I learned most websites from this blog Free Technology for Teachers (http://www.freetech4teachers.com/). Below are my comments for each website according to my using experience. If borrow any content from this blog, please kindly add all the authors' names. Thank you!
5/13/2013 last updated
KerKey is a free English web platform
for people to create and share their web-based personal radio stations. After answering some basic information such
as email, birthday, and users’ located city for registration, users can start
to create their PRS. To run a PRS, users
can upload their audio files to make an audio stream and use any KryKey’s background music to check in
and out as a real DJ. Foreign language
teachers can utilize this free website to create a project-based curriculum,
having the students search for some authentic and culture-embedded music or make
their voice streams like Voice Thread (www.voicethread.com) or podcasts.
Because of the complexity of the interface, it is only recommended for
middle school students and above.
ClassTools is a website which has many templates
of Flash games for educational purposes.
Users can use these templates to create their own games without
registration. The templates are listed
on the right side of the webpage. Some
templates allow the players to categorize items, and some templates allow the
players to sequence events in a timeline.
Most games can be used for language and literature classes. Teachers can have their students play these
games as a review. Because it is easy to
create and play games on ClassTools,
students can even create their own games and have their classmates play. The suggested grade levels are from
elementary to middle schools.
ZooBurst is a website that allows users
to create free pop-up storybooks. After
registration, users can create 10 storybooks with 10 pages each for free. Since the website will automatically make
pictures pop-up during storytelling, users only need to upload their pictures
(or import pictures from the website’s photo gallery) and insert speech bubbles
or storylines to create their pop-up storybooks. Because the looks of ZooBurst’s story templates and animation effects are very simple, this
website is recommended for pre-k to elementary school teachers to create entertaining storybooks.
I often create mind maps for my students to better understand
our course material. However, using MS
PowerPoint to create maps is just labor- and time-consuming. TEXT2MINDMAP
is a great website which allows everyone to create their own mind maps without registration
and drawing lines. They simply need to
type in the text, and the web generator will help to create the mind maps. Teachers and students can use this website
when they are doing mind mapping, and the suggested users are from elementary
to high school students.
Unlike
Google Drive, SlideShare allows its
users to share their slides with the whole public. Viewers do not need to be invited to see the
slideshows, and the users of SlideShare
can even embed their slideshows into their personal
blogs. This is much easier for teachers
and students to switch computers and do
presentations. The
suggested users are middle school students and above.
Traditional
video makers require software installation.
After people start their video projects, they must stick with the same
computers where they keep their project files.
WeVideo is a website that
allows people to create their
videos in the cloud. As long as users’ computers are equipped with
1 GB RAM, they can log in the website and collaboratively create a video for
free from anywhere. This
website is recommended for middle school students and above
as they sometimes have to do video projects in groups.
Blubbr is a free online platform that
allows people to create, play, and share YouTube video pop
quizzes. To play video pop quizzes,
players do not need to register, but to create and share video pop quizzes,
users have to sign up using their personal email addresses. On Blubbr, users can select certain portions of the videos
on YouTube and type in the questions and answers to create their unique pop
quizzes. This website is recommended for
teachers of any subjects and levels when doing a warm-up or
review activity.
8. A Great Tool for Reviewing:
Trading Card Creator (http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/trading-card-creator-30056.html)
Trading Card Creator is a free online
generator which allows students to create their trading cards about specific
persons, objects, or events without registration. To create a trading card, students will be
asked a series of questions on a selected topic. During the question-and-answer
process, students have
an opportunity to reinforce their
knowledge about the specific
topics. After creations, students can print out their cards and
share. This resource is recommended for
elementary and middle school students during a review activity.
Meograph is a
free online platform that allows people to create and share timeline stories with
maps, photos, videos, and narrations. It
is suitable for teachers and students to do projects about Arts, History,
Geography, cultures, foreign languages, etc.
This resource is recommended for middle school students and above.
Witty Comics
has a gallery of comic background and characters, which allows users to create
3-picture comics in seconds by typing the dialogues only. By using this website, students can practice
making their own dialogues. The target
users can be elementary school children and above.
Animoto is a free online video maker and
sharer that allows low-tech people to create beautiful and high quality
videos. After registration, users can
enjoy making free 30-second videos from the video
templates. Basically, users only need to
upload their pictures/ videos/ audios and type the text, the website will
automatically generate a professional video.
Because the website has a variety of video templates (more than a
hundred choices) and is super easy to use, it can be a very good presentation
tool other than Prezi (http://prezi.com). The target audience and users can be elementary school children and above.
Weebly is an easy-to-use, simple
yet stylish, blog-like online blackboard for teachers to manage their course
materials, assignments, and student works.
After registration, users can create their courses and student lists in Weebly’s domain for free (under Weebly’s address:
_____.weebly.com). Note that the
students have to be over 13 years old and have their parents’ consents to use
this website. To manage the course
websites, teachers can drag different formats of columns from the top of the
construction platforms to create an announcement. It is fast and not bulky like Moodle (http://moodle.org), yet the functions may not be many. Still, Weebly
is a way to go if teachers only need basic blackboard platforms.
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