Extra 2-28-2014: Kingsoft Office for iOS

In October of last year, I shared Kingsoft Office Free 2013,  a no-cost, powerful  Windows alternative to MS Office. Earlier this month, Kingsoft Office released an iOS compatible with for Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

Kingsoft Office is compatible with and allows you to read and edit Word and PowerPoint documents and has the capability to view Excel files.

 

Kingsoft Office can sync with popular cloud services such as GoogleDrive, Dropbox, and others; transfer documents to other Kingsoft users over Wi-Fi; sync documents opened to your account from either your device or desktop without using any cable connection. File management allows creating folders, copy, move, delete, rename, and save as.

 

 

Kingsoft Office is free from the iTunes App Store. It requires iOS 6.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

 

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The Rearview Mirror 3-1-2014

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.

 

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Monday

Grade multiple-choice tests with ZipGrade using your iPhone's camera as a scanner.

Tuesday

The Wordflex Touch Dictionary for iPad uses intuitive mind-mapping technology to turn word entries into dynamic trees that you can move, shape, rearrange, save, and share with touch gestures.

Wednesday

Gooru is a free search engine for education that makes it easy for K-12 teachers to discover topic-relevant content aligned to Common Core standards.

Thursday

The collections of several arts, heritage and cultural organizations are the stimulus for My Learning, a resource for teachers and learners.

Featured 2-27-2014: My Learning

The collections of several arts, heritage and cultural organizations are the stimulus for My Learning, a resource for teachers and learners.

 

Search My Learning for a resource by subject, age group, organization, or keywords. New resources are added frequently, so please check regularly for new subjects and topics.

 

For a full list of resources covering particular curriculum areas go to the subject tab. Subjects also covers topics such as Citizenship and Enterprise that are often taught with another subject. 

 

The Age group tab is categorized by the different Key Stages plus Lifelong Learning, Early Years, etc.

 

Resources on specific themes and topics can be searched for by entering key words and phrases in the 'keyword search' box. The search can be narrowed to images only if you choose.

 

The individual organizations that contribute to My Learning can be searched for by clicking the Contributing Organisations tab. This will bring up an alphabetical list all the arts, heritage, and cultural organizations that have resources on My Learning.

 

 

My Learning launched in 2006 as a pre- and post-visit resource for teachers offering an integrated approach to learning with museums. My Learning has gradually been expanded to include resources from across the UK.

 

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Featured 2-26-2014: Gooru

Gooru is a free search engine for education that makes it easy for K-12 teachers to discover topic-relevant content aligned to Common Core standards.

 

With millions of online resources available, teachers can organize learning playlists called collections to use in the classroom or to assign to students in a flipped classroom concept. Teachers receive direct feedback on mastery and progress as students study collections and answer questions,  allowing educators to differentiate instruction to meet individualized learning needs.

 

 

Users can contribute to an active community of teachers and students by sharing collections and best practices. Over half a million teachers in 140 countries and all 50 US states use Gooru to help students reach their full potential. Free learning materials can be found, rated, remixed, and shared.

 

 Watch Gooru: Discover, Organize, Teach

 

Gooru, developed by a non-profit organization whose mission is to honor the human right to education, is free of cost and ads. 

 

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Featured 2-25-2014: Wordflex Touch Dictionary

The Wordflex Touch Dictionary for iPad uses intuitive mind-mapping technology to turn word entries into dynamic trees that you can move, shape, rearrange, save, and share with touch gestures.

 

Developed in association with the Oxford University Press, Wordflex Touch Dictionary offers a tactile, interactive reference for people who use language creatively, are looking for just the right word, are learning/studying English, and want to enrich their vocabulary.

 

Wordflex Touch Dictionary features:

• Tree-based view with realistic physical behavior for easy navigation of complex entries.
• Highly aesthetic interface with retina HD graphics.
• Ability to share 'word posters' via e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, or printed hard copy.
• Multiple Oxford's dictionary/thesaurus titles in one app.
• Audio pronunciations in UK/US English.
• Flexible search with matches, hints, relatives, and real-life sentences.
• Smart bookmarking notes exact point of interest.
• Random feature that simulates 'flying through language'

 See a video introduction to Wordflex Touch Dictionary

 

 

The gesture-based Wordflex Touch Dictionary interface facilitates moving nodes around, tapping, scrolling, pinching/spreading, enabling strongly interactive play with words to replicate the elemental, tactile aspects of learning language.

 

 Wordflex Touch Dictionary is $11.99 US in the iTunes App Store. It requires iOS 4.0 or later.

 

Note: Wordflex Touch Dictionary is a content-rich installation requiring nearly 1GB of storage space.

 

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Featured 2-24-2014: ZipGrade

Grade multiple-choice tests with ZipGrade using your iPhone's camera as a scanner.

 

ZipGrade is a fast, accurate, cost-effective way to grade tests in the classroom or wherever you may be.

 

You can grade, analyze, and store as many as 20 tests per minute on an iPhone 5. By giving teachers the ability to grade papers quickly anywhere, ZipGrade provides rapid feedback that can be used to better focus lessons and assignments.

 

Download free answer sheets in several formats and sizes from ZipGrade.com and print as many copies as you wish.

 

 

Results are organized for reporting and exporting as PDF and in Excel-readable format. Results are stored by students, subject, and quiz.

 

 See ZipGrade V1.1 In Action

 

ZipGrade is a free download from the iTunes App Store, with a 100 quiz demo; 27 languages including English, Spanish, French, Russian, and Chinese. Requires iOS 7.0 or later.

 

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The Rearview Mirror 2-22-2014

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.

 

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Monday

Create stories that are displayed on maps and geo-located interactive timelines with myHistro.

Tuesday

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.

Wednesday

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

Thursday

Timeglider is a flexible time-based visualization tool that can be utilized for a variety of applications.

Extra 2-21-2014: Corkulous

Corkulous idea board is an iOS app that can be used to collect, organize, and share your ideas.

 

Corkulous features:

• Notes, Labels, Photos, Contacts, Tasks, Index Cards, and Arrow Flags
• Full board view with pinch zooming
• Search cork board items
• Email board snapshots as PDFs or images
• Export board PDFs via iTunes File Sharing
• Save images to Saved Photos album
• Unique back side of the cork board
• Excellent and proven customer support

The free version of Corkulous gives you a single board on your iOS device's collection to work with and lets you connect with Dropbox folders and view Corkulous boards shared by others. 

 

Corkulous Pro adds iCloud support, multiple and nested cork boards, and passcode locking.

 

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Featured: 2-20-2014 Timeglider

Timeglider is a flexible time-based visualization tool that can be utilized for a variety of applications.

 

Timeglider can quickly enhance your experience of the past, present, and future. It has been used by thousands of teachers. Students can easily create timelines, helping them understand the history of an event.

 

Timeglider is a data-driven, interactive timeline application. You can drag the timeline left and right, zoom in and out to view centuries at a time or a few hours. You can create event spans to see durations and how they overlap. 

 

 

Timeglider lets you collaborate and share easily. If you choose to make a timeline publicly accessible, a URL will be created with which to share your timeline. You can use that URL inside of an embed code, as well, for placing on blogs and web pages.

 

 See how to sign up for and use Timeglider

 

Individual students can open a free Timeglider account that provides up to 3 timelines. A basic teacher account that allows up to 30 student users is $5 US monthly ($50 US annually). School accounts are also available.

 

 Timeglider is not Flash-based. It uses HTML-5, so it functions on an iPad and other iOS devices through their browser.

 

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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: 2-17-2014 myHistro

Create stories that are displayed on maps and geo-located interactive timelines with myHistro.

 

You can watch and read thousands of user-created timelines at myHistro or create your own dynamic timeline mashup with text, video, and images.

 

 

Combine maps and timelines seamlessly into unique presentations, convert any public timeline into a pdf file, or export it into Google Earth format (kml) for offline storage. Completed timelines can be embedded into blogs and websites for sharing.   

 

Features of myHistro:

• Archive with several hundred historical timelines to choose from.
• Collaboration tools, ideal for class activities.
• Secure content management.

Three privacy levels to choose from let you decide what others will see. You can keep your timeline private, make it public, or keep it between you and those you choose.

 

  

 View a slide presentation: myHistro Basic Guidelines For Teachers

 

There is an official free myHistro application for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch with simplified functionality. In this version you can create new accounts, add new stories, add new events, and manage existing stories and events.

 

Currently myHistro supports YouTube videos and pictures in JPEG and PNG formats. It does not require Flash.

 

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The Rearview Mirror 2-15-2014

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.

 

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Monday

Concord Consortium is striving to help students learn science through a collaborative, inquiry-based program that incorporates the best features of digital technology.

Tuesday

Quandary is a free, online, award-winning game for players aged 8 to 14, that engages students in ethical decision-making and develops skills that will help them manage challenging ethical issues in their own lives.

Wednesday

Easyclass is a new LMS (Learning Management System) for teachers and students designed to simplify materials, assignments, tests, grades, and more.

Thursday

The Buck Institute for Education (BIE) is a nonprofit organization that helps teachers learn how to use Project Based Learning in all grade levels and subject areas.

 

Great news! You can now see the entire content of the EDge21 blog in almost any language you choose!

Haiku Deck Now for iPhone, Too

When first featured last month, Haiku Deck, a free app that offers a simple new way to create inspired presentations for teaching a lesson or telling a story, was supported only on the iPad.

You can now download Haiku Deck for iPhone.

 

You can download any or all of the Haiku Decks you’ve previously created for fast, fluid viewing and impromptu presenting. Easy, one-hand operation lets you use your iPhone as a remote.

 

Read more about the new (also free) Haiku Deck iPhone app here.

 

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Featured: 2-13-2014 Buck Institute for Education

The Buck Institute for Education (BIE) is a nonprofit organization that helps teachers learn how to use Project Based Learning in all grade levels and subject areas.

 

The Buck Institute for Education creates, gathers, and shares Project Based Learning (PBL) instructional practices and products and provides services to teachers, schools, and districts.

 

BIE offers teachers professional development on how to design, assess, and manage projects that engage and motivate students. BIE helps schools bring consistency and structure to PBL practices school-wide. BIE offers districts services and expertise in creating and sustaining district-wide PBL initiatives.

 

 

BIE offers a full range of PBL-related resources organized into three broad categories: Things to read, to watch, or to interact with.

• Things to Read include blogs, books, articles, and research about PBL, and also written documents you can use, such as rubrics, project planning forms, student handouts, and other materials for planning, assessing, and managing projects.
• Things to Watch include videos that showcase particular projects and PBL schools or to explain PBL, as well as an archive of recorded webinars on various PBL topics.
• Things to Interact With include live webinars, Google Hangouts, and Twitter Chats, plus online classes to take, conferences to attend, and websites to visit.

 

 Watch an interview with representatives from BIE

The Buck Institute for Education also recommends resources for teachers, principals, and district leaders who would like to take an independent approach to learning about PBL. The featured resources include a note on how you can use that item.

 

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Featured: 2-12-2014 Easyclass

Easyclass is a new LMS (Learning Management System) for teachers and students designed to simplify materials, assignments, tests, grades, and more.

 

Easyclass allows educators to create digital classes where they can store the course materials; manage discussions; give assignments, quizzes, and exams; grade results; monitor due dates; and provide students with feedback.

 

Benefits of Easyclass:

• Easy to learn and use.
• Saves time.
• Additional resources can be used to enhance learning.
• Useful for Blended Learning initiatives.
• Connect with like-minded educators to exchange ideas, get advice and share resources.
• Stay connected with students.
• Teach responsible digital interaction, good digital citizenship.
• Students have easy access to assignments, class notices, and course content. 

Each instructor gets 2GB storage space to store your course materials online and share with your students. Easyclass services are free and promise to remain free.

 

 Watch Easyclass | New Technology In Education 

 

Easyclass  addresses the fundamental concerns of privacy and safety. There are no advertisements. Educators have full control of class management. Content created in the digital classes can be viewed only by the class members. 

 

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Featured: 2-11-2014 Quandary Game

Quandary is a free, online, award-winning game for players aged 8 to 14, that engages students in ethical decision-making and develops skills that will help them manage challenging ethical issues in their own lives.

 

 

Quandary presents situations relative to building a new colony on the planet Braxos. Players must make decisions in situations that have no clear right or wrong answers but do lead to consequences for themselves, others in the colony, and to the planet Braxos. Players must consider facts, opinions, and solutions as they interact with other settlers in the colony, 

 

Playing Quandary can help participants develop such skills as critical thinking, perspective-taking, and decision-making. The game provides a structure for approaching ethical decision-making without telling players what to think. 

 

 

Quandary is a digital card-based game with three scenarios. Each takes about 10-30 minutes to complete, depending on the speed of the player. 

 

 See a video showing how teachers and students can use Quandary in the classroom

 

 Read a PDF that shows how Quandary correlates to the CCSS for English Arts

 

The game and supporting materials are all free. Quandary will work on any web browser with the latest version of the Flash player plug-in. 

  Quandary is also available as a standalone app for Android and iOS tablet devices.

 

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