ed-Tech Ninja » Websites

Storytelling

Tech Ninja — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:30:31 +0000

Two websites that I like to use for storytelling/story writing are Kerpoof and Big Universe. The first, Kerpoof, will allow students to choose a scene and then add characters to the scene. You can add motions and effects to the characters making for a really cool little “movie making” lite experience. The other allows students to create online books. Students can write story and then add illustrations from thier vast collection of clip-arty type pictures. Like with any other experience, the Ninja does the writing part first, this is just a way to publish student work.

The Ninja has collected these links from one of his favorite blogs Teachers Love Smartboards. Jim has a wonderful collection of resources and ideasfor the SmartBoard using Ninja. Check him out!

edublogs.tv

Tech Ninja — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:33:57 +0000

The Ninja’s favorite new video sharing site is edublogs.tv. Created by the same people who created edublogs, this is a site similar to TeacherTube or YouTube that allows teacher share their educationally related videos with the Internets. Bonus, there is no advertising on the site and if you embed the video into a blog, when the video is played, there isn’t a selection of other videos you might like, it just ends. The Ninja likes that. Try it out!

Meet the Greens

Tech Ninja — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:10:56 +0000

Today (April 22) is Earth Day! May the Tech Ninja humbly suggest the website Meet the Greens: A site for kids about looking after the planet. The Greens are a family who are looking for ways to help out planet Earth. Different “Green” topics are covered in “episodes” that is a collection of links from Flash cartoons about the Greens (very humorous) to links to online quizzes and activities. Also check out Energy Hogs.

Media Convert

Tech Ninja — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:15:34 +0000

In an age of multiple formats for different types of media, it can get confusing even for a Tech Ninja. There’s .wma, .wmv, .mp3, .mp4, .flv, .mov, .doc, .txt, .htm, and the list goes on. It always seems to be the case that the format that you need in isn’t around. That is why it is nice to have some bookmarks to some media conversions sites. The Ninja has two for you. The first has a pay for section of the site but if you aren’t in a hurry, you can try out Zamzar.com. My new favorite though is free and you can download the converted file immediately after conversion. Try out Media Convert.

Spelling City

Tech Ninja — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:23:11 +0000

Spelling City is a website that the Ninja’s class has been using for quite a few months. Teachers can add their spelling lists and then students can play games or even take tests online. There are a few things that the Ninja would like to see, like the ability to link to a specific spelling list, but the Ninja likes it as do the ‘Lil Ninjas.

SchoolTube

Tech Ninja — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 23:38:35 +0000

Another education focused website for sharing video is SchoolTube.com. SchoolTube seems to be geared more to student produced information and videos rather than the teacher. In the Ninja’s humble opinion, SchoolTube is much more difficult to navigate and isn’t as user friendly at TeacherTube.

TeacherTube

Tech Ninja — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 06:04:38 +0000

YouTube could be used as a resource to find movies and drop into SmartBoard Notebook. However many school districts block the website because of inappropriate material that has been posted there. Enter TeacherTube (http://www.teachertube.com) the YouTube for teachers. Teachers with a knack for making videos have posted all kinds of great, curriculum-rich resources just waiting for you to find them and drop them into Notebook.

M&M Data Survey

Tech Ninja — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 00:19:59 +0000

M&M Data Survey is a website that allows students to gather and share data about the color of M&Ms. Students can then take and manipulate the data, put it into graphs.

The site also includes a downloads page in which you can get letter to send home to parents informing them of the project and worksheets that guide students through the data gathering and to graphing their own data.

Download recent data to get a larger picture on the downloads pages as well.

This project normally starts in November and ends in March.

Quick and Easy Tech Training

Tech Ninja — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 21:06:14 +0000

Want to improve your skills on the computer but you don’t want to spend a bunch of time? Check out http://www.180techtips.com. At 180 Technology Tips, you can sign up to receive an e-mail with a technology mini-lesson. The mini lessons take less than five minutes to complete. Not interested in the topic for a particular day, just delete the e-mail. Lessons topics include Internet, Windows, Outlook, Computer Hardware, PowerPoint, Excel and Word.

Free Online Quizzes

Tech Ninja — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 05:03:38 +0000

Create free online quizzes for your class at http://www.classmarker.com.