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Free Online Applications

The first free online application I tried out was FotoFlexer.  I was intrigued because I take a lot of pictures and have never played with a free editing program.  I noticed free advertisements and was initially annoyed with that until I remembered that it is free and they have to make money somehow!  The site looked easy to use and it was.  I was able to figure out how to get started with no problems.  I could have used their free sample photo but decided to upload my own which was simple following their prompts.  I uploaded a 5x7 picture and it went pretty quickly.  All of the actions were easy to understand and apply.  The undo button took me a bit to find but didn't cause me any trouble when used.  A lot of the editing tools had advanced options.  You could do all sorts of things, including adding artwork and text to your photo.   I am not sure I would use this for editing my personal photos that I wanted to print, but I would set my daughter free on this to play with her own photos.  She would definitely have fun! In a classroom, I might use this to upload photos to our class blog, as an incentive computer activity, or maybe when students wanted to do something creative with a photo for a project, such as a book cover for a book report.  There are many options for saving such as sending to facebook, Picassa, or just as a jpeg to your desktop.  I chose to share the photo via URL/link here.  Piece of cake!

The second online application I spent some time with was Zoho.  Honestly, for much of the time I wasn't really sure what I was looking at.  It seems to be something for the business sector, not so much for education.  Maybe if you were teaching a business class and wanted to look at accounting reports, or if you were gathering/presenting data, it would be beneficial.   There is an option for creating tests and quizzes that directly appeals to teachers, but I felt that it would be more appropriate for upper level classes.  I found the site a little hard to search through and didn't feel like my questions were being answered even as I went deeper and deeper.  I reviewed a chart describing some different subscription options and it seems that you don't get nearly as much for free as you do if you pay to join.  I think Zoho can compare it to offerings from Google, and I personally think Google Docs seems much easier to navigate and work with with.  I like knowing that there are free applications out there available to us.

Screencast

I really like the idea of keeping up a classroom blog for parents.  I would like to have groups of students make the weekly posts and contribute classroom news, updates and other fun stuff.  I would teach the class as a whole about keeping a blog and we would create the first few posts together.  I can see writing for the blog being done during a time when there are multiple activities being completed by groups, in "centers" of sorts.  I wouldn't want to have to stay too long with one group, and going over blogging instructions would take time.  I would use a screencast like this to help remind them how to do it on their own.



 

Concept Map

When I was teaching 7th grade languages arts, my students always struggled with finding a topic to journal about. I was thinking about them and getting them to write at this point in the year and how I would have encouraged them to get started. I think you could use a program like Bubbl.us to have them brainstorm topics relating to their upcoming summers. You could have them do it individually or in pairs, depending on the availability of computers. You could get into what they created together as a whole class using the projector and even continue brainstorming. I could also see creating a map from the beginning as a whole class and getting input from all students. Pairs or groups of students could collaborate on a concept map without even using time during a school day. They could set up an account and work on it on their own. You could assign different colors to different students to keep track of their contributions. I have used Bubbl.us before and see it as a very beneficial tool.

Using Google Maps

The only thing I remember about learning the states and their capitals in school is that it was boring! It seems like all we did was memorize the names for a test. When I teach social studies, I don't want my kids to be bored! Instead, I want them interested and to actually learn about something that interests them. I have an idea about how to make this type of learning more fun through Google Maps. As you can see in the following post, I have created a map of the southwest region of the United States. I have highlighted four states to focus on and have used various placemarks to show the capitals and other special areas of interest. Some of those marks have descriptions, pictures and videos to tell you more about them. In a social studies lesson, I would put my students in group and assign each group a region of the US. Their task would be to create a similar map of their region, to highlight the capitals, and to find the special areas of interest (mountain ranges, rivers, deserts, etc.). I would ask them to dig deeper and search the web for interesting facts, videos, and/or pictures to include. Students could take this even further and include populations for their capitals. They could measure and map out how far each capital is from the other. They could look at other big cities in their states and compare them to the capitals. They could mark a hiking trail through a mountain range. They could include a video advertising a popular tourist attraction in that area. They could trace the route of a major river. If they are really into science, maybe they could find the best science museums in their states. If they love to camp with their families, they could locate campgrounds and describe the surrounding area. They could even plan a virtual trip with their group! After the groups complete their maps, they could present their map and discoveries with the class. We could post them on our class blog and ask parents for any stories about their own travels to these areas. I think this would be a fun way for kids to explore this country. I think the possibilities with using Google Maps in the classroom are endless!

Southwest States + Map

View Southwest States + in a larger map

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