http://j.mp/ictmagic
January 2012
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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. I’m looking forward to meeting many of you at BETT in January & TeachMeet Essex in February. Tweet me and come to say hello.
Martin Burrett
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Hot Tip Without a doubt, the action that saves me the most time is being able to Cut/Copy and Paste. Totalled up, these three little actions have saved me days of my life from laboriously typing out web addresses, text in Word and changing host of images and files. But did you know that you can cut, copy and paste using a few keys on your keyboard? Try pressing...
+
Cut
Copy
Paste
See a comprehensive list of shortcut keys for Windows at http://img.xcitefun.net/users/2011/06/250478,xcitefun-pc-shortcut.jpg
Class Dojo http://classdojo.com My class and I have fallen in love Class Dojo ever since I discovered it a few months ago. It is a instant and visual way to keep a record of class points. You can award them for whatever you wish, but the site has a good selection of ideas as default. There are also negative points for things like late homework and calling out in call, all of which can be changed to suit your needs. The site is still developing, but boasts many unique features over similar sites. The best feature is that teachers can manage points through a mobile browser on a smart phone which acts like a remote control in class. I was able to use it on a recent school trip in the middle of no where. The site has a cute collection of monster avatars, but you can upload any image you want. Find award certificates and other printables on the ICTmagic Wiki.
Soluto http://soluto.com Soluto is a superb download which greatly speeds up the boot up time of a PC by stopping or delaying unnecessary processes. I have it on every PC I own and the difference is amazing, and considerable better on older, slower machines. It also manages your browser addons for faster Internet browsing.
Typing Tidepool http://slimekids.com/games/typinggames/typingfiles/tidepool.swf This is a fun typing game. Practise typing by writing the words that appear at the top of the screen. This propels your cat character across the screen. Win the swimming race by typing quickly and accurately. Play increase levels of difficulty as the game progresses.
MathsMaster http://mathsmaster.org Maths Master offers free maths videos on a range of topics. See videos about the basic four operations up to complex algebra graphs. Each video is presented in a slow, step by step, student friendly way. These videos are great as an introduction to a topic or for home study.
Dermandar
http://dermandar.com
Dermandar is a great site for making and hosting 360̊ panoramic photos using a normal digital camera. Just upload your overlapping images and the site will stitch them together and display them on a world map for you and others to view. It’s great for lots of projects, including showcasing your school to the world.
Minecraft http://www.minecraft.net/classic/play Minecraft is a hugely popular building game. Here is a free basic version of the game where your students can explore the huge world and be creative by building things from cubes and using a range of different materials.
Live Minutes http://liveminutes.com Live Minutes is simply the best web conferencing website I have ever seen and it is superb for everyone holding a online meeting or lesson. You can use Skype video to communicate in real time within the application or opt for writing to other contributors in text. It has a real time collaborative whiteboard where users can draw and write ideas. You can upload and show PowerPoints, PDFs, Word documents, images, maps and even videos as a group. It truly is the next best thing from being there. You can make a room instantly without signing up to the site. Just share the room link with others to get started. You can preupload files get other benefits if you complete the free sign up.
Word Search Maker http://www.wordsearchmaker.net/ As the name suggests, this site makes word searches. Just enter the words you want to make an online word search. Either share the link with your students or embed on your website to play.
A Web Whiteboard http://awwapp.com/ This is a whiteboard site with a small number of tools. But what makes it an exciting resource is that you can invite lots of users to collaborate on the whiteboard in real time. You could brainstorm an idea in every class in your school or teach a lesson from the other side of the world. Just make a new page and share the link to get started. No sign up required.
Sing Up
http://singup.org
Sing Up is a superb and widely used UK based website which provides everything you need to get your class and school singing. Find song lyrics and stream accompanying music with no sign up required. Search by age, topic or singing ability to find what you want quickly and easily. You can sign up to the singing awards to celebrate singers in your school. Browse the online magazine and UK teachers can order a free hardcopy with a CD delivered straight to your school.
Quick Screenshare http://quickscreenshare.com/ I am very excited about this site. It allows you to share another computer’s screen over the internet so you can see the another computer’s display on your screen. When this happens, both users can see both mouse cursors so they can talk about what can be seen. Furthermore, if the user showing their screen give permission to a trusted colleague, the other computer can control the mouse and keyboard of the other to fix problems. This can be cancelled at any time. This feature means that this site should be in every IT technician’s toolkit as it will allow any problem to be fixed remotely.
QikPad
http://qikpad.co.uk
Qikpad is a great site for collaborating on a piece of text. You can invite other users to write on a notepad in real time. The changes appear instantly. The text is colour-coded to show who has typed it. Make a custom link and share it with others to invite them to your pad. You can share a pad as a read-only page or embed it on to your website. It's a great resource for collaborative creative writing.
Handwriting Worksheets http://handwritingworksheets.com A great site for creating custom handwriting sheets in 3 different styles. Type in the text you want and download PDF files to print. Now you can bring your handwriting sessions into whatever topic you are covering in class.
Questionant http://bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/games/questionaut/play_popup.shtml
Questionant is a beautifully made English and Maths quiz that is set in a surreal world of floating islands in the sky. Answer the questions and interact with the environment to progress through the levels.
Audacity http://www.emaths.co.uk/tutorials/geometrytoolbox.swf This site provides a nice set of maths tools for whiteboards. While most whiteboard software have these tools, can you ever find them when you want them? Another benefit of this resource is that this will work on any computer with Flash installed.
QR Voice
http://qrvoice.net A useful site for making a QR code. The code links to the site which reads a chosen message using a voice synthesiser. A web link is also generated at the same time for people without a QR code reader. The message can be up to 100 characters in length.
SEN Teacher http://senteacher.org SEN teacher is a vast resources site with a superb bank of customisable, downloadable and printable resources, as well as some great interactive resources for whiteboards. While the site is designed for teachers of students with special needs, most of these resources are very useful for all classrooms. The English and maths resources are particularly impressive.
Eyes on the Solar System http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/eyes/player/index.html A simply amazing NASA site where you can see lots and lots of natural and man-made objects throughout our solar system in real time. Follow and find information about planets, moons, satellites space probes and more in is realistic 3D stimulation.
Franรงais Interactif http://laits.utexas.edu/fi/home Franรงais Interactif is a superb, comprehensive and free French textbook and language course with audio, video, interactive activities and more included. Download the resources to your computer to learn offline or use them directly from the site. The course runs from the basics right up to some advance language.
Satpin
http://satpin.com
Satpin is a good, simple Internet start page maker for younger students. Type in the web links you want your children to visit and make nice colourful, chunky buttons. Get a link to your start page so your class can access the links anywhere.
Night Zoo Keeper
http://nightzookeeper.com/ Night Zoo Keeper is a superb idea for a website and a great way to show off your children’s work. Users design an animal, either based on a real animal or something completely new. Then they write a profile bio for the animal and upload pictures. Then users are encouraged to write a story about their creature. There are also games and activities to play once you have signed in.
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Details at http://ukedchat.com
ICTmagic will be at
7th Feb 2012 5 - 7pm
&
13th Jan 2012 http://bettshow.com http://j.mp/TMEssex
Come and say ‘Hi’
For more links like these visit http://j.mp/ictmagic