Directory of Learning Tools

Presentation Software – The Top Ten (10) 1. PowerPoint Like it or loathe it, PowerPoint is here to stay. At 20 years old it is still the leading presentation software. 2. For stunning presentations that you can also put on-line Flash is by far the best presentation technology on the market. 3. Open Office Impress is the free open source presentation technology. 4. If you want to make your presentations fly then you will need a way of easily editing images – for example to adjust the colours, or make images transparent. 6. NXPowerLite can compress files by as much as 75%, making them easier to use, store and share. 7. If you want to make professional looking graphs and charts in PowerPoint then you will find the PowerPlugs Charts pretty hard to beat. 8. A nifty little tool for making 3d shapes for PowerPoint. 9. PowerPoint comes as standard with the most appalling colour schemes. 10. PowerConverter is a nifty little tool that can convert PowerPoint to Flash. Anything that we have missed? 20 August 2007 Related Pages

12 Ways to Create Videos Without a Camera or Software It wasn't that long ago that creating videos in your classroom meant that you had to have access to cameras and editing software. That is no longer the case. Now with nothing more than a reliable Internet connection you and your students can create all kinds of documentary, entertainment, and how-to videos. Some of the resources listed below are also featured in my free guide Making Videos on the Web where you will find how-to directions with annotated screen captures. JayCut is a free, online, video editing service. Masher is a great, free, tool for creating video mash-ups. Animoto makes it possible to quickly create a video using still images, music, and text. Flixtime is a video creation service that is quite similar to Animoto and Stupeflix. Photo Peach is a new service that allows you to quickly and easily create an audio slideshow, with captions, from images in your Flickr, Picassa, or Facebook account. Memoov is a free service for creating animated videos.

"Skype in the Classroom" Launches to Connect Teachers & Students Worldwide As its major outage in December demonstrated, Skype bridges the personal and the professional, and many of us have come to rely on its VOIP calls to family, co-workers and colleagues. Skype has also been embraced by many educators who are using it in the classroom in some innovative ways. Teachers use Skype to open their students to a world beyond the classroom walls. They use it to bring experts, authors, and guest instructors into the classroom, those who would never otherwise be able to visit the school. Students can take virtual field trips, if you will, via Skype as they're connected to places through video chat. A Skype Directory for Educators This usage by teachers has caught Skype's attention, says spokesperson Jacqueline Botterill, and the company has just launched the beta version of Skype in the Classroom, an effort to support their efforts. Teachers can sign up for the Skype in the Classroom beta by connecting their existing Skype accounts.

The Poetry Society (Home Page) Middle School Students Find Their Voice with Digital Cameras Some years ago I taught a life skills class to a group of eighth grade boys. The curriculum I offered wasn't working. They were disengaged -- they wouldn't read, write, or talk about what I wanted them to talk about -- and they were mounting a rebellion. "What is going on with you?" I confronted them; I was losing my patience. Credit: "My World" project by ASCEND students. Their retort: "You know nothing about our lives. "Fine. I wrote a grant for digital cameras. For several months, three days a week, an hour each time, we wandered through the streets around our school in Oakland, California. Through Their Eyes The boys captured hundreds of images of graffiti and garbage, hypodermic needles and empty bottles of booze strewn around the rundown city playground, gang insignias painted across the slides. They photographed the seemingly endless array of signs on fences and gates that warned of dogs as well as the growling pit bulls and chained up Dobermans. Words Inspired by Images

EasyBib: Free Bibliography Maker The Ideal Technology Device for Students and Teachers - Leading From the Classroom In 2001, Mark Prensky coined the terms "Digital Natives" and "Digital Immigrants" to describe the differences between adults and students in using technology. Educators are "Digital Immigrants" who have to adapt and learn how to integrate technology into their lives. Students are "Digital Natives" born into a culture and lifestyle where technology immersion is the norm. Although I know a lot of educators who argue that immigrants can use technology in the same ways as the natives and that being a native does not necessary guarantee proficiency, I have found the Digital Native and Immigrant comparison to be helpful in understanding the essential differences in childhood experiences that separate educators from the students. To explore these differences in perspectives, this monthly series will feature a discussion between me, a tech savvy old immigrant, and a high school aged tech savvy native. The high school blogger's name is gsd, who states, gsd Says: The iPad The Smartphone

Museum Box Homepage 14 Online Presentation Tools There may be times when you need to present ideas to clients or co-workers and could benefit from one of the many resources for creating online presentations. In this post we’ll introduce 14 different presentation tools to get the job done. Some are free to use while others will come with a cost. Online Presentation Tools: 280 Slides 280 Slides is a free tool with a clean user interface. SlideRocket SlideRocket allows you to create presentations or upload your existing PowerPoint files. PreZentit PreZentit is a free tool that is currently in beta. authorSTREAM authorSTREAM allows you to upload PowerPoint presentations and share them with others online. Empressr With Empressr you can upload your images, video, and audio to create presentations online. Google Docs With Google Docs you can upload your own images and video, add text, and create presentations quickly. VCASMO is a free tool for online presentations. Zoho Show Prezi Prezi is an online presentation tool with both free and paid plans.

10 Resources for Copyright and Royalty Free Media A long time ago, in a pre-computer media landscape when copying and pasting meant you actually got to play with scissors and glue, teachers and students created multimedia projects with little regard to copyright law. Images from magazines, corporate logos, and other media were used with reckless abandon to create visually and aurally pleasing projects. Before the dawn of the internet, these types of projects were hung in hallways, classrooms, and refrigerators with great care, and for the most part, didn’t cause much of a stir with copyright holders. However, with the proliferation of dozens of social media sharing websites, many educators’ lack of clear understanding of copyright law and fair use (at no fault of their own, it can get complicated), and the ability for all of these wonderful projects to go digital and posted to the web, the battles and issues with copyright holders can produce paralyzing anxiety over what can be remixed, repurposed, and shared online. Audio Still Images

Online learning official: Lecture capture helps students 'review, review, review' UMass Lowell leader eases faculty concerns over video lectures as program proves popular among students By Dennis Carter, Assistant EditorRead more by Denny Carter October 20th, 2010 Moloney said more UMass Lowell classrooms will have lecture capture systems soon. Jacqueline Moloney wants college students to do less transcribing and more listening. Moloney, executive vice chancellor and head of online learning at the University of Massachusetts Lowell campus, has overseen an effort to make lecture capture technology a standard feature in the university’s classrooms, along with a host of other technologies that can be tailored to fit instructors’ preferences. Along with a suite of other technologies—digital document cameras and interactive LCD touch screens among them—about one-third of UMass Lowell’s classrooms have been equipped with lecture capture programs that, Moloney said, let students “review, review, review” by rewinding the video lectures and hashing over complex concepts.

Skerricks