Sylvan Technology Leadership Blog

http://prezi.com

New spin on a web application designed for the creation of digital presentations.

(February Technology Leadership Prezi here)

http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com

Research-based and standards-aligned educational games that offer and innovative approach to teaching academic skills.

http://notaland.com

A digital wiki whiteboard…Again one of those resources that probably is easier to show then describe:

Example – (Comments can be left by right-clicking board)

Those with edit permission can add media to the shared white board. The interface looks like the following:

http://www.gigapan.org

This resource is one of those which is easier to describe in an image…(supposed to be the inauguration Gigapan, but is throwing up this one instead…not sure of location. Inauguration Gigapan available here: http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=15374

Can you think of any way this type of technology can be used in the classroom?
Hmmm…???
1. Use one Gigapan image as the sole source for student video projects. Students grab screen captures of just the parts of the Gigapan image they want to use in telling their digital story in Photostory, VoiceThread, iMovie, etc. etc. How many different stories could you tell from one Gigapan image?

2. Take a Gigapan image of your classroom wall which showcases student work. Have each student create a mp3 narration, or a descriptive paragraph critiquing their posted work on classroom wall. The”analog” work then becomes a digital resource enabling students to continue engaging in the content.

3. What are some of your ideas?

http://wecanchange.com

This looks like it could be a great project to incorporate into your science instruction. Currently it is focusing on Middle School age students, but next year they will be announcing a challenge for K-5. Elementary school teachers, now is the time to start planning if you’re interested!

Learn more about the challenge here: http://wecanchange.com/about-challenge/

http://www.moonk.com

No, this is not a web site for fans of the television show featuring a compulsive San Francisco detective…:-)

This site will allow you to create a digital player to show photos, videos and MP3s that you can then embed on your web, blog or Moodle site.

http://homepage.mac.com/bobspang/Mrs.SpangsClass.htm

This resource specialist has done a nice job of collecting educational resources tied to state standards. You may find a few gems you’d like to add to your collection!

http://classroom.4teachers.org

(This site incoporates a lot of hidden math concepts, i.e. ratio, shapes, measurement, etc. etc., that a teacher could use in designing math instruction).

http://www.learn360.com

Learn360 is a video streaming service similar to Discovery Streaming (United Streaming). They have lots of content tied to state standards and include resources from PBS, National Geographic, Standard Deviants, Slim GoodBody, Sunburst and more.

Here’s the good news for Sylvan teachers…we already have access to these resources through our County Office of Education agreement for California Streaming.

http://www.californiastreaming.org

From our County office -

“…Last year we incorporated ALL of the Learn360 content onto California Streaming…so California Streaming includes all the Learn360 material plus the materials purchased by the multi-county consortium.

Currently the whole package includes the online products plus the existing site-delivered hard copy video…this is all on one contract…at some point we may discontinue the hard copy delivery but right now it’s a package deal….”

http://www.text2mindmap.com

Creates a mind map out of a list of words.

http://www.amap.org.uk

aMap is short for ‘argument map’.  The idea’s very simple – to promote the art of arguing by mapping out complex debates in a simple visual format.

Here is an example:

http://www.visiblebody.com

A very complete investigation of the human body.

Take a tour here: http://www.visiblebody.com/tour_demos

http://www.sweetcron.com

Collects everything you post on line and centralizes it in one location. Think of it as an electronic portfolio for your professional learning network.

http://www.fodey.com

Just for fun…A web site that allows you to create your own newspaper clippings.

http://www.allmyfaves.com

This site collects all the most popular web sites and displays them on a single page.

http://boxee.tv

Media centralization and sharing system.

quick intro to boxee from boxee on Vimeo

http://www.squidoo.com/twttrstrm/hq

Use twitter to post a question and gather responses from the people following you.