10 Wikis Worth Checking Out

Last school year I would dedicate Wednesday's to sharing a Wiki or a few Wikis that I thought were of value.  Looking back, it has been almost 11 months since I did a Wiki Wednesday post, so I guess I have a lot of catching up to do.  So I present 10 Wikis that I have recently discovered that I think are worth sharing.

1.) First Day - We all have our First Day of School routines.  The question is how many have activities for the content area that they teach?  This wiki provides some interesting ideas for First Day of School Activities.  Worth looking at.

2.) Project Elite Wiki is specific for Librarians.  With the advances in technology there is a fear (and in some states a reality) that librarians will soon be removed or replaced in schools.  The purpose of this Wiki is to encourage technology use by Librarians.  It is important to be able to present yourself with additionally abilities, and this Wiki is a great starting point for Librarians. 

3.) iPods, iPhones, and iPads in Education is a great homepage for all you need to know about integrating iTechnology into the classroom.  Several resources as well as descriptions of apps for various subject matter. 

4.) Open Source Graphics and Visualization Tools is a wiki providing links to web based resources that provides ways to create, share, and edit graphics and visuals.  Very well organized. 

5.) Paperless Posters is a wiki all about Glogster.  You will find helpful tips, samples, and ideas for using Glogster in the classroom.  A helpful link for learning how to use the website and worth sharing with teachers who are interested in using the site. 

6.) Backchanneling Wiki is a one stop shop for all things backchanneling.  The idea of communicating with students through a backchannel is gaining a lot of steam.  This wiki provides links to web-based applications, ideas for use, and links to other resources about backchanneling.

7.) Educational Wikis is all about how to use Wikis in education and it provides various links to articles, tips, ideas, and other resources for using Wiki's in education.  You will also find 100's of examples of educational wikis being used by teachers across the world.  They are listed in alphabetical order.....wow!

8.) Cool Tools for Schools is a great starting point for finding Web 2.0 based resources to use in the classroom.  Each resource is linked by category and provides a short description for them all.

9.) Book Leads is a Wiki all about books.  There is information about authors, information for librarians, information about eBooks, as well as Young Authors.  A valuable resource for Librarians and English teachers.

10.) Student Innovation is a wiki that has the single purpose of sharing how students are using technology to create innovative projects and how as teachers, we need to be sharing what our students are doing with others.  Although this Wiki is still a work in progress; I believe with all the great things that teachers are doing out there, that this will grow rather fast. 

Better World Flux

I am a graphics guy.  I think teaching with graphs, charts, infographics, etc makes learning material more interesting.  I came across the site Better World Flux which provides interactive visualization of information on what really matters in life. Indicators like happiness, life expectancy, and years of schooling are meaningfully displayed in a colorful flowing Flux. Better World Flux visually communicates the world state in terms of standards of living and quality of life for many countries and how this has changed, and mostly improved, over a period of up to 50 years. This site is a tool for building a consensus, telling a story and sharing it, all whilst raising awareness for the UN Millennium Development Goals.

When viewing the data you can look at individual countries or you can look at the world averages with all the countries included.  For students completing geography projects over countries, this would be a valuable resource.  I could also see this being used in other social studies classes as well.  You can look at the data change over time as well, at least from when data was made available.  You can customize your own data sets and combine them as well.

You can see an image sample of the data graphic below as well as a video that shows how to use the website.

goPileus

Becoming more and more popular are web applications that allow users to easily share files across the web.  I have previously written about Min.us and Ge.tt which provide that ability.  goPileus is another option for easily sharing files over the web.  There is a simple drag and drop interface or the ability to upload a file.  You can create an account providing just an email, username, and password.  This allows you to track the files you are sharing.

When you use goPileus you create a box and use it to keep files sorted and easy to find. Select one of them and see the files inside.  You can link your bit.ly account and get short-url for your files.  Once you drag and drop your files you will have a short URL available to share your files. 

As educators, sometimes we need to get files to our students who are sick or on home-bound.  Sites like goPileus provide an avenue for sharing files that we use in our classrooms.  It would be a great way to share images as well.

Amazon Cloud Drive

Every morning I use the AP News App on my iPhone while eating my cereal to catch up on what has been going on in the world.  This morning I came across a story about Amazon moving into the online storage business.  I use Amazon to shop and if you have an account you can also have a free online storage drive of 5GB.  Amazon Cloud Drive is another method of storing your files online and having access to them anywhere you have access to the web.  You can see the plans available for purchase below.

I did not see anything in the FAQ's about file syncing, so it is basically more of a service that allows you to easily upload files to their servers and then have access to them.  You can upload videos, photos, music, and documents.  If you purchase music files through Amazon you will be able to store and stream them using the Amazon Cloud Player which is also free, and this does not affect your storage capacity.

If you haven't heard, Amazon is also offering an "Appstore" for Android phones; although they are in a legal battle with Apple over the name.  What is different is that if an app goes on sale or is free, there is a timer that lets you know how long you have to take advantage of that deal.  It appears that Amazon is working at entering the Web 2.0/Mobile Market, and in a quick way.

Weekly Core Subject Resources

Hard to believe that Friday will be April 1st.  The good thing is that means Spring Break is next week.  Looking forward to the time at home with family.  Hopefully I can get online and still post next week.  Just depends on the weather and how much time I spend outside.

English
1.) Free Reading Worksheets provides worksheets in various forms (RTF, PDF, HTM, and PPT) as well as interactive reading lessons in various forms as well (YouTube, Flash, HTM, and PPT).  Created for 7th and 8th graders, they are still adaptable for grades 6-12. 

2.) Exquisite Corpse is a Poetry game where you can submit a sentence to a poem and then you provide how many lines in the poem there is and provide the 2nd persons name and email address for them to submit the second line.  If you want to work in pairs or groups you can easily just supply each other emails and create a poem with each other.  Collaborative Poetry.  You can also view previous submissions by other people.

3.) Current.im is your free and private online journal.  The difference is that each entry is limited to only 140 characters. 

Mathematics
1.) http://url3.tk/graph.tk/ is a website that provides users the ability to input a formula and get a plotted graph.  You can add in multiple formulas or just one.  You can also take a screen shot when you are finished. 

2.) Off-Road Algebra provides 30-segment video resources that  focuses on ninth grade Pre-Algebra and Algebra.  What is different is that it  revolves around the world of off-road motorcycle racing.  Some interesting videos bringing math and the real world together.

3.) Mangahigh provides free math games for various levels of math curriculum.  There are games and quizzes for shapes, algebra, data, and numbers. 

Science
1.) "Scirus is the most comprehensive scientific research tool on the web. With over 410 million scientific items indexed at last count, it allows researchers to search for not only journal content but also scientists' homepages, courseware, pre-print server material, patents and institutional repository and website information."

2.) Middle School Chemistry provides Lesson Plans, Multimedia, and workshops for science teachers.  "Investigate the world of atoms and molecules through hands-on inquiry-based activities and molecular model animations."

3.) "Exploriments are simulation-based interactive learning units for enhancing conceptual understanding in Science and Math in an experiential manner. Useful for students and teachers alike, Exploriments provide a highly interactive, exploratory, and engaging experience."

4.) NBC Learn - Chemistry Now provides videos every week related to chemistry and real life examples of how chemicals impact various aspects of our lives.  Right now you have access to 9 weeks worth of videos.  

5.) Spongelab Biology provides the history of biology by allowing students to play a game.  In the History of Biology game, you, the assistant, are required to navigate through a labyrinth of clues, objects, and internet sites trying to figure out why Dr. Shyre has disappeared. What secret project was he working on? Who might be after him and are they after you too? Hidden amongst the history of biology, Dr. Shyre has left clues and puzzles to unlock the secrets of his most important and controversial research ever 

Social Studies
1.)  Picture History is a website dedicated to providing free primary source historical images.  There are various ways to search for material whether it be through a basic search or by categories, photographers, decade, or anniversary.  These are intended to be purchased to have a hard copy, but you can still search for the images and show them to students in the classroom.  

2.) Best History Sites is a portal for finding websites related to various time periods in history.   A great starting point for discovering resources for the subject matter that you are covering.  Worth looking through. (Source: US History Teachers Blog)

3.) Teaching History is a website dedicated to history teachers.   You will find resources, activities, lessons, and materials for teaching history at all grade levels.  You will also find videos related to various methods for teaching history.