Useful Links

  by  Ken Whytock 

• Storyboarder – Android Apps on Google Play Free Android app for creating storyboards. The app allows you to pull pictures from your Android phone’s picture gallery, add captions to them, and arrange them into a storyboard. When you’ve completed your storyboard you can save it as a PDF and email it or save it to Dropbox.

• WordDraw.com – Free Newsletter Templates for Microsoft Word This tool offers free professional looking templates for newsletters, flyers, labels, and resumes. The sites newsletter templates are categorized for education, business, family, holidays, and by month. The templates must be downloaded and are compatible for all versions of Microsoft Word. These templates can also be utilized for a class newspaper, projects or even reports.

• How To Create A Custom Search Engine For Your Students

• Creates amazing videos from your photos | PicoVico.Com Turn simple photographs into videos using this site. Once you sign up (it’s free) you begin by choosing a video template and then adding your pictures from Facebook, Flickr, or your computer. You can set the order of your pictures, add captions to them and add text slides if you wish. Next you add music, either from their library or add your own from your computer. Your last step is to add a video title and any additional text and you’re done. Completed videos can be uploaded to You Tube or Facebook and can even be embedded into a website or blog. The site does have a 30 picture maximum but that is long enough for most people.

• Make Fake Movie Posters Tool for creating a movie poster that would be useful for a school project. can be done using this simple website. Students simply upload an image, add a few details for the text and then share their completed poster with the teacher.

• PosterMyWall | The Best online Custom Poster and Photo Collage Maker. Free Downloads! Yet another terrific site for creating poster projects for the classroom. The site is easy to use and navigate. Just select a template and change or add content as you desire. Every aspect of a poster template can be changed and you can add more pictures or text if you need. Once done there are a variety of ways in which the final poster can be shared including email.

• Tackk — Content Creation + Sharing This tools allows you to create online posters that can be shared via email, social media or be embedded onto a webpage or blog. As soon as you arrive on the website you can start creating your poster by editing their ready made template. You can easily add a title, body text, pictures, videos, and even songs. You can add content from You Tube, Instagram, Vimeo, Sound Cloud, Hulu, and Spotify. Creating an online poster with Tackk is so easy to do.

• 12 Changes Coming To The Future Of Learning – Edudemic Good infographic for starting discussion between teachers.

• 23 creative sketchbook examples to inspire high school Painting / Fine Art students This article contains a collection of beautiful sketchbook pages to help students studying a range of high school Art qualifications, including GCSE, A Level and IB Visual Art. The collection includes sketchbooks completed by students as well as artist sketchbooks. Pages have been selected to demonstrate different sketchbook presentation techniques as well as to indicate the variety of layout styles possible. Descriptions underneath each image provide tips and guidance, outlining the successful aspects of each page.

• Pinstamatic – Get More From Pinterest Pinstamatic is a creative and easy way to create pinable content. While you can already create quotes with Share As Image and edit photos pretty extensively with PicMonkey, Pinstamatic lets you pin sticky notes, screenshots of webpages, album covers from Spotify, images of Twitter profiles, locations with commentary, and even calendar dates. This simple tool makes it easy to create content for Pinterest without having a photo to use first.

• Free Online Slideshow maker Slideful is a simple online-based slideshow creation interface. Slideful is easy to use so it is good for a younger users or a group that is not very tech-savvy.

• Creative Commons Kiwi – YouTube “By Creative Commons Aotearoa New Zealand with support from InternetNZ. To find out more about Creative Commons in New Zealand visit us at creativecommons.org.nz”

• Blendspace | Copyright And Creative Commons

• Search DuckDuckGo DuckDuckGo is a search engine that provides instant answers. Search anonymously. It does not track you and has more instant answers and less spam/clutter.It also has a user friendly interface and an easily navigable layout.

• fefoo search app fefoo is not a search engine, its an application that helps you search better. It uses the traditional search engines to search. You search on categories and your search is more refined from the time you start searching. In case you don’t use categories it works like a normal search engine. fefoo helps to streamline searches with less clicks and your search is more precise.

• blekko | search Blekko organizes content in semantic schema and pulls search results from a wide variety of online. sources.

• ODP – Open Directory Project Dmoz is one of the most comprehensive human-reviewed directory of the web. The content on this search engine is categorized into different categories from Arts to Sport. Offers Basic and Advanced saerch options.There is also a special category for Kids and Teens.

• Ixquick Search Engine A search engine that allows you to many popular search engines simultaneously and anonymously. Combined, these engines cover more of the Internet than any one search engine alone.

• 10 Digital Citizenship Hashtags To Join The Conversation A useful list of Hashtags to follow for information and resources on the topic

• A Glimpse into the Future of Learning: An Infographic | KnowledgeWorks | College and Career Readiness “The infographic tells the big story of KnowledgeWorks’ third forecast on the future of learning, Recombinant Education: Regenerating the Future of Learning.  Comprised of twelve key insights with accompanying graphics, it points the way toward a diverse learning ecosystem in which learning adapts to each child instead of each child trying to adapt to school. “

• 44 Prompts Merging Reflective Thinking With Bloom’s Taxonomy

• 20 collaborative Google Apps activities for schools | Ditch That Textbook

• 9 Steps For Schools To Create Their Own BYOD Policy

• Think Pedagogy First, Technology Second

• A Google Spreadsheet Formula Everyone Should Know About

• IFLA Trend Report This report is the result of 12 months of consultation and was launched in Aug2013. A major report concerning future directions for the information environment and is more than just one single, static document. It offers a selection resources that will assist in understanding where libraries fit into a changing society. There is also a link to a guide on how someone might access the information of the Report. The Report is an international initiative and is regards the wider Information Science discipline and not just school libraries but it is important for those in the education sector to understand what is happening in the wider library community. The IFLA Trend Report focuses on five key trends which it predicts will influence our future information environment. They are: Trend1: New technologies will both expand and limit who has access to information. Trend 2: Online Education will democratise and disrupt global learning. Trend 3: The boundaries of privacy and data protection will be redefined. Trend 4: Hyper-connected societies will listen to and empower new voices and groups. Trend 5: The global information environment will be transformed by new technologies. The report pulls together a huge amount of information from many experts around the world. It really has a global perspective.

• Best Digital Tools for VCE Students This list suggests some readily available digital tools that could be useful for VCE Students. It is not a definitive list but rather one that is not too daunting but offers a few options for to-do lists, note taking and collaborating tools and some others.

• Tons of Google Forms for Teachers, Administrators and Students ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

• Fair Use Checklist — Columbia Copyright Advisory Office

• How Students Can Create Animated Movies to Teach Each Other | Jordan Collier

• The Comprehensive Google Drive Guide for Teachers and Students ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning “Google Drive is one of the fundamental tools in our digital toolkits as teachers and educators. Whether you want to compose a document, create a presentation,  design a sheet, or share a beautiful drawing you made, Google Drive provides you with the tools to do that on any device and anywhere you are with an internet connection . Given this huge importance of Google Drive for teachers, I have created an entire section here packed full of tips, tricks, ideas, and third party tools to enable you to better tap into the full educational potential of this platform.”

• Open Badges. Learning Technologies (#LT14uk) | Doug’s Conference blog A slide presentation by Doug Belshaw and Tim Riches where they explain how the Mozilla Open Badges can verify and recognize skills and achievements. These are digital and an individual can be display them on various sites, be they job sites, social networking places, websites etc.

• Using Technology To Provide Student Feedback

• The Art Of Questioning For Teachers: Improve Your Teaching Techniques

• Free Technology for Teachers: Google Improves Image Search Tools Menu

• Google Search has finally added a simple way to search for images that have reuse rights! | Social Media 4 Us

• Personalize Learning: Updated Personalization vs. Differentiation vs. Individualization Chart Version 3 What is meant by personalisation,differentiation and individualization in schools? An explanation about why and how the chart was created and then updated after teacher feedback. The chart tries to clarify the terms by comparing the differences. This is 2013 version 3
• Personalized Learning Chart Version 3 What is meant by personalisation,differentiation and individualization in schools The chart tries to clarify the terms by comparing the differences. This is 2013 version 3 of the The chart has revisions and a facelift from an earlier one. These were based on feedback from educators around the world.
• Create Free Interactive Timelines – Stories Displayed on Maps | myHistro This is a browser-based tool with versatile features that combine photographs, videos, and blogging on interactive Google Maps and Google Earth. The tool features a chronological timeline that can be used for elaborate representation of school activities, presentations, and projects.
• Enhance Project-Based Learning with These 10 Powerful Tools
• How to Clean Up Your Digital Footprint and Your Online Identity | Social Media Examiner The post gives some advice about how to manage your digital reputation (digital footprint) and ensure that you check that anything that may be available about you online is professional and not damaging to your reputation.
• 100 Twitter Hashtags Every Writer Should Know | Aerogramme Writers’ Studio
• 4 Easy Steps to Embed a Tweet | The Daring Librarian
• 10 Great Podcasts for Writers | Aerogramme Writers’ Studio
• How to Use Hangouts in the Classroom – EdTechReview™ (ETR)
• 100 Important Google Drive Tips for Teachers and Students ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning
• 25 Reading Strategies That Work In Every Content Area
• Why school librarians are critical to digital learning | eSchool News | eSchool News
• Top 100 Twitter Tools for Teachers ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning
• 3 Creative Ways Teachers Can Use Pinterest | Classroom Jr. The post offers three great reasons to consider using Pinterest with students. Whilst it acknowledges there are some limitations, it is up to the teacher to determine how and when it is appropriate to use in the classroom but these 3 are creative and interesting uses.
• The Future Of Content Curation Tools – Part II Part II of Robin Good’s discussion about the future of content curation tools and at what features and facilities they are likely to introduce in the coming months and years.
• The Future Of Content Curation Tools – Part I Robin Good has written a two-part article about content creation. He has outlined what he expects to be the most relevant changes and innovations that will be likely integrated in the content curation tools already available out there or that will become the key foundations for new ones that are yet to appear. It is a good overview by an recognised expert in the area of curation.
• Information Literacy: Building Blocks of Research: Overview A good overview by Debbie Abilock
• Is it a Hackerspace, Makerspace, TechShop, or FabLab? | MAKE
• Makerspaces, Participatory Learning, and Libraries | The Unquiet Librarian “The Library as Incubator Project describes makerspaces as: Makerspaces are collaborative learning environments where people come together to share materials and learn new skills… makerspaces are not necessarily born out of a specific set of materials or spaces, but rather a mindset of community partnership, collaboration, and creation.”
• Crafting New Narratives of Community, Connecting, Creating, and Par… Slideshare: Crafting New Narratives of Community, Connecting, Creating, and Participatory Learning at The Unquiet Library: A Makerspace Culture of Learning A First Outline of Our New Chapter for 2012-2013 | Presented to Dr. Adrian Thomason, July 16, 2012 | Buffy J. HamiltonCC “Defining Makerspace A place where people learn to use tools and materials and can develop creative projects Can be embedded inside an existing Makerspace organization or standalone on its own Adaptable-can be shaped by educational goals as well as students’ creative interests”
• Designing a School Makerspace | Edutopia A good analysis of how schools need to approach the idea of makerspaces. “A makerspace is not solely a science lab, woodshop, computer lab or art room, but it may contain elements found in all of these familiar spaces. Therefore, it must be designed to accommodate a wide range of activities, tools and materials. Diversity and cross-pollination of activities are critical to the design, making and exploration process, and they are what set makerspaces and STEAM labs apart from single-use spaces” There are some basic questions that need to be asked and answered before schools begin to create a “design program” for their makerspace. These will assist in defining the specific needs and requirements of the students and the school. Makerspaces and the activities they can accommodate may vary quite markedly so the the design of a program is one of the most critical steps in ensuring the space will be functional and well used.
• The Maker Movement Finds Its Way Into Urban Classrooms | MindShift Another interesting piece about makerspaces. This time how one teacher librarian (librarian and English teacher) in the US used robotics kits in her library to respond to their reading. Her students to created characters from the stories they read and then brought them to life. Innovative and engaging hands-on learning – what’s not to like. Other examples are discussed as well.
• Touch Van Gogh – An Android App for Learning About Van Gogh | Android 4 Schools
• 45+ Teacher Recommended Educational Apps : Teacher Reboot Camp

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.