I attended the Virginia Society for Technology in Education (VSTE) conference the past 3 days. One new cool tool I learned about was Wiffiti. Wiffiti is a site that allows you to use the hash tags from Twitter to “aggregate” them in one place. It takes the hash tags (up to 5) and creates an interactive screen. As the tweets are tweeted, the most recent pops up and then it rotates all tweets around. It also provides you the option to list them in a timeline format. Here is one I created from the VSTE conference.
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!
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!
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 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.
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 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.
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!
Well, here is another cool tool for all you Twitter fans out there. Twitter Fountain is a widget that you can add to your blog, wiki, or website that will allow you to have your tweets scroll or “spring up like a fountain” that have a hash tag to your site. See my example below.
DoInk is a place for teachers and students to enjoy art and animation, and make their own. Draw and animate online easily, collaborate with friends and other artists by reusing props. With DoInk you can be entertained, learn something new, or create something fun. You can share your talent with the world! DoInk creators believe that animation is a great medium and want anyone and everyone to have access to it. Check out the example below created by a student for his homework assignment.
