Snipping Tool for Tablets

In the previous post I mentioned using the print scr button as a way to capture what is showing on your screen. It is a great way to pull stuff off of different website or documents to use in other applications such as Powerpoint. However, when you do print screen you are capturing everything on the screen….which means you might capture something you don’t want to show such as the menubar. You can always edit out what you don’t want using a graphics program such as PaintShopPro or Fireworks (both available on our machines) but that is more work and time than you might want to invest. Wouldn’t be cool is you could capture just what you wanted. Well, you can if you have a tablet. Microsoft has put some special freebies on their website for tablet users. The products are called packs and they are free. The Snipping tool is part of the Experience pack .

Includes about six different tools ranging in usefulness. The snipping tool allows you to simply select what you can to capture just by using your stylus and drawing a line around what you want. You can then copy and paste the image, email it to someone, or do a few other things with it. It is great to use for taking notes online….just keep in mind that these are images and any text you “snip” won’t be editable since it is an image.

When visiting Country Day their tech team said this was a tool they used ALL the time and best part is that it is free.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/tabletpc/experiencepack/overview.mspx

Fun Tool

JibJab has been around several years. It was started by these two brothers who were really good at flash. Now they are making it so that you can upload your own pictures into their movies. I didn't want to make anyone mad it here at school....so I used a couple of infamous figures from the headlines. This is the type of fun activity (should time allow it) that you could do with your kids in the computer lab. They just added some longer videos....one is Night of the Living Democrats and the other is Night of the Living Republicans. Might not want to put the kids in that one...but I'm sure you would have some friends that you could cast for that. Sometimes the embedded version of the movie doesn't load...so in case it doesn't please go to:

http://www.jibjab.com/starring_you/receipt/2114950

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

Make Your Own Motivator (De-Motivator) Posters

Despair Inc. has taken the motivational posters we have all seen and put an interesting spin on them. Despair's posters are called De-Motivators. They are funny and clever...not the kind you would want to put up in your classroom. Browse the site and get a chuckle. They actually do have something you might be able to use with your students as part of a creative writing assignment. They have a Motivator (De-Motivator) Generator that allows you or your students to easily make those type of posters. Simply upload the picture, type your text and you are good to go. It will create it and you can download/save it by right-clicking on the image. I used the tool to make my thought/question of the week.

Podcasting

Now that you have learned about Podcasting and podcasts, please use one or several of the podcast search engines to find a podcast that you might be interested in listening to. It can be professional or personal.

Download and listen to the podcast. (I have headphones) Listen to the podcast and post information about the podcast you listened to. What podcast was it? What was your impression of it?

Do you see podcasting as a tool for learning in your classroom with either teacher or student created podcasts?

http://www.podscope.com/
http://www.thepodcastnetwork.com/
http://www.podcast.net/
iTunes
http://www.podcastalley.com/

Educational podcasts or videocasts to consider:

Sir Kenneth Robinson: Do Schools Kill Creativity?
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/66

Dr. Scott McLeod's various podcasts
http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org/podcasting/index.html
http://scottmcleod.typepad.com/castleconversations/datadriven/index.html (specifics about data driven instruction)

What Educator's Need to Know about Web 2.0
http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2007/06/21/podcast163-what-educators-need-to-know-about-web-20/

Thomas Freidman presentation
http://www.podworkx.com/TheSydneyInstitute/2007/05/03/ThomasLFriedmanSydneyInstituteAnnualLectureTheWorldIsStillFlat.aspx

Apple Educational Conference Presentations
http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/search.php?collectionID=1087

Tuesday: Tools Links

Tools to Share: New Ways to Create/Share Content

Atomic Learning
see handout for password

BrainPop
see handout for password

United Streaming see handout for password

Teacher Tube (teacher friendly YouTube like site)
http://www.teachertube.com/

400 Tools to Create online Content
http://mashable.com/2007/07/23/online-media/

Highlights from above post

http://www.eyespot.com/

http://voicethread.com/
show demo

http://www.slide.com/

http://www.slideshare.net/

http://www.scribd.com/

http://www.rockyou.com/

http://www.jumpcut.com/

http://www.bubbleshare.com/

Top 100 Tools for eLearning

The list of online tools that creative educators can harness is impressive and growing. While all of the listed apps on this page aren't free (PowerPoint is on there) you can get a good idea of what types of tools are available for teachers to use.

Top 100 Tools for Learning

The producers of this page have also categorized the various types of tools into a toolbox that is separated in two types: personalized tools and production tools. The amount of quality tools out there is staggering. Part of the power of these tools is that it removes the school network from the process. No longer are files saved at school's network or on a child's home PC...rather the work is often saved online.

Learning Tools Toolbox