My Favourite Web Tools of 2010

SocialMediaImage[1] Here are my favourite web tools from 2010:

ImaginationCubed is a multi user drawing tool. You can use a pen, stamp,shapes, line or you can type. You can also change the color of the background. I loved this one, it’s cool!

WeToku is an interview tool that automatically records it to play it back. You can embed it and share it with others. 

WikiDot is wiki builder to share content, documents and collaborate with your students, colleagues, friends. You can create pages, forums,separate wikis for groups or students, discuss topics, upload files, documents,notes, images and share them with others.

You can send video mails with EyeJot. You don’t need to download any software. You only get into your account, record and upload your video and send it. It’s that easy!

You can paste a text to JustPasteit and you can get a link to share it with others. You can also upload pictures, save your document as a PDF file.

LinkBlip lets you monitor when the links you’ve sent to others has been clicked. You get a special URL and send it to other. When someone clicks the URL, you’re notified with an email with the time the link was clicked as well as the city which they were in.

GoodWidgets is a way to create photo widgets for your blog or websites. It has different displays of photos. You can check the gallery here. This is sure to be my favourite photo presentation widget!

I can only say WOW for EarthTunnel! This is the most creative picture sharing site I’ve ever seen on web. You’re in a dark tunnel with pictures around you and you use your keyboard to move in the tunnel. What a great idea!!!

BusinessCard2 is an online service to create professional network and exchange business cards on web. You can add videos, slide shows, files,external links, your websites, social sites and you can let other people to leave messages and it’s embeddable of course.

MadeupMemories lets you customize videos by putting your personal pictures. You can choose to be a princess, a toy, a superhero! Just choose your video, upload your picture and publish it. You can also download it to your computer and keep it on your desktop forever!

Stiqr is one of the best tools I’ve ever seen. The things you can do with it just is limitless. This tool lets you to create and design your website with sticking pictures. You don’t have to upload or download anything. The only thing you need to do is to embed the code to your website. Let’s give this tool a try!

 AcapelaTV is a text-to-speech site where you can use this feature to make the characters talk. You can make different language selections.

Packrati is a bookmarking service that bookmarks your tweets that contains URL for your delicious account. You can choose the options to bookmark your favourites or @ replies.

Prezi is a unique way to create presentations without any slides but zooming sketches on a blank canvas. You can create your own group, collaborate on ideas and create your prezi presentation together. You realize that powerpoint is dead after using this tool, rest is your imagination.If you like it, you should also check Ahead which is a similar tool.

 StoryBird allows you to create their own stories from scratch using their own text and pictures. It’s also collaborating so you can start a story at home and you can finish it when you come back to school.

PhotoPeach is a quick way to create slideshows using pictures and music. It also lets you create quizzes on your slideshow.

With QuizCentre, you can create, administer and grade quizzes online. It also provides instant feedback.

QuizMaker lets you create multiple choice quizzes. You can add pictures or links to your quizzes. When you finish, you simply cut and paste it to your web page.

Vozme lets you turn your text into speech. You can choose a male or a female voice and you create mp3 files and listen to them anywhere you are.

Kakomessenger is a fun text to-speech application. It’s a singing telegram machine that will sing your text. You choose between two singers, Gina and Humphrey, write your text and let the singers sing them for you.

CiteBite is a tool where you can get a link directly to specific quotes in web pages.You simply paste a chunk of text and the URL of the page and get a link that opens directly to your selection by highlighting it.

Bot Morpheus is a bot that can write and speak at the same time. The answers are logical, it also asks questions and analyze your answers.

Clue is a fun and an interesting way to test people (or you) about what they remember on your site. You just enter the link of the site that you want to test, share the test with people via Twitter, Facebook or other social networking services. People who take the test , look at the web page for a few seconds and write what they remember.

Stay tuned for the new coming year.

Cross posted on Tech&Learning.

 



 

Looking Back to 2010 …

2010-2011 The end of 2010 is fast approaching and another year has passed in a split second. Now it’s the time to look back and look forward to the future and a time for a  fresh, clean start!

 Many of us are thinking about new decisions, turning over a new leaf or making resolutions for the new coming year. Today, let’s look back to 2010! What have you done? What have you missed?

Are you still not blogging? It’s the best way to keep your ideas organized, keep pace with the changing world, leave your footprints to the digital world and hit the trenches. It is the best way to start an online presence!To blog is a way to realize what you think, what you achieve and what you want to do in the future because it is reading, thinking, reflecting, writing, connecting, learning and more than that. And you can only realize it when you write your first post, get your first comment.

2010 has been the year of micro-blogging tool, Twitter. It has become the mainstay of professional development and collaboration. In a second, you can easily access a steam of great ideas, links, opinions, feedback and resources from global professionals. We, educators have understood that together we are much better! And are you still NOT tweeting? You must be kidding!!

 As we are constantly networking with one another, conferences have extended virtually beyond the walls. This year, there have been great online conferences, courses, free and online opportunities for the teachers who want to improve themselves. K12onlineconference, SEETA, WikiEducator, Electronic Village Online, VirtualRoundTable, ReformSymposium, MoodleCourse and Eltchats on Twitter are only some of them.

What cool conferences have you been to this year to improve yourself, get inspired and get new ideas from others? Have you presented any of them to inspire others, share your enthusiasm,your work, your experience, knowledge? If you are going to be a presenter, Steal this Presentation or You Suck at Powerpoint!   

As the internet is growing at an exponential rate, Web 2.0 is still one of the most famous term among educators. Though many of the tools haven’t been designed to use in education in mind, they can still be  be used to empower, engage learners and create new exciting opportunities for them to learn and explore. Have a look at these blogs to explore Web 2.0 tools before the year ends.

Have you ever googled your name? There is too much information that is floating around on cyber space and it’s important what other people can learn about you and what information they can access once they search for your name. To make your reputation better before the year finishes,  you can create social network profiles, online resume, blog, leave comments and do not publish anything that you may regret when other people see or read it!  

The web makes copy-paste so easy that anyone can copy your content or your work. As the number of blogs and websites are growing, copyright has become an important issue for all of us who are sharing information. 2010 is the year to learn your rights and licence your work. You can learn about it here and also read about 10 Big Myths about copyright here.  Invest yourself today with Creative Commons and don’t forget “Stealing is easy: Being original is hard!” =)

 Have you said something nice to someone recently? Have you put a smile on some one’s face? Do it please! Praise others for the works they have done! Leave comments for the posts they have written! Encourage others to achieve more!

Have you seen mistakes as opportunities and considered new options and new paths this year? Are proud of yourself? You should be!! Do not underestimate your ability and power to inspire others and never ever let anyone discourage you! You are unique and special!

Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right.

“We will open the book.  Its pages are blank.  We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.” – Edith Lovejoy Pierce