Favorite FREE Web 2.0 Apps

[Thomas Whitby]

This is not as much of a discussion as it is a listing of recommendations for FREE Web 2.0 Appliocations.

Please name the application and the LINK. Additionally, offer a brief description, as well as an objective critique, if you can. This will give us a great source list. Please no commercial Apps. I will create another area for them. 

[Irene Alonso DelRosso]

http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html

Simple and FREE, Jing is the perfect way to enhance your fast-paced online conversations. Create images and videos of what you see on your computer screen, then share them instantly!

http://prezi.com

Create presentations.

http://quizlet.com/

Free app to create vocabulary flash cards and there are games that come with it.

[Cara Whitehead]

I love VocabularySpellingCity for vocabulary and spelling practice. You can enter your weekly spelling and vocabulary lists (or search for it under the Find a List tab). There are numerous lists under the Teacher Resources section. You will find everything from analogies, compound words, abbreviations, British spellings to math vocabulary, science vocabulary, and geography words. Although some sections of the site require a premium, paid membership, most parts are free. 

[Richard Wood]

Hi Cara.

 

For spelling you can also try this free teaching resource  http://www.spellathon.net

 

[Sharon Keehner]

Joli Print--takes the information from a website and turns it into a PDF  http://joliprint.com/

ZAmzar http://www.zamzar.com/   Converts video and audio files

HashTracking  http://www.hashtracking.com/  Allows you to get a report of everything on the tag and turn it into a PDF

[Mary Harriet Talbut]

My Technology to Enhance Education class has been building a Wiki over the past 6 semesters.  Here is the page with links to Starter Sheets grouped by subject area.  http://technology-to-enhance-ed.wikispaces.com/Starter+Sheets

Starter sheets are individual .pdfs on Web 2.0 Applications that can be used in educational settings.  The first page is about the site itself, the second or back page is how you can use them in a classroom.  The idea is based upon the work started by Andrew Churches and his Education Origimi Wiki.  Feel free to look at, link or tell me how to make it better.

[Anita Swigart]

I love netvibes.com because it gives me access to all of my favorite blogs, chats, and websites from just one site.

[Bjorn Behrendt (AskBj)]

My favorite is http://www.sumopaint.com/

-bj

[Jennifer Fenton]

I love to use quiet tube when sharing videos with my students. It removes all of the suggested videos that can appear - which are often inappropriate for elementary students.

[Rita Oates]

I like these four video sharing sites, all free and each with a slightly different focus. (Two do video only and two do other digital formats as well.)

I could turn on any of these in a K12 school and not worry about inappropriate content, wardrobe malfunction, cursing, porno, etc. All have been vetted before posting and tagged in "teacher language" so this makes it easier for you to find what you are looking for....or even send students to look for you!

* SchoolTube http://www.schooltube.com

K12 video sharing among US schools. How tos, student projects, tips on how to make better videos too. All videos vetted before posting for school appropriateness.

* TeacherTube http://www.teachertube.com

Videos and photos, docs and audiofiles shared for K12 audience. Organized by topic to make easier to find what you want. Ads on site. Content vetted and you can flag anything as inappropriate for further review. Makes it easier to find things to use with students OR to turn students loose to search here.

* ePals Student Media Galleries http://bit.ly/StMedia

See K12 student work from 200 countries in multiple digital formats: photo, video, PPT, Word, Glogster, scanned art, podcasts, etc. Some of this are exemplars for your students. Some provide a great "slice of life" by taking you in videos inside a 100 Yen Store in Japan (like our Dollar Store) or seeing what students do before and after school in Senegal (going to the well to get water for the family) or how people get to school in Holland (most of students and majority of teachers ride bikes). You can post your students' work here and find authentic, student-made content from other places and countries.

* eSchoolNews.tv http://www.eschoolnews.tv

Jazz up your inservice by getting short videos from ed tech leaders and users. Video interviews from various conferences range from 3-10 minutes, give a taste of the great speakers and thinkers in our K12 schools. (Mostly US speakers) For teachers to get inspired and learn from a lot of different perspectives! If you are at a conference where they shoot videos, you could sign up to be interviewed too.

[Chris Richards]

I enjoy the diigo and also read it later They both offer a great way to organize information.  Diigo is easy to share book marks and read it later allows me to mark something to read when I have time.   Read it Later seems to work best on Fire Fox than any of the others in my opinion is check mark right on toolbar.

[Studyers]

I would like to add:
Socrative - http://www.socrative.com/ - engage your class via a mobile device.
Instapaper - http://www.instapaper.com/ - A tool for saving web pages to read later (I use that app a lot, yet never manage to read all my "read later" :)
iPad for kids - http://www.ipad4kids.com/ - A resourceful website who covers iPad apps for kids ( most educational, some for fun ).
Studyers - http://studyers.com - note taking and sharing lesson notes (disclosure: this is my startup, hope it's okay that I add it.)
Poll daddy - http://polldaddy.com - An online survey software.

[Richard Wood]

Spellathon is a free resource for spelling practice and school fundraising. Available on line at http://www.spellathon.net the resource is also available for iPhone and iPads and for smart whiteboards from Promethean Planet & Smart Exchange. Chiildren / Students of all ages from over 90 countires are playing & practicing spelling.