Symbawhat???

Another tool that Eric Lee shared with us at the technology workshop is one that I have already been using, both in the elementary classroom, as well as the college classroom.  Symbaloo is a bookmarking tool that can be used for many different projects in the classroom.

Have you ever conducted a research project with your elementary students, only to find that they are blindly searching the Internet for their information?  With a little front work from the teacher, Symbaloo can be used to prevent those incidents from happening.  Symbaloo is easy to use and can be used by the teacher, as well as students.

Some possible uses:
*Teacher selects websites for students to investigate to learn more about a certain topic,
*Students create a Symbaloo to display learning
*Teachers/Administrators can use Symbaloo to bookmark web tools that are helpful for the classroom,
*Teachers can bookmark book trailers, book talks, and other reading materials for easy access.

To create a Symbaloo, you simply sign up for your free account and click on a grey square to get started.  You will then follow the directions to copy and paste your link.  You can add as many or as few links as you would like.

Give it a try!

Blended Classroom

I was able to attend a technology workshop with faculty from our college on Friday.  Eric Lee, with JSU Technology in Motion was the facilitator, and he shared many resources that I now feel as if I cannot live without.  I will be addressing some of them in various posts on the blog.  Feel free to try these out!

In this post, I will be discussing my new favorite thing, Blendspace.  Blendspace is a presentation tool that is able to incorporate slide show, youtube/video, webpages, pictures, Google Docs, Dropbox, and other web-based tools.  All these tools can be integrated seamlessly into a Blendspace presentation.  As you advance from the slides to a web page or video, you stay in one application.  The new pages do not open in new windows.

Blendspace is better than most presentation tools in that you never leave your presentation.  In many other programs, you are able to click on a website that opens in a new window, or closes your current presentation.  Blendspace moves effortlessly into each of the different types of presentation tools.  As you can see from the picture, you are able to view/add/edit each page from the same screen.  Additionally, you are able to insert a quiz, text, video, or picture file onto each page as well.

Another beauty of Blendspace is that all of the searching is done within the program as well.  You do not need to leave the page to find a picture, file, or video.  You are able to link your Dropbox or Google Drive documents for easy access.

And another thing:  There is a gallery where you can search for previously made Blendspaces to use at your convenience!  Don't like something another user incorporated into their space? No problem!  Once you have saved it onto your page, you are able to edit as you wish!  

I cannot wait to give this one a try!