BenchPrep

Chances are you have a few students taking the ACT/SAT and AP exams this school year.  Often times these test stress out several students and can be a daunting task for teachers to cover the material and get students prepared; especially for the AP exams.

BenchPrep aims to help students prepare for those exams by providing test prep.  You and/or your students can search through the various courses and see which ones are available for them.  Each test provides the source for where the content is added.  The AP test in particular come with reading and review material, several practice questions, practice tests, and digital flashcards. 

One of the best features, as you can see from the image above, is that BenchPrep makes all the test prep available on iPhones/iPads and Android phones, as well as on the web.  By syncing, students will be able to pick up where they leave off when switch devices.

Other features include the ability to bookmark important parts of the reading material, questions, and flashcards.  Questions and reading material can be marked by a level of confidence as well.  Notes can also be taken for reminders.  At the conclusion of a sample test or questions, students will receive a report and analysis of their work as well.

There is a cost involved, but for what it provides, it seems like a good option.

Jolicloud

We are slowly but surely moving ourselves and our students towards saving documents, music, photos, videos, and other important documents into "the cloud."  The problem is that keeping all our different clouds organized and in one place easily accessible makes the transition difficult; myself included.  I have documents on a SkyDrive, a Google Drive, an iCloud Drive, a DropBox, etc.  I am still struggling to make that transition to working completely from/in "the cloud."

That is what Jolicloud is aiming to do; organize all our clouds.  You can login via Facebook or create an account using an email address.  You can then use the service via Google Play and get an App from the App Store.  Learn about their Desktop which makes organizing your cloud easier.  They also have an OS that can be utilized as well.

With Jolicloud you can connect the apps and services you already use and have it all in one library.  You can organize all your stuff in the library or create custom collections.  A search feature allows you to easily find older documents and memories.  IF you choose to connect via Facebook you would be able to browse the public content within their library. 

As with any site where you are providing "access" to your "stuff" read all the fine print.  See the short video below for more information.

Sitehoover

Sitehoover advertises itself as a website for collecting and storing your favorite websites.  Like similar sites, it makes all your favorite websites available from any computer.  One difference is that Sitehoover will inform you about new stuff coming up on your favorite websites.  Registration for the site is simple.  All that is required is an email and the creation of a password.  If you don't create an account, the hoover is removed in a few days.

When you visit the site you will type in a topic you are interested in.  You then add the websites that belong under that topic.  You can also create folders which will thematically organize your websites for you.  For each website you can add a note about them as well.  For teachers there is the ability to see previously tagged websites.  For example, here is one for K-5.

Sitehoover could be utilized in the classroom by allowing students to collect and document websites for a class project.  The ability to add notes to a website will allow students the easy ability to annotate the website as well and then retrieve those annotations at a later time.   See the screenshot below.  But here is an example for how a teacher is utilizing it for her classroom. 

New Job

I have accepted a new position as Curriculum Coordinator at another high school in my district.  I am not quite sure what that will mean for this blog.  I am still trying to figure out exactly what my goal is with this blog since I am in my 3rd position in as many years (and that is not a complaint).  I hope that I will have more time to write some posts sharing ways that we are improving curriculum and using technology in the classroom.

It will be a busy year with several new teachers in the building, working on an accreditation review, Program Reviews, and improving methodology of PLC's/CLC's.  I hope to find some time to work on adding some posts to this blog. 

I wish I could go back and remove the ".blogspot," and get my original domain, but as quick as my domain was removed, it appeared it was picked up just as quickly, therefore I would have to change to a .net or change the whole URL, which I am not a fan of.  So it appears that I will have to stick with the ".blogspot." for now.

Thanks for following....even though there hasn't been much to follow in the past year.

9 Simple Website Creation Options

Over the course of the growth of the World Wide Web there has been an increase in all types of websites.  One of those are websites that allow you to copy and paste or type in text and then share a custom URL with people.  I have had to use a site like this myself for Master's classes, so there are applications in education.  Here are several options below.

Kl1p is your one stop online notepad that makes it easy to copy and paste or write text to the web.  You can create a custom URL as well.  There is a Chrome extension as well.  Each "Clip" creates a custom QR Code as well which would be beneficial for doing a scavenger hunt in the classroom.  You can also upload documents and pictures to the "Clip" as well.

PageOrama is another option that has a simple URL creation, text box for typing, an emailing option to make future edits and security code as well.

shortText is a little different.  It does offer Chrome and Firefox extensions.  It allows users to Link an Image or Video, Use Rich Text, make private, and customize colors/schemes.  Users can also visitors to post comments as well.  It does not allow custom URL however and when you do click on the link there are ads to deal with as well. 

WePaste is your very own Internet Clipboard.  You provide a URL and once you have done that, you are provided with your text box.  One difference that I did notice is that users have the ability to determine how many days till the page expires.  You can choose the number of days you want your page to be available.  this service is limited to just text, so don't expect a ton of features.  You can save it and password protect your page as well.

Jottit is another solution for posting information online with a generated URL.  No text editor option, just a simple text box for copy and paste or typing.

PageEasy is another simple option for creating simple webpages.  Choose the page name, choose the title, copy HTML code, and type in your text.  You can sign up for an account and manage all your pages which is nice if that is an option that you or your students would be needing.  Here is a sample.

CopyTaste provides users the ability to create an account (if necessary) to track user created websites.  You can choose various types of pages such as an image, text, videos, or URL.  You can allow comments and you can also make it private if necessary.  Similar to others.  I will warn you that throughout the website there are links to recently created pages which could include inappropriate content. 

Pen.io is another option for creating a webpage in a simple way.  You choose a custom URL and a password (for editing purposes).  With Pen.io you have the ability to add tags to the webpage.  You can also choose a theme for your page.  Some of the options include the ability to images, videos, YouTube, and advertisements.  There is also the option to embed your page as well. 

Disposable Web Page is another option that provides you 90 days or less (you decide) with a webpage that you can use to share information for a short period of time. 

In the age of creating and publishing that many state education departments are requiring of students.  Simple web site creation such as these provide that ability.