Sumo Paint can stand up to higher end programs and it's FREE

Sumo Paint http://www.sumo.fi/platform/

Professional and easy to use tools for creating and editing images within a browser.
Over 27 tools similar to Photo Elements and Photoshop.

Use geography to send a greeting

http://www.geogreeting.com/main.html
The surface of the earth holds a message for you. You just need to look a little closer... Investigating the Earth from the sky will find some surprising tools for classroom teachers. This is a great way to develop geographical skills.

Add some excitement to your life--Blabberize

http://blabberize.com/view?id=50944
Sometimes it is attention catching to add something a little unusual. This web app will allow you to easily create a talking picture that you can use personally or professionally. It is quite creative and fun to use.
Here are some examples:
Mountain Lion Cub http://blabberize.com/view?id=52036
Shawn Johnson http://blabberize.com/view?id=52437
Share Web 2.0 Tools http://blabberize.com/view?id=52345
Happy Halloween http://blabberize.com/view?id=52152
Thanksgiving http://blabberize.com/view?id=17574
Santa http://blabberize.com/view?id=20054

What will the future bring to us??????

Google Earth Interface
Perceptive Pixel, Inc. was founded by Jeff Han in 2006
as a spinoff of the NYU Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences
to develop and market the most advanced multi-touch system in the world.

Click here to see video

Social networking in the 21st Century

Social Networking and communication.
Times are changing rapidly with today’s technologies. It used to be if you wanted to talk to a friend or colleague that you picked up a phone. Then the later part of the 20th Century brought bulletinboard, listserves, instant messaging, and chatrooms into focus. Today the tools for the 21st Century have provided a wealth of tools to connect, collaborate, and share information and experiences with others.

Some of those 21st Century tools are:
Bookmarks (Del.ici.o.us )
SMS Messaging
Chats (audio & video) – iChat Av, Skype, Voice thread, various web-based apps
Video Streaming
Blogging
Podcasting
Nings
Digg -- Stumbleupon -- Technorati
Tagging, Folksonomies

What are some of these tools?
Digg http://digg.com/about
Digg is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web. From the biggest online destinations to the most obscure blog, Digg surfaces the best stuff as voted on by our users. You won’t find editors at Digg— they are set up to provide a place where people can collectively determine the value of content, and we’re changing the way people consume information online.

Stumbleupon http://www.stumbleupon.com/ Channel surf the internet with the StumbleUpon toolbar to find great websites, videos, photos, and more. StumbleUpon learns what you like and brings you more.

Technorati http://technorati.com/
Technorati is an Internet search engine for searching blogs, competing with Google and Yahoo. As of June 2008, Technorati indexes 112.8 million blogs and over 250 million pieces of tagged social media. [1] The name Technorati is a portmanteau, pointing to the technological version of literati or intellectuals.

Tag (metadata), a keyword or term associated with or assigned to a piece of information. (Wikipedia)
Tagging- The idea of “tagging” content is suddenly everywhere. With Flickr and del.icio.us and Technorati embracing the concept of tags, suddenly it’s getting some broad acceptance.

Folksonomy (2004)- Folksonomy (also known as collaborative tagging, social classification, social indexing, and social tagging) is the practice and method of collaboratively creating and managing tags to annotate and categorize content. In contrast, to traditional subject indexing, metadata is generated not only by experts but also by creators and consumers of the content. Usually, freely chosen keywords are used instead of a controlled vocabulary. [1] Folksonomy is a portmanteau of the words folk and taxonomy, hence, a folksonomy is a user generated taxonomy. Two widely cited examples of websites using folksonomic tagging are Flickr and del.icio.us.
The term folksonomy is generally attributed to Thomas Vander Wal. [5] It is a portmanteau of the words folk (or folks) and taxonomy that specifically refers to subject indexing systems created within Internet communities. (Wikipedia)

Bookmarks – Delicious – makes use of tagging and networking
Using Del.icio.us http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1pOsYjCvE8&feature=related
Networking with: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uyw_wJr3zwQ
Quick tour: http://del.icio.us/help/firefox/bookmarks/quicktour

Ning
“is an online platform for users to create their own social websites and social networks [1], launched in October 2005? Ning was co-founded by Marc Andreessen and Gina Bianchini. Ning is Andreessen's third startup (after Netscape and Opsware), and gets much of its notability from Andreessen's successes with those companies.” Wikipedia
What is a ning? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVHzeF_zoTc
Ning by an employee http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPPtsC1bhSo&feature=related
Ning as a private network http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVhCUp2Tef0&feature=related
Gina Bianchini, the CEO of Ning

How to set up a ning
Part1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeArbJ8JxrI&feature=related
Part2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paG7ycKQuk0&feature=related
Part3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLDlHrWq3bU&feature=related

How to set up your BASIC NING in 9 easy steps

1. First start by going to Ning.com and sign up for an account with NING.
Then click on the button that asks you to start your own network.
2. Choose a name your network and choose an address
(most choices can be changed but not the web address).
3. Create and enter a description of your ning’s activities and
upload a logo (if you want).
4. Then choose the features you want to start with for your layout. Don't panic- you can change this at anytime. Just think about how you want your participants to interact: writing stories and commenting in BLOGS, having debates or conversations in FORUMS and etc.
5. Choose your color scheme for your layout pattern.
6. Choose to make it public or private. You will be able to change this choice later.
7. Choose what questions your participants will answer in their profiles.
8. Click Launch! You are now ready to go live!
9. You are now up and running. Everything can be altered and changed by using the MANAGE toolbar at the top. Now why don't you invite your friends to join you?

In summary this is what you need to think about beforehand.
Name:
Address: _______. ning.com click create your network. Go to next step
Next add details:
Tagline
Description:
Keywords: collaboration, macintosh, Apple, MacUser, Web2.0, graphics, multimedia
Decide which features are included and where laid out. Drag and drop into one of three columns.
Click on next when you have decided on format
Next step is to decide on color theme and change the various colors and fonts to taste

Last decide about information about members……public or private
Send out information (can even import address book
Decide what none members see when they come on the page and your automated message
Next stage… decide on questions to ask members (ex. Do you have PS or elements?)
Get a summary of what you decided as a summary

Now launch your site and start connecting with your colleagues and students. A word of caution when working with students. Using first names and/or initials will protect their privacy.

Fun Forever

http://www.funforever.net/

Just when you think you have no time to spare, it’s time to give yourself a break. This fun website will enthrall you for hours and hours. However, there are lots of great examples for teachers to use in their classrooms to support their curricula.

I find myself checking back on this site when I just want something refreshingly unique.

Here are some favorites:

http://www.funforever.net/archives/custom-mailboxes/

http://www.funforever.net/archives/soap-art/

http://www.funforever.net/archives/money-faces/

Birth of the computer by George Dyson

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/278

A historian and philosopher of science, George Dyson takes a clear-eyed and deeply researched view of our recent scientific past -- while showing where it may lead us.

George Dyson tells stories from the birth of the modern computer -- from its 16th-century origins to the hilarious notebooks of some early computer engineers.

Tag Galaxy

http://taggalaxy.de/

It is Summer and time for some fun. This website will provide tons of visual fun. Enter a tag word that you might find on flickr, say.. Winter. Then sit back and watch as it displays (on a global ball) that tag category and related tags (categories) as satellites to that main tag. Click and drag uour mouse to rotate this globe or later screens.

Be prepared the fun starts now.

However, classroom teachers and librarians can use this tagging concept to help students develop effective search strategies.

Wordle.... a word cloud generator with cool results

Wordle ( http://wordle.net/ )is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.
Here is one that I created with my del.icio.us bookmarks.


Here is another one created by someone and saved to the gallery on Wordle's homepage.
Title: The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe


This tool will come in useful with many classroom tasks.

Search Creative Commons

http://search.creativecommons.org/
This site will help you find photos, music, text, books, educational material, and more that is free to share or build upon utilizing Creative Commons enabled search services at Google, Yahoo!, blip.tv, Owl music search, and Flickr. You can also access this tool via the Firefox web browser.
" Why is this important?

Copyright applies fully and automatically to any work -- a photograph, a song, a web page, an article, pretty much any form of expression -- the moment it is created. This means that if you want to copy and re-use a creative work you find online, you usually have to ask the author's permission.

This "all rights reserved" protection is a good thing for many authors and artists. But what about those who want you to use their work freely without permission -- but on certain conditions?

This search service helps you quickly find those authors and the work they have marked as free to use with only "some rights reserved." If you respect the rights they have reserved (which will be clearly marked, as you'll see) then you can use the work without having to contact them and ask. In some cases, you may even find work in the public domain -- that is, free for any use with "no rights reserved." "

Need some relaxation at times...try TV

Every educator needs some time off to stay fresh.
Many of us are also to busy to watch the tv programs when they are scheduled.
Try Hulu http://www.hulu.com/

This website allows you to watch all kinds of TV shows.

Sit back and relax.

Have fun with comics

There is always time for comics.
Sometimes they add the humor a teacher needs to get a point across to the class.
Students also like to use them for projects.

This site is easy to use and provides the results quickly

http://www.befunky.com/

Watch the flash introduction and continue to have fun.

Upload a picture and play around with their tools.
You might be surprised with the result.

Then move on to this:
http://www.bitstrips.com/
This produces a quick and easy comic strip.
ANother site to create comic strips.
Toondoo http://www.toondoo.com/

Family Watch Dog - Offenders near you?

There is a site you should be aware exists:
Family Watch Dog - offenders near YOU!
http://www.familywatchdog.us/

Just enter your zip code and you will find the names and address of convicted sex offenders near you.

Is there a student project that needs handling?

It seems like there is always a student project that has to be pulled together and produced in some manner. It could even be a yearbook or class field trip. Many teachers want to publish poems and stories written by their students. The variety of needs is outstanding.
Last year when I was at MacWorld I saw a company entitled, Blurb.
www.blurb.com
The company produces books for individuals or groups in softcover or hardcover on beautifully printed clay based paper. I thought it was too good to be true so I set myself down and put together a book and had it published. The process was really pain free and speedy. The result was also very satisfying. If you want to see it, check out my art blog at http://brushcolor.blogspot.com . There is a link to it on the blog.

One of the best factors for classroom teachers is the fact that Blurb will market it for you. For instance, a classroom teacher puts together a book on the poetry of a group of students and has it published. The teacher doesn't have to collect money and hand out books. The parents and grandparents can get a copy or as many copies as they want from Blurb. More importantly Blurb handle all the shipping, etc.

There is another company that also does a similar service. Lulu http://www.lulu.com/

Flock: a search engine for the multi-tasker

What is Flock and why should you use it?

Flock is basically Firefox with a handful of extensions built in to let you connect with social and media services. You will find it easy to connect to Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, television stations, video streams and others. I think Flock 1.0, which is now in public beta, offers users a memorable browsing experience that brings the best of Firefox to the user with a visually appealing format. For newcomers, Flock offers smooth sailing as users try to manage and monitor blogs and profiles, media uploads, and communications with all your social networks. But most importantly, it also provides basic browsing experiences with a great deal of flexability.
I have been using this browser in about 50% of my browsing in the last few months. I find it very stable and easy to use.

Top Web 2.0 winning applications for 2008

The 100 top Web apps for 2008

These are the 100 best Web 2.0 applications, chosen by Webware readers and Internet users across the globe. Over 1.9 million votes were cast to select these Webware 100 winners:
http://www.webware.com/html/ww/100/2008/winners.html

It provides guides for: Facebook | Twitter | Flickr | Google RSS | Flock

The winners are divided into:
* Audio & Video
* Browsers & extensions
* Chat & Email
* Commerce
* Content & Publishing
* Developer Tools
* Digital Photography
* Education & Reference
* Games & Entertainment
* Mapping
* Media
* Mobile
* Networking
* Productivity & Business
* Search
* Security & Spyware
* Social Network & groups
* Storage
* Uncategorized
* Utilities & Drivers
* Web Design Tools
* Widgets and desktop enhancements

A seach engine with pizazz....

Seachme http://beta.searchme.com/Initial.html is a search engine with a lot of visual appeal for the users.The background color is black which in turn frames the search results projecting them into focus.
Almost everyone today is used to the cover flow in iTunes music application.
This search engine displays the search results in a cover flow format for the readers. It allows the searchers to actually see what the page looks like. Visually it allows them to make a judgement on whether to continue further. But more importantly you can search within general categories to narrow the search parameters. There is even a category for libraries.
Check it out and I guarantee you'll spend time browsing. It makes research fun.

Movino: Broadcast LIVE video from your mobile phone

I personally haven't tried this but it sounds interesting to be able to use open source applications for streaming and broadcasting live video from smartphones (over 3G or WiFi) onto your website.

Or use your phone as a bluetooth webcam in Mac OS X.

Free and Open Source.

Movino consists of:

* A broadcasting application for Symbian S60 phones
* A broadcasting application for camera phones with J2ME support
* A GUI application and a QuickTime component for Mac OS X
* A video server for Linux
* A web interface based on the Drupal CMS

Philosophy
These applications are available as open source (part GPL, part LGPL licensed). They were originally developed as a course project at Åbo Akademi University. Please do not expect them to automagically grow much beyond their current state, as our primary goals are met at this point and we have limited resources to spend. Continue reading »
Flexibility

The components are built with as little inter-dependencies as possible, since one of the project goals was to avoid targeting a single use case, but instead create fairly flexible tools suitable for a wider range of tasks:

* The phone clients can be used directly with a video server without any OS X computer inbetween.
* The video server can be used without web interface, if you just want to archive the video material.
* The phone client can be used with the OS X components without a dedicated linux based video server.



Do you want to broadcast live video from your phone to your website or blog using Movino, but find the idea of setting up a dedicated server troublesome?

Bambuser AB offers this as a service, free of charge. Visit bambuser.com for details.

Making sense of Twitter

When I first logged on to Twitter I failed to see the point. I was too busy to care who went where and who ate what. I had enough trouble keeping track of myself. Then I realized that the most important thing is not keeping tracking of who is doing what and when but what is going on in your field of endeavor. I then started to follow several people who I felt were knowledgeable in areas that I tried to keep current. In no time at all I found webinars of interest, very cool websites, ustream lectures to name just a few intriguing connections. Immediately my unbelievably crowded desktop expanded to classrooms in Asia, webinars in Kansas, video tutorials, splashups, mashups, and intercontinental free phone calls. You could say there was everything from analog mp3s to wikispaces by the zillions.
Here is an example of one of my finds. This google gadget allows you to send an SMS from your webpage.
http://www.google.com/ig/directory?synd=open&source=gghp&num=24&url=http://www.telemessage.com/qsms/qsms.xml

Animoto is now for educators!!!!!

What fun it will now be to teach web2.0 learning video mashups.
Earlier in this blog you can fins an explanation of Animoto.
It ius addictive and very useful when you are feeling creative.

Here is where you can find out about it:
http://biz.animoto.com/education/faq.html

“THE OVERVIEW -

Since launching our site in August, we've heard countless stories about how useful Animoto has been as a tool for educators to use with students. While we never originally thought Animoto would be something that could be used in the classroom, we've been both surprised and inspired by hearing how effective Animoto has been. We feel like this is one area we can do our duty to "give back" a little.

If you are interested, we'd like to give you a "Classroom Code" that'll give each of your students a free All-Access pass (unlimited full-length videos for a whole year) upon signing up with this code. And you can use Animoto with your students however you wish. Keep in mind that videos can be viewed full-screen for classroom presentations.

Students' Animoto videos can now also be downloaded to your desktop--we've heard this is often more conducive for class presentations because you can view videos without being dependent on an internet connection and without the "Distractions" of the website.

The only thing we ask is that you keep us posted with the creative ways you find to use Animoto in the classroom. Our goal is to put together a collection that becomes a hub of sorts for teachers who use web 2.0 technology in a clever, innovative & fun way.”
Check what’s said: http://biz.animoto.com/education/buzz.html

The DigiBarn an example of Creative Commons in Education

DigiBarn http://www.digibarn.com/
Eric Steuer, June 6th, 2006
The DigiBarn is a computer museum located in a 90-year-old barn in California’s Santa Cruz Mountains. It is also an online repository of Creative Commons-licensed photos, video, audio, and technical documentation that tell the history of personal computing. The DigiBarn’s collections include small and big computers, game systems, software, and schwag.
1976: Apple in the Garage
http://www.digibarn.com/history/06-11-4-VCF9-Apple30/index.html

CC: In what ways does the DigiBarn use Creative Commons licensing?

BD: A key goal of the project was to collect and deliver our shared computing heritage to the public for noncommercial use, hence our choice of the Creative Commons framework. In fact, we were very early adopters, supporting the beta testing phase of CC back in 2002, and the DigiBarn site was featured content at the CC launch.

We provide noncommercial share-alike (with attribution) use of hundreds of thousands of photos, written stories, tech specs, scanned documents, audio interviews and video shorts about the history of computing from the late 1940s to today. From artists using our vintage computer photos to produce cool video mixes to academics writing papers and books, thousands of CC-licensed DigiBarn digital objects have found their way into the culture.

Tips on copyright confusion

Copyright can be confusing in today’s world where students need to create multimedia projects transforming works of others. Hopefully some of the following sites will help clear up some of the shadow areas.

About Creative Commons
http://creativecommons.org/about/


Creative Commons defines the spectrum of possibilities between full copyright — all rights reserved — and the public domain — no rights reserved. Our licenses help you keep your copyright while inviting certain uses of your work — a “some rights reserved” copyright.

For a quick intro to Creative Commons, check out this short video, entitled "Wanna Work Together?"
http://support.creativecommons.org/videos#wwt
The Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License means
You are free:
* to Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work
* to Remix — to adapt the work
Under the following conditions:
* Attribution. You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
* For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to this web page.
* Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder.
* Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author's moral rights.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

A link to a video that effectively uses comics to explain copyright:
http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Howitworks_Comic1

The Center for Internet Safety @ Stanford Law School uses
Disney characters explain copyright.
http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/documentary-film-program/film/a-fair-y-use-tale
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJn_jC4FNDo

Copyright for Document filmmakers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJn_jC4FNDo



A Positive Solution to School Copyright Issues presented at PETE&C Concurrent Session by Dr. Scott Garrigan can be found on J. Dorman site.
http://cliotech.blogspot.com/2008/02/positive-solution-to-school-copyright.html

Using CC search with Firefox
For a quick explanation of how to use this search with Firefox, including how to change your search engine, watch this video.
http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Firefox_and_CC_Search

The Connected Classroom (Blog) by Kristin Hokanson posted on Tuesday, April 22, 2008
“A Lesson on Reflection: MORE Copyright Confusion...”
http://khokanson.blogspot.com/

Temple University: Media Educational Lab presents:
The Cost of Copyright confusion. http://www.mediaeducationlab.com/pdf/The%20Cost%20of%20Copyright%20Confusion%20%282%29.pdf


Video http://www.mediaeducationlab.com/index.php?page=258

Creative doodling with Jackson Pollock

This is the those of us who constantly need a pencil or pen to keep our fingers busy.
On the other hand I can think of many ways to use this with some artistic merit.
It is all very nice to play with it on someone's blog. However, you can have alot more fun if you follow the link to the website. There you will be able to refine your masterpeice as well as frame it. But most importantly, you will be able to hang it in a gallery. Have fun, enjoy, and don't waste to much time.
Jackson Pollock by Miltos Manetas, 2003, original flash animation by Michal Migurski

http://www.widgetbox.com/search?q=Pollock
Then when you graduate beyond the basics on this site.......
Try this!

http://ipollock.com

The power of social bookmarking......

This video was created by commoncraft.com to show the power of social bookmarking and how it makes web pages easy to remember, organize and share.

What is the big deal about blogs?

Need an explanation? View this video.
http://www.commoncraft.com/show
A video for people who wonder why blogs are such a big deal.

Want to know what Twitter is all about?

When people ask you to explain Twitter, send them to this video.
http://www.commoncraft.com
A quick and plain English intro the micro-blogging service Twitter.

World Clock: great for statistics & trivia

The World Clock has an almost unlimited number of uses in any discipline and for anyone. You have to check out the website, and if you are mathematically minded who said you could not integrate technology into your life, here’s the easiest and best place to start, and the tool is user-friendly. You’ll want to bookmark the website, because googling world clock will likely not get you to this one easily.
http://www.poodwaddle.com/worldclock.swf

Conversion tools for educators

Zamzar http://www.zamzar.com/ is one of my favorites. A great converter, it is fast, free, educationally friendly. It converts almost anything to anything else you want it to be. The list is endless, so for one stop conversions, this is my pick. The other item, like Zamzar, is a converter. ConvertTube will allow you to convert online video like YouTube to more popular formats like wmv, mov, mp4,mp3, 3gp. http://converttube.com/ Having this tool in your teacher toolbox will make it easier to get around those firewalls.