Experiment with Tools  

Here you'll find a number of other "web 2.0 tools" that you might find helpful.

 

VoiceThread

Here’s another handy Web 2.0 tool to try yourself or with your students.  VoiceThread. What is a VoiceThread?  It’s a narrated, electronic media album that others can watch and listen to online.  To create a VoiceThread, you upload photographs and record an audio narrative to accompany them. Think of it as a digital story-telling application.

 

In addition to that basic capability, you can insert videos into your album, text commentary, documents, you can doodle on the images you’ve uploaded (John Madden-style), and you can insert images off the web by inserting their urls.  This is a very powerful tool and super simple to use.

 

When you first visit the site, try their tutorials to get a feel for it. Creating an album is a straightforward few steps of selecting photos, uploading them, and then recording your narration.  Most laptops have an internal microphone for recording or you can plug a low-cost microphone into your desktop.

 

Once you’ve created your album, you can share it by emailing the url, embed the VoiceThread in your web page or a blog, or send invitations to people directly from the VoiceThread site.  When a friend views your VoiceThread they can leave comments (audio or text).

 

You can use the free site (www.voicethread.com) or you can try the Ed.VoiceThread network (www.ed.voicethread.com/about) -  a version of the tool for K-12 educators.  Special rates and subscription options allow students and educators to use VoiceThread in a safe, sub-community restricted to just K-12 educators, students and administrators.

 

A couple of possible classroom uses:  students could use this for projects/portfolios, multimedia presentations to accompany an experiment or a Science Fair project, teachers could use it to start an online discussion, or a small group could collaboratively share their thoughts on video while watching the VoiceThread.  Or maybe a group of students could produce a weekly Science Column (via VoiceThread) for the school’s consumption?

 

Here are a couple of links to sample voice threads created by: an art history teacher a history teacher, an elementary school teacher, and an amazing story from Kenya.

 

 

Downloading Videos from You Tube

As for downloading video from web sites like You Tube, there are a number

of ways to do it.  You can download a variety of small, free tools to

assist you.  Here's a link to a nice, reliable list of free tools to do

this work: 

http://mashable.com/2007/05/05/download-youtube-video/

 I've also researched a couple of sites that offer video downloading services

without the need to download software to your computer (which I prefer).  

My favorite is Zamzar.  It's worked reliably for me and its very easy to

use.  Here's how you do it:  Point your browser to www.zamzar.com, select

the "download videos" tab, and follow the 4-step, on-screen instructions.

1. Paste the url of the desired video into the blank they provide

2. Select the desired video format (MOV for Quicktime, AVI for Windows

media)

3. Provide your email address

4. Click convert

 

Zamzar will then upload the video to their server and email you a link to

the downloaded video.  Once you receive the link in an email message, you

click on it, that takes you to the site with your downloaded file, and you

download it to your desktop.  Zamzar can handles files up to 100MB in size.

And note while you're there that you can also use Zamzar to convert other

kinds of files (PDFs, sound, image, and music).  Very handy.

 

If you'd like you can also put the Zamzar converter tool on your browser

bookmark bar so that you can convert in fewer steps right off of a desired

page in your browser.  You can snag the Zamzar converter button from

www.zamzar.com/tools.

 

Animoto

Animoto takes your uploaded photos along with music of your choice and mixes it into a high-production-value video clip that looks a lot like a movie trailer.  The resulting video can be emailed to people, posted on your web site, or downloaded for your use in other settings.  It's an easy way to get a professional quality "short" to use on your site, in a blog, or to dress up a PPT presentation. The service is free.  You just sign up, upload your pictures, pick a song and away you go.

  

Mapme 

Mapme is a brand new, free, Google Maps widget that will let you create your own, personalized maps, using Google Maps data, and then embed the resulting flash application in any web site that lets you edit the HTML (I've attached a jpg of a screen shot here for you).

Here's how it works.  Go to the site, sign in, and then you can create your own "map" with a series of markers (hotspots).  From there, you can annotate each hotspot with a text description, tags, photos or video of the location, and links.  Once your map is live, others can comment on your map as well as your individual spots. 

Once you've created your "map" you can export it to your own website by generating embeddable code right there on the mapme site.  As another option, you can just generate a link to your map on the mapme site or create an RSS feed.

On the mapme site you'll see some really intriguing "maps" - historical locations in Mexico City, 10 best pubs in the UK, best restaurants worldwide, and lots and lots of road trip maps.  I'm imagining students creating their own maps as part of a project (data colelction locations for a field study, nesting locations for local birds, or the stops that Darwin made on his voyage).  

 

Pixton

Pixton is a comic creation tool.  You can create comics very quickly (using existing templates) or spend a bit more time using their advanced settings.  Event with the quick=template methods you can control fonts, colors, add objects/symbols/props, change the character, and add frames.  When you're finished, you can email your comic to someone or embed it into a blog, wiki, or web page.  Super easy.

 

Sketchcast

Sketchcast is a very easy to use free site where you can record a sketch (with or without voice over) and then embed the sketch player in your blog or point other people to the channel that contains your sketch.  Very cool.

 

Scriblink

Scriblink is an online whiteboard.

 

Second Life

Second Life is an online, 3D virtual world in an earth-like grid, consisting of user-generated content.  You can get started on this site, set up an account, download the free software, and build your avatar.

 

Quest Atlantis

Quest Atlantis is an online, 3D multiuser environment designed for children ages 9 -15.