Valerie's+Educational+Techie+Home

This is a page dedicated to the technology that I am exploring, both professionally and personally. [] ||< This site allows people to create word clouds, with words of varying sizes. The size of each word can be used to emphasize importance or frequency of use ||< This could be used by students to create a visual display of important words associated with a particular topic. The large the word, the more it contributes to the theme of the project overall. || [] ||< This site allows people to create a webpage and/or blog ||< Students could create a blog to answer their questions and key terms for projects. They could journal about what they learn each day and keep a running list of the different sites they access, perhaps with notes from each site. Students could also use this as a tool to answer the essentail questions from each project, creating a "portfolio" of their learning. Though I am not deep enough into using this site, perhaps they could use it to upload their documents and/or pictures of their projects in order to capitalize on the idea of an online portfolio. || [] ||< See also Weebly ||< See also Weebly. This utilizes a google account in order to build it. Likely many people/students have a gmail account. There is also an app for the iPad and iPhone. || [] ||< An online gaming website with educational games ||< Several types of online games are available through this site. Several require paid subscriptions, but also include demos to try out. These include Crazy Plant Shop (using the punnet square to breed plants to order), Cell Command (in which you are acting out the different roles of the various cell organelles), You Make Me Sick (in which you try to infect a host with a virus or bacteria), and Prisoner of Echo (a game coming soon in which you attempt to escape a sonic prison without being detected by the sounds you make). There are also free games! Ones that I found particularly interesting are: Citizen Science (in which you attempt to clean a lake by traveling to the past to prevent its pollution using scientific reasoning and fact-finding), Branches of Power (in which you act out the roles of executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government), and Lawcraft (in which you choose your role as a senator or representative and select a key issue about which to create a bill/law). || [] ||< PowerPoint on steroids ||< Simple tools take just a few minutes to figure out. The "Path" tool allows the creator define which components are viewed in which order, similar to a PowerPoint. The site is free to use for publically-viewed Prezis. I created one about Future Pathways and the process of making a project/completing a course. [] || http://www.wikispaces.com ||< Similar to Weebly or Blogger ||< I'd like to see us explore the use of this technology for portfolios, both staff and student alike. It would be nice to have a wikispace dedicated to exemplar projects created by students and/or by staff. The GRASPS plan could be attached, including any links/photos/etc used in its development, along with the student's final project. This would be a way to share what students are doing well, projects with which staff members have had a lot of success, and allow us to keep digital copies to share from teacher to teacher of the best/most valuable projects we have designed for cross-curriculuar work.
 * ~ Technology Name and Site ||~ Technology Description ||~ Technology's Use in Project-Based Learning ||
 * < Wordle
 * < Weebly
 * < Blogger
 * < Filament Games
 * < Prezi
 * < Wikispaces

They could also be used for special sessions, in order to post an agenda, links important to the work, expectations, grading requirements, etc. || [] ||< Book creator ||< The creation is free, the book itself starts at $5.95. Others website named Mixbook or Lulu work similarly, but create more of a scrapbook and cost more. || [|http://www.gliffy.com] ||< Online floor plan and flow chart software ||< Free, only requires an email and password. You can use it to create floor plans, flow charts, and other 2-D presentations. Some stock images to you, || [] ||< Online versions of Word, PowerPoint, Paint, Excel, etc. ||< Gene and I both were able to edit a shared document between the two of us without over-writing one another's work. I learned that Google Chrome is a better browser to use for the documents, as the presentation I started said I would soon lose the ability to change it without using a better browser (chrome was suggested). I was able to upload several documents that I frequently access at home AND at school. Seems perhaps easier/better/friendlier than the cloud storage, allows shared documents to be edited simultaneously by multiple users, and won't get lost or broken like a flash drive. || [] ||< Online video creation ||< You can use this online software for free to create short, very short 30 second or less, free movies, similar to MovieMaker or a moving PowerPoint. The video must be short, which wasn't so great, but for a paid subscription, you can make longer videos. ||
 * < Blurb
 * < Gliffy
 * < Google Docs
 * < Animoto