your favorite topics.

Collect text, images, video, and audio streams from the web with Searcheeze. Organize content in whatever way you like, even mix content from different pages. Contextualize content for added value.

Curate in groups and publish a magazine for each topic you curate. Share your work on blogs and social networks.

Searcheeze is the evolution of the earlier service known as Ibrii.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

The Rearview Mirror 12/17/2011

For those of you who may have missed a Catch of the Day or who didn't have the opportunity to look at some of them during this past week, here's a second chance.

Monday

21stCenturyLit.org delivers writing units that can be used to develop 21st century skills in English or social studies students in grades 7-12 (ages 12-17).

Tuesday

ElectroCity, from New Zealand, was developed to increase awareness among students of the basic aspects of such topics as energy generation, the cost of energy, and its environmental impact.

Wednesday

ClassParrot is a simple tool that makes it possible for teachers to reach their students in the same way their friends do. It allows teachers to exchange text messages with students and parents without disclosing anyone's phone numbers.

Thursday

Maths Office provides a range of lesson plans, schemes of work, homework sheets, tests and mark sheets for all levels of mathematics.

COD - 12/15/2011 - Maths Office [Math]

Maths Office provides a range of lesson plans, schemes of work, homework sheets, tests and mark sheets for all levels of mathematics.

Each Maths Office lesson plan has detailed objectives, activities, descriptions, and teaching points for each activity. Within the lessons you will find questions, extensions, practices, and progressions that are differentiated to aid and assist all abilities for all years.

The resources available from Maths Office include:

• Maths Lessons for levels 4-7
• GCSE Maths and A Levels
• Maths Themed Lessons and Schemes
• Maths Assessment, Homework Sheets, and Revision
• Differentiated Leveled Lessons

Their resources allow a comprehensive plan for the delivery and teaching of mathematics. The tools can be easily modified and updated to enable the math teacher to create or enhance their own lessons and schemes alongside quality lessons for all ages and abilities.

All Maths Office resources cover Key Stages 3 and 4 (11-16 years old) with Levels 3 to 8 that match all the strands of the National Curriculum and APP for Mathematics.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

COD - 12/14/2011 - ClassParrot [Communication]

ClassParrot is a simple tool that makes it possible for teachers to reach their students in the same way their friends do. It allows teachers to exchange text messages with students and parents without disclosing anyone's phone numbers.

You add your class to ClassParrot, which then generates a unique code and phone number. Then share that code with your students and/or their parents. Students and parents must send a text message to that phone number to 'signup' for notifications for that class.

Teachers, students, and parents never see each other’s phone numbers. Replying to a text message with the word "stop" unsubscribes the student/parent from the class notifications.

The first 500 messages are free. Every month ClassParrot adds another 200 free credits to your account. You can also get 200 credits for each person you invite who starts using ClassParrot. If you need unlimited credits, there are paid plans for individual teachers or for entire schools.

Note: ClassParrot is currently available only in the US and Canada.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

COD - 12/13/2011 - ElectroCity [Energy]

ElectroCity, from New Zealand, was developed to increase awareness among students of the basic aspects of such topics as energy generation, the cost of energy, and its environmental impact.

The aim of ElectroCity is to spark an interest in and lay an unbiased foundation for later learning about these important energy industry topics. To this end, ElectroCity set out to make a fun and educational game that gives kids something different to do in class and to share with their parents.

ElectroCity players create and name their own town and work towards a balance of sustainable energy, city growth, and profit. Players have 150 turns to create their city, generate revenue, build power generation, and manage the resulting environmental impact while keeping their citizens happy.

ElectroCity is sponsored by Genesis Energy, a leading generator and retailer of energy in New Zealand.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

COD - 12/12/2011 - 21stCenturyLit.org [English, Social Studies]

21stCenturyLit.org delivers writing units that can be used to develop 21st century skills in English or social studies students in grades 7-12 (ages 12-17).

Being 21st century literate means students possess the skills need to succeed in school and the workplace in today’s world. 21stCenturyLit.org focuses on reading and writing skills with curricular units that can be taught using journalistic methods and new digital tools.

The skill focus of the 21stCenturyLit.org program includes:

• Digital literacy: search, read, and write for the digital community
• Information literacy: analyze information, sources, understand bias and copyright
• Citizenship literacy: web ethics, privacy, digital footprint

Registered users can comment on, print, download, or share lesson plans. The custom search can be used to find other K-12 curriculum topics on the web.

The authors of 21stCenturyLit.org are veteran English and journalism teachers, Stanford University Masters’ students studying technology integration in education, and researchers from interested companies.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

The Rearview Mirror 12/10/2011

For those of you who may have missed a Catch of the Day or who didn't have the opportunity to look at some of them during this past week, here's a second chance.

 

Monday

The Math Open Reference Projectis a web-based interactive math textbook with the goal of providing high-quality content free of charge with numerous benefits over paper textbooks.

Tuesday

Think Tutorialis a library of simple, easy to follow tutorials covering many common computing skills.

Wednesday

SeeMath.com is a website offering free animations that provide short, sharp, visual explanations of mathematical concepts.

Thursday

Math Game Time is a website presenting online math games and homework help for students in Pre-K through 7th grade (up to 12 years old).

COD - 12/8/2011 - Math Game Time [Math]

Math Game Time is a website presenting online math games and homework help for students in Pre-K through 7th grade (up to 12 years old).

Math Game Time was created by educators to help kids succeed in mathematics. With games they feel are fun, educational, and trustworthy, their goal is to provide a fun, educational playground to support students learning math.

In collaboration with actual teachers, Math Game Time has sifted through the web to find engaging and fun online math games, worksheets, and videos that are age-appropriate, relevant, and educational, as well as creating original content.

Browse Math Game Time by grade level (pre-k through 7) or by topics such as division, algebra, problem solving, etc. Keep up with what's new on the site by signing up for their free email newsletter.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

COD - 12/7/2011 - Seemath.com [Math]

 

SeeMath.com is a website offering free animations that provide short, sharp, visual explanations of mathematical concepts.

SeeMath.com is intended mainly for teachers of students ages 11-14 to use in the classroom. The math animations are ideal for use with an interactive whiteboard or projector. You can use the animations to help illustrate a concept or process for your class. Some of the animations even have optional step-by-step explanations. The option to view animations in full screen has just been added.

Students interested in strengthening or reviewing their understanding of math concepts can also find SeeMath.com useful. The site is totally free for everyone to use.

Seemath.com is the idea of Tal Greengard, an experienced mathematics teacher at one of Sydney’s top selective schools, who has an ongoing interest in animation and software development.

Note: Seemath.com is a Flash-based site.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

 

Graphing in Google

Graphing functionality has just been introduced to Google. See the graphs of mathematical functions right on the search result page. Type a function in the search box and you’ll see an interactive graph at the top of the search results page.

Features:

• Zoom in and out and pan across the plane to explore the function in more detail.
• Draw multiple functions by separating them with commas.
• Extensive range of single variable functions including trigonometric, exponential, logarithmic and their compositions.

This functionality is available in most modern browsers. I've tried it successfully in both Safari and Chrome.

COD - 12/6/2011 - Think Tutorial [Learning]

Think Tutorial is a library of simple, easy to follow tutorials covering many common computing skills.

An intuitive approach and design that keeps things simple and well organized is Think Tutorial's standout feature.

Think Tutorial currently includes nearly 1500 tutorials totaling over 60 hours of instruction on MS Office, Adobe applications, iWork, social media, browsers, and much more.

Think Tutorial is completely free to use.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

 

COD - 12/5/2011 - The Math Open Reference Project [Math]

The Math Open Reference Project is a web-based interactive math textbook with the goal of providing high-quality content free of charge with numerous benefits over paper textbooks.

The Math Open Reference Project uses interactive tools and animations to deliver an engaging way to learn and explore math. Teachers can discover new ways to teach students in a manner that is more engaging and can be fun.

The interactive and animated illustrations supply teachers with a library of "digital manipulatives" that can be used to elucidate concepts. Students can use the same manipulatives outside the classroom, facilitating better visualization and understanding of complex ideas.

Other features of The Math Open Reference Project:

• The URL of every page will never change.
• Printing anything for non-commercial use is allowed.
• Many problems and activities, with and without answers, are available.

In addition to meeting the NCTM standards for content, this reference work also can be modified to comply with the standards of any state if need be.

The Math Open Reference Project will work with all popular browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Safari. The interactive illustrations use Java and/or Flash, so they likely will not work properly on iOS devices.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

COD - 12/1/2011 - StudyStream [Foreign Languages]

 

StudyStream is a brand new website (debuted November 11) that provides a way to learn languages using online videos, news, and blog posts.

StudyStream utilizes several features toward the goal of delivering an integrated learning experience:

• Read along while watching videos with text that is highlighted as it is spoken to learn what it is being said and improve your listening skills.
• Sentence-by-sentence playback allows you to listen to a sentence as many times as you like.
• A translation is displayed side-by-side with the original text (limited availability).
• Instantly get the meaning of unknown words and phrases with pop-ups.

StudyStream creates exercises based on your personal study habits to help improve your memory, increase your listening comprehension, and deepen your understanding of the language you are learning.

StudyStream, currently in beta, lets you study the following languages: Spanish, Japanese, Italian, Portuguese, and English. More languages are promised for the future. StudyStream works best for learners whose native language is English, Spanish, or Japanese.

StudyStream is free. You can create an account using your email address or connect using a Facebook or Twitter account. Support for iOS and Android devices is expected soon.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

 

COD - 11/30/2011 - nSpaces [Tools]

 

nSpaces is a small, free utility that brings Windows users one of my favorite Mac OS X Lion features, Mission Control, which lets you create multiple virtual desktops and open different applications and windows in each one.

With nSpaces you can:

• Create multiple virtual desktops on your computer.
• Open different applications on each separate desktop to improve your productivity.
• Give a unique name to each virtual desktop.
• Set a custom desktop image for each of your desktop spaces.
• Set a different background color for each space.
• Protect your spaces with passwords.
• Hotkeys for everything.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

 

Classic Disney WW2 Propaganda Cartoons [Social Studies]

This collection of six World War 2-era propaganda cartoons from the Disney studios was compiled by MakeUseOf.com and could be an excellent resource in American history or media literacy classes.

These historical cartoons, many featuring Donald Duck, were intended to boost civilian morale and influence public opinion to support of the war.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Catch of the Day will be enjoying a Thanksgiving break for the next few days.

We'll be back on the evening of Wednesday, November 30th.

See you then and those of you on holiday, ENJOY!

WKRP Turkey Drop in 30

Seconds

Catch of The Day - Veengle - 11/22/2011

You can easily create and share compilations of YouTube videos with Veengle.

Your Veengle creations can be shared almost anywhere, on your website, your blog, Facebook, Twitter, or other social networking sites.

To create a Veengle compilation, find a video you want to use in your project and click on the "Open Video Editor" icon. Set the start and end times, then click on "Add to My Compilation". Repeat this process until your project is ready to go. View a preview, then save your compilation and share it with others.

Veengle is still in beta and will currently work only with YouTube videos. In the future, it is planned that users will be able to upload their own videos directly to Veengle.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

Catch of The Day - Brainshark - 11/21/2011

 

The Brainshark online video software platform enables users to create, share, and track Brainshark video presentations which run on a secure and reliable cloud-based infrastructure.

myBrainshark is a single-user version of Brainshark's core online video presentation product that can be used to create, share, and track publicly accessible presentations. It is meant to address the needs of individuals and small organizations. myBrainshark is free and nothing more than an email address is needed to sign up.

myBrainshark is also a social network where you can contribute content to a public library, engage with other authors, and browse thousands of titles.

Brainshark Mobile, which is included for myBrainshark users, enables access to Brainshark presentations from almost any iOS or Android mobile device.

Watch a video overview of Brainshark

myBrainshark Pro and myBrainshark Pro Trainer are paid upgrades starting at $9.99(US) per month that can be purchased on a monthly or annual subscription basis.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

 

The Rearview Mirror 11/19/2011

For those of you who may have missed a Catch of the Day or who didn't have the opportunity to look at some of them during this past week, here's a second chance.

 

Monday

dotEPUBis web-based software that allows you to convert any webpage into an e-book.

Tuesday

The Math Salamanders website is a large bank of free printable math worksheets as well as many fun math activities and games, flashcards, and fact sheets.

Wednesday

The DNA Learning Center(DNALC) prides itself on being the world's first science center devoted entirely to genetics education witha mission to "prepare students and families to thrive in the gene age."

Thursday

This I Believe is a global organization with the purpose of engaging people in writing and sharing essays describing the core values that guide their daily lives.