Mindomo---Mind Mapping Made Easy

MINDOMO is an online mapping tool that lets users create mind maps to organize their ideas. It is like bubbl.us, but MINDOMO has another advantage. That is, users can linked multimedia, such as photographs, video and hyperlinks to web sites, to subtopics to help organize information and to make it more interactive. 

This tool is good for visual learners because they can benefit from the images. Teachers can use it before they start a new lesson in order to give students a complete concept map. I think teachers can also use it as an assessment tool. After a new lesson, teachers can ask students to delineate the concept map of the lesson so that teachers can know how many the students understand. I think it would be more interesting for students to do it and it may alleviate some students pressure because some students are not good at paper test. 
I think MINDOMO can stimulate students critical thinking. Students can be separated into groups and they can share their ideas or give others feedback.


Where to find :http://www.mindomo.com/
tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fjgWNC-4Ns&feature=related&noredirect=1

SlideShare---The Sharing Platform

Last week we used skype and invited a guest speaker to show us her project, and it was really interesting to me because I didn’t have this experience in Taiwan. I posted on my facebook and told my friends about the experience. Most of my friends felt very interesting that we could use skype to do a presentation in class. 

Slideshare is a sharing platform where you can put your documents on the Internet. Individuals and organizations upload documents to SlideShare to share ideas, and documents can be downloaded if people find something that interests them. It can be used as an educational material as well. When I found this web 2.0 tool, I thought that maybe our guest speaker can put her powerpoint on slideshare and Dr. Crawford did not have to change the slide for us. Moreover, teachers can put their documents on slideshare, and students can download it if they want. It is really convenient for both teachers and students.

Something that you can do on Slideshare (Extract from the website)

1. Upload presentations publicly or privately

2. Download presentations on any topic and reuse or remix

3. Embed on blogs, websites, company intranets

4. Share on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

5. Zipcast: free, no download, 1 click web meetings

6. Leadshare: generate business leads with your presentations, documents, pdfs, videos

7. Slidecast: sync mp3 audio with slides to create a webinar

8. Embed YouTube videos inside SlideShare presentations

9. Use SlideShare PRO for premium features like branded channels, analytics, ad free pages etc

Where to find the interesting tool?

Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/

Video tutorial

http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/mrplough07-176896-slideshare-lesson-final-entertainment-ppt-powerpoint/

Mixbook---Design your own photo book

Mixbook is a free tool that can be used to create completely customizable photo books, calendars, and cards on the Internet. Users can use it individually or collaboratively which means users can invite their friends and family to join in and create projects together. Everyone can upload their photos to the same project, and then design their pages. People can upload photos not only from their computers, but also from many popular photo sharing website such as Facebook, Picasa and Flickr.

 

How to integrate into classroom teaching?

Mixbook is like an ebook and the difference is that students can be the designer and creator of the book. It is similar to Smilebox, but Mixbook has more functions than Smilebox. I have thought one way to integrate Mixbook into classroom teaching, but this is only my assumption because I have no class for me to implement my idea. In my opinion, Mixbook can be used in every content area and it can make students collaborate with each other which is also a good way for students learn how to cooperate with their peers.

If students just come back from their field trip with lots of wonderful photos, I would ask them to separate into groups and finish a photo book, which describes what happened during their trip. In this case, students can discuss and work with each other in order to finish the photo book.

Teachers can also integrate the tool into geography class. America is a big country, which has fifty states, and it is not possible for students to know every state thoroughly. Teachers can ask students to choose one state which they are really interested in, and make a briefly introduction about the state. Before students create their own ebook, they have to read some information about the state that they are going to introduce, and they can practice reading at the same time. When they are creating, they can practice writing as well.

Where to find the interesting tool?

Mixbook:http://www.mixbook.com/ 

Video tutorial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh5y3qaYhfI&feature=related

An example to use Mixbook

http://langwitches.org/blog/2008/05/15/another-mixbook-classroom-project-explorers/

Smilebox

There are more and more immigrants in America such as Hispanics and Asians, and they have different language systems and cultures. Children may speak their first language with their family at home, and speak English outside. As a result, immigrant children can be defined as English Language Learners (ELL). How to help children get balance between their first language and English becomes an important issue. Even though they come to America, people still have to respect their cultures and languages. Besides, children can learn different cultures from their peers and develop a global perspective which means they can  learn how to respect and admire each other. Here comes a question. How to make children know each other more? When I was reading a textbook, Reading and learning to read, the author mentioned in chapter 3 that teachers can help students build classroom community such as making autobiography or biography. When I read this, I really thought that it is a great idea to help students know each other better. I started to think is there any ways to integrate technology into this activity.

I found an interesting web 2.0 tool which is "Smilebox"

Smilebox is a free software that lets you upload photographs, music and video clips to create multimedia projects.

How to integrate into classroom teaching?

I've tried this software, and I think it is easy to be used. Students can choose what template they like and make it personalized. Moreover, students can describe themselves or introduce their own cultures by using photos which may be easier for them to "write". It can be used as a digital story- telling tool. If I were one of the students to do the work, I would be very nervous because I would not know how to start my work. Therefore, if students can use the tool, it might help them decrease their anxiety. However, that is only my assumption.

Smilebox can also be printed out after children finish their editing. Students can make their autobiography or introduction without using this tool, but I think it would be more interesting if they can use a colorful and convenient tool to finish their autobiography and show it to their peers. Students can share their work with others and do a presentation in front of their peers which can also train their speaking ability. 

Where to find the interesting tool?

Smilebox: http://smilebox.com/

Diigo

Diigo!!!
What is Diigo?
Collect and Highlight, Then Remember.
This is the slogan of Diigo.

Because of the advance in technology, people can find their materials on the Internet. Key in your key words, and you can find lots of websites which are related to your subject. However, you cannot remember all the important points on websites. Here comes Diigo, an information management system.


When I first used the tool, I thought it is fabulous. You can highlight what you think is important and even make a sticky note on the website. Diigo helps you build a personal library on the Internet. Everything is stored in the "Cloud" in your library. When you revisit the website, you can see what you have highlighted on the page no matter what browser, computer or devices you use. People may ask what if the page is removed. Another amazing function of Diigo is that it can snapshot the page so that you don't have to worry about the missing page.


How to combine Diigo into classroom teaching?
Diigo can be used not only on personal but also on group work. Many teachers would like to ask their students to write their own blogs and teachers would give them feedback. Students might get lost if there are too much feedback from the teacher or classmates. What comes in my mind is if the teacher use Diigo and highlights or puts a sticky note in the content directly, it would be more powerful and visualized. Moreover, Diigo provides educators to form a class group and class forums which only allows their teacher and classmates to contact them and access their personal profile information. Students can share bookmarks and resources with their classmates, and they can learn together to form a leaning community. I think Diigo is not only useful for K-12 but also useful for every reader who is reading online. 


Here is the link.  http://www.diigo.com/