10 New(er) Tools or Web/Mobile Apps

Symphonical is a collaborative whiteboard/post-it note tool that can be used to work on group projects.  With teachers roles changing and the increasing use of PLC's in schools, Symphonical would be a valuable way for departments to collaborate on lessons, assessments, projects, and other necessary agenda items.  Items can be given priority levels and notes can be categorized into rows to see who is responsible for what items.  Notes can also be dragged from one area to another, so as one part of an item is completed, it can be moved to the next person responsible.  There is also the option of embedding into a Google+ Hangout as well.

Somcloud provides cloud based storage, while also making two other apps available for users.  Somnote for creating notes and Somtodo for creating a To Do List.  Both of these apps are available on iPhone and Android devices while also providing web access.  All users can have a free account, but premium accounts are available as well.  The ability to sync all three together makes it a very user friendly application system.

UtellStory is a service for creating and sharing digital photo stories.  Users add photos, captions, and audio narration to each slide or upload a soundtrack.  Users can share their story through email, social networks, or through an embedding feature.  You can find other digital story telling options HERE.
h/t to Free Technology 4 Teachers.

FindSounds is a web search audio sounds.  Various languages are available as well as formats, resolution, sample rates, and number of channels.  If you don't want to complete a search, users can click and find categories of sounds that are already cataloged and easy to find.  For mobile users there is a mobile version and an Android version as well.

My Study Life is a free online planner for students and teachers that is designed to make life easier by storing classes, tasks, and exams in the cloud, therefore making your study life available at anytime.  This app provides users the ability to track the tasks that are due and stay on top of them.  The app offers several customization features as well in order to stay up to date.  The app is available for Windows, Chrome, and coming in 2013 Android and iPhone.  For more information, take the tour.  

JumpRope is an app for the growing concept of Standards Based Grading.  There are several features for this grade-book service which include the ability to communicate effectively the mastery of standards, makes data much more transparent.  There are also attendance options, character education, curriculum design tools, custom reporting, and much more.

Doctape is a personal document and media hub.  Like other cloud storage options, users can access the content from anywhere and get embedded security as files are scanned for viruses.  There is also an optimization feature that makes audio and video files in a format that delivers the beast streaming experience based on screen size and bandwidth.  There is an email option for sending files and an editing feature that allows users to use Google Docs to make necessary changes.  Currently, users get 5GB for free and CLICK HERE to learn about some other features.

Narrable is another option in the growing list of digital photo storytelling applications.  The main difference is that instead of captions, users narrate (music is still an option) over the slides through several different ways.  Users can record the narration via phone as well, so therefore, users could have multiple people providing narration over a story.  This service would be a valuable tool for students conducting interviews.  You can learn more about the service from this blog post as well.  

h/t to Free Technology for Teachers.

OnePAD is an app that creates a notebook page for each day of the year for iDevice users.  There are no files or folders, just a page for every day.  The app uses iCloud accounts to sync notes over various devices. Users can email a single note or export an entire collection to a text file.  A simple app for taking notes and creating to do list.  

Cruxlight is a Chrome Extension that simplifies the information and research process of the web by automatically summarizing the information on a webpage or article and highlighting the important parts.  The app also provides the important keywords that the article revolves around.  With the keywords, users can select a particular word and view a summary of the article from that point of view.  Users can determine the length of the summary and also provides a clutter-free reading environment of the article as well.  There are also several sharing and customization features as well.  Not sure where this will go down the road in terms of student use, but as a teacher reading articles for school or personal knowledge, it is an interesting tool.  

Video Battles with ClipChoose

For years videos have been part of the education process.  With video creation becoming an even easier task for students and teachers, there are also several services that are becoming to use those videos in different ways.  Through ClipChoose, users can select multiple videos from YouTube which can then be voted on to determine a winner.  Teachers or students wanting to use the service for a project can add a question and then choose up to 8 videos.  Visitors then vote on the video that best answers the question.

I could see government teachers using this service to portray sides to differing political views.  Video projects uploaded to YouTube could be voted on by students and the winners could receive a prize in the classroom.  Marketing and business teachers could use the service to teach advertising techniques by companies and which commercial was more influential.  There are several videos for teaching a concept and students could choose which concept helped them learn the content better.  ClipChoose could be another valuable option in the classroom.

h/t to InTec Insights

BUMP Provides Ability to "Bump" Even More

I recently wrote a post discussing how the Bump App for Android and Apple now had the ability to Bump pictures to your computer.  In the most recent update to the service, users can now bump a lot more.  By using the app and "bumping" your phone to the spacebar, users can easily share videos, files, audio, photos, and everything from their phone.

With phones increasingly becoming a valuable tool in the classroom, it is going to be worthwhile to utilize what apps and tools are available to easily make files available.  As students are using their phones for video and photo projects, Bump could be a valuable tool for teachers to use to gain access to student work.  It might also be a good way for teachers to collect contact information of parents, students, or athletes if they are a coach.  

State of the Union Word Clouds

I have previously compared two State of the Union Addresses by President Obama and thought it would be interesting to take word clouds from the four previous ones as comparison for tonight's State of the Union Address.  This might be interesting to share with your social studies teachers as well.

You can find transcripts of the previous addresses for all the presidents through the American Presidency Project and it might be good for your social studies teachers to create their own Wordle or Tagxedo Word Cloud and compare previous State of the Union Addresses from various presidents.  Remember, the words that are the largest are the words that appear the most in the speeches.

If looking for a writing assignment, here are some suggestions: Where The Classroom Ends

2009 State of the Union Address*

2010 State of the Union Address

2011 State of the Union Address

2012 State of the Union Address

2013 State of the Union Address

Flashcard Resources

In the digital age, flashcards in the literal sense have taken on a new meaning.  Computers, tablets, and other mobile devices haven't changed how way can use flashcards to study, but they have definitely provided a new way to study.  Below are some resources for creating, finding, sharing, and studying using flashcards.  Share with the teachers in your building so that they can find the one that meets the needs of their students.

Quizlet - One of my favorite, and thinking back, the very first Web 2.0 tool I used as a teacher provides students and teachers the ability to create accounts, search through a database, and then participate in games to help study.  You can also find an iPhone App and Google Chrome App as well.  One of the great things about Quizlet; it was created by a high school student.

Braineos allows users to create flashcards, play study games to learn the the information, while at the same time allowing users to challenge their best friends.  Competition is sometimes the best way to increase learning.  There is also a database that you can search for flash cards as well.  There is also the option of having a multiple choice quiz based on the flashcards as well.

Cramberry is another free option that allows users to create or search for flashcards in the database, and then when you are ready to study, Cramberry will analyze a users progress and help users hone in on the areas that they are weakest.  You can also get the service as a iPhone/iPod App and an iPad App.

Study Stack is a simple, no muss, no fuss type of flash card site.  You can browse previously created flashcards or you can create your own and study on the web.

StudyBlue is a mobile and web based flashcard creation option that also allows the creation of study guides and quizzes.  Users can create an account via Facebook or through an email address.  Teachers can also create an account that allows users to create cards for students and then share them for them to access.  StudyBlue also has mobile apps as well.

Memerise is more of a course based system, but provides a lot of features for studying content.  Users can use images and audio (good for language learning), take tests that help users exercise their brain, and then get reminders to help users remember to study.  There are currently 145 languages and over 203 categories that users can browse through.  This might be the most advanced of all I mention, but worth looking into.  No account is needed to use, but creating an account will make tracking and storing easier.

Flashcard Stash is built on top of a dictionary, so users can look up words and save them.  Users can also get sentence usage, synonyms, and audio as well.  Using the service is free and user can login using Facebook or standard email login.  If you are a teacher, you can create an account and share lists of flashcards easily with students.

Superflashcard provides users the ability to look for and create flashcards in various languages and for various categories.  Users can also view in a slideshow or study using matching, memorizing, or through a quiz.  Users can connect with Facebook, Google, or an email account.  Users can also create a review schedule to help them remember to study.

Flashcard Database is a free service to create, study, and share flashcards online.  Users have the ability to study in two different methods and make study easier and more efficient.  Users can search for recently created lists, recently studied, or look through popular subjects.  Signing in is not required to study cards, but it is for creating them.

Flashcard Exchange is also a free service that allows users to search from over 50 million flashcards or create their own.  By creating an account users can save their flashcards and access them later.  This service is more about utilizing what is already available and not reinventing the wheel; although you can if you want too.

Headmagnet is a free services that helps users predict and understand what users are forgetting the most and helps them focus on what you need to remember.  The more it is used, the better the service and its users can learn how to study.  Users can create lists and track what they have learned as well as share with others through the Headmagnet Community.  The service also provides stats that are helpful in determining strengths and weaknesses.

What Flashcard service do you use that I have not shared?