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The Top 27 Free Tools to collaborate, hold discussions, and Backchannel with Students

The Top 27 Free Tools to collaborate, hold discussions, and Backchannel with Students
1- ChannelME ChannelME is a great web tool. It allows its users to browse a particular website simultaneously. They are able to look at the same content of a web page with friends in real time and even chat with each other . 2- Search Team It allows its users to search in small teams and collaborate to find the best search results. 3- Mind42 Mind42 is a great collaborative mind mapping tool . 4-Entri Entri is a free collaborative tool for writing and sharing documents . 5- Bounce It is “ a little application that lets people quickly add feedback to any webpage and toss that back and forth with other people” . 6-Wiggio Wiggio makes group work much more easier as its easy and straightforward design provides everything you need to work productively in your groups. 7-My Simple Surface My Simple Surface is a very simple online whiteboard. 8- Hackpad This is a tool to develop collaborative note-taking and writing outlines. 9- Synchtube Synchtube is a great free service for watching videos. 16- Dweeber

45 Simple Twitter Tips Everyone Should Know About Are you a tweetin’ teacher? Do you rely on tweets for your extended PLN ? Whether you use the service or not, there’s a whole world of information being shared and you should start taking part. But if you’ve been too nervous or unsure about HOW to actually use Twitter as efficiently as possible… the wait is over. We’ve offered up plenty of tips and tricks for Twitter but never anything like this. It’s an elegantly organized set of infographics detailing the step-by-step process of using Twitter and making it work for you. Key Questions Answered Did you know SEO played a role in your Twitter profile? View Tips As Slideshow

8 Free Collaboration Tools for Educators -- Campus Technology Collaboration | Feature 8 Free Collaboration Tools for Educators By Bridget McCrea06/05/13 Ready to bring collaboration into your classroom? Here are eight free apps and tools you can use to get students working -- and learning -- together, in and out of the classroom. Flowboard. About the Author Bridget McCrea is a business and technology writer in Clearwater, FL.

Seven Ways to Use Twitter in a Classroom | Teachers use Social Media to Enhance Classroom Experience Social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter are continuing their rise in popularity and there are no signs of this growth stopping soon, as is evidenced by the 42% of high school students who currently use Twitter. Smart educators who opt to use Twitter in the classroom are sure to see improved student grades as well as creative and positive results in other areas. If you have not entered this realm of social media, it’s easy to pick up on the basics of Twitter and enjoy its benefits for you and your students. Here are seven innovative and motivating ways to bring the world of Twitter into your classroom: 1. It’s not hard to find subject experts such as historians, mathematicians or authors on Twitter, many of whom would be willing and eager to tweet their expertise with your class. 2. Students’ grades improve when everyone is engaged in monitoring the learning process. 3. 4. Twitter can be a fun and educational trip-tracker. 5. 6. 7. Final thoughts Content provided by U.S.

smartsheet Choose Easy-to-Use Online Collaboration Tools to Increase Adoption Introducing a new tool in the workplace has plenty of benefits. It can increase productivity, help employees work smarter, and in the case of collaboration tools improve communication. But sometimes adding more tools is not necessarily a good thing when you’re looking at online collaboration software. To help increase adoption of a new tool in the workplace, ease-of-use is critical. Pick a Product with a Simple and Intuitive Interface Look for a solution that has an intuitive interface, one that is familiar and simple to navigate. Choose Software with Workflow Management Features Collaborating on work doesn’t just stop at leaving a comment; it also involves workflow. Look For a Product that Provides A Digital Workspace for Brainstorming Sessions Plenty of phenomenal ideas come out of a good brainstorming session. Research the Type of Mobile Support Provided Make Sure It Works on Multiple Platforms

Twitter, PLEs and PLNs Thought I would share some bits of my thesis on Twitter, PLN’s and PLE’s as others might find it useful. What is a PLN? For all of the conversation occurring among educators about PLNs, there has been surprisingly little academic research on PLNs (Couros, 2010, p. 123). With many educators using this term to describe their own informal learning habits, it is important for educational researchers to investigate exactly what this concept means to those who are using it as a term to describe a learning activity A Personal Learning Network (PLN) is a network of people you connect with for the specific purpose of learning (Tobin, 1998). Digenti (1999) defines a PLN as: relationships between individuals where the goal is enhancement of mutual learning which is based on reciprocity and a level of trust that each party is actively seeking value-added information for the other (1999, p. 53). A Personal Learning Environment (PLE) can be thought of as the ecosystem that enables a PLN. References

Concept Mapping Software | MindView by MatchWare Concept mapping software allows users to effortlessly create concept maps on their computer. Proven to elevate memory and comprehension, concept mapping software like MindView has become exceedingly popular in both education and business. MindView Concept Mapping Software Download Free Concept Mapping Software Concept Mapping software revolutionizes formal pen and paper methodPowerful MS Office IntegrationUsing Concept Mapping in EducationConcept Mapping in Business Revolutionizes Formal Pen and Paper Methods Until recently, concept maps were sketched on paper. Not only can you easily re-arrange concepts by dragging and dropping them, attach files, notes, and hyperlinks to branches with MindView, you can also convert that same concept map to a Word document, PowerPoint Presentation, or Excel file when you are done! Experience concept mapping software today! Concept Mapping Software integrated with MS Office Using in Education Concept Mapping Software in Business

Teachers' Quick Guide on The Use of Games in Education Online gaming plays a major part in most of young people's lives. The gaming trend that started off as a sole leisure activity a couple of years ago is now integrated into the mainstream and more and more people are using them on everyday basis.Game developers and business corporations are generating billions of revenues out of their sales .In March 2008, a government-funded report from DCSF indicated that sales of games for the under 12 age group represented nearly three quarters of the total UK games market. 87 % of 5-16 year old have a game's console at home, and the enormous success of the Nintendo Wii has shown that new technologies can reach and hold audiences never expected to enjoy playing online or computer games. Regardless of the negative features associated with gaming such as frivolity, violence and mindlessness, games do have a growing potential in education. The main Factors behind the raise of Digital Game-Based Learning What makes a learning game ?

What Is Text to Speech? Text-to-speech (TTS) is an assistive technology that reads digital text aloud. It’s sometimes called “read aloud” technology. With a click of a button or the touch of a finger, TTS can take words on a computer or other digital device and convert them into audio. TTS is very helpful for kids who struggle with reading. But it can also help kids with writing and editing, and even focusing. How Text-to-Speech Works TTS works with nearly every personal digital device, including computers, smartphones and tablets. The voice in TTS is computer-generated, and reading speed can usually be sped up or slowed down. Many TTS tools highlight words as they are read aloud. Some TTS tools also have a technology called optical character recognition (OCR). How Text-to-Speech Can Help Your Child Did you know that your child may be eligible for free digital text-to-speech books? And since TTS lets kids both see and hear text when reading, it creates a multisensory reading experience.

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