View and Share Websites Without Ads

I send out a periodic newsletter titled Web 2.0 Resources for Teachers.  In a recent edition of this newsletter, I shared information about PageFlip-Flap.  PageFlip-Flap allows you to turn documents, images, and videos into an interactive flipbook.   Soon after the newsletter was sent, a reader emailed and asked me if I knew other applications that did the same thing without ads.  With PageFlip-Flap, your flipbook has ads along the side.   I recommended that he try FlipSnak, a similar application.

Recently, I found out about AdOut.org.  This is an application that takes the ads off websites.  You get a link that you can share with others.  With AdOut.org, you can share sites with your students that you may not have used before because of unwanted ads.

You can subscribe to my  Web 2.0 Resources for Teachers Newsletter by clicking on the link.

Differentiation Tip: Using Technology to Differentiate According to Student Interests

Current and emerging technology gives us many ways to differentiate according to student interests.  Most students these days are interested in technology, and they use technology to navigate their world. They use it to play games, watch TV and movies, communicate with friends, etc.  Just by using technology in school, we're probably tapping into an interest of most students.  At the very least, we are connecting students with their world.

 Ideas for Using Technology to Differentiate According to Student Interests:

• Keep student interests in mind when searching for videos to use with students.  If you know that many of your students like sports, try to find sports videos that go along with math concepts you're teaching.  If many of your students enjoy watching movies, try to find movie clips where math is being used.  

• Create a classroom blog, website, and/or Social Network (ex. Ning, Social Go).  These days Social Media is everywhere.  Today's students are used to being part of a social community.  Creating classroom blogs or websites is another way to help build and extend the community you create with students in the classroom.  Blogs and websites also allow you to involve parents in your classroom activities.  If you're worried about what students will post, most blogging and Social Network platforms give you the ability to monitor content.

• When having students create a product to demonstrate learning, allow them to choose a format for creating the product.  For example, students could create a GlogPrezi (zooming presentation editor), make a video about the concept, write a song about the topic, create a Voice Thread about the topic.  This list could go on for a while.  There are so many new Web Applications that allow students to create amazing products.  The idea here is to allow students to choose which type of the product they'd like to create based on their particular interest.  (interactive poster), create a

• Create a Live Binder based on the math topic you're teaching.  Fill the binder with websites, videos, images, and documents that students can use to learn about and practice the math concept.  You could require that some resources be used by all students, but then allow students to choose other resources which are helpful to them.  For example, some students may want to watch a video of someone demonstrating how to work out a problem, some students may want to play a game to practice their skill at solving problems, or some students may want to use virtual manipulatives to help them understand the math concept.  The added benefit to creating a Live Binder like this, is that students can access it from home! 

These are just a few ideas for Using Technology to Differentiate According to Student Interests.  We'll explore more ways to do this in upcoming Differentiation Tips.

Do you have any suggestions for using technology as a way to differentiate instruction?  If so, please leave a comment and tell us your ideas.

Taking Learning to the Cloud - Online Sticky Note Sites

Welcome to the first installment of Taking Learning to the Cloud!  This is the first in a series of posts that highlights web 2.0 tools.  Today I am highlighting websites that have some type of online sticky notes.  The webslide show below features these sites.  The sticky note and the webslide show seen below are both examples of things that can be done using two of the featured sites. 


This sticky note was created using MySticky.net.


This webslide was created in Diigo.  To see my annotated notes of each website, click here.  My notes highlight key features of each of the websites in the slide show.


I hope you enjoy these sites.  I will make future posts highlighting math activities that can be done with specific sites. 



Taking Learning to the Cloud - Online Sticky Note Sites by Love of Learning Educational Services, LLC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Collaborative Consumption and Education

In a recent TED talk, Rachel Botsman discusses the move of society towards collaborative consumption.  Even though this talk is not directly related to education, it does speak about the increasing need for teachers to provide collaborative educational experiences for students.

Rachel Botsman:  The Case for Collaborative Consumption



Today's 21st Century learners are living in world where collaborative sharing is the norm outside of the school setting.  It is beginning to become the norm in some classrooms.  Many teachers are currently using Skype, Wikis, Blogs, Social Networks, and other collaborative tools with students.  The potential for providing students with rich, relevant learning experiences has never been greater than it is today.  There are so many useful collaborative tools online that will enrich teaching and learning.

I'm planning on sharing some online collaborative learning and tools in a future blog series titled "Taking Learning to the Cloud".  This series of posts will contain descriptions, links, and math lesson ideas for using various online tools that allow learning to take place in the Cloud.  We'll also discuss the advantages of going to the Cloud with students, parents, and other educators.


Collaborative Consumption and Education by Love of Learning Educational Services, LLC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Have You Taken Your Students to the Cloud Yet?

One of the biggest advantages to teaching in the 21st Century is all of the tools we have available at our fingertips. We now have the ability to share everything we use with our students in formats that can be accessed from any computer.  How amazing is that!!!  Uploading and/or embedding your documents, power points, videos, pictures, links, etc. have many advantages.

Here are a few of the advantages of going to the Cloud with your students:

• all of the materials for your lessons are in one location
• students and parents have access to the materials used in class
• students are able to collaborate
• students are likely to be engaged and motivated by using these tools
• students can continue working on assignments after school  (For example, they can continue to make posts about a topic or concept even after you've moved on to a new topic.  This could be a great way to have ongoing review of previously taught material.)
• students who are absent have access to the materials missed

There are many other advantages of taking your students to the Cloud, but we'll leave it with these for now. I've created some online post-it notes in Wallwisher that give links and explanations of some great online tools for teachers.
  
http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/kristig

Hope to see you in the Cloud soon!



Have You Taken Your Students to the Cloud Yet? by Love of Learning Educaitonal Services, LLC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.