Tools

=Tools for the Classroom=

=[|iTunes University]= iTunes University is a free resource for professional development for teachers and there are plenty of courses for students as well. Colleges, Universities, K-12 schools, rock-star academics and innovative companies all offer free iTunes courses that use downloadable textbooks, video and audio recordings to guide you thru a self-paced course. iTunes Course Manager can help you build your own course. There is an iTunes University app for iphone and ipad that syncs thru your itunes account, and of course you can subscribe to and view courses directly in itunes.

Here are some courses to explore to get you started.

Solar System

[|TED Courses]

[|Ecosystems Around the World]

[|Presidents]


 * [|Smart Notebook]** and **[|Smart Exchange]** are great resources to use with your Epson Brightlink Interactive whiteboards. Smart Notebook is the lesson activity creation software bundled with SmartBoards, and it is compatible with our Brightlink whiteboards. We have licenses for the teacher macbooks at our school, and it is installed on your laptops. Smart Notebook works a bit like PowerPoint or Keynote. Use it to design interactive lessons for your class. Smart Exchange is a community of teachers, technologist, and ed tech companies who have made their SmartNotebook curriculum available for you to download an adapt to your classroom.

Here are some good videos to get you started in your play with SmartNotebook:

[|Getting Started With Smart Notebook]

[|Smart Notebook Tutorial]

[|5 Smart Notebook Tools] This video may be a little dry, but the tools demonstrated are useful. Check out the video below and see what Mr. Duey did with these tools. Can you spot which Smart Notebook tools he used?

[|His name is Mr.Duey he just breezed thru college]

[[image:Screen Shot 2012-11-03 at 5.27.53 PM.png width="150" height="44" link="http://www.edcanvas.com/"]]
[|Edcanvas] is a promising new web-based tool for creating a bold and clean space to organize teaching resources. Create a "canvas" that uses YouTube videos, web links, or your own files. Put all your resources in one place for introducing a new topic - use it yourself in front of the classroom during your lesson,and/or give students the link to explore the resources you have organized for them on their own class or home time. You can create a "class" from your teacher profile, and ask students to create their own "canvas" demonstrating their understanding, research or even their questions about a given topic. For the moment students are required to have an email addresses to create an account. They are working on changing this to coded logins like Edmodo and Canvas.

[[image:k8jtechlearn/logo-v5.png link="http://www.diigo.com/"]]
[|Diigo] is a web-based "social bookmarking" site that allows individual users to curate and organize their bookmarks using tags, lists and groups. Teachers can curate resources for their own use, and for their students to use for specific units or topics. Teachers can add students to their "class" and the whole class can curate and pool resources for a research topic or project. Follow other interesting educators, share with colleagues, and join groups based on your interests to see what resources other people have found. Log in to diigo from any computer and have access to your bookmarks, and install diigo toolbar for time-saving shortcuts when bookmarking and organizing.

[[image:wallwisher.jpg width="72" height="72" link="http://wallwisher.com"]]Padlet (web-based)
[|Padlet] is a virtual whiteboard where teachers can set up the page very quickly with a unique web address. Students can post on the page without signing up for the tool (teachers must sign up for the tool). The "sticky notes" can included hyperlinks and any sort of embeddable media like sound files and video.


 * How would you use Padlet in your classroom?**

[[image:vocaroo.jpg width="223" height="76" link="http://vocaroo.com"]]Vocaroo (web-based)
Vocaroo is a very simple online voice recorder. You and your students DO NOT need to sign up for the tool. It is instant--when you record, you can immediately hear your recording and receive a link or embed code.


 * How would you use Vocaroo in your classroom?**

[[image:garageband.png width="341" height="86"]] Garageband
Garageband is a robust tool that allows you to create your own music with the "instruments" within the tool. You can also create very sophisticated podcasts and voice recordings with your students. Garageband allows you to drag in sound effects and music riffs from the wide music library (part of the program package), as well as edit tracks in detail. Students can also add thumbnails of art to indicate "chapters" or sections within the podcast. Podcasts in Garageband can be exported as MP3 files for sharing out to the world.


 * How would you use Garageband in the classroom?**

Garageband and Podcasting Resources:
Garageband tutorials and resources from the folks at Apple

**Sample Storyboard:**
There are TONS of storyboards on the WWW if you do a google search. Here is one that is simple and easy to use:

**Sample Podcasts From Real Classrooms and Podcasters:**
Grammar Girl: Grammar girl has a free series that highlights different aspects of grammar. Pay attention to how she bookends the opening and closing of her show. It is helpful to show this to students so they get ideas about how to fade in opening music and how to design soundtracks to signal the opening and closing of a podcast.

Lunchtime Leaders: While this is no longer an active series, it gives us some interesting ideas about how we can use podcasting with students.

The Moth: Live storytelling broadcasted from New York. Novelist and poet George Dawes Green started The Moth in 1997 in his living room, wanting to recreate the feeling of hanging out on his porch in Georgia, telling stories. This is a non-profit project. The art of storytelling has caught new attention and enthusiam in recent time, and this project reflects the art of storytelling's new momentum. Please preview all the stories, as some of them have mature content. It is inspiring though!

This I Believe: This is based on the essay project where contributors submit their thoughts on what they believe to be the essence of life and what is most important to them. Entries include thoughts from well-known political leaders, as well as the average person. There is a whole curriculum connected to the site for educators, which could be a really fun essay writing experience. The stories are inspiration and interesting.

Stuff You Should Know: This podcast series is based on the "How Stuff Works" web site--very cool!

**Free Podcasts from iTunes:**
Go to your iTunes and visit the iTunes store. Search for podcasts. You can subscribe to them for free and there is a whole bunch of education ones out there. This is a great way to bring some experts into your classroom.

**Gary Stager's Podcasting**
Gary Stager is a leader in educational technology and education reform. Check out his collection of resources for educators.
 * Resources in the Classroom**

**Podcasts in Plain English**
From the Folks at Commoncraft (3 Minutes) media type="youtube" key="y-MSL42NV3c" height="344" width="425"

Discovery School Puzzlemaker This is the tool Amy's class used to create crossword puzzles.

Bitstrips Comic strip creator tool that gives you 30 day trial subscription and safe for kids.