Talking SMARTBoards & Much More!

I learned of this really cool site yesterday at MassCUE– actually I overheard a group of folks talking about this “Twitter-like tool that would easily allow for immediate student feedback”.  Naturally I was intrigued and so  I asked if they would share the information with me and they did!  The site is called Today’s Meet.  Basically what you do –without needing to register or give up your email address– is to create a room where you can then have students share their thoughts, observations, etc.  As the site states “embrace the backchannel and connect with your audience in real time”.  Once you create a room it gives you a unique URL and you decide how long you want this room available (options are from 2 hours to 1 year).  You then give the URL to your students, they pick a name, join the room and can begin to share their thoughts and opinions using 140 characters or less. Using a SMART Board to project/present the posts would work well. ENJOY!

I have been intrigued by the free Loggel.com Lifelog site.  Many view a lifelog as a modern way to write a diary or travel log, but I think it has potential in the classroom for digital storytelling, especially since in addition to text, you can add images, audio files and videos.  I can envision this tool as being a creative alternative for students to present research information, inspire writing, document important events during the school year,  etc. The entries are either positioned on a timeline or on a map.  You can even make entries from your mobile phone.  One feature that I liked is the fact that you can keep your Lifelog private so that students would have the authority to when their work would be shared.  The completed Loggel presents well on the SMART Board. ENJOY!

Discovered another free avatar generator that is offered by AMC in honor of their show Mad Men called MadMenYourself! The process is fairly intuitive, you begin by selecting your body type – male (suit) or female (skirt) and then takes you on a journey to fine tune your character with specific body features, accessories, clothing, landscapes,etc. until you have the perfect you!! Once you are satisfied with your avatar you can save it by downloading it to your computer.  This would be another great option for students to create an avatar for a class wiki or for you to use in Notebook lessons, etc. ENJOY!

I’m really liking this site that was shared on Twitter called Daily Mugshot so I wanted to share.  Basically Daily Mugshots is a free service that allows you to chronicle your daily life using photos. Take a photo a day and it will turn them into an animated sequence. The site wil even email you a daily reminder to take your picture- it doesn’t get better than that!  You can upload photos from a  digital amera, webcam or cell phone.  A new feature is the option to create a flip book with 64 of your photos– there is an $8.99 fee and when completed it will be mailed to you. My mind is whirling on how to incorporate this application in the classroom. ENJOY!

Update 8/8/09- Silvia Tolisano from the amazing Langwitches Blog wrote a wonderful post, “Digital Sotrytelling- What Will Your Great Grandchildren Know Abbout You” about her vision of using Daily Mugshots to chronicle your life.  In Silvia’s words, “document the growth of your children or students, your own aging  , a pregnancy, hairstyles, outfits, seasons, etc.”

I have been experimenting with another website that creates some fun animated avatars called LooGix.com and wanted to share. I  found LooGix.com to be very user friendly and intuitive.  There is no registration necessary and once generated your picture will have a permanent URL. You also will be provided with a HTML code, you can use to insert your picture to web pages, blogs, wikis.  Above are two examples I created.  There are six different animations to pick from-ENJOY!

I have been wanting to write about Wallwisher since learning about it during a workshop this past spring.  Wallwisher is basically an online message board maker– kind of reminds me of the message boards we all had hanging on our dorm doors at college, except this is virtual and no special markers needed! One of the nice features of Wallwisher is that there is no registration needed and once you create a board all that is needed is for members to click, write and post- very simple, very intuitive, very fun!  Once you create your message board you are given the URL for that board to share with people who you want to invite to comment on your board.  I have used this as a way to have students make comments/respond to specific articles/topics. I also hope to use this as one of our wiki assignments this year.  To initiate class discussion it is very effective to present the message board using the SMART Board.  I should also mention that in addition to writing a response participants can also add videos, pictures and music to a post. Below is an example of a Wallwisher. ENJOY!

I just recently discovered Photvisi- a very fun, very easy site  that allows you to create some one of a kind collages using your photos.  There is no registration, simply create and save (or take a screen shot)- very easy.  The collage above is an example of a Photvisi that I created of pictures of Darren, Felicia and Timmy. You are given 18 different templates to create your collage. This would be a great way to visually review or introduce a lesson or simply document an important classroom event. ENJOY!

I wanted to spread the word about this really cool, very creator friendly quiz generator called MyStudio.com.  I created the Walt Disney quiz in about 5 minutes, after registering (it’s FREE).  The directions are very intuitive and once you have your information the creation should go rather quickly.

It will give you the choice of embedding a quiz, sending it via email or play it on your own personal quiz channel (link).  I attempted to embed my quiz here, but ran into trouble, but  here is the link to my quiz on line.  Oh the possibilities are endless!! I will definitely be using this application in the fall on our collaborative wikis. I also think it will be a great resource to use in SMART Notebook lessons as a lesson review. So if you’re trying to think of a “WOW” factor to incorporate into your lesson next year you might want to check out MyStudio.com. ENJOY!

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I want to share this really cool application called Tag Galaxy that was created by Steven Wood at the University of Applied Sciences in Nuremberg.It is very easy to use and spectacular to view– click on New Tag in the upper left corner of the screen, type in a word and a planetary galaxy will appear with related pictures that were found on Flikr. Dragging your mouse over the different planets will tell you how many photos have been locted in that sub- tag.  Clicking on the planet will begin the process of transferring the photos to the planet (if there are several photos it could take a while).  Once loaded you can then use your mouse (left click and drag) to rotate the planet to see all of the pictures.  Trust me this application is REALLY cool and presents great on the SMARTBoard.  This would be a great way to initiate a conversation about specific topics or how awesome for an art teacher to display the work of different artists.  Below is a Michael Jackson Tag Galaxy I created. ENJOY!

I feel alittle Befunked this morning!!!  A friend of mine told me about this really fun site called BeFunky.com- a place where you can tranform any photo into some very fun, very incredible artwork and the best part is, it’s all free with no registration required!  It’s as simple as uploading a photo and chosing the application you want and voila, you have created an amazing BeFunky original!  When finished it will give you the option of saving it to your desktop or gallery (you will need to register for an account if you want to save it to your gallery) or sharing it to a friend (email).  This is another great way to create a fun avatar for a class blog or wiki, add some fun artwork to a SMART Notebook lesson or for a fun art class project. ENJOY!