Kiddeos

Kiddeos is an amzing website for not only teachers but for parents as well. It was built by parents for their child so that when they were to get on the computer and try to search a video, they knew that it would be safe to watch. Now a days when you try and search for anything, there is always something rude or inapropriate that pops up instead of what they are really wanting. There are not only educational videos on this website, there are also fun videos for children to watch in their spare time. I still go to the website for a good laugh because the videos are so cute.

Website

For me the website creation was extremely hard. It took me forever to figure out how to work everything but once I got the hang of it, it seemed like a lot of fun. I am more excited about the Webquest though. It is good for teachers to have websites so that parents can see what their students are doing during class and see what their childs teacher is like. It is also good because students can keep up to date on their work. There are hundreds of things that you can do with a website.

CoSketch

CoSketch, the online multi-user whiteboard, is easy and free. It runs with most browsers without having to install or download a thing. You also don't have to register for anything to use it.

It makes sharing edited images, such as maps and pictures, very easy with friends or coworkers online. One could e-mail edited images, but on CoSketch.com multiple people can interact on the same image at the same time in real time without delay.

I will be a history/government teacher and will probably use CoSketch.com if my school provides computers. It will be an easy and fun way to interact with students while in class.

Vuvox

Vuvox is a multimedia presentation software. It consists of three types: Express, Collage, and Studio. Vuvox is still in its beta stage, so many of the applications are not currently functional. You can add background pics, videos, and sound effects. It is not as useful as a presentaion within itself, but it could go along well with a powerpoint presentation. One way I could use this in a history classroom is to use the background with pictures and sounds while lecturing to give students some visual learning to keep the classroom creative and not boring.

Vuvox Web 2.0

My group presented on Vuvox. Vuvox.com is a site that allows users to make multimedia presentations in the form of interactive slide shows. It has several different capabilities, of which are Collage, Studio, and Express. Collage is the most effective application on the site, as the other two don't seem to be finished applications yet. This website is great for providing a background or an introduction to your presentation, but could not be used in place of powerpoint.

For example, I plan to teach 5th grade. If I were to do a lesson on the American Revolution, I could begin by introducing the topic, playing pictures and text from a presentation on Vuvox Collage. It is more of an enhancement tool, rather than something that sustains your presentation. I really like that fact that Vuvox is so different from other software, but I didn't like the fact that a lot of the site seemed "up and coming", rather than finished. It was hard to understand what you would use parts of the site for.

Here is a link to Vuvox:

Bubbl.us

I really enjoyed this project. I like to speak infront of people and I was able to do this. Our web.20 project was over bubbl.us. It is an organization tool. It is designed to do quick webs. It is very easy and fast. All you do is make bubbles! Any subject can use this at any grade level. By the end of the week our whole group had mastered bubbl.us. I really like it because there are so many short cuts to make new bubbles, to connect bubbles, and etc. We could make several webs in minutes. I feel that the class enjoyed our presentation because we were relaxed, we knew are material, and we had a good time presenting it. I would definatly like to do another project like that. I will also definatly use this tool when I become a teacher. I greatly believe in learning technology early.

Kiddeos

Kiddeos is a great website for parents to let their children explore. Kiddeos has about everything for a children to watch from educational to entertainment. The age groups are to 10 years old. This website was specifically designed for children. The website does not post any videos on here that are not child safe.

Kiddeos started when this little girl was in the hospital and loved to watch cartoons but kept running into inappropriate content. Her parents created the website so children can explore all they want to find and learn new activities and videos with out the parents having to worry about inappropriate activities. This is a great website so children can feel their freedom with out their parents standing right behind them at the computer.

Web 2.0 tool - Cosketch

Cosketch is the Web 2.0 tool that our group presented on. It is defined as a multi-user online whiteboard, which was designed to help you quickly visualize and share your ideas as images. There are several benefits of using this tool. Most noteworthy, It’s FREE. Also, it runs on all common browsers without needing installation. On using this, anything you paint will show up for all other users in the room in real time, and one click will save a sketch as an image for embedding on forums, documents, blogs, etc.
Different members in our group could find different ways to make use of Cosketch in teaching our subjects. In my case, I’m teaching English as a second language, so my purpose of using the tool is mainly to reinforce the visual aspect of the learning process. My learners will enrich their vocabulary; practice using the language in practical situations; study the cultures of English – speaking countries, as well as share ideas in groups – all by using Cosketch. For example, I would let the students draw pictures of the words or phrases they are learning and have their partners guess the meanings by putting in written words. At the end of the semester, they may have a portfolio of drawings that illustrate their vocabulary bank. This activity is easy, and can become interesting for children and adults alike as soon as the purposes of doing are all defined and agreed on.
Another application of using Cosketch is to have students specify different countries in the world using Google map, and provide additional information about the capital cities, nationalities along with unique cultural traits of those countries. They would then share this as pictures among the class. Similarly, I would let students choose the map of a certain area within their residence and practice giving directions to each other, so that they could gain some hands-on experience with speaking English.
Just a few ideas, to say that Cosketch can work quite effectively although some people may think its features are poorly developed especially in comparison with other comprehensive web tools. However, I personally think that simplicity is a good policy. The fact that learners of any age can start using this tool right away without spending time on following the instructions, and they can share it quickly on the web without further installing any supportive software has assured me that I’m going to incorporate this tool into my future classroom as a "change in the atmosphere" when students want something classic, apart from the "fancy" softwares that they've fallen too much into.

Web 2.0

This was a really neat project. I had fun doing it, so I imagine with all the different options, teachers could come up with numerous lesson plans that are fun for students as well. Web2.0 links were very accessible and simple and the links varied enough that it could fit a lot of different needs or even educational standards.

My group presented on Plnnr. Plnnr is a free trip planning website that gives suggestions as to what attractions to visit and hotels to stay in based on personal input. We felt like teachers could really use this to present history, math, and english in fun, interactive ways. My favorite site that another group presented on was a site that had books that students could have the computer read to them and they could interact with the pictures.

Overall, this was probably my favorite activity we've done all semester. It gave us the chance to discover new sites without being so difficult we felt lost.

Web 2.0: Vuvox

For my group's presentation we explored the multi-media presentation software Vuvox. While this application may still be in its' beta stage, with not all elements completely functional, the site allows the users many unique options on how to present material. From my viewpoint the Collage creation tool is by far the best aspect of the website, which also is completely functional.

In Collage students can put together a presentation of pictures that will scroll through one after another. Students can also put in text between pictures if they wish to add context to the pictures being seen, or on the pictures if students want to add a caption. Collage is a very simple and easy to use, anyone with basic computer knowledge would be able to pick up the controls in no time at all.

While Collage is a great application it does have its' shortcomings. One the biggest faults of Collage is that there is that there isn't an option to set the presentation on loop, which is major letdown because this software would be best used in supplement to somebody is lecturing and letting Collage endlessly scroll behind them.

Overall Vuvox is great presenter application that is easily accessible to students of any grade level. The Collage application would be a great option to utilize while giving a report to show pictures to supplement a presentation. For a history teacher it would be great to have pictures about the day's topic scroll behind as you speak to the students.

B Purdue Web 2.0

My group and I did a presentation on a website called voicethreads. The website was very easy to use, and I really enjoyed learning about it. One great thing about it was that if we could not figure something out there were videos that showed us how to use the site. We used the site to create a user and upload a picture, and also to record our voice onto the presentation. You can also add comments to the project through a text box. The software would mainly be used in a classroom as an alternative to a power point presentation. One example provided on the website was a teacher posting her student's poetry as a picture, and having them record their voice so it was read aloud on the presentation.

One great way to use this is for a struggling reader in your class. If your school does not have the budget to get all of your books on tape then you can use the free website to record the book yourself. One thing that I loved about the site is that it is easy to work on from a home computer. If you forget to take your microphone home with you from the class, you can have the site call you and record your voice directly to it through the phone. The only downfall is that it only allows for so many minutes and then you have to pay for that feature. Other than that, it is a great website that I highly recommend. You can also look at the voicethreads that other people have made and posted to the site. So go check it out!

Plannr

Plannr is a web-based application that allows you to pick a location around the world, and then plans a vacation for you based on location and how many days you will be there. Plannr also allows you to pick the level of activity you want on your vacation and if you are traveling with children there is an option as well.

Plannr could be used in many different grade levels and incorporated into many different lesson plans. Plannr would work well with a History lesson, you could ask your students to plan a fictional trip around a Historical location, or you could use it in a Geography lesson to show different landmarks around the world. The only downfall of Plannr is that there are a set amount of locations that you have to choose from, but everything else on Plannr proved to be an effective and fun web 2.0 activity.

Empressr

Empressr is a web-based application that lets you create, share and store presentations online. It goes beyond current presentation applications by enabling you to incorporate rich media features, like streaming video and animation, to create the most dynamic presentations possible. At the moment you can create and save up to five presentations.

It can be used in various grade levels (K-12) the same was as powerpoint or other applications similar to it can. The thing which I like about Empressr is that it's 100% free which means it's avaliable to anyone. The thing I dislike about it is that it seems to be a little more complicated than other similar applications.

http://www.empressr.com/

Bubbl.us

Bubbl.us was a great website for creating a flow chart. The example we showed in class was a family tree. There are many shortcut features and other gadgets that makes this a fun experience and very easy to use. The help button is located at the top of the screen and shows you all of the shortcut features. Not only can you make family trees, we showed in class that you can make a flow chart about other things as well. The example that Lexi made was the anatomy and physiology of the body and the 11 organ systems. She then branched off to show all of the functions and features of each system. The last example we used was fast food. I couldn't decide what I was going to eat that night so I went back and forth and made a flow chart. The last feature that I enjoyed was signing in and being able to add your friends and chat with them throughout the process. I give this site a great review and would recommend this to anyone.

Empressr

This is a program that allows you to create power points. It's very similar to Microsoft but it is better! This program has the ability to link videos and pictures in a simple way. It also has the ability to allow you to change very small details on a side the Microsoft word doesn't. The best part about Empressr is that it is FREE!

This program can be used in the classroom by teachers to present information during a lecture or students can present a project using it. This is a great tool I plan to use in my classroom when presenting information to my students.

Empressr

Empressr is a free online service that allows you to make presentation slide shows online. The technology is a lot like Microsoft Powerpoint. The advantages to using empressr is that it is free and it stores your slideshow on the their website. One of the features I like about this program is the direct ability to link to many social media sites like Youtube, Facebook and Twitter.

This software could be used by teachers and students alike. It would be a great way to have students do a presentation. Empressr is very easy to use and students would be able to understand the technology quickly. For
a teacher in would be a great way to present lessons and would be a good way to integrate technology in the classroom.

To visit the Empressr website click on the link below.
http://www.empressr.com/

Web 2.0 - Voicethreads

Voicethreads is a different kind of presentation website. You can make your own powerpoints by uploading pictures, comments, and your voice. You can also call into it with your phone, and record your voice that way.

I personally think that this is alright, but I would rather stick with regular powerpoint. I think that Voicethreads would work great in college courses, such as online classes, where you could record the lecture and add comments and things like that. It would be just like if you were in class. As for me, I want to be an Elementary Teacher for the younger grades, and I don't think this would be one of the best things to use. It may be cool to put their artwork on, or things we have done in class on, and then put it on my website, or classroom homepage, but I wouldn't actually use it to teach the students.

I think that Voicethreads is okay, but for teaching Elementary students I don't think that this is the best thing out there. I think the Kideos, or Prezi would be much more interesting for the students.

Prezi

Prezi is a non-linear, zooming presentation software. Instead of presenting similar information on one slide, as PowerPoint does, Prezi allows users to group these ideas together visually. Pictures or videos can be inserted between sections, and this factor, in addition to the corkscrew zooming abilities and colorful templates, make Prezi an exciting classroom resource. It may be accessed at http://prezi.com.
As a high school English teacher, I could utilize Prezi to create fun, informative presentations and I could encourage my students to do the same for their book reports, research presentations, or skits. It definitely requires more creativity and effort from students than PowerPoint, but students will get more out of Prezi than PowerPoint.
There are a few drawbacks, however, but they can be overlooked since Prezi provides such pizazz for free. If you want to use images, they must be large, at least 600 X 600 pixels. Otherwise, when the presentation zooms to full screen, the image will be blurry. The templates are nice, but they are not many color or font options. If you forget to add a "stop" in the path, fixing it is easy, but if you miss several or if they are far apart on the screen, it can be difficult to do so. When this happens, it is often easier to delete the whole path and start again.
All in all, Prezi is a great resource for any classroom in which the students are at least moderately computer literate. It is free and it provides an eye-catching method of information presentation.

Cosketch

After using Cosketch I believe that Cosketch is something that I may not personally be able to use in my classroom. Wanting to be a high school teacher Cosketch seems to be a program that is better suited in either elementary school or middle school. Cosketch does have some cool features though in that it allows you to draw circles and rectangles around objects of importance. This is what I did in my presentation with the world map and giving the students of an assingment of naming different countries and bodies of water.

Overall my opinion of Cosketch is that it has good features but that overall it is a very basic program. Because it does have such few features it makes it hard to be able to use in the classroom. When it becomes more advance and the number of features available expand the program has the opportunity to become a great program. As a future teacher I would not recommend cosketch to use in the classroom but if cosketch becomes more advanced I would like to explore it once again in the future.

PREZI

Prior to the Web2.0 assignment, I had not ever heard of or used Prezi.  After having worked with prezi and learning some of the features it has, I think it is a great substitute from Powerpoint or other common presentation softwares.  The non linear flow of Prezi offers a lot of visual interest and provides a more engaging presentation. Some of the features on Prezi are very cool and make for a very unique presentation. Also, Prezi could be used at any grade level kindergarten through college.


Some downfalls I see with Prezi is that the path tool can sometimes be complicated if you have a large presentation and you are wanting to reorganize the order the path follows.  Another odd glith we found was that your 1st "slide"/path does not show up when presenting and you have to take that into consideration when setting up your presentation.  Also, I think when first switching from PowerPoint to Prezi people may have difficulties learning all the different features and would be tempted to switch back to using the familiar PowerPoint.

Kideos

I really enjoyed learning about Kideos. I think that this website would be a great resource for different subject areas that are being taught, and it would also be good to use for computer time. I would recomend this site for teachers to use in their classrooms because it is not only educational, but children will really enjoy it too.

This website could be used in any elementary school classroom. By searching for certain categories, a teacher could find videos that strictly relate to the subject being taught. There are many areas to search for. There are videos about different languages, holidays, animals, activities, how-to-videos, and even read alouds. This website would work great for students in an elementary classroom.

Web 2.0 - Prezi

Prezi is a like a kind of powerpoint presentation site. It was very easy to learn (I had never even heard of the site prior to this assignment) and was actually very fun! It has aalot more visual interest than the commonly used powerpoint and I can see how it could be used for presentations in a class room as a substitute. I would reccommend everyone at least check it out and play around to have some fun.
The "pathways" are not linear but can go all over and you have more variety with what you can do with images and videos. There is not, unfortunately, the large collection of colors to choose for backgrounds and font and images may not be made into backgrounds. I believe it is approprieate for all grade levels and even tried it out on my first grade class and they found it fun and entertaining as well (Yay for excitement over the small things!). Overall I am very glad I had the chance to learn about and utilize this software as I'm sure I will put it to further use.