Awesome+Website+of+the+Week+2011



|| Issuu I've been a great fan of Youblisher for a while now when making online digital flipping books. I have used it loads in a project i've been doing with a virtual class (you can see that here). But last week Youblisher stopped working and i was keen for a similar product. Issuu was the one i decided on. It's been around for a while too but i found it slicker than Youblisher for sure and 'probably' better. Just took a bit of time to get used to the features and was away so give it a crack. Great for Term 4 year books etc. I will probably use this from now on. Here's an example below: media type="custom" key="11719304" || @http://issuu.com/home || || Clay Yourself Saw this in Interface Magazine (excellent NZ education/technology mag). Awesomely clear graphics and fun interface. Great for any avatar needs or for a creative writing activity. || @http://clayyourself.com/ || || Mecap Spellathon This is a global spelling bee initiative set up for all ages from junior to adult level. Very interactive with engaging characters and includes whiteboard based games and online challenges with players from other parts of the globe. I havent signed up for it but that is a must for a class. || = = @http://www.spellathon.net/ = = || || Press Display I love newspapers. I still get one delivered even though all the news i need is online...which leads me to this website. Every newspaper front page you can think of from around the world. Just amazing for any class discussion or research or just interesting reading. Would be great to use with a projector. || @http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/viewer.aspx || || Alphabetimals A great interactive and really creative site for junior learners around the alphabet. Simple, creative, fun and catchy. Check it out my alphabetimal name below: || @http://alphabetimals.com/ || || Only2Clicks Only2Clicks allows you to visually organise key websites or tools into one easy to navigate page. This could be just brilliant for junior/ school students who get lost quickly (or sidetracked!) when navigating their way around bookmarked or favourited sites on classroom computers. I found this easy to use and customise to suit my needs. Make it your classroom computer homepage and your away! || http://only2clicks.com || || Popplet There are so many possible mind mapping tools on the web its hard to know why one should use one over the other. I actually find mind mapping on the web sort of time consuming and at times unnecessarily inefficient. But i think Popplet is the one I've been looking for. Simple to use, great looking, collaborative, and able to be embedded into existing web pages, I've been a regular user of it since it was shown to me. Thanks to James at Heaton Normal Intermediate for getting me onto this. || @http://popplet.com || ..................................................................................... || Drawminos Drawminos is a great website for combining creative thinking, logic, physics and 'time management'. Users can create awesome domino trails and then share them with their friends and class mates. Could be used a wide variety of ways. || @http://www.drawminos.com/ ||
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|| Quietube A load of you will be using you tube in your classrooms. We embed them in our webpages (such as a wiki) and learning management systems but the whole ad and comment thing can be a real issue...especially if you are leaving a group of students to watch a clip without supervision. This website will solve all your troubles. Just follow the really straight forward steps on the site and you will have all your probs solved! Click here for an example of what it does: It also works for BBC clips as well which is great. || @http://quietube.com/ || || Fantasy Stock Exchange This is a really cool game basically all about the stock market. It has a financial literacy focus which we all need, like it or not. You can sign your students up and set them on the pathway to become capitalists and hedge fund managers...just what the world needs more of! || @http://www.fantasystockexchange.biz/index.php || || Font Squirrel Many of you would have come across Dafont. This site - Font Squirrel is just a bit slicker looking and i found it to be easier to navigate around. Some great styled fonts for kids and teachers - get away from using Comic Sans once and for all! || @http://www.fontsquirrel.com/ || || Cleverbot This isnt necessarily a website i'd give to the kids in your class and say "Go for it!". But man its an interesting concept. I won't say anymore about it as i don't want to ruin the surprise but all i will say is it could be the end of your free time and actual human contact... || @http://cleverbot.com/ || || Little Bird Tales This isn't a new website but I have been visiting schools where teachers are really loving it and thought it would be great to share. Stories are created, using uploaded artwork or drawn with the paint function (or both - photo with digital art added) and then text is added. What makes it so great is the option to add voice to each page. Digital literacy to the full! Can be linked nicely to your website (embedded). media type="custom" key="10367426" || @http://littlebirdtales.com/ || || Reading-Rewards A really interesting blend of online incentives to back up real world reading. The way that things seem to be heading these days as parents look for a reasonable balance with computers being part of everyday life. Heres a you tube clip to give you more info: media type="custom" key="10309389" I saw this in the recent issue of the Interface NZ mag - well worth the price for any teacher staffroom || @http://www.reading-rewards.com/ || || Unnecessary Knowledge I love the name of this website as much as the website itself. Not much explaining needed but could be a brilliant website to start discussion, debating, or 5 mins of chuckles at the end of a session. || http://www.unnecessaryknowledge.com/ || || QR Code Generators These are nothing super to some new but are starting to make a few waves with the majority of us. You see them everywhere now and if you have a smartphone you can find out what they mean! Down load a QR reader app for your smartphone to get started then go to this website to make your own. Some amazing potential for education. media type="custom" key="10215299" Check out Tom Barretts amazing site for ideas on how to use them here: CLICK || Audioboo I have used a few podcasting styled websites over the last few years and i have found none to be as quick and straight forward as AUDIOBOO. Either create your podcast directly from their site or upload your podcast in mp3 form. Then embed the podcast directly into your LMS or website as below:
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 * //Thanks to James at Heaton Intermediate School for showing me this website.//** || @http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ ||
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media type="custom" key="10416338" || @http://audioboo.fm/ ||
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..................................................................................... || The State of The Internet. Some really interesting statistics and facts in very visual forms on this website. Would be great to set as research for a homework activity or the basis for interesting class discussion. || @http://www.onlineschools.org/state-of-the-internet/soti.html ||



This is a 360degree view of the space shuttle flight deck which has 'apparently' been unavailable to be observed by the public until now that they are being decommissioned. So this website will be a hit for the budding astronauts in your class. Or perhaps you could play "what does that button do?" as a short,sharp, writing topic? || @http://360vr.com/2011/06/22-discovery-flight-deck-opf_6236/index.html || || Tinkatolli is marketing itself as the first online computer game for kids that encourages them to get off the computer and make stuff...sounds like a great idea! Based around using junk around the house, making stuff with it and getting rewards online and building social networking for kids. It will be one to watch. Here's a heads up about it: media type="custom" key="9947095" || @http://www.tinkatolli.me/ || Thanks to the teacher who showed me this at a school i can't remember! || @http://www.kwarp.com/portfolio/grammarninja.html || || A comic strip maker you Junior school teachers have been crying out for. Easy for kids to create then print or save to the computer. Try it. This was another gem from: http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com You MUST save this to your bookmarked sites! || @http://avenscorner.com/flashgamepage.aspx?gameurl=comic/comic || || This could be one of the best and easiest photo editing online tools i've come across in the last while. Too stright forward to go on about. I suggest you try for yourself. It really is easy to use and very impressive! || @http://ipiccy.com/ || Simple but incredibly effective! A must for every classroom after lunch.
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 * == Week Nine: [[image:Grammar_Ninja.png width="219" height="71"]]== || Awesome Ninja style Grammar game - really targets use of key elements in writing. Would be great fun with your class on a projector.
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 * == Week Six:[[image:donothing.png width="285" height="63"]] == || I LOVE this website.

This was another gem from: http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com You MUST save this to your bookmarked sites! || @http://www.donothingfor2minutes.com/ || I haven't found an option for embedding videos into blogs/wikis etc but it may be there. Click this link to see one in action: @http://www.zimmertwins.com/node/1167878 || @http://www.zimmertwins.com || || Grab A Beast is just like Build Your Wild Self (seen previously) except its far more quirkier! Some cool stuff for all ages. Here's my one: (I took a screenshot of it rather than downloading it as a wallpaper) || @http://grabbabeast.com/ || || Write like Star Wars! This is simple and effective. Watch the clip below to see why! A must try for any 10-13 yr old boy who needs a push to write more. I saw this on http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com ... a great website you must try for more awesome ideas!
 * == Week Five:[[image:Harryslogo.png]] == || Harry's Big Adventure is a website all about Bugs, Perfect for junior classrooms with so much to do inside this site. Facts, Video, Games etc etc. || @http://www.harrysbigadventure.com/ ||
 * == Week Four:[[image:Zimmertwins.png width="281" height="106"]] == || The Zimmer Twins is another movie making/animation web tool. What makes it really good is the stunning visual quality and the ease of use for all ages. It includes story starters and all the content is added by dragging and dropping so it's not to complex.
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media type="custom" key="9637230" || @http://www.starwars.com/games/playnow/crawl_creator/ || ..................................................................................... || From the website: "Patrimonium-mundi.org is documenting the World Heritage List in panophotographies, immersive and interactive spherical images." These 360 degree panoramic photos are absolutely stunning. A must for any geography/history buff.
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|| @http://www.world-heritage-tour.org/earth/map.html ................................... ||




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[[image:One_Word.png width="205" height="54"]]
|| One Word is a great tool for creative writing. A word pops up each day, you click on it and get 60 seconds to write as much as you can about it. A fun writing activity. Do it with your class and then type in the best one each day! || @http://oneword.com || || This tool is a great way to get fast, easy to post comments on your class webpages/wikisites/learning management systems. A pre-set HTML code which you can tailor slightly to suit and then paste into the HTML section of your webpage. If you sign in with a pre-existing Google account you can set the box to moderate which is a good idea if you have any worries about inappropriate comments. A big thanks to Kristy from Avonhead Primary School for this! || @http://www.htmlcommentbox.com/ || Here's a great wiki for lots of variations: http://copyrightfriendly.wikispaces.com/Avatar+Makers Other wise try the ones to the right. I've included some examples below. || Lego-Avatar Maker Doppelme FaceYourManga BuildYourWildSelf PicassoHead Simpsons ||
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 * ==Week Nine:== || With all the increasing web tools available for teaching and learning, there seems to be an increased awareness in needs for alternative profile pics for kids to have an 'online' identity. Not everyone is comfortable with uploading pictures of children to the 'cloud' so here's some 'avatar' making websites for you. Utilise your screen shot software so that you don't need to 'sign up' or give email addresses. The kids love them too!
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|| A fun tool that takes minimal time to set up. Fotobabble lets you attach audio to any photo (uploaded or linked on the web) and then embed it in your online presence!Basically it's a talking photo. This could be an awesome tool for camp reflections, writing etc (use kids art). Takes two mins to create an account and then you're away! media type="custom" key="8832078" Here's an awful one just to give you an idea. Sorry about the lack of interesting content. || @http://www.fotobabble.com/ || Its the clearest I've seen and definitely the easiest to understand. || [] || || Superlame is a quick and easy to use photo tool that enables you to add comic style captions and speech bubbles to uploaded photos. What makes it great is that it lets you download your comically edited photo straight to your desktop. An excellent free version of comic life (with limitations of course) or an easy way for your studets to create interesting literacy work. Here's an example: || @http://www.superlame.com/ || || This is a fantastically drawn Web-Book by Stuart McMillen, (down-loadable as well) that outlines the perils of over populated, under resources island that reindeer live on...I'm sure you can see the parallels. A great teaching resource! There are many on the authors website that could be useful resources too at: @http://www.recombinantrecords.net/ || @http://www.recombinantrecords.net/2011/02/09/st-matthew-island/ || || This is a must have tool for any teacher or student. Perfect for saving web content complete with active links. Copy and paste a URL (web address) into the bar and click the button and like magic, you will have a pdf of that URL. This is perfect for researching, archiving etc. I've PDF'd last year's 'Website of the week 2010' below. I've downloaded it then put it into Embedit.in (a tool from last year) to show you the results: media type="custom" key="8446700" || @http://pdfmyurl.com/ || || I love statistics. I love visual statistics even more than normal statistics and this website is possibly the most awesome visual statistics website ever. Environment, health, financial, population ,etc is all covered here. Just fascinating stuff. Click on the GAP MINDER WORLD link A great video using these graphics is on the site also (it was a web vid of the week last year). Click to watch || @http://www.gapminder.org/ ||
 * ==Week Seven:== || This is a quick reference guide for you to explain the whole spectre of Nuclear radiation (with all thats going on in Japan) to your kids.
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|| I think this is a classic piece of digital literacy making writing that much more enjoyable for our 21st Century students. Based on Bollywood films, students add subtitles to short scenes. Subtitles can be added via typing or microphone and the results are excellent plus it's incredibly easy to use. Once created and emailed, the student will get a link to a web address where they will find their movie complete with subtitles and embedding code for placing in their wiki/blog etc. I had a little trouble embedding mine into a wiki page but the link below works fine: Click Here || @http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/ ||
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|| I don't find myself into gaming in the slightest. But thats not to say loads of people aren't. In fact loads are. Particularly your students. So this award winning wikisite has been created for teachers and students with an eye for gaming and there are some real gems amongst all the full on 'gamer' stuff. I would personally stick to the maths, science, literacy and global issues games but the rest are definitely relevant. There's also plenty on the pedagogy behind gaming in education. Investigate! || http://gamesined.wikispaces.com/ ||
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