New technologies

[WP Central]

Hi all just to start the ball rolling on discussions - what are your favourite 3 websites for use with students and are there any 'gadgets' you have found useful? Mine would be:

www.wordle.net - for producing wordclouds to use for posters, to allow students to see words they over use etc
www.voicethread.com - so easy to use great for collaborative work and speaking and listening tasks
www.wordia.com - video dictionary - it's awesome!

Favourite gadget has got to be my Flip video, so easy to use and students love it. Personal favourite websites/apps:
www.twitter.com - most valuable source of continuing professional development I have found
www.netvibes.com - all my rss feeds in the same place
www.ning.com - of course! can be used in so many ways

Looking forward to hearing your favourites.

[Nikki Heath]

Ah, you see, I think most people would say the same as you, Bev! Especially if you have been showing them your cool gadgets!
I'd say the ning is one of my fave websites :)

[Caroline Roche]

I would say (after this week!) that my favourite websites for pupils are:
www.voicethread.com - a real favourite with students and staff
www.skype.com - for talking to authors (like Tommy Donbavand)

And my favourite gadget to go with that has to be my webcam!

All of my personal favourite websites are the same as Bev's!

[Lynda Marett, CTK Preston]

A quick question - do you have to pay authors when you Skype them?

[Bev Humphrey, Woolwich Poly, UK]

Sorry about the long delay Lynda yes you do have to pay authors when you Skype - after all you are paying for their time but you gain by not paying expenses or travel.

Hope this helps

Bev

Lynda Marett, CTK Preston said:

A quick question - do you have to pay authors when you Skype them?

[Alinda Sheerman]

At my school we are just getting started with applying Web2.0 to learning. I find that the use of wikis is spiraling - In my role as Teacher Librarian I teach a teacher to use it and support their first unit of work with it and they go on from there. My favourite is the 'pbworks' wiki to use as an introduction as it is so simple.

[WP Central]

I agree PBworks is easy to use but I find wikis can become too rambling and need careful handling to keep them in check! Otherwise it can be hard to find the information you need.

Alinda Sheerman said:

At my school we are just getting started with applying Web2.0 to learning. I find that the use of wikis is spiraling - In my role as Teacher Librarian I teach a teacher to use it and support their first unit of work with it and they go on from there. My favourite is the 'pbworks' wiki to use as an introduction as it is so simple.

[Lynne Coppendale]

A subscription website but I love www.independence.co.uk, especially with my Debaters. In fact, that's what I normally find websites for. I love You Tube for clips to interest them, for example I found non-profane elements of Argumental to use for Debate exercises (and the Ocoee Middle School 'Gotta Keep Reading' which I use at the end of inductions and in fact, frequently, as it is now requested). And finally, Doncaster Book Award www.doncasterbookaward.net - for obvious local reasons :)

[WP Central]

Fun site I heard about today - no real educational use but enjoyable none the less! Make a Wallace & Gromit Avatar :

https://www.wallaceandgromitstamps.com/

Here's mine!