Qwiki

If ever there was a resource that made me say, "OMG!" then Qwiki is it.  I found this awesome site thanks to Richard Byrne's Free Technology for Teachers blog.   Qwiki is an online encyclopedia with over three million multimedia entries.  I say multimedia because when a topic is played, the viewer can read the text, listen to the text as it is being read, and view images that go along with the topic.  Viewers can also go to suggested entries based on the topic they just watched.  For example, I searched for an entry on the Gilded Age.  I viewed the multimedia information and was then given some suggested topics like Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, History of Immigration, and the Second Industrial Revolution.  Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I found out that it is possible to embed these  Qwiki s on to a web page, wiki, or blog.  I tried it out and low and behold, it worked.  Take a look at the  Qwiki I embedded below.

Switch2Google Tutorial Site

Over the past several weeks I have been working on a tutorial site to assist the teachers of my district (MSAD#61) as we begin switching from FirstClass to Google Apps for Education. For my readers who are outside my district, this tutorial site may assist you as well if you are switching to Google Apps.

Luckily I did not have to reinvent the entire wheel as the good folks at Google had a template for me to use.  This template allowed me to just spend time customizing the site so that it worked for users who are switching from FirstClass to Google rather than say MS Outlook to Google.  The site contains links to videos and documents that will help you with this switch. It takes you from introducing you to Google Apps to more advanced features that you can add using the Google Labs. Perfect for self-paced instruction and those who don't wish to take part in a large group instruction setting.

So, if you click the link below, you will be taken to this tutorial site.
http://switch2google.lakeregionschools.org

Tooble: YouTube Video Download & Conversion Tool

While there can be a whole lot of stuff on YouTube that is not useful or appropriate for education, there are a large number of videos that tie in perfectly with what you are trying to teach.  Unfortunately, using YouTube in the classroom can create a new set of problems that may make teachers think that it is more trouble than it is worth (network issues, students getting access to inappropriate material, advertisements, etc.) 

Tooble is a great tool that will allow users to download YouTube videos and then converts them to .mp4 files (movie files that iTunes will play). Once the videos are downloaded, converted, and added to your movie library in iTunes, they will be available to you in any app that allows the use of media files like KeyNote, Pages, GarageBand, iMovie, etc.) Not only is having this ability to put YouTube videos in other documents great, but not having to rely on your network or Internet connection makes it a really beautiful thing.

As Angelina Roberts of the Total Apps blog states, you can embed YouTube videos into KeyNote in three simple steps:

Step 1 : Download and Install Tooble

Here is the link: http://tooble.tv/

Step 2 : Tell Tooble which Video you want !

Go to YouTube.com and  locate the video you want to download. Copy the URL by selecting the address and either using CMD C or via the Edit/copy menu option. 

Now go back to Tooble and click the “Enter a URL” button on the top right of the application and paste the URL in the appropriate field.

Obviously this can take a few minutes depending the length and quality of the video being downloaded.

Once complete you will find your downloaded video file in your iTunes Movies.

Step 3. Place in Keynote (for example)

You can now open or create a Keynote presentation, and by using the Media button, gain access to the videos that are stored in your iTunes media files. Simply drag the video from the Media window to the slide you want it to play on.