http://j.mp/ictmagic
April 2012
Download the PDF at http://j.mp/ictmagicapr12
Welcome to this edition of ICTmagic Show. Inside you will find an eclectic mix of the best free educational links, tools and resource for your class from across the web. Go to the award winning ICTmagic wiki page at http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com Martin Burrett
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Hot Tip Every classroom has at least one. That child who is able, as if by magic, to use computers and fix any problems that arises. Why not help these children reach their full techie potential by making them a Digital Leader. The Digital Leaders Network is a new, grassroots movement set up by interested educators from across the UK. The idea is to collaborate between schools and share examples of what works. Your students don’t have to be whizz kids. They just need to have an interest in computing. Digital leading begins at your own school. Your children should share what they do and help others, including other teachers. Get more information, tips, advice and see what other educators are doing at http://digitalleadernetwork.co.uk
TED http://ted.com TED is a truly amazing website and organisation which promotes ideas through video talks by world class inspirational speakers. Each time I watch a TED video I feel uplifted and ready for action. TED have recently started a YouTube channel with aweinspiring videos that you can use with your children in class. Go to http://www.youtube.com/ TEDEducation to view them.
Poraora http://poraora.com/ This is a superb site. It's not often that I'm amazed by an educational resource anymore, but I am with this one. Pora Ora is a stunning educational virtual world for Primary School aged students. Play truly fun educational games which practise skills in English, maths and many other subjects. The graphics and useably is superb. Online safety is at the heart of this site. The parental admin account can set the student's account to free chat with everyone to completely locked down where they have the world to themselves, and everything in between. The site has a language filter and users can report any incidents of trouble. Also, the first task requires the user to complete an online safety task. The site is free with a few premium features coming out later. You have got to try this one!
Scale of the Universe 2 http://htwins.net/scale2 An amazing sequel to Scale of the Universe. See the smallest and biggest objects in our universe. This version is animated and has lots more objects to view. Click on an object to find out more about it.
Mentimeter http://mentimeter.com Get instant feedback from an audience or class using this superb site. Set a question and a choice of answers. Then others can follow a short link and choose an answer using their mobile or computer browser. The site can also generate a large QR code at the press of a button for easy linking. Results are shown instantly on your screen and you can embed it on a website. Try it at http://vot.rs/49104 and see the results at http:// mentimeter.com/ public/7048bfdda5cc.
Kaleidolism http://kaleidolism.com A clever resource for making fabulous art in just a few clicks. Use an online or a stock image to make an interesting kaleidoscope effect to download. Great for a digital art lesson or making photo guessing games.
Photopin
http://photopin.com
This is a brilliant site for searching for royalty free images to use in your school projects and publications. The site searches Flickr for both Commercial and Non-Commercial photos.
Aurasma http://aurasma.com An amazing augmented reality app for Android and iPad. Bring animation to still objects, make your children's written work come to life and make dragons fly around your school... through your camera at least. Share your creations with other users to make geo-location designs which will interact with anyone with the app.
The Story Starter http://www.thestorystarter.com/jr.htm Beginning a new story sometimes needs a little push to get going. Get some weird and wonderful story starters for children from this site. Just click on the button to view one of the thousands of starters.
Stellarium http://stellarium.org A stunning downloadable virtual planetarium that will amaze your students with the wonder of the night's sky. View the constellations in real time from your true global position and rewind and fast-forward to a particular date and time. You can even track planets and satellites. An essential resource for anyone teaching a space topic.
Maths iTools http://www-k6.thinkcentral.com/content/hsp/math/hspmath/na/gr35/itools_intermediate_9780547274058_/launch.html This is a great set of flash maths resources for your whiteboard. Resources include an interactive number grid, fraction bars, a set of algebra scales and many more. There are lots of great activities to help your students understand tricky maths ideas.
Sketchcast
http://sketchcast.com
This is a superb site which allows you to make video of a drawing with audio. Combine this with a whiteboard and you can record a lesson quickly and easily and embed it on your site. It’s also a great way to make a record of your children’s work. Ask them to explain how and why they are designing their picture with the audio recording tool.
Tetris Number Line http://www.numbaland.com/games/ TetrisNumberline.swf Play Tetris along a number line and use numbers to place your blocks to win the game. A great resource for practising the positions and value of numbers.
Diipo http://diipo.net A beautifully made Twitter-like social network for schools that supports photos, videos, files and you can even embed html. The site also has a blog feature, calendar and many other fab tools. You can set your class to be private or public.
Three Ring http://threering.com Use your smart phone to digitise your student's work and make an online assessment record. Use images, files or even videos from YouTube. Add comments and much more. You can also upload images of work through the website. Why not get your class to upload their own to practise IT skills and save you time.
Duolingo
http://duolingo.com
This site is amazing and it is a clever way of using the power of crowd sourcing to translate the web. Use your language skills to translate text into another language including Spanish, German, French, Italian and Simplified Chinese. The level of the text is differentiated to you. If there is a word you don’t know, you can simply hover over it to see possible translations. Any words you don’t know are added to your next lesson.
Math TV
http://mathtv.com A huge collection of maths videos on a wide range of maths topics. These range from basic calculations and using fractions all the way up to Calculus. A super resource for students to self study at home or at school. Also a great resource for any teacher who wishes to improve their own mathematical skills and knowledge.
International Space Station Space Walk http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/3d_resources/ station_spacewalk_game.html A breathtaking online space resource. Users can explore the International Space Station from the outside in a realistic 3D space walk simulator. The graphics are stunning and the missions will test the skills of your students. The radio chatter and the images make this an immersive experience. The site may take a little time to load, but it will be worth it!
Vokle http://vokle.com Present a live, interactive webinar or presentation quickly and easily with this superb online tool. Setup is simple and you just share the link with your audience. The video is recorded so it can be watched again. Get your class presenting to other children/parents. You may even be able to persuade you head teacher to conduct a staff meeting virtually!
Wondermind http://wondermind.tate.org.uk A beautifully made science and art site with four game that teaches you about the brain. Solve the games and problems to give an insight in to how your brain processes information. The games and explanations draw on examples from Alice in Wonderland.
Photoshop Express http://photoshop.com/tools/expresseditor Photoshop is the world leader in image editing. This is the 'lite' version. This online image editor has all the basic functions that you need. It keeps things simple but produces great results. Upload your image, make your changes and either download the result to your computer or add to a number of sites online.
Stykz
http://stykz.net This is a great downloadable animation programme. It is similar to Pivot Stickman. Design stick figures, backgrounds and more. Animation is easy. Just click and drag characters into place and click the ‘next frame’ button. Export your animation as a GIF file or a QuickTime movie.
Cube Creator http://readwritethink.org/files/resources/ interactives/cube_creator/ We teachers like to shake things up a bit and how better to begin than by adding a little randomness into your lessons. This is a great site that creates custom cubes which you can use as dice in class. They are easy to create and great for children make for a range of subjects and activities. Give it a roll.
Story Jumper
http://storyjumper.com
This is a fabulous site for creating free ebooks by uploading photos from your computer, or by using the well stocked gallery of props, scenes and characters provided by the site. Just drag and drop your items into place. Books can be private or shared using a link. A free signing is required. You can also have your ebooks made into real books for a fee.
Spongelab http://spongelab.com An amazing science site with a large number of magnificent animations and graphics to help you explain science principles. Play lots of chemistry, biology and other games and activities. Design lessons and view content from other users. Content is mainly suitable for older students.
A Maths Dictionary http://amathsdictionaryforkids.com/ dictionary.html A truly amazing flash based interactive and animated maths dictionary. The entries are clear and the explanations are well written that they are almost a lesson in themselves. A must for any maths teacher. Also see and download maths chart at http:// amathsdictionaryforkids.com/mathsCharts.html
Tinkatolli https://tinkatolli.me This is a fun, cute, social 3D island world designed especially with children in mind. Children make an avatar and follow a quick tutorial and explanation of safety rules. The children can take their characters on quests, play educational games and interact with other users of the site. A fabulous feature of the site is that users are encouraged to 'make and do' offline as well. These activities can be uploaded to a scrapbook and multimedia blog. Offline activities also generate points in the game. The scrapbook is defaulted to private and no photos of children will be approved by moderators if the scrapbook is public. All the usual safety features are in place, including a 'report' and 'block' other users button. The basic account with most features is free, but there are optional 'paid for' extras.
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