Featured 5-22-2014: The Math Open Reference Project

 

The Math Open Reference Project is free, interactive math textbook on the web covering high-school geometry.

 

 

The Math Open Reference Project has the goal of providing high-quality digital content free of charge to the end user, while providing numerous benefits over paper textbooks:

• Accessible anywhere, any time.
• Interactive, interesting experience.
• Hyperlinks promote exploration and easy lookup.
• Use the search to look up a word or term.
• Interactive quizzes with instant feedback.
• Lower cost.
• Less weight.

Using interactive tools and compelling animations, The Math Open Reference Project provides an engaging way to learn and explore the subject. A vast library of virtual manipulatives can be used to demonstrate concepts using a computer, projector, and whiteboard. Students can use the same manipulatives themselves outside the classroom.

 

 

The Math Open Reference Project meets the NCTM standards for content and is aligned with the Common Core standards, but also has the potential to adapt to and comply with the standards for every state.

 

The Math Open Reference Project will work with most popular browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. The interactive illustrations use Java and/or Flash, so these plug-ins must be installed on the user's computer.

 

The copyright and license agreement permit any printing for non-commercial use, useful for class handouts.

 

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Featured 4-28-2014: Scrawlar

 

Scrawlar offers schools free cloud-based collaborative word processing that works on any smartphone, tablet, or computer.

 

Use Scrawlar to create, edit, share, and save documents on any web-connected device. No app, installation, or plugin is needed.

 

 

After creating and saving a document, students have the option to share with any classmates. They can also choose whether other people can edit or just view the original document.

 

As a teacher, create an account for any class. Add your students to your network, each student is assigned a password. Students login using the class code you provide and their unique passwords. No student signup or email is required.

 

Teachers can leave feedback right on documents, and parents can follow along in real-time from anywhere.

 

 

Scrawlar also offers an easy-to-use whiteboard interface that includes basic drawing tools and text.

 

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Featured 4-14-2014: Quizdini

 

Quizdini allows you to create fast, customized, entertaining activities that will help your students learn more while having fun with bright colors and a playful feel.

 

Quizdini was created by teachers for teachers to be an alternative to the costly and restrictive choices that currently exist in the online educational game market. Quizdini is a still evolving tool designed to allow you to create the material your students will use.

 

 

The games are referred to as quizzes. There are two multiple-choice game types, Quizdini and Vocabulary, question and explanation boxes in the multiple-choice games support the use of HTML, and as such, support links to online content.

 

 

Another game lets students drag-and-drop matching tiles together, an activity nicely suited to interactive whiteboards.

 

Quizzes can be shared with colleagues or students by copying and sharing the game's unique URL from your browser's address bar.

 

 Go to the Quizdini YouTube channel

 

Quizdini doesn't advertise or store sensitive information on your students. They have committed to providing teachers with a simple easy-to-use, easy-to-control system that helps students.

 

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Featured 3-27-2014: AirPano

Created by a team of Russian photo enthusiasts, AirPano is a not-for-profit project focused on high-resolution spherical panoramas shot from a bird’s eye view.

 

AirPano claims to be the largest resource in the world (by geographical coverage, number of aerial photographs, and artistic and technical quality of the images) featuring high-resolution aerial 360° panoramic photographs.

 

During next two years, AirPano plans to create aerial photo panoramas and virtual tours of more of the most significant places in the world. They currently have nearly 2000 aerial panoramas showing over 200 famous locations, including the North Pole, Antarctica, the Mariana Trench, and even the view of the Earth from the stratosphere. New virtual tours are published every week.

 

 

A spherical panorama can give you and your students a sense of being on location, where you can turn completely around and have a closer look at every detail. This can be especially effective when viewed on a large screen such as an interactive whiteboard. You can zoom in closer and examine objects of interest, or "fly" to a new location by simply moving your hand.

 

AirPano offers most panoramas in several different resolutions to accommodate the viewer’s internet connection speed and computer hardware. There are even panoramas suitable for mobile devices.

 

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Featured: 1-22-2014 StrataLogica

StrataLogica brings maps, globes, atlases, and charts to life in an environment where teachers and students can "actively engage with our multi-layered world and easily share content and collaborate in ways never before imagined."

 

Recently redesigned with one-of-a-kind content creation and collaborative features, web-based, and powered by Google Earth, StrataLogica is designed for use on computers, projectors, and interactive whiteboards. It has been used by thousands and has been well-reviewed by both educators and students. 

 

StrataLogica for the iPad is a free app where students can learning about our world with a tap or pinch of their fingers. Version 2.0 brings powerful features for creating content, collaborating, and sharing from the desktop to the iPad.

 

StrataLogica for the iPad features: 

• Tools (marker, symbols, text labels and pushpins) to add your own content onto geography, history, and earth science layers.
• Save and share custom views or presentations with school or district students or colleagues.
• Share content with anyone in the world via Twitter, Facebook, or e-mail.
• Teachers can initiate dynamic collaborative projects with students.
• Access e-book atlases and related student activities.

StrataLogica delivers a unique educational experience. Even without a school account, you can experience a sampling of StrataLogica's interactive layers for free.

 

 See a video overview of StrataLogica for iPad

 

The web version of StrataLogica is supported on all major browsers and operating systems. To view maps in 3D you need the Google Earth Plugin. The StrataLogica app is free and is compatible with iPads using iOS 6.0 or later.

 

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Featured: 8-12-2013 Sketchlot

Sketchlot is a web-based whiteboard for schools that allows teachers and students to connect, collaborate, and share.

 

 

Teachers create a sketch and share it with their students. The students mark it up and share it back. Any sketch created using Sketchlot can be shared with any member of your class, using the share feature.  Students can create pieces of work using their own devices and share it to you.

 

 

Teachers add students to their own Sketchlot account so no student sign up is needed. As a teacher you create an account with a unique class code. Next, add your students to your network. Your students will log in using the class code and their own password (which you can view and change).

 

 Watch a Sketchlotdemo

 

Sketchlot requires no plugin, installation, or app. It should work on any modern computer, smartphone, or tablet. 

 

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Featured: 5-21-2013 RealtimeBoard [Tools]

RealtimeBoard is an online tool for creating and implementing real-time visual presentation and collaboration.

RealtimeBoard online whiteboards can enrich your lessons:

• Use whiteboards to dynamically draw your lessons.
• Discuss the tasks with students either in or out of the classroom.
• Access boards any time from everywhere.
• Make a rich presentation to share with your class.

Create a new board from a template or from scratch. You can upload your own images or use images from the RealtimeBoard library of vector images. Add videos to your boards by pasting YouTube or Vimeo links. Use the mark-up tools to draw, create text, and make sticky notes.

RealtimeBoard works with Google Drive, too. Drag-and-drop files from Google Drive onto your boards. With a Chrome extension, grab images from websites and web searches right to the RealtimeBoard library.

 Watch a video demo of RealtimeBoard

Share your RealtimeBoard public boards, or keep boards private. Invite colleagues to share boards. Set access rights: editors can make changes to your boards, viewers cannot.

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Featured: 3/26/2013 GoNoodle [Health]

GoNoodle delivers refreshing brain-break games designed to be played in five minutes or less to your classroom projector or interactive whiteboard.

GoNoodle games are designed to energize and stimulate students in a variety of situations. Kids look forward to GoNoodle brain-breaks because they incorporate the game playing experiences they know and love.

The mix of interactive games and physical activity can help students get more exercise in their day. Practicing just four GoNoodle games a day gives students as much as 20 minutes of physical activity.

Watch a video: Welcome to GoNoodle

GoNoodle is a product of HealthTeacher, an interactive leader in youth health that creates games, apps, and othereducational resources.

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EXTRA - 11/2/2012 - ShowMe [iPad Whiteboard]

A special series of posts this week featured four iPad apps that can help you use your iPad effectively with an interactive whiteboard. While preparing the planned posts, I found another app worthy of mention, ShowMe.

ShowMe is a free iPad app similar to Educreations which was presented Wednesday. ShowMe allows you to record voice-over whiteboard presentations and tutorials and share them online. It’s an intuitive app that anyone should find easy to use with a minimal learning curve.

Features of ShowMe:

• Voice-record
• Multiple brush colors
• Pause and erase
• Import images
• Unlimited lesson length
• Free to upload to ShowMe.com to share your recordings with friends
• Easy embedding for sharing anywhere

Watch a video about ShowMe

There is really very little difference between ShowMe and Educreations. The most notable differences are that ShowMe has more pen colors, but as far as I can see, does not support making your videos private.

Also, it appears that ShowMe outputs to the web in HTML5 and Educreations is in Flash.

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COD - 11/1/2012 Doceri [iPad Whiteboard]

A special series of posts this week is featuring four iPad apps that can help you use your iPad effectively with an interactive whiteboard. Today's featured app is Doceri.

Doceri for iPad combines screencasting, desktop control, and an interactive whiteboard in one app. Create hand written or drawn projects on your iPad, using sophisticated drawing tools and the innovative Doceri Timeline.

Doceri allows you to backtrack to edit a drawing stroke, an inserted photo, or a hand drawn object at any time. Create, edit, replay, and refine your hand drawn or annotated presentation before you record, or record live during your presentation. Add an audio voice over as you record, or do it later.

When connected using wi-fi or an ad hoc wireless connection to your Mac or PC, you can access and control your desktop using Doceri on the iPad with the Doceri Desktop software on your computer. (You can present without Doceri Desktop via Airplay.)

Connect your Mac or PC to a projector and present anything from your iPad via the desktop software. Doceri’s one touch controls make it easy to control and annotate right on top of your Keynote or PowerPoint presentations, and save it as a Doceri project for future use. 

Still image captures, multi-page PDFs, or audio/video screencasts can be shared by email, iTunes, YouTube, or Facebook. Saving to the Camera Roll lets you share to any service you can connect to from your iPad or computer. 

Watch a video overview of Doceri

The free trial version of Doceri adds a watermark to the images, PDFs, and screencast videos that you share. To remove this watermark requires an in app purchase for $4.99 (USD). Requires iOS 5.0 or later.

>Similar apps you might want to check out:
Whiteboard Lite: Collaborative Drawing (free)
ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard (free)
Splashtop Whiteboard ($19.99)
Jot! Whiteboard Free (free)

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COD - 10/31/2012 Educreations [iPad Whiteboard]

A special series of posts this week is featuring four iPad apps that can help you use your iPad effectively with an interactive whiteboard. Today's featured app is Educreations.

Educreations turns your iPad into a recordable whiteboard with voice recording, realistic digital ink, photos and text, and simple sharing.

Simply touch, tap, and talk to create an engaging video tutorial. You might use Educreations to explain a math formula, create an animated biology lesson, add commentary to historical photos, or diagram a basketball play. If you’re a “flipped classroom” teacher, you can put your lessons on the web so students can watch them before and after class. You can tutor a student who can’t be in your classroom. Embed your Educreations lessons on your blog or website, or they can easily be shared through email, Facebook, or Twitter, so you can broadcast your ideas from anywhere to anywhere.  Students can view the videos on their own devices, or they can be easily presented on an interactive whiteboard.

Features of Educreations:

• Record and replay your voice, handwriting, and drawings 
• Create multiple whiteboard pages
• Choose from 10 different ink colors
• Add text to any page 
• Add photos from the iPad camera, Photo Albums, Dropbox, or the Web 
• Animate images by dragging them around while recording  
• Choose who can view your lessons (with an account) 

Watch a video demo of Educreations


Create a free account and share your knowledge with the world by posting your video tutorials on educreations.com. The Educreations app is free. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

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COD - 10/30/2012 SyncSpace [iPad Whiteboard]

A special series of posts this week is featuring four iPad apps that can help you use your iPad effectively with an interactive whiteboard. Today's featured app is SyncSpace.

SyncSpace for iPad is a zoomable drawing space that can be shared in real time over the Internet. It is a shared whiteboard that lets you sketch out your ideas in a nearly limitless, zoomable drawing space.

With SyncSpace's deep zooming you are not limited by the size of the canvas or the amount of space remaining in an existing sketch. You can zoom in to add detail or zoom out to add context to a drawing.

As a tool for collaboration, SyncSpace drawings can be viewed and edited by other SyncSpace users you invite by sending a link via iMessage or email. In meetings and schools, SyncSpace can discover and broadcast the existence of nearby shared drawings using Bonjour. There are no limits to the number of people who can collaborate on a drawing.

Drawings can be shared via Facebook, Twitter, your photo library, or emailed as PDF files. You can also send SyncSpace drawings to any iPad app that handles PDF files, such as Dropbox, GoodReader, Evernote, iBooks and more. Sketches can be displayed on a nearby AppleTV or any HDMI or VGA-connected display. Collaborate on drawings using SyncSpace or view them with zooming and real-time updates using a web browser on a computer, mobile device, or interactive whiteboard.


Watch a video demo of SyncSpace

SyncSpace Free is a free app. SyncSpace Pro is $7.99 (USD). SyncSpace app. The free version is identical to the Pro version in function but is limited to three drawings. Both require iOS 5.0 or later.

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COD - 10/29/2012 ScreenChomp [iPad Whiteboard]

A special series of posts this week will feature four iPad apps that can help you use your iPad effectively with an interactive whiteboard. Today's featured app is ScreenChomp. 

ScreenChomp for iPad is a simple doodling board with markers and one-click sharing tools to create a sharable, replayable video that helps you illustrate concepts and procedures with more clarity. Students can view the videos on their individual devices or they can be effectively presented on an interactive whiteboard.

ScreenChomp lets you capture your touch interactions and audio instructions on a plain background, or an image from your iPad's camera roll, from Dropbox, or take a picture. You can sketch out your ideas and talk the viewer through the “how” and “why”, then share your video to ScreenChomp.com and get a simple web link you can paste anywhere. 

 

It's easy for both teachers and students to create bite-sized, targeted lessons that can be shared online, again and again. Students can use ScreenChomp to help each other with homework and collaborate on projects. Teachers can present information and skills to kids who are away from school, or record a few tips to send home with them. If you are using the "flipped classroom" model, ScreenChomp can be a very handy tool.

Watch a video introduction to ScreenChomp

ScreenChomp was created by some innovative teachers with learning and idea-sharing in mind. The app is free and there’s no need to create or manage an account, just post and share. Requires iOS 4.2 or later.

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COD - 10/23/2012 - Textivate [ELA]

Textivate is a web app which allows users to automatically generate a variety of interactive browser-based activities based on any provided text.

 

 

Textivate is intended as a way for teachers to provide multiple interactive activities based on texts of their own choosing, which can then be shared with other educators and accessed by students.

 

Simply type or paste up to 500 words of text into the text box on the Textivate home page and click on the "textivate now" button to see all of the available exercises. Textivate automatically generates the exercises based on the length of the text you input.

 

 

Textivate also will generate an html code that you can use to embed that exercise into a blog, wiki, or web page.

 

Students are not expected to attempt all of the activities available for a particular text. Choose those activities which are most suitable to your needs and to the age and ability of your students. Textivate activities are well suited to use with an interactive whiteboard.

 

 

Watch a video Introduction to Textivate

 

Textivate is currently in beta. Anybody can use the website free of charge. However, some of the features require that you register.

 

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