Underground Educators: A Web 2.0 Groundblog

Hi, Underground Educators!

I apologize for not posting since October!  I have not been hibernating underground. .. I have been aboveground using Weebly!

~hUEy

Weebly and Weebly for Education

Weebly is an easy-to-use free website creation tool that uses a drag and drop interface to create very professional-looking websites with mounds of features!  Add text, titles, pictures, documents, photo albums, polls, maps, blogs, anything with html codes and more with a click or two.  Weebly provides over 70 designs you can choose from, as well as free hosting.  If you upgrade to Weebly Pro, you have even more options and features.  You are allowed two websites with unlimited pages per account.  Educators can create free accounts in Weebly for Education which include 40 student accounts!  Invite other educators to sign up!  If they do, you both get extra student accounts and possibly an upgrade to Weebly Pro!  If you need to create a website that is not a wiki or strictly a blog…Weebly is a great choice!  (If you want to see what I’ve been working on, take a look at the comments on this post!)

Hello, Underground Educators!   The school year is underway and I have some great tools that you can use to plan and promote your events!      ~hUEy 

Voki

Voki is a fun tool that allows you to create talking characters that you can embed into your blog as I have done here, (click on the play button to hear me talk) or email to friends, or send to your phone to use as a ring-tone.  The options available to create your character are extremely varied as are your voice choices.  You can even record your own voice by using your phone!  Leave me a comment if you “dig” this tool as much as I do!  www.voki.com

VUVOX  (Media Creation Made Easy)

VUVOX  is a very easy-to-use presentation tool.  There are two free options: Express and Collage.  Express allows you to build presentations using media from RSS feeds and online albums.  Collage allows you to use media from your own collections.  A cut-out tool makes it very easy to create your own frames for graphics or video.  I have only scratched the surface with this tool, but I can’t wait to dig deeper to find out more of what it can do!  You can be sure I will be using it to promote my events!  www.vuvox.com

Today’s Meet

Easy, easy, easy.  That is what I like about all the tools I am sharing with you here.  Today’s Meet is as simple as it gets.  This is a free online tool that you can use in a multitude of ways, but I will be using it to collaborate and network with others as we plan our events.  This tool allows you to create a “room” where colleagues and friends can “say” or “listen” to the conversation you create.  You determine the length of time the room remains open. (1 hour to 1 year)  You can cut and paste the conversation into a Word document before the room closes if you wish.  Dive into this one…I know you’ll like it.  There is a really interesting application for this tool for presenters.  They call it the backchannel.  Basically, presenters can use it to allow large audiences (with laptops or other online devices) to respond to and question content as they present.  The speaker, an associate or members of the audience can make clarifications almost instantly.  They say it really increases engagement and understanding.  Dig in!  www.todaysmeet.com

Hello, Underground Educators! 

Groundblog, here to share some of my favorite Web 2.0 tools for building a PLN…a Personal Learning Network!  You can’t achieve information fluency in the 21st century alone…and you don’t have to!  Web 2.0 is all about communication and sharing resources!  One of the best ways to build a PLN is to subscribe to blogs like this one.  If you look at the tiny print at the very bottom of my webpage you will see a link that says “RSS” and “Comments RSS” that will allow you to receive notification everytime my blog is updated.  You won’t miss a thing!  Enjoy!      -hUEy

PS…I have also posted a page of resources that you can use to share UE with your colleagues  and students at school!  I hope to add more soon!

Plus…Don’t miss the newly-added list of links to my favorite PLN resources!

My Favorite Tools You Can Use at School

 Wikispaces

Joining a wiki is one of the greatest ways to build a PLN!  A wiki is a website where groups of people can share information,  post resources and communicate with each other.  Wikispaces is offering free wiki websites to teachers and many Underground Educators (locally and away) are taking advantage of this offer and creating wondeful Web 2.0 wikis!   www.wikispaces.com

Edublogs

Edublogs may be the only blog website that is currently aboveground in our district and is where I created this blog!  It is very easy to use, with a lot of options for customization.  A free edublog has advertisements, but if you purchase a Supporter subscription at a reasonable price (as I did) the advertisements are removed from your blog and up to 30 student blogs.   Subscribing to favorite blogs is a great way to build a PLN!  www.edublogs.org

My Favorite Tools  You Can’t Use at School – Yet!  

 Twitter 

Twitter can be one of the most beneficial tools you can use to build a PLN.   Many leaders in Web 2.0 in education “tweet” relevant helpful information regularly throughout the day.  Since a “tweet” can only be 140 characters long, messages are short and sweet…but they often include links to websites and blogs that you will want to read and bookmark (in Delicious!) for later use.  Sign up today and begin following Scott McLeod (Dangerously Irrelevant) as a start!  www.twitter.com

Ning

Ning is a platform that allows users to create their own social network!  I am a member of a teacher/librarian ning that allows me to connect with like-minded educators all over the world.  Within a ning, members can join interest groups and share about more specific topics…Web 2.0 for instance!  This is a great way to build a PLN!  www.ning.com

Hello, Underground Educators!

Groundblog here to share some fabulous Web 2.0 tools dug up for you to use as you begin the school year!  I pop out of my hole from time to time to check on the current Web 2.0 conditions for these tools in our district.  I have listed them as aboveground and underground tools below, depending on their availability!    The last blog on this page is where you can share your success stories!  I’d love to hear from you!   –hUEy

My Favorite Tools You Can Use At School

 Animoto

Transform a slideshow of still pictures  and instructional text into a beautiful video with amazing transitions and music in just a few minutes!  Animoto for education is free and safe to use in the classroom, but registration is required and acceptance does not happen quickly.   www.animoto.com/education

Prezi

Tired of PowerPoint?  You will be once you make a Prezi!  Prezi makes astonishing free form presentations unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.  Free and easy to learn, this is one of my favorite new discoveries and it might be yours, too!   www.prezi.com

Delicious

Constantly digging up new sites on the Web?  Creating a Delicious account will help you store, retrieve and share your websites!  Delicious is a social bookmarking tool that can be accessed from any computer connected to the Internet.   Collectively, it is the largest group of bookmarks on the web… and it’s searchable!  Create your own network and share your bookmarks with others.  Tags allow you to catagorize your bookmarks for easy retrieval.  I don’t know how I lived without this Web 2.0 tool.  I think you will like it, too!   www.delicious.com

       My Favorite Tools You Cannot Use At School…Yet! 

Picnik

Picnik is a fun, powerful photo editing tool that will allow you to fix, crop, resize and add amazing effects to your photos.  Fast, easy and free.  I use this tool constantly in preparing photos for the web.  www.picnik.com

Share your success stories with us!  I love to hear from students and teachers using Web 2.0 tools!