http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/
There are many different, free, web based typing applications on the web. Use Google and in the search box type in “free web typing software” and you should get a substantial list. I like the one above primarly for the accent of the tutor 
Update: Program extended through the end of December 2007.Â
Starting November 12, One Laptop Per Child will be offering a Give 1 Get 1 Program for a brief window of time. For $399, you will be purchasing two XO laptops—one that will be sent to empower a child to learn in a developing nation, and one that will be sent to your child at home.
More information about the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) program can be found here:Â http://www.laptop.org/vision/index.shtml
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 Besides being able to create wordprocessing documents and spreadsheet documents, now you can also create presentations. Google Docs is able to open and save in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel formats. This makes it an excellent tool for students to finish an assignment at home that they may have started in class with Microsoft Office.
* In order to sign up for the free Google Docs tools, the user needs to have an email account.
A neat tool that allows for the sharing of images and then recording a narration about that image. Visitors to your “story” have the ability to contribute their own recordings that are then associated with your image and  available to all visitors. Very easy interface to use, can you think of a way you could use this with students?
http://maps.yahoo.com/mapmixer
It’s easy to mix your own map. Upload an image of your map, use our layering tool to align it with Yahoo! Maps and we’ll do the rest! Your map will have all the features of Yahoo! Maps (zooming, panning). You can also syndicate it on your own site or blog.
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/news/cyber.asp?keycode=64062
The AdCouncil and Sony have teamed up for a contents where students are PSA videos against Cyberbullying. Sony Creative Software, the National Crime Prevention Council and the Ad Council are seeking entries from independent producers and academic institutions (K – 12). The top submissions may be eligible for national broadcast, and their producer or sponsoring academic institution will receive a complete multimedia editing suite for their facility or school valued at over $18,000. Prize sponsors include Sony Creative Software, Sony Electronics, and Sony VAIO.
http://www.conversationsnetwork.org/levelator
 So what is The Levelator? It’s software that runs on Windows, OS X (universal binary), or Linux (Ubuntu) that adjusts the audio levels within your podcast or other audio file for variations from one speaker to the next, for example. It’s not a compressor, normalizer or limiter although it contains all three. It’s much more than those tools, and it’s much simpler to use. The UI is dirt-simple: Drag-and-drop any WAV or AIFF file onto The Leveler’s application window, and a few moments later you’ll find a new version which just sounds better.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/zoomit.mspx
ZoomIt is a free utility that you can download from Microsoft. It enables you to zoom in on specific locations of your screen. Why might you want to do this you ask? If you were demonstrating something to the students with your LCD projector, ZoomIt would allow you to zoom into the particular section of the screen to share. Also, when creating screencast video tutorials, you may occasionally want to zoom in on a section of your screen so that it can be read easlily, for example, the web address in the location field of your web browser.
Rollyo is a service that lets you roll (create) your own search engine for just the sites you specify. This appears to be a great tool to use with students because the web resources it searches are only those that the teacher has identified.
http://multimedia.mcb.harvard.edu/
This site traces the efforts of students and teachers in the development of a video/animation production on the topic of cells. If you’re teaching students about the science of cells, check this resource out!
Similuar to the VisualThesaurus.com, but free.Â
(NOTE:Â This is a full dictionary. It has not been edited for students.)
This is a free, web based tool that allows for the creation of mind maps, webs, flow charts, etc. It is similar to Inspiration software, but not quite as full featured. Documents can be shared, and multiple people can collaborate in the development of the document.
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TED is a yearly gathering of some of the world’s most creative, intelligent, and divergent thinkers. I believe they have the conference each year in Monterey, California. One thing that they do is video tape all their speakers and make those spearker’s presentations available on their web site. Even though TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, many of the presentation often revolve around education. That should be no surprise to an educator considering the acronym fits nicely with what we do as educators. One such presentation I found interesting was by Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? Have a look and listen below and see what you think?
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CreativeCommons is a licensing format similar to Copyright. The big difference is that individuals who license their property under CreativeCommons can give others the ability to use their material (share) legally. Watch the video below for an explanation about CreativeCommons licensing.
More info about Creative Commons licensing can be found at their web site: www.creativecommons.org.
Comprehensive, collaborative, ever-growing, and personalized, the Encyclopedia of Life is an ecosystem of websites that makes all key information about life on Earth accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world. Our goal is to create a constantly evolving encyclopedia that lives on the Internet, with contributions from scientists and amateurs alike. To transform the science of biology, and inspire a new generation of scientists, by aggregating all known data about every living species. And ultimately, to increase our collective understanding of life on Earth, and safeguard the richest possible spectrum of biodiversity.
If you’ve sent me a question regarding the use of your computer, or a piece of software recently, there’s a chance I have responed to your question using Jing! Jing is a software utility that allows you to create screencast tutorial of process on your computer. It essentailluy records what you say, and what you are doing on your computer screen. This makes it especially handy for creating streaming tutorials like the link below:
Creaty “flashy” slide shows out of your online photos automatically! And it’s free! This one is going to be a “crowd” pleaser.Â
Check out my little Yosemite video below:
A web collection and annotation tool that allows “trail blazers” to string together a set of existing Web resourcrces and mark-up or annotate the pages for trail users who follow their path. This is a tool that needs to be installed in your web browser. Imagine being able to provide web resources to students and annotate, or make notes in the margin for what information is useful on the web page….this tool appears to give that ability. Possible staff development workshop potential?
Schmap Guilds online are available for many parts of the world. Exploring a Schmap Guide is a uniquely interactive experience: maps and guide content are dynamically integrated, allowing intuitive, real-time access to reviews and photo slideshows for places of interest.
You can find a ton of educational video resources on sites such as TeacherTube.com, YouTube.com and the many other video sharing sites out on the net. However, some times due to the web filter, or network problems, sometimes these streaming based video files do not play as well as they can.Â
Ocassionally, you might want to download a streaming video file to your local computer so that you can play in back during classroom instruction. Fortunatley, there are many sofware tools becoming available that allow you to download streaming video resources. A few of them are below:
http://www.chimoosoft.com/products/tubetv/Â Â (Apple Macintosh Only)
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This resource is one I thought was neat for geneology. It allows for the easy creation of a family tree, including the ability for sharing the diagram and having other members contribute to it. However, it is currently blocked by our filter, due to the personal nature of the information. (It should be noted, a teacher can request a site to be unblocked by the web filter…provided it is useful for instruction.) Let me know what you think about this site?
http://www.motionbox.com Motionbox allows you to store, share, search videos. It similar to YouTube, however two things that this site allows you to do that some of the others do not are:
Sorry Windows users, this is only currently available for the Macintosh. This is a handy little software utility for quickly grabing images/info off your screen and sharing with with others.
Last Spring I had the opportunity to attend an online conference that George Siemens was coordinating. One of the sessions made reference to Geetha Narayanan, an educator working in Indian schools. She brings up the concept of “Slow Learning” and describes some of the changes happening in current world India.Â
Here’s a podcast and the paper of a presentation she gave back in 2006.Â
 Crafting Change (Podcast)Â
Crafting Change IIÂ (PDF)
 What do you think?
http://www.screencast-o-matic.com
This site allows you to create screen casts directly from the web using only your web browser.
http://labs.live.com/photosynth/ New photo maipulation software being developed by Microsoft. This is a great example of the power of the network! Watch the video below:
Google will allow you to create custom search engines that will only search those sites that you have listed. Great idea to limit student searchs on the Internet.
 Try this one out below for: Engaged Learning
SecondLife has recenlty been getting a lot of attention from education communities and the business world. It has been described in the same terms as the early World Wide Web. Check it out for yourself at:
Teen SecondLife
http://teen.secondlife.com/
For more examples of how it is being used, check out:
Modesto City USD – SecondLife PacificRim Exchange
Ohio State University SL Video – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFuNFRie8wA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9VZKTT6gZ8&NR=1 – NMC Campus: “Seriously Engangingâ€
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-9zt3Sd7oc- San Jose State University
The following links will translate eletronic text into a different language. They are not perfect, but can be used for simple communication.
Babblefish – Altavista
http://babelfish.altavista.com/
Promt-Online
http://www.classmatepc.com/index.html
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A classmate PC, powered by Intel, is a small, mobile learning assistant and educational solution that Intel specially developed for students in emerging markets. It’s a rugged learning device designed to provide affordable, collaborative learning environments.Â
http://www.laptop.org/index.shtml
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“Any nation’s most precious natural resource is its children. We believe the emerging world must leverage this resource by tapping into the children’s innate capacities to learn, share, and create on their own. Our answer to that challenge is the XO laptop, a children’s machine designed for “learning learning.â€
Making forms easy + fast + fun
 Create beautiful online forms, online surveys, and invitations using your web browser.
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a “citizens’ compendium of everything,” is an experimental new wiki project. The project, started by a founder of Wikipedia, aims to improve on that model by adding “gentle expert oversight” and requiring contributors to use their real names.
Wikisky has been described as “Google Earth” for the heavens. Not all areas of the sky have been mapped yet though. Check it out here:
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