Blabberize

Blabberize is a web 2.0 tool where you upload a picture, and then "blabberize" it. You record audio that is then embedded in the photo. This could be used in any classroom with any subject.

Here are some examples of how to use it in your classroom:

Art: upload a photo of a piece of art and then have students tell about the piece or the artist
Music: use a photo of a musician and describe him/her; write song lyrics to go with a picture
Science: a photo of a scientist and talk about what important thing they did; upload a picture of an experiment that students did and then describe it
Math: work out a problem on computer, take a screen shot of it, then tell about how they solved the problem (could also work the problem on a white board, then take a picture of it)
Social Studies: use any important person in history and tell about them; use a picture of an important event & describe why it was important
Reading: have students draw a picture about the book, upload it and tell about the book as a comprehension check
Writing: easily integrated with any subject--have students write out what they're going to say; also could design a picture about one of the 6 traits and then tell what that trait is about; students could write a poem, illustrate it, then blabberize it

You could also use pictures of classroom events and blabberize those as a way to share what you're doing in class.  Then, you can share them on Twitter and have people around the world leave comments on your blabberized pictures.

Wallwisher

Wallwisher is an online wall where people can post comments about a certain topic. I used Wallwisher in my classroom as a way for students to answer a "morning question."  I would post a question every morning, and then students would have to get to the wall and post a response.  Sometimes I would post brain teasers, other times I would post personal questions (such as what is a place you'd like to visit on vacation?).

There were several positive things about using Wallwisher to answer the morning question:

• routine--students knew what to do every morning
• management--this got students' computers turned on, logged in and ready to go
• I learned things about my students I wouldn't have otherwise--and they learned about each other, too!
• Wallwisher also allows you to post pictures with your post--students learned how to find images online and link them to Wallwisher
• you can also link websites to Wallwisher--one time I asked students to find a useful Web2.0 tool and link to it--again, they learned from each other
• students helped each other troubleshoot 
• it could be formal assessment if I wanted it to be--I could post a question asking what is one thing they learned at school yesterday

I loved using Wallwisher as part of my morning routine, but there are lots of other ways to use it, as well.  Here is a quick video tutorial on getting a wall set up:

Student PLN

There is a lot of focus on educators having an online PLN (personal learning network) but I haven't heard as much about students having an online PLN.  The idea of a PLN isn't just to have fun using social media (though it is that, too!), but it is to Learn something through the online connections you make.  Educators may do this through Twitter, Facebook, iGoogle, RSS readers, social bookmarking tools, educational websites, Symbaloo, or plenty of other places. 

But what about our kids? Where is their PLN?  Sure, they are probably on Facebook, and maybe have an iGoogle (which is probably only used to have a gaming widget that doesn't get blocked by your school's internet filter, or see their favorite professional sports team statistics), but how are they learning with these tools?  Chances are, they are just using these tools to have fun.  Fun is fun, but shouldn't we teach them to take the next step and learn something while they're out there!?

Much like educators, I think that students need to have a place where they are learning online--not by having to search for information, but having information come to them.  A good start may be an RSS feed about a topic of their interest.  If they like a certain model of car, let them follow a blog about cars and put it in an RSS.  If they like computer programming, let them find a Ning or Wikispace about the topic and subscribe to the sites changes. If students are having information that they care about fed to them, they will see the true power of social media.  Perhaps, someday as they're doing research for a school project, they'll subscribe to content relevant to that subject because they'll have already seen how easy it is to do.

A tool that allows organization of online content is Symbaloo: it's easy and kids can have all of their content organized on one page--personal and school. I've written a blog post about that here. 

KidBlog--My New Favorite Blogging Site for Kids

I can't believe I haven't written a post yet about KidBlog.  KidBlog was new to me a couple of weeks ago, and when I found it, I realized it was exactly what I had been looking for.

KidBlog hosts student blogs, but is easier to use than other blogging services I've seen.

Top reasons to use KidBlog:

• students don't have to have e-mail addresses to have a blog (this is the only blogging website I've found that doesn't require student e-mail addresses!)
• you can import users via a .csv file without having to pay extra for bulk import
• EASY, EASY, EASY interface--perfect for young students
• safe, private blogs (a must with young students!)

All in all, I love KidBlog!  If you want to get your students blogging, this a good place to start.

All things Google

If you're interested in using more Google in your classroom, check out this site, created by AEA, which has loads of info on using Google apps.

https://sites.google.com/site/iowagapps/home

I'll have more to post on Wednesday after ITEC!

Symbaloo

Symbaloo is a visual navigation tool where you can store links and then share them.  You can create a Symbaloo page, then add bookmarks to it.  If there aren't any pictures for the link you want to add, you can create your own from preloaded clipart or from your own pictures.

Here's a video I created to show how to navigate in Symbaloo:

And here's a video made by a student that shows how her science class uses Symbaloo: