Xtranormal is a website where anyone can create free movies very easily. “If you can type, you can make movies.” Just text or type and voila! A movie is made! It is really that easy. Try it and see for yourself. You’ll be glad you did!
The Complete Guide to Google Wave
Have you caught the Google Wave yet? Well, if you haven’t, you owe it to yourself to check it out. I love using Google Docs and the new Google Wave has been designed to help groups of people collaborate on documents on the web. To me, Google Wave is your email on steriods with all the cool Google collaboration tools built in. I truly loathe sending emails back and forth, back and forth, till their size gets so large and the true reason for the email is lost in all the many emails in my inbox! Then, when trying to figure out exactly what everyone is trying to say, that gets lost in the shuffle too. Google Wave takes care of all that as long as you understand it is like using your email but without all the tons of emails you have to sort through to get your job done. I have to work smarter and not harder and this cool tool will help me do just that. Try it and share how it works for you! Here is a great guide to help you in catching the Google Wave! Checkout this video that helps to explain Google Wave better. Enjoy!
Comic Strip About Google
This comic strip was shared with me at the Virginia Educational Technology Conference this week. Its kinda cute and about Google, of which I have been ‘google-eyed’ for a long time. Enjoy!
The “Tech Commandments” – A Guide to Proper Integration
The “Tech Commandments” are all an educator, leader, administrator or even a Tech Director needs to help us make the right choices in our tech decisions and not just “buy” stuff just because you can! How will you support it? Who gets what training? This presentation really makes you think!
Drop.io – A cool way to share anything, anywhere
Drop.io is a cool tool used for simple real-time sharing, collaboration, and presentation. Teachers can use it for any content area at any grade level. Drop.io allows you to share text, video, and audio media. Users can share their “files and collaborate in real time by web, email, phone, mobile, and more. Create each drop in two clicks and share what you want, how you want, with whom you want.”
You can also use Drop.io as a bookmarking service. Drop.io’s free voicemail service allows you to make mp3 recordings without the need for any software. Drop.io can also be used to conduct online, real-time, presentations. Best of all, Drop.io is free.
Google Docs Equation Editor
Google Docs has now added an Equation Editor as part of their Back-to-School features for students. The equation editor allows you to easily complete problem sets online or write papers that include equations. You can even take notes in your math class or answer questions using Google Docs. Also added is superscripts and subscripts that can be used for expressing chemical compounds or algebraic expressions. Check it out on the Google Docs Blog which also has a list of links to other sites of interest at the bottom of the page.
ISTEVision News – NECC – Washington, DC – 6/28/09
The International Society for Technology in Education’s (ISTE) National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) is one of the greatest conferences I have ever had the pleasure to attend. This year makes my 4th NECC and I look forward to next summer when it becomes ISTE2010 in Denver! Below is a short video about the conference and some cool tech tools. Fast forward to 5.22 and you will see yours truly being asked about what cool tools I learned about. Of course, it was Twitter Fountain that day. Just don’t understand the eye thingy though, do you? 
Microsoft’s Photosynth
Microsoft’s Photosynth transforms regular digital photos into a three-dimensional, 360-degree experiences. It analyzes each photo for similarities to the others, and then uses that data to figure out where a photo was taken. Next, it re-creates the environment and uses those photos as a background where it can display the photos. You can use Photosynth to share any experience. For example, it was used with President Obama’s inauguration pics sent from people who were there. There were 613 photos used to create the synth. Check it out at the Photosynth website.
Urban Spoon
Today I had the opportunity to learn about a cool app called Urban Spoon. This app can be used to help you find restaurants in the area you are in and help you decide where you want to eat. Thanks Barry Haines for sharing this with me today while “Storming the Hill” in Washington, DC as part of the ISTE Advocacy group at NECC.
Also, Urban Spoon has a cool slot machine widget you can post on your site or blog. See it below. It allows you to spin and try your luck finding a restaurant in a certain city or neighborhood, by price or by cuisine. I chose to use Washington, DC since I am here now, but you can choose whatever city you want. Way Cool!
TweetDeck
Ever want a place for all your “Tweets” that is in one place and sooooo easy to manage? Well TweetDeck is it! TweetDeck is your personal browser that shows you everything that’s happening now across Twitter and also Facebook. With TweetDeck you can easily stay in touch with friends, family, and those Tweeters you follow. Plus, you can share links, record video and much more. I didn’t think I had the time to try out any more new tech tools or even download another app but a friend (thanks Marlo!) encouraged me to try TweetDeck and within minutes I was hooked! What a great aggregator for tweets and just one more tool to help me work smarter and not harder. Try it and you’ll see for yourself how you just can’t twitter without it!
