Farr-Out Links to Learning » Web 2.0

Web 2.0 for Speech Teachers

Jen — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 03:18:19 +0000

Today was a great day! I had an opportunity to work with a number of different teachers sharing Web 2.0 resources and online links that I know will be used to enhance and enrich curriculum. One of the most gratifying moments in my day occurred when I worked with a marvelous speech teacher and her cute-as-a-button student.

We gave her student an opportunity to select a Voki character and then used the phone so the student could provide a voice for his character. The smile on the student’s face as he heard his character talk online in a personified voice was simply priceless. If you haven’t used Voki to give your students a voice (or should I say their characters a voice) you really need to check out this free and simple to use online tool. Of course, the success of using Voki with a speech student led me to wonder what other technology resources could be used to help speech students. So, today’s column is dedicated to speech teachers and their students. You can view my Voki sample on the left of this post or learn more about Voki by reading my previous Voki post. Below, I have posted some additional resources that could also be used to help speech students:

Take time to download the free program Photo Story 3 as a motivational software option that could be used to give students an opportunity to practice speaking (via a microphone). Photo Story 3 can only be used on PC computers, but it is a great wizard-driven presentation program that students can use to turn images into movies (in .wmv format). Students can easily record their voices, add music and transitions to photographs and/or images to create a .wmv movie. You can learn more about Photo Story 3 when you access a resource site I created to supplement a workshop I gave a couple of years ago…simply click on the screen shot below to learn more about the program:

Audiopal is a free online “service that gives individuals an easy and effective way to add audio to their online message.” While this Web 2.0 tool does not have the “glam” factor that Voki has, it does a fine job of adding voice to a site and could be used to record digital speech samples that could be posted to a student portfolio, accessed from the site, or sent to a parent via email. Audiopal was simple to use and did not require registration. Voice can be recorded with a microphone or via phone using a toll free number. I have embedded a sample recording below:
Cinch is another tool that records a voice, image (photo of a student, maybe?), and text. When you register for a Cinch account you can save your Cinch recordings on your page. You can even organize recordings in albums…create an album for each speech student so you can track student progress and provide samplings. Cinch recordings can be shared via Twitter or Facebook or kept private. Recordings can be made via a microphone connected to your computer or you can call a phone number to record (the phone number was not toll free). Recordings can be twittered, posted on Facebook, posted to the Cinch site, saved on your personal Cinch page, or embedded on a webpage or blog. You can view my embedded sample below (sound quality is not good…I used the speaker from my laptop which is minimally efficient):
Wetoku is another online recording service that presumably makes it simple and easy to record interviews…like…a speech teacher interviewing his/her student. I’ll be honest. I did not test this online tool, but the sample interviews looked interesting and I would classify this resource as a Web 2.0 tool that holds promise. If you take Wetoku for a test drive let us know what you think! (It has been receiving some great reviews…see a sample on The 16th Minute blog).

I will share additional resources as I have time to review and work with them…look for more links for speech teachers next week!

Build a Vidque Video Library

Jen — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 02:12:05 +0000

I recently discovered Vidque, a site where you can build a customized library of videos for personal use or as a vehicle to share with students and friends. I love this site when I use it from home as it makes it very simple to access my personal collection of videos that I have discovered across the web. Sadly (but not surprisingly), any of the YouTube videos I included in Vidque were blocked when I tried opening them in an educational environment that blocks YouTube. It’s a bit disheartening when YouTube is blocked in schools because I can not share some of the marvelous short videos that are very appropriate for lessons and school use with my teachers and students. Still, I do understand the concern administrators and schools in general have regarding YouTube and some of the other video sites…there is a lot of bad mixed with the good. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I sure do miss Fliggo.

While Vidque does not serve as a replacement to Fliggo, it is a powerful tool to include in your bag of techno-organizational tricks. Creating a video library that is accessible using the tags you assign is very powerful and sharing the great videos you collect and add to your collection is simple and useful. Send links to students, friends, and colleagues or simply twitter the video link (based on your Vidque address) to your followers. You can save up to 20 videos a day once you have registered for a free account and set up your profile. Saving a video from any site is as simple as clicking on a button (once you have installed the Vidque bookmarklet in your browser) or you can add videos to your account manually using the Add Video Page. Currently the bookmarklet works in the following browsers: Chrome, Foxfire, Safari, and Opera.

I am gradually building a new library of videos using Vidque.

Use Pearltrees to String Together Links and Pearls of Wisdom

Jen — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:49:26 +0000

I recently came across a new Web 2.0 tool called Pearltree, an interesting bookmarking, community-sharing visualization tool that is so unique I’m not sure I can do justice describing it. I discover phenomenal resources whenever I play with this collaborative network and could literally spend hours exploring and stringing pearls on my Pearltree. You need to register and verify your account before you can start to build your own Pearltree, but the startup process is quick and easy. I suggest that you view the videos I have embedded below to get a full understanding of how this terrific tool works. You will also find that adding your own pearls of wisdom (websites) is much easier when you add the bookmarklets in your brower. Alternately, you can install a add-on/plugin. I hope this relatively new visual bookmarking tool catches on…that way we can all dive into Pearltree to add and share more links and pearls.

Information from the site…

“We call it a human-powered interest network because its content is made and organized by its community. In Pearltrees, everyone creates its world and uses parts of others’ worlds to extend it. By doing so, everyone contributes to the overall project: building the first human organization of the Web.”

Videos that do a great job showing you what this cool tool can do…

Feel free to click on the screenshot below if you would like to explore my Pearltree…I’m still learning and adding pearls, so feel free to check back from time to time.