30 days of Web Tools:#5: Create your own multimedia Qwiki

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQNqT-xI37zucwb4AIIfXMS_Ae4yk5uz_OV26-2xRwi18neAg40BuyCV-dt" /></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I first read about this tool (</span><a href="http://www.qwiki.com/">http://www.qwiki.com/</a>) <span style="font-size: small;">on the blog of <a href="http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The Educational Technology Guy,</a> who found out about it at a Teacheet in the USA. That is how news spreads! This tool looks really great for students to use to create informative, interactive multimedia presentations very easily. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br />Qwiki encyclopaedia</b></span> </div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have always known Qwiki as a visual encyclopaedia with over 3 million entries but somehow I can’t find a way of getting there directly unless I add a URL that I already know. From there the other resources can be accessed. For example I clicked on this URL about Ancient Egypt (</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.qwiki.com/q/Ancient_Egypt" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://www.qwiki.com/q/Ancient_Egypt</a>) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">and came up with the search site button seen on the top right of this image below.</span><a href="http://www.qwiki.com/q/Ancient_Egypt" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsKBe3DT06GU2AKOJzLe0mKt33O71D1OpFH19DHLrHImlOeBwdFw-11xBCSVy1o6c7-FBT6hUKrEWlnpc1-GVhiCiRGTSeidOj1ff3uWKMBqk9LfDLhVxgumkR4QYsFdU9zp9N35jIpp4/s1600-h/image%25255B3%25255D.png"><img alt="image" border="0" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkfjfOZQGkGMfnI8Ef-EGw7Ob9aDjGFd63n9NRGawJXUkPaLum4iK2XP3TarMd9NWGj5ntYrKiIPPEikwe6Sh3gQPDALWBbAEoGZ3hCLAC0i4mPOsVPsX_lgBYIktZzs-IvhmPIF91W1Y/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></a><br /><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>What exactly is a Qwiki made using Qwiki creator?</b></span> </div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now Qwiki has added a Qwiki creator. This Qwiki creator is a type of a search engine that aids you in creating a lovely multimedia presentation on a topic of your choice. It doesn’t give you links but rather creates a multimedia presentation around your search item. Consequently it creates a story consisting of images, text, audio and video on your subject. You can add narration or use their digital voices. The recording above gives the idea of how a Qwiki multimedia presentation plays.  You’ll notice a film strip that appears below which enables you to ski to another part of the presentation.The site provided a demo video </span></div><div class="qwiki-embed" id="OiJp80-6CaEEW"><a href="http://www.qwiki.com/AboutUs?q=6CaEEW" target="_blank">Play the Qwiki: Qwiki Demo & Background</a></div><script async="" class="qwiki-embedder" id="OiJp80-6CaEEW" src="http://s1.ikiwq.com/embed/2.5/embed.min.js"></script> <br />  <br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">How to make your own Qwiki </span></b></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1. Sign up to the site. <br />2. Once you have signed up it will be a good idea to watch their introductory video that tells you all the steps. I have embedded it below. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="qwiki-embed" id="ZRpLql-TVD2ZV"><a href="http://www.qwiki.com/Tutorial?q=TVD2ZV" target="_blank">Play the Qwiki: The Qwiki Creator</a></div><script async="" class="qwiki-embedder" id="ZRpLql-TVD2ZV" src="http://s1.ikiwq.com/embed/2.5/embed.min.js"></script> <br />  <br /><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">3. Upload your content or link references in the exact order that you wish everything to appear. This necessitates careful planning. Voice recordings are limited to 20 seconds. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">4. Caption your content. You are presented with a grid to caption your all your content. This is where you insert your links. </span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br />When you sign in it seems that everything is clearly indication at the place where you create your Qwiki.  </span></div><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Qwiki in the classroom</span></b></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1. I haven’t actually created my own Qwiki yet, but plan to! It seems to be a great way to get students creating a multimedia presentation for a project. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">2. Students could also use the Qwiki encyclopaedia site to learn information from their 3 million plus entries.  </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">3. Teachers could also create great resources for their classess using Qwiki. </span></div></div>

30 days of web tools Qwiki Web tools 30 days of Web Tools:#5: Create your own multimedia Qwiki

I first read about this tool ( http://www.qwiki.com/ ) on the blog of The Educational Technology Guy, who found out about it at a Teacheet ...

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30 days of Web Tools: #4: Curating with Paper.li

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>Submitted by Fiona Beal</i><br />Have you discovered, like me, that Twitter is a very beneficial way of learning from a  PLN (Personal Learning Community)? I find most of my ideas stem from my educational Twitter community. Every day I come across an educational newspaper that has been created by a PLN member using Paper.Li and their Twitter feeds so I decided it was time to try it out for myself.</span><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><h3> <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br />What is Paper.li?</b></span></h3></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsWnfFD1vmlgFBCTS-rncsG2cmxH_GZoMrFc8O4Lsgt-i9RZ3YmbY-YtzAtH7W61YTaJDupJ3MeLDpt0d1QTedtx0C99ybbPULHFmRfNwq_BwE9X-ay4NEUfASlOVPxUcY85HUC-ztKN0/s1600-h/image%25255B3%25255D.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUgq_Julq0MNrB4I-1qPvDRoYrRVgHNBBvuSKqHjzbC4rw3HXN5bndwL69uiUJYqMH0IQ4eweog-7QOBdnuszgPb15TYnDBtFGbwBeRtYP6I7Ka-jc08hQCjFNGEWB6bsCwY53gTbuDFk/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /></a> <br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Curation, as you probably know, is the new buzz word. Paper.li is a free curation tool that takes Twitter links from people you follow or specify and automatically publishes a digital newspaper on a daily or weekly basis. What happens, in more detail, is you tell it which sources to use. Paper.Li then pulls from those sources and arranges the material in different categories. Very clever!  After you have signed in you will be asked to <i>Start your paper</i>. <a href="http://paper.li/"><b>Paper.li</b></a> is a free service that takes links from the people you follow on Twitter and organizes those links into a virtual paper for easy reading. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><h3> <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Finding sources to add</b></span></h3></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTZhhoWnFNz5r5VMYvXrbniaBuJDRZMZR9tD6MJU5uZJngiY28XNGHBSIUbqT1JggXYgu2ks5JP7chUgOT6boIUPDbDh1D-2I2yPNc9CdC8hiTLMxlQCnZiFXE3CUcURTEYR6Hu8G3wpU/s1600-h/image%25255B6%25255D.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH8DIE8hpBcuRjTzVPhw29-WN6g5LUHErjb6rcVdsgmPsdL8jLKxVCir272q_AwLNhUl-xv0Ealmj0fOt3-SBUbJIPpudoWqBvW80zec-_LLWNHPVkZFm0PalW1fvOEn7pdpUu2sQuYPo/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Once you click on 'Start your paper' as shown on the right you will be required to choose your sources. One has to be choosy in who you add as your sources if you have a desired outcome for the final version. Paper.li allows you to add around 25 sources from traditional news sources, Twitter hashtags, or Twitter list feeds. I experimented about four times with this not realising that each time my Paper.Li might have been circulating among my Twitter followers! Oh dear! If that happens to you, then delete the newspaper each time when you start again because it saves automatically. </span><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzV_XXERsvQjbQLSdrXIMsEFyXDhlxxhPMaXcauNb3CKGuxqFygvCuwNqKl9ior0Z8PoGxjNKLsUd2rITM9HdeKJiKSxAALY0RUMxeG-fGNa-8jnP_9wRG-8MTsnAiHR6jSSTEsKG7xEU/s1600-h/image%25255B10%25255D.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEN85bgtqnfiIE4DF8rdl32Da7DBM9qiPEPIcKdHs0QJpVFwmWBri0Ve0JxJeZc8VyQbdUvQbD0LXeWfs5U0XSoOmhK3YqgsBUaDD7x1-Qmet71XDazr36jrk8uI2BimL5195ZGOuJtcE/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The diagram on the left shows how the page looks when you are adding your various sources.At this point you have to be very selective and only choose the sources you really want to draw from. Make your selections from the left grey bar, or add your own hashtags to the window at the tip of the middle column, and drag them accross. </span><br /><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white; font-size: x-large;"><br /> </b><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;"> <b style="background-color: white; font-size: x-large;">How to make your own Paper.li</b></h3></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So let’s get started. Give Paper.Li a try. Here is a short basic list of steps: </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1. Ask Google for<a href="http://paper.li/"> http://paper.li/</a><br />2. Select “Start your paper Paper”.<br />3. You will be prompted to sign in using Twitter.<br />4. Select “Create a newspaper”<br />5. Provide the sources for your paper – lists, hashtags, or twitter accounts from which you want the paper created </span></div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />I came across a very good screencast from an educator saying how she went about making her first Paper.li so I am going to embed it here. </span><iframe frameborder="0" height="396" src="http://www.screenr.com/embed/92Ss" width="420"></iframe> <br /><br /><a href="http://www.screenr.com/92Ss" title="http://www.screenr.com/92Ss">http://www.screenr.com/92Ss</a><br /><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><h3> <span style="font-size: large;"><b>The structure of a Paper.li (click on the thumbnail)</b></span></h3></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://paper.li/fibeal/1341787139#" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgnBx4O0m8-DIx-GKihdKxTiap5h6cffWEN7MnFfPHbcFiCmptmlDZotXphWpy1r0OkGSGhXbnbSTavILzStIfHONl_wan05piwBfcEcyh32ryMiSG5xMpdO_Hi-s_DJt1_FduOniKS8Y/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">This picture shows how a Paper.Li turns out. Basically you don’t much say over what appears – the tweets are sourced by Paper.Li from the sources you provided. I found that I deleted a number of the tweets as they weren’t relevant to what I wanted, and then Paper.li just added another.  If you click on this thumbnail you’ll be taken to the actual paper I created which gives a good idea of the structure. If you are unsuccessful here is the URL: </span><a href="http://paper.li/fibeal/1341787139#" style="background-color: white;">http://paper.li/fibeal/1341787139#</a></div><br /><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><h3> <span style="font-size: large;"><b>How to use Paper.Li as an educator</b></span></h3></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. Set up a class hashtag if your school allows it.  Recognize that tweets with links to articles, videos, and images, make the best content for Paper.li. You could even create a relevant  paper a week for your students. </span></span><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />2. Student’s could use paper.li to create newspapers that are aligned to a particular topic. They would then have to source people who write or tweet on their topic, or a hashtag that is used for that particular topic. Here are three examples of subject specific Paper.Li’s from Lucy Grey. One is devoted to <a href="http://paper.li/elemenous/global-education">global education</a>, another to <a href="http://paper.li/elemenous/1339386897">mobile learning</a> and a third focuses on her <a href="http://paper.li/elemenous">favourite general education resources and thought leaders</a>.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />3. You could set up a hashtag based on a Unit of work you want to cover,  and then tweet a series of web pages, videos, articles, etc. on that topic. Your students could then read your Tweet Paper for the day to get information.</span></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Undoubtedly as you read this blogpost your mind will be jumping to ideas that are relevant and specific to you for trying out Paper.Li. Would love to hear about them!</span><br /><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><h3> <span style="font-size: large;"><b>Further reading</b></span></h3></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1) A newspaper of tweets:</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://mullinshe.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/a-newspaper-of-tweets/">http://mullinshe.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/a-newspaper-of-tweets/</a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">2) Revisiting paper.li as a curation tool:<br /><a href="http://www.lucygray.org/weblog/2012/06/revisiting-paperli-as-a-curation-tool.html">http://www.lucygray.org/weblog/2012/06/revisiting-paperli-as-a-curation-tool.html</a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">3) Provide students with a personalised newspaper every day<br /><a href="http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2010/10/provide-students-with-personalized.html">http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2010/10/provide-students-with-personalized.html</a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">4) Kate Morgan: Curating the classroom<br /><a href="http://community.paper.li/2011/10/12/kate-morgan-curating-the-classroom/">http://community.paper.li/2011/10/12/kate-morgan-curating-the-classroom/</a></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">5)How to use Paper.li</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.stayonsearch.com/how-to-use-paper-li-the-daily-twitter-newspaper">http://www.stayonsearch.com/how-to-use-paper-li-the-daily-twitter-newspaper</a></span></div></div>

30 days of web tools PaperLi Web tools 30 days of Web Tools: #4: Curating with Paper.li

Submitted by Fiona Beal Have you discovered, like me, that Twitter is a very beneficial way of learning from a  PLN (Personal Learning Commu...

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30 days of Web Tools: #3: Vocaroo.com and other great free online audio recorders

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Internet has a wonderful array of free online recorders that can be very useful in a classroom. In this post I will mention seven of them and in the Slideshare that follows I have added instructions on how to use them. Most of these are really easy to use, especially as they don't require one to download any software. Audio recordings are very useful for reading - I have used them in a project where a class shared the books we were reading with another class.  Apart from that they can be used for quick audio messages on a blog or wiki. </div><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">1.Vocaroo.com</span></b></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDJYk0WIMMdnqkcn41b0sLdAFXi5eHUUbv3mF06azzeksgdmGM3nO2N6RER3kSGuj2uTmzlP0xG3b-Q8-fN6deGhp9d4C0-wicdSll7UbLMi4_9ZBU8uMtVd5AhZ8Wj-rw32u-5S2pGHw/s1600-h/vocaroo13.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="vocaroo1" border="0" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_A-y-zQ25vq2wdI1yaRPOWRLFEDsKlOxv98bwDcn9-XIt0c9tqbd9TA9VkiJrbrM0RPpA33PczQJKSvp1lzt8U3QCbiygDsVOSWjbLXMCcU-mDNi_eQilKcrS3eye92jTJ9fayT0hP1s/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="vocaroo1" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Vocaroo.com has long been a favourite of mine when it comes to creating a quick sound file to either display on a blog or wiki, or even send by email to a friend or colleague. It is also useful to use for projects. </span><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">2.Lal.io.com</span></b></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl5lTjX1tCw-0A-scfp9tsek-oMRFWTGEALLl7bKgjqYYzZHjhdiiQjHtueLixhHfPXmzxaOsLfTyOqNItNP7EtBD_Aw1Eo-BIalkGzqxUCKbDMuCVPY5qf-AiOqb7wzYi7mLYBDdX6ck/s1600-h/image4.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg61d378YtWu8LDL6klLJFfqgr61c043eWG69caSmBAgwTfp_vipw0tfbVb5v4pMMKr6qcWp9qn1OId2tsnFb9SwKXC0Tf9aS0NEIDjV71LHYSlUKvTdaFajyYU4BQpBHg9DGEoWS-otAc/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A useful site where you can type a message and it is read out using a voice synthesiser. There doesn't seem to be a limit to the length of the message. You can share the link to share the message. You can change the pitch, speed and more. It's a great way of giving instructions or homework over the net.</div><br /><br /><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">3.Yakitome</span></b></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV5DX_R9ABAubExavKeiSMaUvkGYVOO1CGj14F06sL9dskXSW7x7XfzY-E_wF7DbK8_H-SCcZpqSx0Z2rCtLkpJ5iJijpNiejY83RnScHkSw9lVEvDZkrmMCASeLLCfIROpe2gCaG8j6E/s1600-h/image8.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmUCFp4McCvJYBegM9msMIMYDe99kwsElZogst5ZOQK9-y0WO65oE6yuZdF63EPi8c9ZTLPUPNklMKHLWMZ5bZK7vb0Xe24_7mNJ_COXY3RctJRzkw8a6JfHyHolfVC7h77dt5llegrzk/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Free text to speech. Uses the world's best text to speech (TTS) software. </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Upload documents, cut and paste text or link to feeds. Text reader converts text to speech automatically. Download audio and podcasts. </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">It's fast and easy to use. Get started right away! No software to download or install. </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Unlike all other TTS websites, YAKiToMe! is 100% free!</span></span><br /><br /><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">4.Audioboo</span></b></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhObl1XTTNVHAeBVYkkztqLmiLIVnosiOwrOKtyfnZEJBXeWFD8KfsNoLj65Y2ZYA5CDgj67NZAe7chdS3F8rx1QeRem29XndXEJX539kI3btWJsWLcyX-4a_s7V-uqMmkTIuGsxPTf39c/s1600-h/audioboo1%25255B2%25255D.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="audioboo1" border="0" height="77" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDAma_NK4h0KsMm7kATyshvt0-8Du33orDl4VhluJKVbWTh7SY44P4ZQfJ1vBeaIPGYnwZKhC_fK6-CjgZkw2px9FUcz_4HRetasjevLKgvnPexDOkg-yhedaDzJYkg29B_DnYf0CBA8s/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="audioboo1" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Audioboo is a mobile & web platform that effortlessly allows you to record and share audio for your friends, family or the rest of the world to hear.  You can use it for reporting, for story-telling, educational use or quick tips.</span></div><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">5.Croak.it</span></b></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcM6zSk7HAopWlPjCxSLL-UZlXYLEnvbko_a3t0Gu7zBzICalYNUzYAzHea8KuY8vRT620Bypl9wyTZhZE8N6To_9KoN97eBESXl9Qd0Q_axwLG0cOctthm59neXq0zCdhmDJ5J3agtPA/s1600-h/croak.it1%25255B2%25255D.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="croak.it1" border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizwJxzeKOYF603m6z0UhT1F6-1yt3GH0cy7tX8RwzgqagH5e6LGy0FEtkQLgw4flw0flFcwx6DKSvGMhttfhXGXWrG6Ws8CVFxSFx5w0CG8GwtssgkiFwhjbiNMEzT5vBo0Cl8_NT4MKE/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="croak.it1" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Croak.it is an online recorder where you use your voice everywhere. Push! Speak! Share! There is a video with instructions on Facebook </span><a href="http://bit.ly/NdQvaq" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://bit.ly/NdQvaq</a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Your crak.it can be shared via Facbook, twitter ora mediukm of your choice. </span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">6.Talktyper</span></b></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB4O_hvy1oQI_mCdgDVFtTm1azX65rYSh9yNWA7QAVVnnAluofK19Mr9BlYdp82xpGrsNBt7VC6eemvYNhUhD86JSHXWIBJrHN7sup_lCl2vU9n6J1ii8dUmHF4qhsJVHmXUJ0a6_4c2A/s1600-h/Talktyper%25255B3%25255D.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Talktyper" border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibWsaxOx8h1XeaTVTQZRAUV41ajO4HKf90jsygMXRNggQrMQKzqKIOU15iMEEYQenCz74tu9yuCg1SQZ11YhQYK0RJjhpXK64OKLZa5ubg93j3vk1NBb7elOueZSLuKW7cDtzpfwMhC7E/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Talktyper" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Talktyper is free speech to text dictation software in a browser. To work Talktyper you click the microphone and speak. The dictated words appear in the upper box. Dictate about one sentence at a time. When the speech is recognized, it will appear in red. Note that you can also dictate basic punctuation by saying things like "period", "question mark", "new paragraph", etc. You then edit and click the arrow to move the text into the main body of the application.</span> <br /><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">7.Vozme</span></b></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp4uQerUnbPlF6ZYNe4ITB6vJL34p-eEXDemnIFnTuZspHeEDSDVv7kqKMV0Uaj63_PeEeNbt0bAMbOP3Om65fEO3M0nVzfuxb0X5AQp_WTqhtydhEJrNwylDhFTsALW2HxCBjgjIE4OY/s1600-h/vozMe1%25255B3%25255D.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="vozMe1" border="0" height="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk83u77S6Txe8VrJWSc6s-XM39GgrKSNanLLU75AniQVzacDj3KstfhxOPt8YAw7VqY5buyLi79bGwz-N_fZi3IA1eJTJ6YvQw61Z70vVkiuxZIcscLupToGx4evL0K1h3v8WlrNZi8KA/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="vozMe1" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">From text to speech (speech synthesis). online tool that offers applications and services to convert text into speech. vozMe uses speech synthesis</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">How to use these online audio recorders </span></b><br /><div id="__ss_13575876" style="width: 425px;"><b style="display: block; margin: 12px 0 4px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal/online-audio-recorders" title="Online audio recorders">Online audio recorders</a></b><object height="355" id="__sse13575876" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=onlineaudiorecorders-120708092054-phpapp02&stripped_title=online-audio-recorders&userName=fionabeal" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><param name="wmode" value="transparent"/><embed name="__sse13575876" src="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=onlineaudiorecorders-120708092054-phpapp02&stripped_title=online-audio-recorders&userName=fionabeal" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><div style="padding: 5px 0 12px;">View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/">presentations</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal">Fiona Beal</a>.</div></div><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Further reading</span></b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/25-free-digital-audio-editors/">http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/25-free-digital-audio-editors/</a></div>

30 days of web tools Vocaroo Web tools 30 days of Web Tools: #3: Vocaroo.com and other great free online audio recorders

The Internet has a wonderful array of free online recorders that can be very useful in a classroom. In this post I will mention seven of th...

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Google #2: You’ll definitely love using Google forms

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Google Forms is probably one of the most useful and often underutilized Google tools. They can be used for so many different things as I will show you below. They can be embedded into blogs, wikis and websites or can just be stand-a-lones on the web.  Each form creates its own spreadsheet that captures and collects the responses quickly and easily.  </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjau-xbZLpHc01zN8Wn-iLrvdlpeQuKhWpvp1IYTfnA-RZDocC4MOqDcWBjaKpXmJEOM_XP-vVow3NIKIWXxnnLZPU4cLquJBhfwEQMptWTA_JCXhay84BrwpOIvfjJAl0K-vMPFj5MUp8/s1600/googleforms2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjau-xbZLpHc01zN8Wn-iLrvdlpeQuKhWpvp1IYTfnA-RZDocC4MOqDcWBjaKpXmJEOM_XP-vVow3NIKIWXxnnLZPU4cLquJBhfwEQMptWTA_JCXhay84BrwpOIvfjJAl0K-vMPFj5MUp8/s320/googleforms2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here are some of the uses I have discovered: </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">•You can use them for general surveys </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">•You can get quick input from others on various topics </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">•Use a Google form for various kinds of evaluation such as creating and posting short quizzes online.  </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">•Create a survey before and after a lesson/discussion </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">•Use it to collect data </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">•The students can fill in answers to questions in a test </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">•You can get feedback after a lesson </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">•It makes a great book review form </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Thus, a Google form is a great tool in the hands of an educator.  If you would like to make one, here are two presentations that could help. The first one looks at the seven different kinds of questions you can ask using a Google form. The second one shows you how to go about making a Google form. I hope you’ll find them helpful. </span></div><div id="__ss_13462782" style="width: 425px;"><b style="display: block; margin: 12px 0px 4px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal/the-seven-question-types-to-use-on-a-google-form" title="The seven question types to use on a Google form">The seven question types to use on a Google form</a></b><object height="355" id="__sse13462782" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=whatcanyoudowithagoogleform-120626164425-phpapp02&stripped_title=the-seven-question-types-to-use-on-a-google-form&userName=fionabeal" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /> <param name="wmode" value="transparent" /> <embed name="__sse13462782" src="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=whatcanyoudowithagoogleform-120626164425-phpapp02&stripped_title=the-seven-question-types-to-use-on-a-google-form&userName=fionabeal" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> <br /><div style="padding-bottom: 12px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/">presentations</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal">Fiona Beal</a>.</div></div><div id="__ss_11738513" style="width: 425px;"><b style="display: block; margin: 12px 0px 4px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal/google-forms-so-easy-to-use" target="_blank" title="Google forms - so easy to use">Google forms - so easy to use</a></b> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="355" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/11738513" style="border-bottom: #ccc 0px solid; border-left: #ccc 1px solid; border-right: #ccc 1px solid; border-top: #ccc 1px solid;" width="425"></iframe> <br /><div style="padding-bottom: 12px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/thecroaker/death-by-powerpoint" target="_blank">PowerPoint</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal" target="_blank">Fiona Beal</a> </div></div></div>

30 days of web tools google Google #2: You’ll definitely love using Google forms

Google Forms is probably one of the most useful and often underutilized Google tools. They can be used for so many different things as I wil...

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Google #1: Have you discovered Google Docs?

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have you discovered Google Docs? It is one of the best technology finds available! What I love most about it is its versatility</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1yJCAAuT6avTqQ_So2-0201yHXLosjYSiggXSSc-E5a2ZCUQajLm86psofTs2B4Nhmgl0x7yYNpTZfF0FWz4DYmBM1YqZsraYYynBsS94sE0k9Jsch-eUXjKzZS2jim2QU0LSisOaw6A/s1600-h/image%25255B8%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" height="53" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbtKuQEFULoENcvqrt_ZygRb8OUdxHuMQbOB6U6QhH64x0WxYqb9Oed1pFjPv4LWElVid1QAI5D7ew4frZAqV482jHDh3XeBneAcT9sQOb1Vwy-Q83hUgRV8ljnm7waKCVyja0xFWG-E0/?imgmax=800" style="display: inline;" title="image" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Just recently I have been exploring Google Docs more fully and here are some of the things I have really enjoyed about using it:</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Benefits of  using Google Docs</span></b></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">*When you create and or store files in your Google Documents account, those files are available from wherever you go, through any computer with an Internet connection. This means that you don’t have to send file attachments to yourself via email, carry a flash drive, or worry about file compatibility.</span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">*Google Docs can have a multitude of people writing on the same document at the same time – it’s great for collaboration.</span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">*I love the fact that you don’t have to save – it saves everything automatically. </span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">*You can easily share documents with others even if they don’t have a Google account. Once a document is shared comments suggested edits can be placed in the margins of the document, which is great for marking purposes.</span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">*Google Docs have a web link so they can be shown as webpages when you want to show someone somewhere else something.</span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">*Google Docs is now integrated into Google Drive which means you can now install Google Drive on all the computers you work on and work offline. It will sync everything just like Dropbox does. </span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">*Google Docs gives you 5Gb of free space which won’t take all your photos etc – but it is big enough to be <u>very</u> useful.</span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">*You can keep your documents in folders.</span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">*Google forms have so many amazing uses. You can set tests on them etc. </span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;">*You can upload AND download easily to Microsoft Office. </span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Create your own Google document</span></b></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;">Actually…the list of benefits is endless… So my advice is, open a Google account if you don’t already have one and start experimenting with Google Docs which are now housed in Google drive. Oh yes, one tip – try and use Google Chrome as your browser with Google Docs – the two go together like a horse and carriage! </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Once you have joined Google and you want to explore Google Docs, well, why not create a Google document while you are about it? Here is a Slideshare with some pointers if you need them. </span> </div><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br /><div id="__ss_13462537" style="width: 425px;"><b style="display: block; margin: 12px 0px 4px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal/how-to-create-a-new-google-document" title="How to create a new Google document">How to create a new Google document</a></b><object height="355" id="__sse13462537" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=howtocreateanewdocumentingoogle-120626161447-phpapp01&stripped_title=how-to-create-a-new-google-document&userName=fionabeal" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /> <param name="wmode" value="transparent" /> <embed name="__sse13462537" src="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=howtocreateanewdocumentingoogle-120626161447-phpapp01&stripped_title=how-to-create-a-new-google-document&userName=fionabeal" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> <br /><div style="padding-bottom: 12px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/">presentations</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fionabeal">Fiona Beal</a>.</div></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">See? What did I tell you? Google Docs is an amazing suite!</span></div></div>

30 days of web tools google Google #1: Have you discovered Google Docs?

Have you discovered Google Docs? It is one of the best technology finds available! What I love most about it is its versatility Just recentl...

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