Instructify

Here’s a look back at the most popular posts from October.

• Learn world geography with Enigeo
• Cut it up for Halloween with a virtual pumpkin carver
• Making math tangible with the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives
• How well can you focus? Two activities measure ability to focus, switch tasks
• Take a trip to SpellingCity
• Teach science and critical thinking skills with Public Library of Science (PLoS) Blogs
• Celebrate the National Day on Writing October 20
• The grammar of comics revealed
• History, civics, and art combine at Today’s Document
• Four Firefox add-ons to maximize the web in class

BY KEVIN HODGSON

Jane Hart does her best to keep herself and her blog readers up to date on the latest technology tools, particularly as they relate to social media. While her blog is certainly worth following, it is her annual list of 100 Tools for Learning that you should check out first. Culled from a variety of sources, including her own readers, the list of 100 tools runs the gamut from multimedia production to practical tools that may simplify a task. Jane notes that there were more than 500 people sharing ideas with her this year. That’s a great pool of knowledge.

One thing I like is that Jane does more than just share the tools. In her Winners & Losers analysis, she also notes which tools have been dropped from the previous year, and which tools seem to be gaining more ground. (And, I should note, she makes it clear which sites are free and which cost money.) Her Best in Breed list breaks down the list into categories, such as microblogging, e-learning, and productivity tools.

The Top 100 Tools for Learning

Jane’s Slideshow on Slideshare

Winners & Losers

Best in Breed

BY KEVIN HODGSON

Sometimes, just knowing where to go for a resource or piece of software is the hardest step to integrating technology. AlternativeTo collects resources and recommendations for free and open source alternatives to mainstream (and often costly) software/online tools.

Similar to Open Source Alternative, AlternativeTo has a plethora of options, and runs the gamut from free online backup systems for computer files to tools to make file downloads easier and safer. I like that the site allows you to sort programs according to operating system and user rankings. In addition, there are notes about questionable software — I’d avoid these programs, and it’s probably a good idea to do a bit of research on any of the tools you might download and use anyway.

The search engine on the site culls through its archives to pull up alternatives to what you are looking for. For example, I looked for “Word”  in the Microsoft Windows platform and received a long list of word processing-related software. Since this site is a social network, there are many brains at work here, sharing and commenting and giving feedback.

In the classroom

I don’t necessarily see a use for students at the site, but for teachers and school administrators who are under budget constraints, AlternativeTo might be a step into the Open Source world.

AlternativeTo

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Ditch expensive software with Open Source Alternative

BY CHRISTOPHER PANNA

“You have to do more than memorize facts! Show me that you can analyze and connect these ideas!” How many times have we said things like this to our students? In the quest to develop higher-order thinking skills, The Flow of History can provide some visually captivating help.

Flow charts are the main attraction here. There are more than 200 in all, covering a lot of the most common topics in world history. The site’s creator sought to highlight cause-and-effect relationships, and The Flow of History does that beautifully. The charts use color and visuals to show the progression of events that led to, say, the rise of Greek democracy or the British conquest of India. And the design of the diagrams is as varied as the stories they tell. Sometimes events are shown in a linear way, but more often they double back into cycles, diverge into separate branches, and unite several events into one result. There is also a reading to go with each flow chart, so students can use the chart to help understand the reading, or vice versa.

There are plenty of possibilities for using The Flow of History. After seeing a few examples, students could create their own flow charts. Or, as the site’s creator suggests, they could focus on the big picture by summarizing a chart in one sentence. For some students, a visual model like this can turn a scattered mess of events into a sequence that makes sense.

The Flow of History

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Time Lines are on your Side with Mnemograph

Build time lines easily with xtimeline

BY REBECCAH HAINES

With BuddyPress, a plugin for the WordPress blogging platform, you can create your own social networking site for your school or classroom.

BuddyPress isn’t too difficult to use, though it isn’t as “point-and-clicky” as I would like. You’ll need to download and install the WordPress platform first, then BuddyPress software, then add the BuddyPress files to your WordPress program. The website claims it takes five minutes, but from my explorations, it takes at least a moderate amount of technical skill, so ask your IT person if you need help. Once you get everything downloaded and installed, BuddyPress provides basic templates for building your social network. You can see some samples of what people have created here.

Obviously, building your own social networking site as a teacher has its advantages. We all know how fascinated kids are with Facebook and MySpace, so creating a school-appropriate space should be inherently interesting. Naturally, you’ll clearly need to set ground rules for use to prevent too many off-topic discussions, but when kids are really interested in using something, they tend to follow the directions for using it.

In sum, BuddyPress looks like a good opportunity for educators, especially if you’ve got the need, the drive, and the skill to do a little bit more tech-nerd stuff to create your classroom network.

BuddyPress

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Connect students through Dweeber

Edmodo: Microblogging (and more) for educators

BY BILL FERRIS

Hey, I’m blastin’ off here!

The Brooklyn Space Program, consisting of “a group of friends in New York City interested in scientific experiments, engineering, design and education,” sent an HD camera and an iPhone into outer space (!) via weather balloon. The camera reached an altitude of 19 miles before the balloon burst. The resulting footage looks like something taken by a satellite, albeit a satellite susceptible to wind turbulence. To think that a homemade father-and-son science project was able to capture the curvature of the earth and the inky blackness of space first-hand is pretty inspiring.

You may have already seen this video elsewhere online, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t put this on Instructify, since the educational possibilities for a project like this are pretty outstanding. Consider the considerations they had to consider to pull this off — working out how to retrieve the camera, rigging a parachute to deploy during the descent, cushioning the camera and iPhone for their eventual impact with the earth, not to mention how to safeguard sensitive electronic equipment from the icy cold of space. This project presents several juicy problems for student scientists and engineers to solve.

The BSP is publishing a small how-to book for science-minded folks wanting to send their own balloon to space. Not to steer you away from supporting a worthy cause, but I think part of the value of this sort of project is in figuring out how to do it yourself. Either way, it’s a great idea, and even cooler than the baking-soda volcanoes we made when I was a kid.

Brooklyn Dad and Kid Send iPhone Into Outer Space

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More Google Earth lesson plans

Take a ride on a U2 spy plane

• Maggot paintings used to interest kids in forensic entomology: http://bit.ly/bX4THD #
• Making math tangible with the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives: http://bit.ly/9gvp2A #
• Cut it up for Halloween with a virtual pumpkin carver: http://bit.ly/dqbZr7 #

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BY KEVIN HODGSON

With Halloween nearing, it might be time to take out your virtual carving knife and create a Jack O’Lantern without the mess of guts and seeds. This carving site (created with Flash but housed at Kevin Jarrett’s blog) is one of the easiest that I have found to use, and the activity is accessible for a wide range of ages. It’s beauty is in its simplicity: just use the mouse to make holes in the pumpkin, click done, and watch your carved creation light up. Save your pumpkin with a screenshot, or just savor its eerie virtual glow.

Carve the Pumpkin

BY AARON FOWLES

Math can be a very esoteric subject. It’s difficult for students to conceptualize numbers that are disassociated from their daily existence. Word problems have mixed success with making these concepts tangible to students. It’s necessary, then, to find a way to make these ideas “real” for students by providing them with something they can see and, if possible, touch. Virtual manipulatives are just that. They are computer programs that give students virtual objects to move around, measure, and arrange in mathematically meaningful ways. Rather than just providing students with an initial graphic that they must then mentally change, virtual manipulatives provide the means to make those thought processes tangible and apparent.

The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives, hosted by Utah State University, is a collection of Java tools that explore mathematical concepts. The activities are divided by grade level and subject matter. The 6-8 Algebra section, for example, shows activities that teach algebra through the use of balance scales. The example in the picture above shows how to develop equations based on geometrical configurations.

The activities are based on Java, and sometimes making Java work on your computer is an exercise in patience. It is well worth it, though, since these activities can help students visualize math and teachers visualize students’ understanding.

These tools are well-suited for use with an interactive whiteboard or on student computers.  Each activity is aligned to nationally recognized math standards and includes instructions.

The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives

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Try some interactive learning at Learner.org

Sharpen your math skills with CarrotSticks

Save cute animals with math: Lure of the Labyrinth

BY KEVIN HODGSON

SpellingCity presents a multitude of activities students can use to practice spelling. A teacher simply enters the spelling words, and SpellingCity presents several options for what to do with them. Choices include:

“Test Me,” which repeats each spelling word with a live voice and uses it in a sentence. I put in a few words from my students’ vocabulary list and clicked here. The site creates a text box for students to write the word after they hear it spoken by the automated voice. What I liked best was that SpellingCity then used my word in a sentence. The site has a large database of words and sentences that it draws from.

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Here’s a look back at some of the best post from October 2009:

• Trivia games abound at Sporcle
• ToonDoo makes creating comic strips easy
• Collaborate simply, graphically, with Scribblar
• Share questions, notes and ideas with Wallwisher
• Make and share three-minute screencasts with Screenjelly
• Memidex bookmarklet makes word definitions leap off the page
• Ask the readers: The periodic table tattoo
• What are parents afraid to tell you?
• Build time lines easily with xtimeline
• See the sun up close at The Sun in Motion

BY KEVIN HODGSON

Inspired by President Obama’s Educate to Innovate campaign, the National STEM Video Game Challenge aims to motivate interest in STEM learning by tapping into students’ natural passions for playing and making video games.

The exact evaluation criteria is not completely clear, except for this explanation:

Submissions will be judged on a combination of fun and balanced game play, creative vision and incorporation of STEM concepts in game design and play experience. Paper-based game designs will be judged separately from playable games.

There are two levels of competition: a middle school (grades 5-8) program and a program for younger designers (pre-K through grade 4), with prizes ranging from laptops for the schools to game-design tools for students. I like how the site lays out the rationale for bringing gaming into the classroom with this competition (which runs through the course of the school year) and also why they are focusing on middle school students. All the games must be aligned with the National Science Educational Standards and the Common Core standard for Math (more information about that is here).

In addition to backing from the White House, this competition is sponsored by a series of big-name technology companies, including Microsoft, AMD and more.

If you are interested, visit their application page.

STEM Video Game Challenge

Additional resources

Game Changer: Investing in Digital Play to Advance Children’s Learning and Health by Ann My Thai, David Lowenstein, Dixie Ching, and David Rejeski

Moving Learning Games Forward by Eric Klopfer, Scot Osterweil, and Katie Salen

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Play games and make the world a better place at Games for Change

Save humanity’s first lunar settlement in Moonbase Alpha

Admongo teaches kids about advertising through gameplay

Inspire social action through gaming with Evoke

BY CHRISTOPHER PANNA

If your classroom has a projector, TV, or interactive white board connected to a computer, you’ve no doubt used it to show websites to your class. If you use the Firefox web browser, you probably know about the many helpful add-ons available. The following must-have extensions will change the way you use the web in class.

Adblock Plus: As the name implies, this removes distracting ads from many web pages. Spaces that used to be filled with advertisements will appear blank, allowing your students to focus on what’s important. Once you install Adblock Plus, it will prompt you to choose a filter subscription –- go with “Easy List,” which will block the most common ads.

Image Zoom: For those times when you’re showing a picture on the screen and you need it to be larger or smaller, Image Zoom does the trick. It allows you to resize any picture right on the page on which it appears. This is especially handy for switching between full-screen and zoomed-in views of a picture.

Dictionary Tooltip: This add-on works like a fairy godmother of vocabulary, helping you instantly answer the question, “What does that word mean?” Double-click any word and a small window will appear with a dictionary/thesaurus entry. Question answered.

Pronounce: Sure, you can tell your students how to pronounce a word, unless they encounter a difficult word outside of class. With the Pronounce extension, simply highlight a word, right-click, and choose Pronounce. Don’t forget to turn on your speakers!

I’ve described the basic functions of these add-ons, but each one has further options for customization. Try them yourself and adjust the settings to your liking. If you like the way these work, check out the main page for Firefox add-ons and see what other gems you can find.

BY REBECCAH HAINES

I’ll bet you’ve never heard of Physiology Understanding Week (or PhUn Week — get it?). This week-long celebration sponsored by the American Physiological Society is designed to increase student understanding of physiology in students’ daily lives, introduce them to possible physiological careers, and to help teachers integrate physiology into their curricula.

At the website, teachers can access lesson plans that include detailed teachers’ guides, worksheets, and PowerPoint presentations. Teachers can also contact an area physiologist to come and speak with his or her classroom. Students can download and read a comic called “The Science of Life Comic Book” and investigate physiological careers.

Physiology Understanding Week

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BY AARON FOWLES

Sometimes you want your students to visit websites. At other times, you want your students to visit websites that you’ve chosen. At yet other times, you want students to visit websites that you’ve chosen in a particular order with a minimum of fuss. For those times, there’s fur.ly.

Fur.ly is a link aggregator that will take as many links as you’d like to feed it and generate one short URL. When that URL is accessed, the first page in the list is displayed, along with a yellow fur.ly banner across the top. The webpages in the list can be accessed using left/right arrows or a drop-down list. The list created from the sites in the photo above can be seen here.

Since students sometimes have a tendency to wander while online, this could be a great tool to keep them focused on the task at hand. In the same way that a webquest sets out a list of sites for students to visit, a fur.ly list could take students along a predetermined path designed by the teacher to aid in discovery.

This site has the additional benefit of generating short URLs (similar to services such as bit.ly or is.gd), but fur.ly’s URLs are not yet customizable. I can’t imagine this will be long in coming.  Besides the webquest-type of use mentioned above, I can imagine using fur.ly to group similar URLs together for reference if your students do a lot of work online and will need to get quick information from the same sources over and over.

fur.ly

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