New Sites to Explore

You may noticed the updated look of our blog, there's a new template feature and it has lots of flexibility to I decided to change it up and give us a fresh new look :).
For my 'O Wau, I've been flipping through the June issue of eSchool News. In publications like these, I like to see what new tools are out there and what schools are doing. So I'm getting back to basics and asking you to explore some of these sites:

Grockit - like Facebook but for learning. FLVS just did a pilot with their algebra students and will e expanding to incorporate some of the content. I tried my hand at the SAT prep. It's an interesting concept of social gaming and competition while learning. I have an account so e-mail me if you want to use mine.
SAS Curriculum Pathways - web-based activities in core subjects for grades 8-12. Lessons take an inquiry-based approach. Watch the tour.
BrainPop - animated content organized by subject area with lots of activities. I liked the idea of the site and all it offered but there's so much that you could get lost. Take a tour.

For the content side, I was more thinking of these tools for the future of campus since this is not cultural content. I did like some of the design aspects for us and to just know what's out there.

Comments

Geotagging

A "wouldn't it be nice" idea that's been around a while is the ability to tag a map with images that are linked to more information about the site. Kelly C suggested it as a way for students to share knowledge about a cultural/historic site or the geographic area they live in with classmates. (right, no addresses!) There are now cameras and even storage media that embed latitude and longitude into images as they are shot. But you don't need fancy new toys to do this. I tried Flickr's geotagging map and it's fun and supereasy. Want to try it? Log in to Flickr http://www.flickr.com Sign in as " techedine " password " wist101 " yea, corny. Click the " You " tab then the " Your Photostream > Map " or Organize > Your Map links. Click the Satellite link in the upper right. Cool view! (you may need Google Satellite downloaded). Images along the bottom of the screen with colored dots have already been droppe...

Zoho Creator

I thought I’d share this web application I came across in my quest to find a relatively simple app to help us manage our mentoring data in the DL Orientation. Our specific needs were that it be a free online database, password protected, had the capability of rapid form development without too much programming knowledge and was easy for the end user to use. The application that met these requirements was Zoho Creator ( http://www.zohocreator.com/ ) a part of a suite of online applications including word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, wikis, organizers and more. What’s great about Zoho Creator is that they have an online repository of applications already developed that you can download to your account and use for free. Initially, I tried some of these applications, but it was overkill for our needs. Zoho Creator can do a lot if you know programming and they have a pay model where it allows you more flexibility and features. I think Zoho Creator would be a useful tool for both...

Avatar Chat

Aloha all, Here's my o wau topic for this week. We all know the power of the Avatar and their popularity with our learners from our A`o Makua courses and I know we have discussed ways to incorporate them into our `Ike Hawai`i classes as well. Well, I can't take credit for finding this resource. Our resident Avatar expert a.k.a. Christy told me to check it out because Avatars can now chat. So please join me in finding out what other engaging and motivating feats these amazing characters can do to help us provide meaningful learning experiences for all our students. You can read about OddCast and their AvatarSpace or go to their Web site and test out some of these features. I'm hoping that this may provide us with a motivating way to get students, in both programs, to participate in some cooperative learning and sharing. Let me know what you think and if you feel this would be a valuable application to use. Mahalo - look forward to reading your responses! Kelly

Kamehameha Schools Distance Learning (KSDL) Owau

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