Storybird is a website that allows you to create your own stories. They provide you with pictures to use and endless opportunities. This is a very neat website that allows students to be creative while using technology. A class can be very interactive using this tool by creating their own story and also reading the stories of the others in their class.
http://storybird.com/
Sliderocket is a really cool website that creates slideshows and presentations for any kind of use. There are endless opportunities when using this website. They really help make any presentation look like it was professionally done. Students can learn a very valuable skill and use it to share ideas and information with one another.
http://www.sliderocket.com/
Flickr is a really cool app that helps sort and group your photos and share them with others. There is an app for most devices so it could be used by almost everyone with some sort of device or smart phone. Students will really get into this because it is so easy to share with friends. They can take photos of the different subjects and projects that they are working on and share it with friends instantly.
https://www.flickr.com/
Kidblog is a very valuable learning tool for younger children with little experience using the web. It allows kids to express themselves by suing technology and start creating digital citizenship. The best part about kidblog is that there are no student emails so internet safety is not an issue. Teachers must approve everything before it is uploaded online. The blogs are not only viewed by other students, parents get to read what their child has produced as well.
http://kidblog.org/home/
Oovoo is a really neat app for smart phones and digital devices that allows you to video chat with up to 12 friends at the same time. Now, i know that can be a bit much and the chat can be easily side tracked, but if used correctly it can be very valuable. Teachers can assign homework in the form of a group discussion or debate. Students can also use it for uploading to youtube, sending files, video messaging and screen sharing with friends.
http://www.oovoo.com/home.aspx
http://storybird.com/
Sliderocket is a really cool website that creates slideshows and presentations for any kind of use. There are endless opportunities when using this website. They really help make any presentation look like it was professionally done. Students can learn a very valuable skill and use it to share ideas and information with one another.
http://www.sliderocket.com/
Flickr is a really cool app that helps sort and group your photos and share them with others. There is an app for most devices so it could be used by almost everyone with some sort of device or smart phone. Students will really get into this because it is so easy to share with friends. They can take photos of the different subjects and projects that they are working on and share it with friends instantly.
https://www.flickr.com/
Kidblog is a very valuable learning tool for younger children with little experience using the web. It allows kids to express themselves by suing technology and start creating digital citizenship. The best part about kidblog is that there are no student emails so internet safety is not an issue. Teachers must approve everything before it is uploaded online. The blogs are not only viewed by other students, parents get to read what their child has produced as well.
http://kidblog.org/home/
Oovoo is a really neat app for smart phones and digital devices that allows you to video chat with up to 12 friends at the same time. Now, i know that can be a bit much and the chat can be easily side tracked, but if used correctly it can be very valuable. Teachers can assign homework in the form of a group discussion or debate. Students can also use it for uploading to youtube, sending files, video messaging and screen sharing with friends.
http://www.oovoo.com/home.aspx
Creativity and Innovation Toolkit
TeachersFirst's Comics and Cartoons Resources
Comic Makers is a very neat collection of resources that help students make comics. Comics can be as simple or elaborate as you want them to be. They can be as little as a stick figure or as creative as a picture with word bubbles. Comics can be used for all subjects and for all types of goals in mind.
http://www.teachersfirst.com/spectopics/comics.cfm
Captioner
Captioner is a very neat app used for making captions on pictures. This tool is a lot of fun for kids of all ages. Captioner can be used in any subject and any grade level. It can also be used to make comics and add words to any pictures.
http://bighugelabs.com/captioner.php
Glogster
Glogster is a very neat and innovative way for students to create projects of any kind for any subject. Glogster is an app for iPAD's that students can use to create story board's and projects using the web or the editing features that are already on the app. It is very useful for expressing ideas and inspiring curiosity and originality. Intuitive editing features bring ideas to life with this awesome app.
http://edu.glogster.com/
Mixbook
Mixbook is a website that is used to make storybooks as well as picture books. Imagine the endless possibilities that you have to make a book of any and all activities that your classes do. Mixbook is also an app that can be downloaded to your phone for instant picture taking and uploading. You can design the book however you want to. Any size with any format, texts and pictures. You can even collaborate with others and allow them editing rights to add pictures that they may want to add. This would be a big hit with all of the parents of the students in your class.
http://www.mixbook.com/
Voicethread
Voicethread is a website used to interact with students in a less formal atmosphere. How many times do we as college students sit in class and not respond to a question because we are not comfortable with our response enough to say it in front of peers? This happens everyday in every class room across the world. Voicethread is a great way to eliminate that uncomfortable feeling and allow all students to participate in the discussion. By having time to think of your response and reflect on the subject at hand, students will give a much better response and ultimately your class will have better discussions. By using students voice instead of just plain text, we get a more emotional response and we as educators can sense any kind of passion our students may posses regarding the subject.
http://ed.voicethread.com/
TeachersFirst's Comics and Cartoons Resources
Comic Makers is a very neat collection of resources that help students make comics. Comics can be as simple or elaborate as you want them to be. They can be as little as a stick figure or as creative as a picture with word bubbles. Comics can be used for all subjects and for all types of goals in mind.
http://www.teachersfirst.com/spectopics/comics.cfm
Captioner
Captioner is a very neat app used for making captions on pictures. This tool is a lot of fun for kids of all ages. Captioner can be used in any subject and any grade level. It can also be used to make comics and add words to any pictures.
http://bighugelabs.com/captioner.php
Glogster
Glogster is a very neat and innovative way for students to create projects of any kind for any subject. Glogster is an app for iPAD's that students can use to create story board's and projects using the web or the editing features that are already on the app. It is very useful for expressing ideas and inspiring curiosity and originality. Intuitive editing features bring ideas to life with this awesome app.
http://edu.glogster.com/
Mixbook
Mixbook is a website that is used to make storybooks as well as picture books. Imagine the endless possibilities that you have to make a book of any and all activities that your classes do. Mixbook is also an app that can be downloaded to your phone for instant picture taking and uploading. You can design the book however you want to. Any size with any format, texts and pictures. You can even collaborate with others and allow them editing rights to add pictures that they may want to add. This would be a big hit with all of the parents of the students in your class.
http://www.mixbook.com/
Voicethread
Voicethread is a website used to interact with students in a less formal atmosphere. How many times do we as college students sit in class and not respond to a question because we are not comfortable with our response enough to say it in front of peers? This happens everyday in every class room across the world. Voicethread is a great way to eliminate that uncomfortable feeling and allow all students to participate in the discussion. By having time to think of your response and reflect on the subject at hand, students will give a much better response and ultimately your class will have better discussions. By using students voice instead of just plain text, we get a more emotional response and we as educators can sense any kind of passion our students may posses regarding the subject.
http://ed.voicethread.com/
CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING TOOLKIT
https://cacoo.com/
Cacoo is a user friendly online drawing tool that allows you to create a variety of diagrams such as site map, flowchart, mind map, wire frame, UML diagram and network diagram. Cacoo is free of charge and can be used interactively between students to complete projects of any kind. There are endless possibilities of subjects that it can be used for but Geography would be the best subject for sure.
http://www.exploratree.org.uk/
Exploratree is a web-based tool which lets the user create thinking maps online and share them with others. It also has a library of thinking guides which the user can refer to anytime. The thinking guides are comprehensive and interactive, primarily aimed towards students and researchers who can use them for problem solving and apply them in their projects. The cool thing about this is being able to share the maps with other students and they can add information to them. The problem solving section where students can think through the obstacles is also a very neat tool.
https://www.mindmeister.com/
Mindmeister is a free web-based collaborative mind mapping tool for brainstorming and project management. Users can create, manage and share mind maps online and access them anytime, from anywhere. The neat thing about this app is that it can be used on any device with WI-FI capabilities and can be used to share presentations and collaborate with others.
http://www.mywebspiration.com/
Webspiration is the online visual thinking, learning and collaboration tool for students, teachers, and thinkers everywhere. It facilitates brainstorming ideas, visualizing concepts, organizing information and collaborating with others anytime, anywhere. The online peer reviews and lesson plan accessibility is a big plus but it does cost money. Standards integration is also a good reason to use webspiration.
https://www.zotero.org/
Zotero is unlike any of the other apps in this toolkit. Zotero is a free easy to use tool that keeps up with resources making it much easier to correctly cite resources for a project. It is like having a personal assistant to help with citing and other issues that may come up during the project. The best part is that it basically "lives" in your web browser so it is always being used and you can share the information with partners.
https://cacoo.com/
Cacoo is a user friendly online drawing tool that allows you to create a variety of diagrams such as site map, flowchart, mind map, wire frame, UML diagram and network diagram. Cacoo is free of charge and can be used interactively between students to complete projects of any kind. There are endless possibilities of subjects that it can be used for but Geography would be the best subject for sure.
http://www.exploratree.org.uk/
Exploratree is a web-based tool which lets the user create thinking maps online and share them with others. It also has a library of thinking guides which the user can refer to anytime. The thinking guides are comprehensive and interactive, primarily aimed towards students and researchers who can use them for problem solving and apply them in their projects. The cool thing about this is being able to share the maps with other students and they can add information to them. The problem solving section where students can think through the obstacles is also a very neat tool.
https://www.mindmeister.com/
Mindmeister is a free web-based collaborative mind mapping tool for brainstorming and project management. Users can create, manage and share mind maps online and access them anytime, from anywhere. The neat thing about this app is that it can be used on any device with WI-FI capabilities and can be used to share presentations and collaborate with others.
http://www.mywebspiration.com/
Webspiration is the online visual thinking, learning and collaboration tool for students, teachers, and thinkers everywhere. It facilitates brainstorming ideas, visualizing concepts, organizing information and collaborating with others anytime, anywhere. The online peer reviews and lesson plan accessibility is a big plus but it does cost money. Standards integration is also a good reason to use webspiration.
https://www.zotero.org/
Zotero is unlike any of the other apps in this toolkit. Zotero is a free easy to use tool that keeps up with resources making it much easier to correctly cite resources for a project. It is like having a personal assistant to help with citing and other issues that may come up during the project. The best part is that it basically "lives" in your web browser so it is always being used and you can share the information with partners.