Smackdown! Screen Toaster vs. Screencast-O-Matic

I've been using Jing for quite a while now, and I do indeed love it, but I think the love affair might be over. One of my colleagues told me about Screencast-O-Matic, and it didn't take long before this fantastic tool won me over. Then, as I was about to publish a comparison between the two (S-O-M won by a landslide), I came across Screen Toaster, and a new smackdown began.

First, let's talk about screencasting in general. If you've watched one of the many tutorials posted in my blog, then you already know what a screencast is. At its most basic, a screencast allows you to show what is on your screen while recording narration to go along with it. It's a great way to demonstrate to someone how to do something on their computer, whether it's demonstrating some of the privacy features on Facebook or showing a colleague how to insert a signature in their email. It's also a great tool for students to demonstrate their knowledge and talk about process while working on a project.

Both S-O-M and Toaster are web based. This means no download. AND in both cases, no signup or login! For classroom teachers, this is huge. Of course, you will get more features if you log in, and even more if you upgrade to the (very inexpensive) paid version, but you really don't have to do either of those things.



As you can see, both tools have their advantages. If you really want subtitles in your screencasts, Toaster is the way to go. Otherwise, I found S-O-M a little easier to use, and the fact that it uploads to YouTube HD is pretty cool. Either way, you really can't go wrong. Please keep me posted on how you are using screencasts with your students and staff, and which tool is most helpful to you.

If you need to see Screencast Smackdown in full screen mode, you can!

Collaborate online with Scribblar

A few weeks ago, I was working with a debate class while they were researching their latest topics. One group of boys grabbed a small dry erase board to map out their ideas and decide who was doing what. Toward the end of the period, I went over to check in and see if they had copied the information down somewhere. "No, we took a picture of it with our phones," they told me. Genius! I never would have thought of it. But I knew that somewhere out there, someone in the world of Web 2.0 had gone even further. That's when I found Scribblar.

Scribblar is an online interactive collaboration tool that functions very much in the same way as that little dry erase board. Multiple members can log in to a session and create content and chat. There is no user name or password, just a URL that one person creates and shares with the other members of the group.

Here's a quick tour to get you started. In the hands of students, the possibilities are endless. Just step back and watch the ways they'll use it.



Need a full-screen version of this tutorial? Click here.

Four ways to use Wordle (and one way not to)

Let's get this out of the way right now: Wordle is not an end product. The first time I saw it, I thought, "How does making one of those show learning? I would never accept that as a final product from a student!"
It wasn't until after reading a bit about it and playing around with it, that I began to realize the potential of Wordle as a teaching tool.

So what's a Wordle?

Wordle is a web-based tool where you can paste text and create "word clouds." The illustration here shows a word cloud based on the Gettysburg Address, and it took about two minutes to create. Did I learn anything from making it? No. But I could certainly learn and teach a lot from it.

How can I use it in the classroom?

1. PREVIEW A PASSAGE--Give your students a Wordle and ask them to predict the topic of the reading it came from. What predictions do they have? What questions? Is there vocabulary they are unfamiliar with?
2. REVISE/CHECK FOR MEANING--Have your students create a Wordle from their first draft of a paper. Are there any surprises? Words that they overused? Opportunities for improvement?
3. FIND A "JUST RIGHT" READING TEXT: A Wordle will make it easy for a student to tell if the vocabulary in a particular passage will be too difficult, too easy, or just right.
4. COMPARE VIEWPOINTS: Take news accounts of a politically charged event from various sources and analyze the differences in word choice. Are there differences that jump out at you? What does it reveal about possible biases?

And how does it work?

It's really easy to create a Wordle, but you'll want to play around with it a bit to get the best effect. Here's a quick tutorial to show you the basics.



If you need to see a full-screen version of the Wordle tutorial, click here.

Email with training wheels

Zoobuh is an email service that allows parents to mediate and monitor childrens' emails. You can decide who your child can send and receive messages from. You'll even get a copy of all emails in your inbox.

Look out, kids. Big Mother is watching!

http://www.zoobuh.com/

When is Good for you?

People are busy. Try getting a group of busy people together, and you’ll end up even busier sorting through dozens of emails trying to find a mutually agreeable time for all. Not anymore! When is Good is a fantastic tool that allows a group of people to compare availability without filling your inbox, and with no registration or logins required. I’ve included a quick demo below, but this site is so simple, you really won’t need it. I recently tried it out with my book club, and it was a breeze.

At last! OverDrive audio books work on iPods! Sort of.

Our state library's downloadable audio book system has just taken a giant step forward. OverDrive has recently started adding a few titles in MP3 format, which means that they'll work on Apple products such as the iPhone and iPod touch. Of course, when I went to take a look, I discovered that nearly every one of these titles was checked out. I guess they got the hint.

In a recent press release, OverDrive announced that their new OverDrive Media Console would be able to convert ALL of their titles to a friendlier format.

For most people, that is.

Yes, there's a catch. The new improved media console will work for people who use PC's, but will not work on Macs. Huh? The press release explains...

Once OverDrive Media Console version 3.2 is installed, most titles in a library’s OverDrive WMA Audiobook collection will instantly become iPod-compatible for users with Windows PCs. The growing collection of iPod-compatible, Mac®-friendly OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks will still be available to help libraries better serve patrons with Apple computers.

Oh, well. At least it's a start.

Send kids to the sites you want them to see with Google Custom Search

If you have a particular topic that your students will be researching on the web, consider creating a Google Custom Search to guide them. This fantastic tool allows you to hand pick the sites that you want returned or emphasized in Google search results. To create a custom search, simply choose the sites you want to include in search results and give your custom search a name and description.

One of the best features is that you can choose to only search the sites you've listed, or allow it to include other sites, but ranked lower than the ones you've selected in the results. Here's an example of a search I just created for research on American presidents. The students I'll be working with are comparing the Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon administrations. I have included several sites such as the Library of Congress, the official White House web site, and PBS. Since I want students to also be able to find sites that focus on a specific president, I've selected "Search the entire web but emphasize included sites."

I would be concerned about overuse of Google Custom Searches, especially if it interferes with teaching students how to conduct good searches and evaluate sites. However, as training wheels for younger researchers, it's an incredible tool.

Flickr in the classroom

Many of us probably use Flickr or other photo sharing sites to post our own pictures to share with family and friends, but how many of us are using Flickr in the classroom? The WORLD MAP feature is a great way to give students some context when viewing photos. When studying the spread of Islam in the Middle Ages, I was able to share this map with students. Not only did they get to see beautiful photographs, but they had an "ah ha!" moment when they could visualize how Islam spread through northern Africa.

Frustratingly, I can't always get this other feature to work, but when it does, it's pretty cool. When you first click on the Flickr world map, you should be brought to the tag map. As you can see, the day I captured this shot, photos from the release of the new Star Trek movie dominated the US tags. It's a great way to get a visual of what is going on in the world, though there is often bizarre stuff that isn't terribly appropriate for school!

Flickr GROUPS are also a great resource for teachers. These are often moderated and have varying criteria for submission and acceptance, so quality and reliability can vary. Some good examples of groups include the National Museum of American History, Vintage Advertising, WW II, and Science Nerd Depot. You can even search within a group. For example, a search of the WW II group for "women" brings up fantastic shots of women working in the factories.

If you are interested in using photos you find on Flickr, you'll need to get permission and cite your source. To locate photos that have already posted their permission status, visit the Creative Commons section of Flickr. There, you'll find a wide variety of photos available for use in print, for presentations, or for web sites.

As always with the web, it's nice to give back. Next time you take a picture worth sharing, post it and tag it on Flickr so others will be able to enjoy it.

Saving Face

Facebook is a fun tool that more and more adults are using to connect with friends and family, but it is not without its dangers. As web 2.0 guru John Herman advises, "never put anything on the web that you wouldn't want a three-year-old or your grandmother to see." That's great advice, but how can you control what other people put out there about you?

Facebook's default privacy settings allow friends of friends to have pretty liberal access to your profile. This is why, as a teacher, I will not allow students to friend me, nor will I accept friend request from colleagues who have students as their friends. I think that schools need to look at this issue and make sure they have policies in place, but until they do, it's up to the individuals to assess the boundaries of those that they friend.

The tutorial below shows how someone else's poor judgment in posting and tagging photos in Facebook can result in embarrassment for others. I hope you'll take a moment to watch and then visit your FB privacy settings and friend list to make any adjustments you may need in order to feel comfortable.



You can see a full-screen version of Saving Face here.

RSS PART 3: creating custom feeds

At last, as promised, here is part 3 of my RSS tutorial. If you're an RSS beginner, please go back to my first two tutorials found in March 2009 on this blog. If you're ready to create more advanced feeds, here you go. Have fun!



p.s. Isn't it time you subscribed to THIS blog? ;)

Cite it right!

It's research season here at Portsmouth Middle School. Here's a quick tutorial to get you started using online citation tools. It might be handy to have a Word (or Google Docs) document and CitationMachine.net both open before you begin.



Need to see a full screen version of Citing your sources with Citation Machine? You got it.

A 21st Century Glossary

As I prepare for a workshop I'm teaching on Friday, I've been thinking about all the new terms our language has acquired over the past ten years. Of course, some may disagree with some of my definitions, but the list reflects my understanding and use of these terms.

Here is the tip of the iceberg in no particular order. (Does this make me a bad librarian?)

Web 2.0—a term for the new ways that the web allows users to interact with, generate, and manipulate content.

RSS—Really Simple Syndication. (if only that were the case!) RSS allows users to subscribe to content that is regularly updated.

Aggregator—A tool such as Bloglines that pulls feeds from various web sites and brings them together in one place for the user’s convenience.

Social bookmarking—These tools enable users to bookmark sites that they can then access from any computer. Many people use it solely for this feature. The social aspect comes into play when users begin to look at each other’s bookmarks and discover new sites that they would like by exploring the bookmark lists of others.

Blog—A blog is an ongoing journal that a person keeps on the web and updates periodically. If you find a blogger who often has interesting/useful things to say, consider subscribing to the blog in your RSS aggregator. (Hint: you are reading a blog right now. Why not subscribe! There's a tutorial on how to do it in one of the very first posts on here.)

Podcast—Recording something digitally once and uploading it to the web is not a podcast! Like blogs, podcasts are ongoing endeavors that are updated daily/weekly/monthly/occasionally. Instead of a text format, podcasts are audio files that can be downloaded to an MP3 player or played directly from a computer.

Social networking—Most people think of MySpace and FaceBook when they think of social networking. Social networking is involved in many Web 2.0 tools. It is simply a way for users to find other users that they wish to associate with and follow each other’s content. Whether it is personal updates, professional research, or information/opinions on a particular topic, social networking allows like minds to connect online.

Wiki—A wiki is a web document that is written collaboratively by many people. The most commonly known wiki is Wikipedia. The collaborative nature of wikis makes it difficult to verify the source or validity of information, but allows a broader spectrum of information to be made available.

Tags—Tags are a way of marking content on the web to make it easier to find. The most obvious example would be on Flickr where users can tag photos so that they become searchable. In some cases, tags must be entered as all one word, so you may see tags such as portsmouthmiddleschool.

Bookmarking and highlighting the web with Diigo

If you want your students to really interact with the sites they visit, try downloading the Diigo toolbar. It allows users to not only bookmark favorite pages, but to highlight and annotate them. Perfect for research projects! I'm going to try it out with some 8th graders who are learning about assessing web sites. They will need to find, assess, and mark up three web sites to show me that they understand the red flags that indicate a web site is not reliable.

Here's a quick rundown of Diigo. As always, a full-screen version of Getting_started_with_Diigo is available.

Lesson of the day

When you delete something from your flash drive, it's gone. No, really. Gone. No recycle bin, no "are you sure you want to do this, stupid?" Just gone. GONE.

It's a lesson I'll only have to learn once.

Saving in Open Office for Microsoft Office use

Our school just got new netbooks and they are loaded with Open Office. Since the rest of the computers in the building run Microsoft Office 97, it's important that people save their files correctly if they want to later open them on a different computer. This tutorial will show you how.



See a full-screen version of Saving in Open Office for MS Office use here.

Outfoxed!

Really? You're still using Internet Explorer?

By clicking on the tutorial below, you are taking the first step: admitting you have a problem. Don't worry. We'll get through this together...




Need to see the fine print? Click here for a full-screen version.

UPDATE--in all fairness, here's a link to a Cnet review of the latest version of Internet Explorer. I'll still be over here on Firefox, but it's nice to see IE is catching up with the times.

RSS tutorials

I've just discovered the wonders of Jing, a tool that has allowed me to create these RSS tutorials. Check them out to see what a feed reader is and to learn step-by-step how to set up and use a feed reader. Part 3 of this tutorial, how to create custom feeds, is coming soon.







Need to see the fine print? Click here and here for full-screen versions.