Chatzy and NeatChat: Same as TodaysMeet

TodaysMeet as I said in my previous post is the simplest chatroom that I ever used. There are other chatrooms that we can use other than TodaysMeet. Yet these other chatrooms provides extra feature that made them appealing or complicated (depending on the user). These are Chatzy and NeatChat.

 

Simplest Chat Room

Most of the time, people go to a certain social networking site or any instant messenger that will require you to sign up or subscribe to their site. Some offers program to be installed in order to use their product. 

 

There are many website now that offer instant chat room or virtual room to us. One of this is TodaysMeet.

 

 

 

 

Download Video in Different Formats

Sharing, linking, embedding, presenting video to our students is a good way to enhance learning. Students are more motivated and gain interest on lessons when they watch video. However, watching streaming video from Youtube, Vimeo or other video sites is somewhat disappointing when the internet speed is so slow and the video stops and shows buffering. The best solution is to download the video first and insert it in your presentation (make sure you are to download only creative commons).

 

Looking for the right format of a video you need to download is a challenge. Most especially when your media player plays a definite or only several format. Keepvid.com is a search and download engine that helps you find several format of a certain streaming video that you want to watch.

 

Three Great URL Shorteners

Sharing is fun and exciting! Today’s generation, enjoy sharing files, media, notes, webpage, blogs, URL and other stuffs over the internet. Social networking sites are flooded with links from their various users, even in different web communities or blogsites where netizens’/ bloggers’ post. However, copying the links of what we like to post and share are somewhat very annoying because of the length of these links. Especially when you have a very little space for URL add to paste on. For teacher who usually writes on the board will not dare to write too long URL address. It is very impractical to do so. URL shortener is the solution to this problem.

I would like to share with you three most often URL shortener that I use in my class or when I post something in the net. These three URL shorteners are goo.gl, tinyurl and bitly.

 

Jing and Screencast-O-Matic: A Great Screencasting Tools

How many times you clicked on “print screen button” in your computer just to capture an image displayed in your screen? Or, how many time you recorded a video of yourself using your webcam or simply used your video camera/mobile phone to take a video from your screen just to add this file on your presentation? Isn’t it so annoying and time consuming to do this stuffs over and over again? There are two tools that I am using to capture an image or record a video from my screen.

These are Jing and Screencast-O-Matic.

 

Comic Master

Wanna have a new form of comic strip? In searching for other EdTech tool that I can use in my class, I found this site Comic Master which is providing a FREE service of comic creator. It only ask for your email and a password for your account. Its is supported by Read Me Sources, Words for Life and National Schools Partnership. 

The window used for creating a comic is so simple and has ready to use background, callout, character and more. Sizes of character can be changed too by simply dragging the corner point of the image you want to resize. You can divided pages of your comics into 8 large scrip, 16 small scrips or a combination of small and large scrips.

The editing portion/ panel in the window is a bit smaller, however, you can use the magnifying glass to increase/ enlarge every scrip so you can edit your comic in detail. You have also the option to save your work for a copy or so you can use it in the future work or simply print it directly.

One thing good with this internet tool is it has its own music player (represented by a small beeper-like picture on its top-right most portion) that you can play while you do you work. You can choose music of different genre. Why not try it out ^^,

For more information click on the image below: 

 

A Simple Guide to Photo Story 3

One good tool to start developing our skill or our students’ skill in making a movie is the use of Photo Story 3. It is a tool where you can compile your pictures, add or create music background, add narration, add titles to your pictures and a lot of more. The output of the movie using this tool depends on your creativity and concepts.

Photo Story 3 is a FREE software, however, you need to install Windows Media Player in your computer to install this tool. This tool can be used in creating simple movie presentation of lessons or reports of students after their activities. Creating such movie can be shared too through Vimeo, Youtube or simply file copying.

The link shared here is a very simple guide in using Photo Story 3. It is a step by step presentation. Again, your  output depends on your creativity. Hope you’ll enjoy using Photo Story 3.

Creating Simple Movie on Photo Story 3

 

Rubrics Generator

One of the coolest stuff I found in the net is the use of rubrics generator. Scoring student’s achievement, work, activity, recitation, media work, presentation and others is to difficult special when it is a qualitative measurement. With the new K-12 program here in the Philippines, creating a rubric score guide is the most difficult task.

and

There are plenty of rubrics generator in the internet, however….

There are plenty of rubrics generator in the internet, however I found this rubistar from 4teacher.org which offer a FREE rubric generator. It has a collection/compilation of millions of rubrics authored by other teachers around the world. You may also create your own rubric on their customizable rubric guides depending on your needs. Also, if you think that the statements or criteria on the rubric you just generated does not fit or is inappropriate with your need, you can edit it by just clicking on the criteria/statement.

The site also offer other teacher’s tool. On the upper right corner of the screen, you may choose the tool you need.

Find time to visit the http://rubistarf.4teachers.org/ for more information.  

Another FREE rubrics can be found at this website http://rubriclibrary.com by Waypoint Outcomes. This developer of web-based software help teachers to create and achieve exceptional feedback from learners outcomes. There are different rubrics that you can choose from. Their library has a wide category for different rubrics. However, they only offer ready to use rubrics. If you want to edit it, you must download it first. 

In this website, it is free to use of their rubrics, yet there are some limitations which describes by their license which is Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.  

For more information, visit:

 

Adding Files on Edmodo Library-A Quick Guide.

Files in the edmodo library are sources that we can view or share to our students anytime and anywhere. It is a collection of thoughts, works, videos or any that you have done or wanted to upload in your library.

Here is a quick guide that you can follow:

1. On the library, click on the button “ADD TO LIBRARY” 
2. A pop-up window will appear, you may choose between “FILE or LINK“. If you choose file, take note that you are allowed to upload only a maximum of 100MB.
3. Another pop-up window will appear, but this time, it is a pop-up window of your explorer, find the file you want to upload and click “OPEN“
4. On a pop-up window, showing your added file, click “ADD” button.
5. Then your upload file will be on your library.

The use of edmodo library is very important  because your will have your access to all your data or sources anytime you want in any gadget you use. Free yourself from dangling USB drives. Be convenient. 

 

EdTech Tools for the 21st Generation Learners: Now used in Pangasinan

Thousands of secondary school teachers and administrators in Pangasinan I, Philippines now use EdTech Tool as their companion in teaching and learning. Recently, the Division of Pangasinan I conducted a mass training seminar workshop on the use of educational tool for the 21st century students. The tools discussed and trained in this seminar were edmodo, twitter, padlet, photostory3, windows moviemaker live, todaysmeet and much much more. The seminar workshop lasted for 12 days. Both teachers and administrators are now equipped with EdTech Tools to enhance their skills in teaching and ability to collaborate with their students and colleagues in their most convenient time and place.