BP 14 - Final Cell Phones Are Not Evil

Here is a link to my webpage to view my podcast titled Cell Phones Are Not Evil.

BP14 20091004 iGoogle Screen Shots

BP13 2009103 Media Asset 2

Here is the link to my webpage that has the video under Podcast. Classtools.net Random Name/Word Picker.

BP8 2009102 Researching and Blogging about Web 20 Tools

Blabberize allows digital pictures to be animated to talk (blabber). I can use this in the classroom with middle and high school students. The student can take still pictures of people or animals and then create a story allowing the animal or person that have been blabberized to tell the story. Blabberize can also be used for a debate between to people or politicians for example.  To use blabberize, upload a picture to the site, then place the mouth over the mouth of the picture and adjust to include the chin area. If the computer does not have a built in mic, a headset with a boom mic will be needed for voice recording. One the voice recording is complete. Select the play button and the picture will talk. Blabberized pictures can be placed in PowerPoint slides for presentation.

Blabberize logo retrieved from www.blabberize.com

BP12 2009103 Researching and Blogging about Web 20 Tools

BioCube is  used to summarize an important person in history or a character in a book.  The student will answer the questions about the character for each of the 6 sides that help create the bio-cube.  Once they have answered all the questions, the student will print out the bio-cube.  Bio cubes can be used for classroom trivia.  A student can read clues from his or her bio-cube while the class tries to guess the person’s name.   It can also be used for test or quiz review.  Students can also exchange bio-cubes with one another.   The Bio-Cube activity can be used with students in grades 6 - 12 or younger depending on their typing and computer skills.

BP11 2009103 Researching and Blogging about Web 20 Tools

Sendsteps is a software that allows the audience to vote from their cellphones via SMS. The results of the poll appear within a PowerPoint presentation.  I think that this Web 2.0 tool could prove rather useful in an educational setting.  90% of high school students have cell phones.  Most of the bring them to class.  This could be an interactive way to get them to participate in a class discussion.  The teacher could ask a question and have the students respond via SMS to the answer choice that they think is best.  The teacher could also use the student's poll results to assess where the students are in their learning of the content that is being taught or was previously taught.  I think this is a great tool to help encourage classroom participation especially if it allows the student to remain anonymous when he or she answers the questions.

Sendsteps logo courtesy of http://www.sendsteps.com/

BP10 2009103 Researching and Blogging about Web 20 Tools

Random Name/Word Picker is an interactive site that is used by the teacher entering the names of his or her students students.  Upon pressing the fruit machine button (which works like a slot machine), it will randomly select a student's name to answer a question.  This is a good tool to use to ensure that every student gets the opportunity to participate in class.  As a teacher, this tool will also assist me in not overlooking any students because I was continually calling on the same students.

One way that Word Picker can be used is with vocabulary words.  The teacher would input a list of words and the student's can take turns defining the words or correctly spelling the words.