I stumbled across an online booklet discussing Web 2.0 alternatives to traditional lectures. It's called "A New Way to Lecture: Using Web 2.0 to Create Interactive Lecture With Your Students" and I think it's worth a look.
Loving the EtherPad cloud computing software. I even have my own pad at http://etherpad.com/amsdiane. I only wish Google had done this first ...
Pros: Free, easy to use, intuitive, easy to add others,
Cons: no deletion, non-public use requires fee/person.
A quick Google search for "word cloud generator" or "create word cloud" will produce varying results of free online word or tag cloud makers. I personally think the best of these is Wordle.net. Wordle allows you to quickly create a visual representation of keywords and their frequency. The below is one I generated from my own Curriculum Vitae or CV [PDF]:
Article: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/09/02/24-killer-portable-apps-for-your-usb-flash-drive/
This article by Lee Mathews covers the gamut of useful little applications to take with you. Some of the topics and applications suggested are from the categories: Encryption, Web and Internet, Peer-to-Peer, Maintenance and Support, Multimedia, Document Handlers, File Management, and Portable Launchers.
Cool idea to revive the use of (old) USB drives: http://gizmodo.com/5101651/dealzmodo-hack-make-your-old-usb-stick-into-a-digital-multitool?skyline=true&s=i
With 8GB flash drives available for under $20 and 32GB drives edging into the mainstream, nobody can blame you for shelving old USB sticks. But there are a surprising number of uses for those rickety, sub-gigabyte keychains.There are nearly endless ways to bring a USB stick out of retirement, and they're not just gimmicks: virtually all USB sticks, 32MB USB 1.1 dinosaurs included, can be repurposed into anything from a lifesaving troubleshooting tool to an entire portable OS. Here are your best options ...
Of extreme interest today is the fact that Google has finally come out with MS Outlook syncronization--for FREE. It only supports you main Google Calendar, but it will sync one way or two ways if you want it to.
Other useful tidbits:
Microsoft Outlook Tip: Access Google Calendar Directly From Outlook
Very useful if you're looking to integrate the Google Calendar directly into the Outlook suite. It's not a sync, but it's an additional page or item in your list.
OggSync
A yearly pay-for service (~$30) will literally do all of the syncronization between MS Outlook 2003 and 2007 and any/all of your Google Calendars as you like. The setup is easy, and the service is worth shelling out the measly $30 for, although the free version will sync up to 3 days back and 3 days ahead. You can choose to sync one-way (either Google-->Outlook or Outlook-->Google) or two-ways. You can also select how often it will happen. There are only two drawbacks: Outlook will need to be open and running OggSync to complete the sync tasks, and if your Google Account password happens to have an ampersand (&) in it, the OggSync login screen in the configuration screens WILL FAIL. (Be sure that your Google Account password does not have an ampersand (&) in it and everything will go smoothly.) Truly a great product for those of us who have to coordinate multiple calendaring accounts and devices.
Fix Your Grainy, Dark, Low Resolution Videos for Free--High-Tech Video Enhancement Service for Cameraphones, Digital Cameras, and Webcams
If cell phone videos suck because they are dark and grainy, FixMyMovie aims to solve that problem; however, FixMyMovie cannot solve poor directorship--that's still your problem.
In truth, this site and service completely blows me away. It's one of many "new" applications coming out that allow a person to do instant video editing from the comfort of a cell phone, laptop, or any place s/he has a live internet connection (i.e., "internet anywhere = anytime, anywhere applications").
Another software-and-website combination (that I've mentioned before) is Worth1000.com. They offer A.viary.com which is a similar approach and service focusing on Adobe Photoshop-like image and photo editing. Check these both out. I doubt you'll be disappointed.
Open Learning Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University
Providing access to "free learning" is not a *new* idea, but it looks as thought it is pretty well crafted there at CMU. These aren't just how-to short courses on the web, either. These are full, for-credit courses (or no-credit courses if you'd rather) available to anyone interested in learning the provided topics: Engineering Statics, Statistics, Causal Reasoning, and more ...
Face Research: http://www.faceresearch.org/
Per the website:
FaceResearch.org allows you to participate in short online psychology experiments looking at the traits people find attractive in faces and voices. Register to participate in experiments if this is your first time at FaceResearch.org or login if you have been here before.
Make your own average faces with our new interactive demos!
In addition to participating in facial attractiveness experiments, you can also complete lifestyle and personality questionnaires about characteristics that may be associated with face and voice preferences and see how you compare to others. We post all our study results after we have finished collecting data.
You can also learn about our computer-graphic technology and read about some of the findings of our previous studies.
Take part in an online questionnaire about Drinking Water and Soft Drinks by Moira Cruickshank, a student who is learning to program online experiments with us.
20 Tools For Creating Your Own Games
This is AWESOME! Forget Second Life! Make your own RPG or Flash-based game without any knowledge of programming necessary. I think I'm going to try to add this as an FDI workshop to the Spring/Summer roster.
The best part? The storyboarding and writing (because everyone knows that good games come from good writing).
How fun!
Classroom 2.0
Okay, I really like this use of Ning (open-source social software). This site is pretty darn useful for all Web 2.0 teaching in K-12. I'd like to adapt this for 12+ use.
Includes lots of info about blogging, social networking, concept-mapping, slideshare, and more.
21Classes – Free Classroom and Education Blogs - Home
Another opportunity to create an off-site Blogosphere for you and your classroom. Man, these things are nearly a dime-a-dozen out there nowadays.
Used with reflective writing within a community of practice, blog posts could be a possible assessment item.
