Customized Google Forms for Your Library

Add your own logo!

http://librariansonthefly.blogspot.ca/2013/09/creating-customized-forms-for-your.html

I love google forms. I use them all the time to collect data from colleagues, conduct a quick poll, gather book title ideas, and you can even use it as a "quick-as-a-wink" exit slip for kids or conference attendees to report on their learning.

The "Librariansonthefly" blog offers an easy way to customize your Google forms with a local flair.

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30Hands iPad app

Slides into Movies

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/30hands/id605013231?mt=8

Today, I learned about great app for turning a slide show into a voiced movie. (Thanks Chris!) This app lets you take pictures from your camera roll (ones you've taken, or ones you've found on-line) and use them to create a video. The app gives you a space to marshal images, where you then record sound effects, music or narration over each slide. The final product can be uploaded to the 30hands server, or saved to the camera and shared however you like. (And it's free!)

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Get your favourite blogs, feeds etc to your emailbox

Easy email subscriptions!

http://blogtrottr.com/

"Blogtrottr delivers updates from all of your favourite news, feeds, and blogs directly to your email inbox, giving you the flexibility to stay updated whilst on the go. You can have your updates singly and as they happen, or wrapped up in a variety of digests. No need to scroll through a long email to find what you're looking for - our digests come with a table of contents.

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"Stich" content together

What is Stich.it?

Stich.it is a service that lets you "stich" almost anything together on the Internet. (BTW, stich means "line" in poetry) You can quickly create a slideshow-like experience using Web pages, video, music, photos, documents and more. You provide the links, Stich.it provides the experience.

There is also a bookmarklet, and the ability to edit headings and annotations for your "stiches".

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VideoNot.es: The easiest way to take notes synchronized with videos!

Watch videos and simultaneously take notes

http://www.videonot.es/

If you want to take notes while watching a video, Videonotes could be the answer. This free online tool is a google drive app that works on all browsers. Simply launch the webapp by connecting to your google account and your notes are saved on google drive and synchronized with the clip you are watching - genius!

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Wonderopolis

"Where the Wonders of Learning Never Cease"
http://wonderopolis.org/get-widget/

A great source for a current event, or current musing. Visit the site regularly or add a widget to your blog or classpage. (Unfortunately, it's Flash, so iPads won't like it. Waiting for an HTML5 version!)

"Our Wonders of the Day will help you find learning moments in everyday life, ones that fit in with dinner preparations, carpool responsibilities, a stolen moment between breakfast and the bus, or within school curriculum and education programs."

30 seconds of fame - Croak.it

Record yourself!

http://www.tammyworcester.com/TipOfWeek/TammyWTechTipOfWeek/Entries/2013/4/20_Tip_117_-_Croak.it.html

Tammy offers some tips on using Croak.it, a free web-based recording app for the iPad (and Android) that generates a URL for the recording. No login required, but you are limited to 30 seconds per recording. Check out her post for some ideas on how to use it.

The Croak.it website also allows you to record in your browser, and even add a bookmarklet to your menu bar. (Watch the short how-to video clip)

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Multiple URLs in one place

Sometimes,  you want an easy way to share a number of URLs, especially in a classroom setting or pro-d presentation. Fur.ly makes this a snap. You can add a list of URLs, and generate a simple drop-down menu with all your choices presented - and it's all accessible via an easy to share shortcut based on the fur.ly name.

Explore the game design experience

Gamestar Mechanic

http://gamestarmechanic.com/

Lots being said about coding and game design as a way to access broader learning outcomes. Take a look at Gamestar Mechanic. Even if it doesn't fit into your course, your students might just love pursuing this on their own.

"Gamestar Mechanic leads users through the game design experience. This site teaches the basics of game design and systems thinking in a highly engaging environment. "

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Timeline JS - Beautifully crafted timelines that are easy, and intuitive to use.

Create interactive timelines

http://timeline.verite.co/

Create attractive interactive timelines to demonstrate learning. Information can be collected from a range of social media sources: Twitter, Flickr, Google Maps, YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, Wikipedia, SoundCloud etc. Organize the data using a google spreadsheet, upload to the Timeline generator, and then embed on your website or blog for sharing.

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Clipboard - organize your online life.

Clipboard - save and share anything online.

https://clipboard.com/landing

Explore this "pinterest-like" site for collecting resources you want to remember or share.

"Since the Internet is more than two decades old, doesn't it seem strange that the typical way to save something online is to put it into an email or a document? We think so too, which is why we built an easy and powerful tool to help you. We believe that someday soon everyone will be saving and organizing their online life in a way that is easy, fun and reflective of themselves."

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Pic Collage - so many options for picture work

Pic Collage Fun

http://edutech4teachers.edublogs.org/2012/07/07/pic-collage/

"Edutech 4 Teachers" featured this great iPad app earlier in the year. Very easy to use, students pull in pictures from their camera roll or the web in order to create attractive photo collages. They can add text, stamps and borders to their pics. Items can be easily resized and moved for best effect. The finished work can be emailed or sent back to the camera roll to be used by another app. One feature I really like is the ability to snap a pic, then "clip" around an object to make my own digital sticker. (see below for a pic with a "stapler" sticker) Once trimmed the object can be copied and repasted to create some interesting presentations.

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Create infographics & online charts

Data is fun again!

http://infogr.am/#tour

Infogr.am is an easy to use online service that lets you create, share, discover infographics and online charts.

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Paper for the Web - Padlet

Wallwisher gets a rebranding

http://padlet.com/

http://blog.padlet.com/

Wallwisher is a great web 2.0 app that lets you post images, text, videos - all kinds of things - in a collaborative environment. In a recent development, WW is now "padlet", but still offers all the great features you've come to love. (Note: all wallwisher.com URLs will redirect to padlet.com. All existing walls and embedded walls will redirect properly, so you don't need to do anything other than getting comfortable with the new URLs :)

"We give you a blank page (a wall). You put anything you want on it, anywhere. Simple, yet powerful!"

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"Safer" Images for projects

That's not appropriate!

Did a random image search in the lab surprise your students with an "unusual" pic? Finding the right picture for an assignment can be problematic. Even with safe search on, you can still get a "range" of images that may not be appropriate for kids. Images are hard to filter because they are not necessarily accurately tagged and can show up even in the most kid friendly search results! Here are a few suggestions:

Infotopia Images

http://www.infotopia.info/images.html

Infotopia is a custom google search that should search for "safer" images, but it also offers a number of images sites you can search directly as well - take a look at the ones Infotopia suggests. (the buttons below the search window.)

Pics4Learning

http://pics.tech4learning.com/

Advertised as a "safe, free image library for education". You'll find copyright-friendly photos and images for classrooms, multimedia projects, web sites, videos, portfolios, or any other project in an educational setting.

KidRex

http://www.kidrex.org/

"KidRex is a fun and safe search for kids, by kids! KidRex searches emphasize kid-related webpages from across the entire web and are powered by Google Custom Search™ and use Google SafeSearch™ technology."

Remember: no image search is foolproof. Talk to your students about how to handle an inappropriate image or site.

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