FLY Fusion Computer Pen

At NYSCATE, we received a Fly Fusion Computer Pen in our registration materials. Take notes on the "fly" and then come home and plug in your pen to your computer (USB). Somehow the pen remembers what you wrote and you can download the image of your notebook to your computer. You can also convert your written notes into a word document but that takes a bit of practice before you get it right. Plug in headphones to the pen and listen to some mp3's. Better yet, create your own since the pen can also serve as a music studio. And by the way, it has dictionary and translation capabilities as well. Click on my "fly-written" notes above to see page one of my notes from the Keynote Address by Gary Marx, author of 16 Trends.

MindMeister

If you are familiar with mind-mapping or Inspiration software then you might like MindMeister. It is a simple mind-mapping tool but you have the ability to be collaborative. Many students can work on a MindMeister mind-map all from the convenience of their home computers. Then there are multiple export/sharing options as well. Click & hold the mind-map below to see the entire map. Users have the options to make the maps public, print, export as an image, and more.

ZamZar

Have you or your students ever had the need to convert a file so you could read it, view it, share it, play it, make it iPod friendly, or manipulate it? Yes, there are many free file conversion software programs, but ZamZar is a web-based file conversion website. Just upload the file you want to convert, or enter the URL of the file on the web, or even convert YouTube videos with one click. You receive the converted file (and there are many choices) in your email account.

Clear Message-10 Words or Less?

It's like a haiku....but different. If you are not from Monroe County, NY, USA, you probably won't get this!! But I challenge you to challenge your students to make a clear statement in 10 words or less...plus you get Bob Dylan to be on your side!

EverNote

Evernote, a free download, allows students to organize all of their research digitally, In one "database" students can write their own notes, create a to-do/checklist, add webpages (complete or snippets), save emails, file images & videos, and save word and excel documents. For $20, a portable version is available for thumb drives so a student has all of their "notes" at every computer they are working from.

EasyBib.com

The English Department is probably aware of these sites that make it easy for students to create a works cited list in MLA format. There are other sites like EasyBib but this one works pretty well for MLA and is free. You have to upgrade to use APA. Some teachers have cautioned that some of these sites create incorrect bibliographies but from what I've seen, this one is pretty accurate. There is also debate among some teachers as to whether teachers should allow students to use these kinds of tools. Some students even said they feel like they are cheating if they use these tools. This reminds me of the old calculator debates. I say go for it...I know if I was writing a paper in college I would be all over this type of tool.

Answer Tips

Answers.com allows any website to become an AnswerTip website. By double-clicking on any word you can have immediate access to a dictionary definition, encyclopedia information, a thesaurus, plus many other connections to that word. Imagine students being able to just click on a word and get immediate information about that word. Cool stuff. This site is now AnswerTip enabled....try it out. Here are some good words... pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism, antidisestablishmentarianism, and floccinaucinihilipilification.

Need To Create a .PDF File?

Sometimes you might want to save a document, website, or powerpoint as a .pdf file. So what do you do? Well, Mike D. shared www.primopdf.com with me today. Once installed you can just go to File/Print in any of your programs and print to PDF instead of your default printer. You might want to check with tech services as you might also be able to get a copy of Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer.

Picture Seating Chart

I've always wanted to do this because I'm not very good remembering names at the beginning of the school year. If you go to our building's shared folder on the shared drive you will find a folder of all the student pictures. I used the 2006-07 folder that had last year's pictures. You can do a search for every name on your roster, click on the file (it will open in your photo editor) then copy/paste to a Microsoft Word table. I then resize the pics and move them around into a seating chart. It takes a little bit of time but it is great to know kids on the first day by sight and it will be a welcomed addition to the substitute folder. Click on the image to see a picture of the word document.

EZ Grade Pro - Putting Your Grades Online

Putting your entire gradebook online is easy with EZ GradePro but it does take a bit of setting up. First, all students need a password to keep their grades confidential. Second, you need to upload the files to a server (sounds difficult but it's not) which means a file transfer program is needed (Smart FTP is recommended). Once set up, this process only takes a couple of clicks when you need to update your grades online. Click on the image to the left to see how it looks.

Search Mash

If you ever wanted to do a Google search but also see what is available in the blogs, images, or even wikipedia then you might want to try Google-owned Search Mash. Click on the image and see how your search results are organized on the right hand side...images, blogs, videos, and wikipedia entries. It can be very useful and take you places you might miss with a simple Google search.

iTunes University

The iTunes store has an incredible amount of free content in the new iTunes University section of their store. You can listen to lectures related to your own coursework for new insights and examples, you can assign lectures to students for assignments, or if your students think your teaching style is a little bit to be desired...have them listen to some of these professors :)

GapMinder

For those interested in data, economics, health care, statistics, visual learning, math, social studies, and public policy, I think you will find the tools at www.gapminder.org very interesting. Hans Rosling demonstrates how developing countries are pulling themselves out of poverty. He shows us the next generation of his Trendalyzer software -- which analyzes and displays data in amazingly accessible ways, allowing people to see patterns previously hidden behind mountains of stats.

Gapminder Tools
Gapminder World