Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Tackk


Tackk is a simple webpage builder or presentation tool that is innovative and very use friendly.  On the main screen you have the ability to add a title, subheading, picture, headings, and paragraphs.  You can also add in various media such as YouTube videos, Instragram photos, music, and sounds.  Other features include the ability to add a button that will take you to an outside link as well.

What is great about Tackk is that there is no sign up required.  Signing up and logging in does allow for saving the various websites you create.  Each page allows users to easily adjust colors, fonts, backgrounds, and other features, such as adding a Map or Comment section.  Users also have the ability to choose whether they want them to be shared publicly.  There are also several themes that one can choose from as well.


Creating an account does provide more features for the user, such as a custom link and the ability to save your page, because the page will expire if an account is not created.  You can see some other features as well below.  Every Tackk comes with its own generated link that can easily be shared.  You can also preview your page as well.  One negative, from an education standpoint is the ability to browse others that have been created and there is no way to censor those.

Each page you create also has stats that you can see, such as the number of visitors and last time it was edited.  As a teacher, this would be a valuable tool as well to keep up to date how often students are working no an assignment using the software.  There is also an option to Print, which would be a good option as well for turning in a final product for evidence.

You will also notice from the logo at the top that Tackk is in Beta.  I do see a lot of uses for this in education however.

Slices for Twitter


Slices for Twitter is an alternative for looking through your Twitter feed.  I recently came across this service when our Art teacher mentioned it to me and a Science teacher emailed me a link to an article via the Slices App.  Slices is available for both Android, Apple, and Amazon (weird how those all begin with an "A" mobile devices; as well as on the Web

Slices provides an easy way to explore the Twitterverse with user created groups and created list by the App itself that focus on News, Fashion, Live Events, etc.  It is like a Hashtag organizer for Twitter.  If you find yourself with a Twitter full of people you follow, this might a valuable alternative for looking through your Twitterfeed. 

For more information about Slices, which is in Beta, see the video below.