Freebies

Here are some free sites and programs that I find interesting or useful.  For teachers, if you have trouble using the site/program at school, let me know and we'll get the problem fixed. :)  If you use any you think I should add, just drop me a line.

Program	Description	Link	Cost
For the classroom
Bubbl.us	Brainstorming concept mapping program	Bubbl.us	Free
Slideshare	You can store and tag your own presentation or view others.	Slideshare.net	Free
Timetoast	Make an interactive timeline or view others	Timetoast.com	Free
Prezi	Presentation program but unlike PowerPoint, it’s non-linear	Prezi.com	Free/paid
GeoGebra	Download math software for learning and teaching	Geogebra.org	Free
CamStudio	Download and record onscreen actions and narration	camstudio.org	Free
Screentoaster	Record your onscreen actions, works online	Screentoaster.com	Free
Screenr	Record you onscreen actions, works online	Screenr.com	Free/paid
GeoGreeting	A cool way to say “hi”	geogreeting.com	Free
Image Chef	Cool picture templates to personalize to use or share	Imagechef.com	Free
Newspaper Clipper	Create a newspaper to download and share	foley.com	Free
For the kids and you
Wordle	Takes text and makes a graphical representation. Most used words are larger.	Wordle.net	Free
Glogster	Interactive poster creation program	Edu.glogster.com	Free
Quizlet	Make your own flashcards or use someone elses	Quizlet.com	Free
Hot Potatoes	Download and create 6 different kinds of  exercises to upload	Hotpot.uvic.ca	Free
Wittie	Where students can make a wiki	k12.wittieproject.org	Free
Jottit	Create a wiki site without an email address	jottit.com	Free
Online learning environments
Edmodo	Post and collect assignments, even grade online	edmodo.com	Free
PBWorks	Wiki program for education	Pbworks.com	Free/paid
Udutu	Create an online course or content	udutu.com	Free/paid
Moodle	Create an online course or content	moodle.org	Free but pay for hosting
For personal
Online storage
Dropbox	Sync up to 2GB free across computers by dragging and dropping	Getddropbox.com	Free 2GB/ paid
Sugarsync	Similar to dropbox but with a different interface	sugarsync.com	Free 5GB/ paid
Skydrive	25GB of online storage from Microsoft	skydrive.live.com	Free
Box	5GB free online storage	Box.net	Free
Portable Apps Suite	Take programs with you via flash drive to use on others’ computers	portableapps.com/suite	Free
Organize your life
diigo	An annotation tool.  Share info across computers and with friends	diigo.com	Free
Evernote	Create notes, take screenshot and access across computers or on your phone	evernote.com	Free
Internet Browsers and aids
Firefox	An alternative to IE with many add-ons to make a different browsing experience	Firefox.com	Free
Google Chrome	A streamlined browser with “lightening speed”	google.com/chrome	Free
Tiny.url	Shorten those long URLs here	Tinyurl.com	Free
Fur.ly	Shorten multiple URLs at once.  All will open when clicked	Fur.ly	Free
Pictures and Sound
Picasa	Organize and edit photos	Picasa.google.com	Free
Picnik	Online photo editing	Picnik.com	Free/paid
Audacity	Great audio editor for podcasts or music. Add’l download to make mp3	audacity.sourceforge.net	Free
Animoto	Create videos from pictures	Animoto.com	Free for 30 secs.
Keepvid	Save and download youtube videos	Keepvid.com	Free
Zamzar	Converts files & videos	Zamzar.com	Free
Scribd	Document hosting and sharing	scribd.com	Free
alternativeto.net	Find a substitute program for a popular one	alternativeto.net	Free
Video Lan Client	Plays most audio and video files without the pesky Windows Media Player error messages	Videolan.org/vlc/	Free

VSTE Conference 2010

I recently had the opportunity to attend the annual VSTE (Virginia Society for Technology in Education) conference in Hampton. I came away with some great ideas, new programs and websites that can be very useful.  You can check out the program for yourself and the presenter resources, but I'll give a quick rundown of the best sessions I attended.

Write your own textbook
At the Wittie Project, ODU students are writing their own textbooks.  Students are assigned one of 60 topics (5 students per topic). They research, write and publish, assess one another and then vote on which of the 5 for each topic is best.  Those voted the best become part of the online textbook for the semester.  
This idea could work great with young children, too, with a special site just for K-12 education with instructional videos.  Students could write and post about various presidents, battles, or other topics and learn from each other.  Wittie is basically a wiki for education where you can build a book, make polls, develop forms, create rubrics, give peer reviews and award "barnstars" - points.  

Google Earth in the Classroom
We've probably all played with Google Earth, finding our house, where we work, things like that.  But Google Earth is also a great tool in the classroom.  The user guide provides directions on making your own tours and videos, creating your own content, etc. but you can also benefit from the work of others (as kml and kmz file layers). A simple search can give you a starting point. For example, Google search lewis and clark .kmz yields this page as its second result. Simply download and import for a great learning experience - just remember to move out of temporary places to save it! You can also use the built-in layers - take a look at Ancient Rome, check out Animal Tracking and swim with a white shark, a sea lion, a bluefin tuna or more. Look at the locatons of Earth's volcanoes, earthquakes and more. Add sound for a better show.

Augmented Reality for the Classrooom

What's augmented reality?  It's virtual reality laid on a physical space.  Think of the yellow "First and Ten" line in football.  It's a virtual yellow line overlaying a physical space (the field). And there are multiple ways to use it in the classroom, though all require a webcam or document camera.
ARSights has some great models for use with Google Earth. You have to install ARSights and print the marker, then decide which world site you'd like to view (the Coliseum, St. Peter's, the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty and many more). See an example video here.
 
At Zooburst, make a book jump off the pages for your students.  You can create a 10-page 3D book for free (more pages cost $$).  Create speaking bubbles for characters and narrations at the bottom of a page.

Augmented Reality for Fun

GE's SmartGrid - have wind turbines or a desert scene come alive in your classroom
AR Chemistry Review - see some 3D molecules jump off your screen.
ANMH - extreme mammals in the palm of your hand.
SciMorph - learn about gravity, bugs, and more.
Imaginality - you don't need the markers or a webcam as this can be worked in mouse only mode


Augmented Reality Learning Experiences
Augmented Reality started in Denmark as a real estate application by Layar.  HP made a great looking video game (Roku's Reward) of the future while school districts are designing games to teach students, as close as Newport News.  Here are some examples:

Alien Contact - they've found the crash site in their schoolyard and must use their math and science knowledge to solve the riddles.
The Crane - designed for Balboa Park in San Diego, students take the role of the Emperor, weaver, potter or traveler in this Asian Art game.
Rock Show (start on slide 14) - students have to set up a stage for a Rock Show at their school and take on different production roles.

Free Programs
Allll Aboard the Freebeez Train - list and descriptions of lots of free programs and such available on the web.  I'll review these in a future post.
40 Affordable, Free and Effective Tech Tools -  more free programs and sites (or trials, at least)