Featured: 4-30-2013 InfuseLearning [Student Response]

InfuseLearning provides a platform by which teachers can easily engage every student in real-time on almost any device.

Teachers can make informed decisions in the classroom with live, right now, student feedback using the InfuseLearning free virtual learner response system.

You can start using InfuseLearning right away with little to no training or installation. InfuseLearning has dedicated itself to developing powerful educational tools that are that are simple and easy to use.

Create many types of questions including True/False, Multiple choice, Open ended text, Numeric, Likert scale, even Drawn responses. Share questions with students using a unique room ID number.

Students anywhere can participate at the same time from any location through the Internet.

Watch: Infuse Learning Student Response System

The InfuseLearning Professional Learning Series offers on-site workshops and presentations, blended cohort sessions, technology infusion series, and keynotes and conference presentations.

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Featured: 4-29-2013 Autodesk 123D [3D Design]

The Autodesk 123D family of apps makes it possible for users to design, make, and share 3D projects on the web, using a computer, or with an iPad.

Autodesk 123D includes five apps: Design, Make, Catch, Sculpt, and Creature.

The 123D Design web app can be used on any computer with access to the Internet. Or, create designs and play around with shapes on your iPad. Powerful but simple creation and editing tools allow you to develop more sophisticated designs.

Make awesome objects with 123D Make. Select from stock 3D models, then experiment with different configurations, or upload your own and try out various construction techniques. Print the plans yourself,  cut-patterns and assembly instructions are automatically generated. Alternately, you may choose to have the parts cut precisely and delivered to you. Either way, you can then assemble your 3D project using simple tools like glue and pins.

Catch turns ordinary photos into 3D models. With Shape, push, pull, pinch, paint, smooth, grab, tug your designs into just what you want. Bulge, flatten, or refine your creation to achieve dramatic, comic, or frightening effects with Sculpt. Creature lets you design and 3D-print incredible characters right from your iPad.

Watch the video: Autodesk 123D: Create. Share. Make.

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The Rearview Mirror 4-27-2013

For those of you who may have missed an EDge21 featured post or who didn't have the opportunity to look at some of them during this past week, here's a second chance.

Monday

SlideShark is a free app that enables you to show PowerPoint presentations from the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch the way they were intended to be seen, with animations, fonts, graphics, hyperlinks, and videos intact.

Tuesday

GrammarBase is a free grammar checker and corrector, a free online spell checker, and can even help with dyslexia mistakes.

Wednesday

Gerald Aungst, Supervisor of Gifted and Elementary Mathematics at School District of Cheltenham Township in Pennsylvania, is developing a Common Core Toolkit for Principals.

Thursday

KnowRe is an online adaptive math learning program with the goal of helping students succeed in math.

Featured: 4-25-2013 KnowRe [Math]

KnowRe is an online adaptive math learning program with the goal of helping students succeed in math.

KnowRe hopes to achieve this by:

• Assessing individual strengths and weaknesses.

• Personalizing a curriculum for each student.

• Engaging students with game-like features, attractive graphics, and social learning.

KnowRe develops a customized curriculum that focuses on helping each user better learn the topics that cause him/her problems. To accomplish this, the student is given review questions, access to concept videos, and much more, all of which adapt as the learner progresses.

KnowRe’s curriculum is aligned to the Common Core State Standards, and is designed to provide the focus, coherence, and rigor required by the standards.

Watch a video introduction to KnowRe

KnowRe’s focus is to provide an engaging educational experience. Through the use of incentives like badges, points, and the ability to expand their math domain, all with stunning graphics, students engage with KnowRe and learning.

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Featured: 4-24-2013 Common Core Toolkit [Curriculum]

Gerald Aungst, Supervisor of Gifted and Elementary Mathematics at School District of Cheltenham Township in Pennsylvania, is developing a Common Core Toolkit for Principals.

Since January, Aungst has been presenting a monthly four-part package of resources and activities principals can use for their own, as well as their staff's, professional development.

The parts of each package are:

1. Think: A warm up article, blog post, or video to set the stage for a faculty discussion.

2. Share: Two activities principals can use with staff members during the month in faculty or team meetings.

3. Test Drive: A key instructional practice that teachers can try out in their classrooms without expectations.

4. Explore: Links to other resources with more information for those who want to dig deeper.

Though these Common Core Toolkit for Principals packages are mainly directed towards the particular needs of Aungst's own district, others might find them useful.

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

Featured: 4-23-2013 GrammarBase [English]

 

GrammarBase is a free grammar checker and corrector, a free online spell checker, and can even help with dyslexia mistakes.

 

 

GrammarBase checks for all types of grammar mistakes, contextual errors, modifiers, prepositions, punctuation, quantifiers, and more.

 

To use the free GrammarBase online grammar checker you don't need to register or download anything, just copy your text and paste it into the website and see your grammar mistakes highlighted. You will receive a detailed report identifying any issues and offering simple suggestions for improvements and corrections.

 

 

With GrammarBase’s spelling checker, you will get your spelling checked in context to ensure the right words are used in your document.

Watch a video demo of GrammarBase

The GrammarBase grammar checking tool can be a great help for those who are trying to learn English. Learners can identify the mistakes in their writing and learn how to correct them, thus improving their English skills.

 

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Featured: 4-22-2013 SlideShark [Presenting]

SlideShark is a free app that enables you to show PowerPoint presentations from the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch the way they were intended to be seen, with animations, fonts, graphics, hyperlinks, and videos intact.

SlideShark is easy to use. Simply download your slides to the app and then tap to play your presentation from your iOS device. Show your slides from the device or connect to a projector.

Key features of SlideShark:

• 100 MB of online storage free.

• File management with your own secure, cloud-based account.

• Offline access to presentations.

• iPhone remote control and laser pointer capabilities when projecting from your iPad.

• Presenter Mode – see your slide notes, timers, animation counter, and next/previous slides.

You can broadcast your slides in real time to remote or on-site viewers. Broadcasting lets you present your slides from your device via a web link. Since your slides can be seen using a web browser, people can see your presentation from any Internet-connected device. Note: After June 1, this feature will only be available in SlideShark Pro and Team Edition.

Watch a video introduction to SlideShark

After the presentation, SlideShark lets you share an online version of your slides and track your audience's viewing behavior.

I have recently posted about two similar products: ElectricSlide | Presefy

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

The Rearview Mirror 4-20-2013

For those of you who may have missed an EDge21 featured post or who didn't have the opportunity to look at some of them during this past week, here's a second chance.

Monday

Presefy is a just-out-of-beta web service which allows you to store and control your presentations anywhere you are. All your presentations are available and can be controlled via an Internet connection.

Tuesday

Widbook is an intelligent platform where authors and readers have the opportunity to share their best digital content with people worldwide.

Wednesday

GradeMark saves time and improves feedback through an online grading system where standard and customized annotations appear directly on the student's paper.

Thursday

Science NetLinks is a K-12 science education resource where you'll find teaching tools, interactives, podcasts, and hands-on activities, and all free.

Technical Difficulties

You may have noticed recently that the images have been lost from some posts. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. I believe the issue has been resolved.

Featured: 4-18-2013 Science NetLinks [Science]

Science NetLinks is a K-12 science education resource where you'll find teaching tools, interactives, podcasts, and hands-on activities, and all free.  

Science NetLinks provides K-12 teachers, students, and families with quality resources for teaching and learning science. All of the resources are Internet-based and free to everyone.

Standards-based lesson plans that incorporate reviewed Internet resources, and can be selected according to specific learning goals and grade ranges are the central focus of Science NetLinks. Each lesson uses research-based instructional strategies and is tied to one or more learning goals. Though written for the teacher, lessons include student-ready materials such as reproducible student sheets or online esheets. Many of the interactives, esheets, and tools work well on an interactive whiteboard or in a computer lab.

Science NetLinksTools are a collection of the best resources on the Web, including original interactive lessons developed by Science NetLinks as well as annotated reviews of the best STEM resources on the Web. Each Tool includes a description of the resources and suggestions for using them in the classroom.

Other content includes Collections compiled around a theme or topic, the latest Science News, 60-second Science Updates radio programs, and Afterschool activities grouped by age.

Watch the video: Science NetLinks: Science Resources for Teaching and Learning

Produced by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Science NetLinks is part of Thinkfinity.

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Featured: 4-17-2013 GradeMark [Assessment]

GradeMark saves time and improves feedback through an online grading system where standard and customized annotations appear directly on the student's paper.

By making it possible to provide students with richer feedback on their work, GradeMark helps instructors have better interactions with students thereby improving writing levels.

GradeMark offers five types of 'rich' feedback:

1. Reduce plagiarism with an Originality Report.

2. Quickly drag standard or custom marks and comments directly onto the paper using QuickMark Sets.

3. Voice Comments provide personalized audio feedback that conveys your 'tone' and clarifies comments.

4. Communicate clear expectations and speed grading with pre-loaded Common Core-aligned Rubrics, or create your own.

5. Write broader, in-depth General Comments to give students overall feedback about their papers.

• Comprehensive statistics and graphs help you analyze and identify areas of concern, or track improvement.
  

  
  

 Watch a video demo of GradeMark

GradeMark is completely online and available 24/7 through any modern web browser. GradeMark is a product of Turnitin.

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Featured: 4-16-2013 Widbook [Writing]

 

Widbook is an intelligent platform where authors and readers have the opportunity to share their best digital content with people worldwide.

On Widbook, you can begin a book from scratch or upload your already completed or in-progress content in order to publish it. The Editor Tool enables users to visualize their work and use features such as keywords, bookmarks, highlights, real time chat, and more.

Invite people to make comments and add suggestions to your work. Widbook is a creative way to share content and spread ideas. Give some suggestions to another author or add a comment to a book.

 Watch the video: Widbook - Write, read and share!

Using Widbook, friends can share and post their favorite books, stories, and comments on their social network. Find books, save the favorites onto your bookshelf, and follow the authors.

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

Featured: 4-15-2013 Presefy [Presenting]

Presefy is a just-out-of-beta web service which allows you to store and control your presentations anywhere you are. All your presentations are available and can be controlled via an Internet connection. 

You can broadcast and control your presentation using any web-capable mobile device. Presefy lets you use a smartphone or a tablet to stay in charge of the presentation, jump to any slide with ease, and more. Your audience can follow your presentation in their own browser, or a computer connected to a projector can serve to broadcast the presentation.

Store and share presentations securely in the Presefy cloud.  Presentations are ready to be presented anytime, anywhere. The basic plan limits you to having two presentations stored at any one time.

At the moment Presefy supports PPT, PPTx, and PDF. Presefy is designed with HTML5 so it is compatible with all platforms without any setup. There is nothing to download or install.

 Watch the video: Presefy - Go Mobile with your Presentations

The basic version of Presefy is free.  A Pro plan that will allow the storage of up to 20 presentations and other additional features is under development. 

Recently I posted here about a similar service, ElectricSlide, which is iOS app-based, whereas Presefy is browser-based and platform independent.

Note: I my trials of Presefy, I found that slides are presented in their entirety without support for builds and transitions. Also, there seemed to be an issue with images being cropped.

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