Featured 6-4-2014: TeachUNICEF

 

TeachUNICEF is a collection of free interdisciplinary global education resources for grades PK-12.

 

 

The standards-aligned TeachUNICEF lesson plans, stories, and multimedia resources cover social studies, science, math, English/language arts, and foreign/world languages.

 

TeachUNICEF deals with many topics including Armed Conflict, Child Labor, Child Trafficking, Global Citizenship, Poverty, Water and Environment, and more.

 

 

The mission of TeachUNICEF is to "support and create well-informed global citizens who understand interconnectedness, respect and value diversity, have the ability to challenge injustice and inequities and take action in personally meaningful ways.”

 

TeachUNICEF strives to provide rich, engaging academic materials offering multiple viewpoints, thus stimulating the consideration of global issues.

 

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) works in more than 190 countries and territories to save and improve children’s lives, providing health care and immunizations, clean water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief and more.

 

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Featured: 2-19-2014 Timerime

TimeRime is a web application that allows users to create, view, and compare interactive timelines.

 

TimeRime timelines can be interactive and multimedia, incorporating text, music, YouTube movies, Google Maps, and so on.

 

 

The TimeRime online community allows people from all around the world to view, create, and compare timelines about anything that relates to time. For instance a timeline about a scientific development, or an historical event.

 

 

Visitors to the website can register for a free account allowing them to create timelines. Timerime Edu Standard offers the following additional features for an annual fee of €149 (about $200 US):

• Your own TimeRime environment with restricted access.
• Access for all students and teachers in your school.
• Unlimited number of timelines.
• No advertisements.
• Teachers have admin rights that allow them to view, edit or delete timelines of students, and to grant and deny access to students.
• Timelines can be saved as pdf.
• Smartboard compatibility.

 Watch a screencast showing how to use Timerime

 

Timerime is available in English, Dutch, and Spanish. Flash is required.

 

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Featured: 2-18-2014 TimelineJS

TimelineJS is an open-source tool that enables users to build visually rich interactive timelines. Create a timeline using nothing more than a Google spreadsheet.

 

Make your own interactive timeline in four easy steps:

1. Build a new Google spreadsheet using the TimelineJS template. Drop in dates, text and links to media.
2. Publish the Google spreadsheet to the web to generate a URL.
3. Copy and paste the spreadsheet URL into the generator box on the TimelineJS site.
4. Copy the resulting embed code and paste it into your site where you want your timeline to appear.

Media from a number of sources can be used with built-in support for Twitter, Flickr, Google Maps, YouTube, Vimeo, Vine, Wikipedia, and more.

 

 

 See a video walk-through of TimelineJS

 

TimelineJS works on any site or blog. All modern browsers are supported (as well as Internet Explorer 8+). It is available in 40 languages.

  

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Featured: 1-30-2014 Versal

Versal is a simple publishing platform with everything you need to create interactive courses.

Currently in beta, Versal lets you add text, videos, images, quizzes, and interactive learning gadgets. You may create on your own, or invite others to contribute to your course.

 

Versal brings interactivity to online learning through the implementation of customizable exercises called “gadgets” – simulations, charts and more. Drag and drop gadgets right into your course, no coding required.

 

Once you’ve signed up for a Versal account, follow the easy steps and your course will be up and running in no time. The course creator is a blank canvas, add gadgets, lessons, and more. Your work will be automatically saved as you go.

 

 

Once published, it’s easy to share your course with anyone. Right now, there are three main options: social media, email, or direct link. 

 

 View Welcome to Versal

 

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Featured: 1-29-2014 NOVA Education

NOVA Education is a collection of resources from the PBS science series NOVA. The purpose of the site is to bring science, technology, and engineering to life in educational settings.

 

NOVA Education’s free digital library is linked to teaching standards and includes video, audio segments, interactives, and much more. You can browse content by education topics such as Earth and space science, technology and engineering, and more. The library is also searchable by keywords.

 

You can sign up for Spark, the NOVA Education newsletter, to receive updates on new media resources for educators, upcoming NOVA programs, and on opportunities for you and your students. 

 

 

NOVA is the highest rated science series on television and the most watched documentary series on public television. Since 1996, NOVA has been working with journalists and scientists to put great original web-content online. Thousands of resources cover everything from string theory to the evolution of flight to how the Pyramids were built.

 

Note: NOVA Education is required to begin every video with a funder pre-roll, essential to supporting streaming video. For technical reasons, this has caused NOVA Education videos to be blacklisted at certain schools. 

 

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Featured: 1-28-2014 MathDisk

Create your own worksheets to visualize, interact with, and explore mathematics with MathDisk online.

 

MathDisk lets teachers and students explore mathematics in an engaging and interactive way with Natural Math notation, so students can simply type the expressions as they see them in their textbooks. 

 

MathDisk features:

• Type textbook expressions without any need for specialized syntax.
• Use drag-and-drop expressions to easily build 2-D and 3-D graphs.
• Enrich your math worksheet with rich multimedia, such as image effects and videos.
• Explore and correlate math and physics.
• Use step-by-step animation with narration to explain complex concepts.
• Easily share or embed worksheets online.

 

 

MiBook - Math Interactive Book runs on your desktop and is intended for offline use. It incorporates all the features of the online version of MathDisk along with built-in ebook features to customize your products. Create and organize your worksheets into pages, chapters, and books. Import worksheets from web into your local MiBook application. Browse your worksheets offline, edit them, and create new ones anytime.

 

Experience interactive math on tablets incorporating rich user interface elements and high definition mathematical graphs that capitalize on cutting edge 3-D capabilities. The MiBook Explorer apps are available for both Android and iOS.

 

 See an introduction to MathDisk 3.0 

 

MathDisk is a small, self-funded, start-up company which began with a passion for mathematics and an "idea that high-end mathematical software tools should be simple for novice users-like educators and students-to create content, collaborate, and learn effectively."

 

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Featured: 1-27-2014 The BioDigital Human

The BioDigital Human is a virtual 3-D body that brings thousands of accurate anatomy objects and health conditions to life in an interactive online platform.

 

Students now have a powerful new tool to learn anatomy and health conditions using the latest in 3-D technology.

 

 

Quickly understand the most complex anatomy concepts through the BioDigital Human interactive visuals that make learning fun and intuitive:

• Students engage with materials that are information-rich and highly compelling.
• Difficult concepts are made easier by exceeding the limitations of illustration and video to interact with the human body.
• Customize state-of-the-art 3-D lessons, share them with a few clicks of the mouse, and collaborate with peers.

 

There is no need to download or install anything. An automatic  compatibility test will run when you first visit the site to let you know if the BioDigital Human is supported by your computer. 

 

The virtual body is completely free to explore, over 5,000 anatomical objects and animations are openly available. There is a paid version, which provides access to a suite of interactive tools, including saving and sharing functions.

 Watch a video overview of the BioDigital Human

 

The free BioDigital Human iPad app is available through the iTunes App Store. It does not include all of the features found on the web app, but it does include bookmarking, the snapshot tool, and other unique features.

 

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Featured: 1-20-2014 Haiku Deck

Haiku Deck is a free iPad app that offers a simple new way to create inspired presentations for teaching a lesson or telling a story.

Intuitive touch controls let Haiku Deck users create, edit, and share presentations right on their iPads. Bold, clear visuals have been optimized for mobile displays. Haiku Decks can also be edited online in a browser and synched to your iPad.

 

Haiku Deck features: 

• Choose from a range of stylish, professionally designed themes.
• Multiline text layouts and font color choices for flexibility and variety.
• Powerful image search puts millions of images at your fingertips.
• Create beautiful pie charts, bar charts, and stat charts.
• Streamlined numbered and bulleted list templates.
• Import, crop, and reposition images from your iPad, Flickr, Instagram, Facebook, Dropbox, Google Drive, or Picasa.

In-app Public Notes lets you add context, supporting detail, and links to easily create a PDF handout or round out your slide content online. Capture talking points or a script with Private Notes.

 

 

View or present Haiku Decks with an iPad, a projector, a smartphone, or any web browser. Export to PowerPoint, Keynote, or PDF. Share decks via email, Twitter, Facebook, or embed in your blog or website.

  

 Watch an introduction to Haiku Deck
 

Haiku Deck is also available in German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, and Japanese. iOS 6.0 or later is required.
  

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Featured: 1-13-2014 eduCanon

Build and share interactive video lessons using eduCanon. Students can now become actively involved in what has traditionally been a passive experience.

 

 

eduCanon makes it possible to take any YouTube, Vimeo, or TeacherTube video content and embed rich, dynamic questions with explanations inside the video. As students watch the video, the content is segmented into more palatable components to increase student engagement.

 

You can discover quality content by searching through the eduCanon database of teacher-created video, or you can paste the URL of a YouTube, Vimeo, or TeacherTube video, such as screencasts, Khan Academy, Minute Physics, TED, NOVA, etc.

Any aspect of the lesson can be easily edited, even after you’ve built it, from the title, to the video itself, to the questions, and when they appear. 

 

 Watch an overview of eduCanon's Builder Environment Walkthrough

 

eduCanon Monitoring analytics can inform you about whether students actually watch the video (key to flipping classrooms), what concepts they struggled with, and who really needs help. 

 

eduCanon is a free web-based app and works on all major browsers, Google Chrome and Safari are recommended, however. It supports iPad use as well.

 

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Featured: 1-8-2014 Big History on H2

The Big History series on H2* poses questions and mixes history and science to change the way people view history.

 

Big History takes familiar topics and, by weaving science into the core of history, examines them in new ways that will have you rethinking everything you thought you knew.

 

 

The series creates an interconnected view of things that links history to multiple fields such as astronomy, biology, chemistry, and geology.  The first season ends with a two-hour finale that pulls everything we know about science and history into one grand narrative.

 

 View Not Your Father’s History

 

New episodes of Big History run Saturdays at 10 pm EST (11 pm PST) on H2.

 

*H2 is a digital cable and satellite television network featuring historical and popular science documentaries as well as pseudo-scientific entertainment programs and is a sister network of History Channel. 

 

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Featured: 1-7-2014 ChronoZoom

ChronoZoom is a free, open source timeline tool that allows teachers and students to create powerful interactive timelines that reveal new perspectives on history.

 

 

Unlike conventional timelines, ChronoZoom allows you to zoom in and out between a timeline that covers decades and one that covers billions of years. View Big History in a whole new way. Browsing through history on ChronoZoom lets you explore an array of historical data including articles, images, video, and audio.

 

 

ChronoZoom can help put historical events in perspective. There is a tendency to think of time solely in linear, sequential terms, thus hiding the scope of the breadth of time. If you use ChronoZoom to zoom from the Industrial Revolution all the way back to the Big Bang, you can see how that depth provides an entirely new way to visualize time and history. 

 

 Watch ChronoZoom: A Timeline for Big History

 

A great many resources have already been created in ChronoZoom. The timelines, exhibits, and tours have been created by authors from many disciplines, and express unusual and compelling views of history.

 

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Featured: 1-6-2014 Big History Project

The Big History Project is a free, open, online social studies curriculum designed for secondary schools (students aged 14+). 

 

Big history weaves 13.7 billion years of evidence and insights from science and history into a single, cohesive story. The Big History Project asks the big questions about our Universe, our planet, life, and humanity. Students can consider our future path and be challenged to develop the skills and knowledge they will need. 

 

 

The aim of the Big History Project is to help "students develop vital skills, knowledge, and a deep, enduring passion for learning."

 

Some features of the Big History Project:

• Materials that are easy to download, print, and share
• Lesson plans, inline teaching guidance, and support
• Custom content including videos, texts, comics, and animations
• Easily tailored to state standards and instructional approaches
• Aligned to Common Core ELA standards for 9th and 10th grades  

 Watch Big History Project: A Story for Everyone

 

 

The Big History Project is a joint effort between a group of dedicated teachers, schools, and supporters. Bill Gates is providing ongoing support to establish the Big History Project and make it free and publicly accessible. 

 

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Featured: 12-18-2013 Metta

Use Metta to create learning stories, documentaries, summaries, and compilations from videos, pictures, text, and sounds that are already on the web or upload your own material.

Insert polls and quizzes into your Metta stories, lessons, or slides to get feedback from your viewers. Get insights and track who answered your questions, when, and where.

A convenient Collect Button makes it easy to gather videos, images, and text wherever you’re browsing on the the web with just a click.

 See an example Metta story

Your Metta profile can be shared with your followers and you can follow other Metta users. Even build your own channel.

All Metta plans includes a 30-day free trial. The free plan allows you to create and publish an unlimited number of stories, but you get only 10 MB of media storage and are limited to just 10 responses per poll. If you decide to go with a paid plan, be certain to check the EDU Discount box for 50% off.

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