Catch of the Day - SweetSearch - 9/8/2010

SweetSearch is a search engine designed to be appropriate for students.

35,000 Web sites have been evaluated and approved by a staff of research experts, librarians, and teachers for SweetSearch. Search results are evaluated and polished continuously by increasing the ranking of websites from organizations such as the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, PBS, and university websites.

SweetSearch makes it possible for students to find trustworthy information faster. Students can more readily determine the most relevant results from a list of credible resources. SweetSearch excludes marginal sites that seem tenable but lack academic rigor as well as spam sites.

By clicking the add-on button you can include SweetSearch in the list of search engines available in your browser's built-in search bar (Firefox, Chrome).

There are also SweetSearch and findingDulcinea widgets that can be embedded on your own blog, wiki, or website.

SweetSearch is just one of several products from Dulcinea Media whose goal is to help change the reality that most students cannot effectively conduct research on the Internet. Among their other products are SweetSearch4Me for elementary students and SweetSearch2Day, a daily curated start page for students. To learn more about all the Dulcinea Media products, click here.

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

Catch of the Day - BagTheWeb - 9/7/2010

Earlier this year, BagTheWeb launched as a website that enables users to curate Web content. You can easily create a "bag" for any topic to collect, publish, and share related Web content.

BagTheWeb features a Web curation tool called a "bag." With bags, users can collect, publish, and share curated Web content in a simple way. To create a new "bag" simply write a title and a description. Then put links into the bag any time. Rich media such as videos from YouTube and Vimeo, photos from Flickr, and Slideshare presentations can be added to a bag. Bags can be embedded into your own blog, wiki, or website.

BagTheWeb is a social network as well. You can follow people who have or recommend interesting bags.

On the Tools page, you can get bookmarklets for your browser  or iOS device to make "bagging" content quick and easy.

Take a tour of BagTheWeb

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

Shmoop PSAT Test Prep Launches

Shmoop today announced the launch of its online PSAT Test Prep service.

Shmoop PSAT Test Prep offers thorough review and practice questions for PSAT Reading (Sentence Completion, Short Passages, Long Passages, Passage Comparisons), PSAT Writing (Sentence Improvement, Sentence Errors, Improving Paragraphs), and PSAT Math (Numbers and Operations, Algebra and Functions, Geometry and Measurements, Statistics and Probability).

Additionally, learn …

• how PSAT scoring works
• test-taking strategies
• what to do the morning of the test
• when and how to guess

Shmoop PSAT Test Prep costs $19 per student for one year. Group rates are available to school entities on request.

Shmoop will donate 20% of its sales of Shmoop PSAT Test Prep to student groups and organizations who promote it by signing up and getting a promo code.

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

Catch of the Day - TxtBear - 9/2/2010

TxtBear lets users publish documents online. The goal of TxtBear is to provide a series of useful document tools and also to allow users to extend the platform using their own software.

TxtBear is very easy to use. From the home page, enter the URL of a document or upload one from your own computer. The document soon appears in the window of your browser. At the top is a simple viewing toolbar. If you click the share button, the Sharing Sidebar opens on the left. Here you'll find URLs, embed codes, and other sharing options including easy Facebook and Twitter sharing.

You can make a document private for encrypted, secure sharing with only the people you choose, or you can share it publicly on the Internet.

Just released last month, the TxtBearextension for Google Chrome lets Chrome users view PDFs and other documents right in their browser.

Supported Formats

TxtBear was founded in April 2010, and is in the beta stage of development.

Note: I was able to upload and share a document without creating an account.

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

Catch of the Day - CountryReports - 9/1/2010

CountryReports is a website offering more than 30,000 pages of cultural, historical, and statistical information.

The CountryReports content covers a broad spectrum of topics of value to students, parents, teachers, and researchers.

CountryReports country information is extensive and includes …

• Customs and Cultures
• Eating and Recipes
• Sports and Recreation
• Kids Life
• Fashion
• Family
• Religion
• and much more

On the Teacher Resources page you'll find bookmark templates, worksheets, and country Christmas ornaments. Use CountryReports to select multiple countries and compare selected statistical data in tables, charts, and lists.

A personal account is $18 (US) annually. School accounts range between $58 and $72 per year. CountryReports is available in Spanish, French, and German, as well as English.

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