On October 21st I presented a day long session at Region 8 ESC on free web apps and programs that teachers can use.  Below is a link and description of the apps that I discussed.  I do these sessions many times during the year and am constantly updating this list.

Dimdim.com This is a great way to host virtual meetings and seminars.  This product is similar to GoToMeeting or Webex, but its free!

Google Apps Google provides this service free to schools.  It includes Docs, Calendar, Sites, and Mail.  It is a great way to combine all services and they will even host your district website.

Bit.ly This is a great URL shortener.  Users can take really long links and shorten them to memorable links.

Dipity.com Creates live timelines that embeds videos, pictures, stories, and other content.  Users choose a topic they want to follow and Dipity will create a timeline base on that topic.

xTimeline.com Another timeline creator.  xTimeline is different from Dipity because it allows users to make and share timelines based on content they choose.  Everything is done by the user.  All content has to be manually inputted, but allows highly customizable timelines.

Jaycut.com Online video editing is fairly new, but Jaycut makes it easy.  This service makes is very similar to Windows Moviemaker.  It has a full timeline and can be exported to DVD, iPod, or embedded in webpage.

Gabcast.com Creating and hosting podcast can be tricky because sometimes finding a host is hard.  Gabcast makes it easy to create podcasts.  They have a killer feature that allows you to use your telephone to record your podcast.

Kid-cast.com This service makes it simple and safe for students to listen and create podcasts.

podOmatic.com PodOMatic is another podcast host.  Teachers and students can easily upload their podcasts and advertise public links to their listeners.  All created podcasts have an automatic iTunes link and RSS feed created.

Librivox.org Public domain books can be read, recorded, and shared with the public.  Librivox uses the power of volunteers to record books and makes them available for people to download.  The downloaded audiobooks can be put on iPods and other electronic devices.

Gutenberg.org Project Gutenberg is the first and largest single collection of free electronic books, or eBooks.  The project also hosts audiobooks created by Librivox users and computer generated audiobooks.  The eBooks and audiobooks can be downloaded to popular ebook readers such as the Kindle or Sony eReader.

SumoPaint.com Sumo Paint is a full featured photo editing / painting application, which works right in your favorite web browser! The application can be used in Windows, Macintosh or Linux operating systems.

DoInk.com DoInk is a place to enjoy art and animation, and make your own

Pixlr.com Get creative with the free online photo editor and do your quick fix with the image express! Jump in and get going within 2 seconds! This app is similar to Sumo Paint, but in my opinion, not as powerful.

CoolIris.com CoolIris is a photo presentation plugin for your browser.  It will show a unique and dynamic photo wall of pictures on the internet and your computer.

Prezi.com It’s visualization and storytelling without slides. Your ideas live on stage and on the web.  Users can create maps of their thoughts and have presentations wrapped around those thoughts.

Animoto.com the end of slideshows! Animoto automatically produces beautifully orchestrated, completely unique video pieces from your photos, video clips and music. Fast, free and shockingly easy. Be sure to sign up for a free teacher account by clicking the above link.

Celestia The free space simulation that lets you explore our universe in three dimensions. Celestia runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. Celestia comes with a large catalog of stars, galaxies, planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and spacecraft. If that’s not enough, you can download dozens of easy to install add-ons with more objects.

Stellarium Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope.

Archive.org Its purposes include offering permanent access for researchers, historians, scholars, people with disabilities, and the general public to historical collections that exist in digital format.

Whew!  Thats a long list to cover in one day, but we did it. Stay tuned for more sites that will sure to be great for classroom use.

Free, Web 2.0 Hide

If you have ever listened to any of Leo Laporte’s programs, either his many podcasts or his weekend radio show, you have probably heard him talk about GoToMeeting.com.  This service lets users connect to a virtual meeting space and share documents, presentations, virtual whiteboards, video conferencing, and much more.  Its really a great service, but it costs a considerable amount of money to have and use.  I am always looking for alternatives to subscription services.  Well I have found it and it is called: dimdim.

dimdim.com is a service that is very similar to the subscription services.  They try to stay pretty close to the feature set that the others provide and even have some features that are exclusive to dimdim. One cool feature is the free telephone number that is provided to all meetings.  You can give out this number and participants can call in and listen to the webinar without having a computer!

Below is a partial feature list:

• Audio/Video Conferencing
• Screen Capture
• Whiteboard and Annotations
• Powerpoint Sharing
• Public and Private Chat
• Webpage Sharing
• Phone number for people to call in
• Meeting Recording/Embedding

Imagine some of the uses of a free product like this.  A teacher could invite a college professor to give a short demonstration using dimdim.  A teacher in Texas could co-teach a lesson with another teacher in New York.  Absent students could connect at home and watch their teacher that day.  The possibilities are endless!

Dimdim does much more.  It is free for the first 20 participants, and they have a paid version for more participants. An account is free, so go and try it out.  The CEO does a weekly webinar using dimdim to describe its features and show off some of the cool things that it can do.

http://www.dimdim.com

education, meetings, tech Hide