Plus 5-23-2014: Explain Everything

 

Explain Everything is an easy-to-use design, screencasting, and interactive whiteboard tool that lets you annotate, animate, narrate, import, and export almost anything to and from almost anywhere.

 

 

Use Explain Everything to create slides, draw in any color, add shapes, add text, and use a laser pointer. Rotate, move, scale, copy, paste, clone, and lock any object added to the stage.

 

You can also add new or existing photos and videos. Import many types of files from Evernote, Dropbox, Box, Google Drive,email, and more. Export MP4 video, PDF documents, YouTube video, or XPLX project files.

 

 

No account is necessary to use Explain Everything and share creations.

 

 See a video overview of Explain Everything

 

The iOS version requires an iPad running iOS 5.1.1 or higher. The Android version requires version 4.0.3 and up.

 

Note: There are some functional differences between the iOS and Android versions.

 

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Featured 4-3-2014: Coggle

Coggle is a free, easy-to-use web application for creating beautiful informative diagrams.

 

Coggle users can quickly and easily produce attractive diagrams and share them with others to enhance collaboration. Classmates can work on diagrams simultaneously.

 

Key features of Coggle:

• Drag-and-drop images from your desktop into your diagrams.
• No limit to the number of images you can add.
• History mode lets you go back to an earlier version.
• Track who made what changes to shared documents.

 

The mission of Coggle is to "change the way that people work and collaborate forever, to make you more productive, and to make it easier to share information with others, and to do it in a way that's beautiful, and a pleasure to use."

 

 Watch a video introducing you to the basic controls for using Coggle

 

Coggle is free and promises that it always will be.

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Extra: 12-30-2013 MyndBook

MyndBook is for free form note taking. Brainstorm, organize, and review in the way that fits you best.

 

Jot down notes as they happen, organize them later. Note mapping employs both the analytical and the creative sides of the brain. Learn and brainstorm in a visual, non-linear way.

 

 

 See a Myndbookvideo demonstration 

 

MyndBook facilitates review and study. Generate flashcards, outlines, and presentations with just the click of a button. 

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Male Teachers: A Vanishing Breed?

According to this infographic from Busy Teacher, the lack of male teachers has become a global epidemic.

The graphic includes statistics supporting this proposition, suggested reasons for it, and potential solutions.

Click the image for a larger view.

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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Featured: 1/22/2013 Storyboard That [Storytelling]

Storyboard That is an innovative tool to help visually communicate ideas and concepts to quickly tell a story.



Storyboard That was designed to be fun and easy to use, implementing a simple drag-and-drop interface with hundreds of pieces of clip art that can be used.



Storyboard That is a great tool for students to collaborate. Students can discuss what they want their story to say, how to structure it, and what imagery to use.

Watch the Storyboard That Intro

Storytelling by creating a story in Storyboard That can be fun and exciting. The experience of rapidly creating a storyboard that looks good and tells a story from the students' point of view can be stimulating and thought provoking.

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Education vs Employment

This infographic from focus.com shows the relationship between education and earnings. A college degree is not necessarily a pre-requisite to having a well-paid career. Nor, does that degree guarantee a great income.

What is the "Flipped Classroom"? [Infographic]

You have probably heard a lot of buzz about "flipped classrooms" and have wondered what exactly this phrase means. This info graphic from Knewton will help you better understand this new concept.

Created by Knewton and Column Five Media

Catch of the Day - Diagramly - 6/23/2011

Diagramly is another free web-based tool for easily creating many kinds of diagrams such as flow charts and organization charts.

Diagramly is freely and easily accessible. There’s no software to download and install. You don’t need Flash installed to use Diagramly, it's built entirely in HTML and JavaScript and runs in your browser.

The Diagramly interface is very much like a desktop application and is easy to learn and use. Two pretty conventional toolbars featuring familiar icons are docked at the top of the window. On the left is a collection of object libraries including basic as well as more specialized shapes. Simply drag an object out of a library onto the drawing canvas. Diagramly seems fairly quick and responsive.

Watch a video demo of Diagramly

No account registration is required to use Diagramly. Just visit the site and start creating diagrams instantly. Saves go directly to your hard drive and can be formatted as XML, PNG, JPG, or SVG. You can print directly from the app, too.

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Catch of the Day - Diagramo - 6/16/2011

Diagramo is an HTML5-based (no Flash) web tool that allows you to create, edit and share diagrams with a user experience similar to desktop applications.

Diagramo can be used to create organization charts, diagrams, network diagrams, graphs, flow charts, and more.

No browser plugin or extension is needed in order to use Diagramo. Share your work and collaborate with anyone who has a web-connected browser. Export your diagrams as SVG, PNG, or JPG.

Watch a video demo of Diagramo

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Catch of the Day - Speaking Image - 4/11/2011

Speaking Image is a web tool for creating interactive images and sharing them with others.

Speaking Image is a web application which allows users to upload high-resolution images, add information to specific areas of the images, and use standard social network tools to interact with other users.

You can also create groups, add wikis, and control and manage collaborative work.

Find a list of video tutorials showing the basics on the Speaking Image help page and also on their YouTube Channel.

Things you can do with Speaking Image:

• Insert markers
• Draw lines and polygons
• Create wiki articles
• Share and collaborate

You need a modern browser with JavaScript support to use Speaking Image.

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Catch of the Day - QR Codes - 2/21/2011

 

Are QR Codes the Next Big Thing? I see a lot of questions in my Twitter stream on this subject. Rather than spotlight a specific website or product, the Catch of the Day is a little different today. I'm going to try to provide some information and answers about QR codes.

A QR Code is a two-dimensional graphic code, readable by QR code readers, often using mobile phones. The code consists of tiny black squares arranged in a square pattern on a white background. Information such as text, a URL, or other data can be encoded in a QR code image.

Scanning this image will display the above paragraph on your phone.

QR (Quick Response) codes originated in Japan where they are very common. They initially were used to track parts in vehicle manufacturing. They are now used to take information from an impermanent media, such as a magazine, a sign, a label, or a a poster and move it on to your mobile phone. Once the QR code is on your phone, you may see textual information displayed, be linked to a URL, or import vCard contact info directly into your phones address book.

QR codes can store and digitally present much more data (including URLs, GPS coordinates, text, etc) than a standard one-dimensional barcode. Another advantage of QR codes is that instead of requiring a dedicated hand-held scanner to read them, many mobile phones can scan and read them inherently or with free third-party apps.

On my iPhone, I use I-nigma as well as ATTScanner, and ShopSavvy (all free in the iTunes app store) to read QR codes. A list of QR code readers for the iPhone can be found here. For other phones try this list.

The use of QR codes is free of any license and anyone can visit any of several free QR code generating sites to create and print their own QR codes for others to scan and use.

Free online QR code generators: QRnote, Kaywa, Delivr, GOQR.ME

The use of QR codes in the educational community is in its infancy, but growing here are a few sources of ideas for using QR codes in the classroom:

• huffenglish.com
• 38 Interesting Ways* to Use QR Codes in the Classroom
• The use of QR codes in Education: A getting started guide for academics

If you have a novel use for QR codes in your classroom or school, please note it and share it in the comments.

Sources:

Wikipedia entry "QR codes", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code

Marc Lyne, What Is A QR Code And Why Do You Need One?, Oct 15, 2009, http://searchengineland.com/what-is-a-qr-code-and-why-do-you-need-one-27588

 

Catch of the Day - graph.tk - 1/28/2011

graph.tk is an open-source online graphing utility that plots mathematical functions and displays them in a visually pleasing format.

Some features of graph.tk:

• Plot multiple functions on a dynamically resizing grid
• High quality LaTeX rendering
• Numerically integrate functions and solve differential equations
• Use it even when you're not connected to the net
• Embed in your own site or forum

graph.tk runs in any modern browser that supports the new HTML5 Canvas element.

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Creately Online Diagramming Launches Desktop Beta

Creately is a popular online, easy-to-use, high value diagramming tool focused on making it easier for teams to work collaboratively on all things visual.

Earlier this week Creately launched their new Desktop Beta. If you like the online experience of Creately, you may want to give the Desktop version a try.

Creately Desktop Beta features:

• With Creately Desktop, you get online functionality rolled into your desktop app.
• Diagrams created online or using the desktop app can be synced across all collaborators and user accounts.
• You get to share your diagrams with your team and work on them offline.
• You can still access the hundreds of Smart Objects, the versatile templates, and continue to draw diagrams easily, even faster on your desktop.

If you try Creately Desktop Beta now, you'll get a discount on the official version when it is released. Creately Desktop Beta will stop working and you'll need to upgrade to the release version. But, if you choose not to upgrade to a full desktop license, your diagrams will still be available on creately.com.

Creately Desktop runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux computers with Adobe Air installed.

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Catch of the Day - DataMasher - 1/11/2011

With DataMasher users can mash up some government data to find out how states compare on important issues. Users can combine different data sets in interesting ways and create their own custom rankings of the states.

DataMasher helps users manipulate the voluminous amount of federal government data by creating mashups to visualize them in different ways and see how states compare. DataMasher is a tool that can be applied to situations where combining data sets and visualizing the result may be critical to understanding.

Most of the DataMasher data is pulled from Data.gov (an official website of the US government) and directly from federal government sites. Some comes from third parties that draw upon federal or state data sources.

Watch a video explaining DataMasher

DataMasher specifically states that they are not, of themselves, statistically rigorous. The validity of each mashup is the product of its creator.

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Aviary Education - Tools for Graphics and Sound

The online creativity suite Aviary now offers a selection of its tools in a free, education-safe, private environment, Aviary Education.

With Aviary Education you can ...

• Create private student accounts
• Manage assignments and projects
• Use any of four selected tools
• Access only school-safe content and images

The currently available tools are the image, vector, and audio editors and the music creator.

Aviary Education is presently on an invitation-only beta basis. You can request an invitation by clicking Request Free Beta and completing the form. An invitations will be emailed to you within a few days.

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First Steps in Troubleshooting: A Flowchart

This flowchart will walk you through the initial steps you should take to try resolving a computer issue before you contact the IT department or or your "geek" friend.

Catch of the Day - GeoGebra - 8 Oct 09

GeoGebra is today's freshly caught feast

GeoGebra is free, multi-platform dynamic mathematics software for learning and teaching. It has received several educational software awards in both Europe and the US.

GeoGebra Application Screenshot

GeoGebra is dynamic mathematics software for all levels of education that combines arithmetic, geometry, algebra and calculus. It offers multiple representations of objects in its graphics, algebra, and spreadsheet views that are all dynamically linked.

GeoGebra Help Screenshot

From the GeoGebra Help page you can access help documents in a variety of formats. Link to the GeoGebra Introductory Book, the Manual, Quickstart guide, and the GeoGebra community and workshops including the internationall GeoGebra wiki in 20 different languages.

GeoGebra Wiki Screenshot

The idea behind GeoGebra is to connect geometric, algebraic, and numeric representations in an interactively. You can do constructions with points, vectors, lines, and conic sections as well as functions and change them live in real-time. Furthermore, GeoGebra allows you to directly enter and manipulate equations and coordinates so you can easily plot functions, use sliders to investigate changing parameters, find symbolic derivatives, and use powerful commands like Root or Sequence

GeoGebra Application Screenshot

GeoGebra can be downloaded and run from your own computer or it can be run online as a Java applet.