I have posted quite a bit of seed content in the wiki - http://www.commun-it.org/wiki

Let's create and share together!! 

 

What is it?

The Creative Commons (CC) is a non-profit organization devoted to expanding the range of creative work available for others legally to build upon and share. It enables copyright holders to grant some of their rights to the public while retaining others through a variety of licensing and contract schemes including dedication to the public domain or open content licensing terms. The intention is to avoid the problems current copyright laws create for the sharing of information.

Why Use it?

The potentials of using a creative commons license when creating educational content and materials is remarkable. The only problem – we are not using it. In my opinion, if you are a publicly funded school board, you should have to share.

One Example:

I am going to focus on Ontario school boards for a minute. We have a Ministry of Education push on Literacy and Numeracy in the classroom. Just say that there are 79 school boards in Ontario all of them working as islands creating Literacy and Numeracy materials, all being financially supported by the same provincial government agency. (and me the taxpayer) What we end up with is 79 different programs for literacy and numeracy.

Here is the potential, if the Ontario Ministry of Education mandated that all school boards created material were made available using flexible copyright through Non-Commercial, Share-and Share-A-like we could build from each others knowledge and materials. Creating and using programs without duplicating. How many school boards spend millions of dollars on creating programs that have already been created by other school districts? It just doesn’t make sense in Ontario, when we are sharing money that comes from the same pot.

Ontario Ministry of Education should also lead by example. I’m happy to see all materials that are created by the ministry posted on the WWW for everyone to see and read, the next step, is to add the ability to build on these documents.

Embeding video test.

 And a little FYI from the Read Me of this MOD.

Use

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1. Login to your elgg instance and go to your "my files" tab

2. Create a new folder. From the folder type drop-down, choose "media gallery"

3. Once the folder is created, upload any of the following file types into the folder .FLV (Flash video) .SWF (Flash animation) .MP3 (mpeg layer 3 audio) .JPG, .PNG, .GIF (common image formats)

4. The Flash Media player should appear in that folder now as the default handler/player for the files.

5. Click on a file name to play it. You can use the "full screen" button to go to true full screen (required Flash 9)

6. To use .flv in a blog/forum post (assuming you have completed the optional configuration above), just select a .flv from the embed drop list and click add. When the posting is viewed, the .flv will be played back via the plugin

ThinkFree is one online office suite that has quite a bit of flexibility and potential.  While it may not be an enterprise solution it is very good for low to medium users, although power users may see it fall short. 

• Students who don't have MS Office at home might use ThinkFree as a possible word processor solution.
• Need to create a PDF - no problem - "Save your document as a PDF" easily
• Save documents in Word format locally or online
  
• Access documents from work or home
  
• Share documents for team or group projects - just share the ThinkFree Account.

There are a few other suites to look at as well Zoho, GOffice ...

I am facilitating an online course on "Google Earth: Educator Perspectives" this weekend at Knowschools.ca.   There is no cost to the course, as this is an Open Weekend course available to any educator.  In the last "Google Earth: Educator Perspectives" open weekend in the fall, I had 36 educators from around the world.  Here are a few of my reflections:

http://www.teachinghacks.com/2006/11/22/open-weekend-ge-course-refle
http://www.teachinghacks.com/category/online-tools/google/

If you are interested in attending this free/open/libre weekend, here's an overview with enrollment information.  Please pass this information below along to those who might be interested in exploring Google Earth with peers.

Take Care,

Quentin D'Souza


Open Weekends - Google Earth:Educator Perspectives - March 23 - 25          http://knowschools.ca

Another amazing exploration of Google Earth as a an adjunct to on-line and classroom training.  Our last session on Google Earth was awesome, and this one promises to be even better.  Come join us for the "Big Picture" of life on the "Big Blue Marble".

Enrollment Information:

An exploration about the potential of using Google Earth as a classroom tool, by a master educator, Quentin D'Souza

Access Steps:

   1.First time at Knowschools? You'll need to create an account in knowschools first - http://knowschools.ca/moodle/login/index.php
   2.Once you have registered in knowschools, you can enter the course at 9 a.m. Pacific time (Vancouver, British Columbia) on the day it opens. You are wondering what time that is for you? World Clock - http://www.timeanddate.com/
   3.If you are asked for an enrollment key the course is not yet open

Open weekends @ knowschools mailing list which will announce the upcoming open weekends each month. Email jgeeraert@knowplace.ca to have your name added to the list.

http://www.teachinghacks.com/2007/03/26/teachertube/

Tags: Online Tools, teachertube, youtube

Via John Evans IMYM Tutorials:

A great new site called TeacherTube is up and running. This site is very much like YouTube in that videos can be uploaded, viewed, etc. but the distinguishing feature is that all the videos are geared toward an educational audience. You’ll find step by step instructional videos for a variety of topics like technology, mathematics, history, science and many more.

Started in January of this year TeacherTube has had an increase in activity over the last little while.

Online Tools, teachertube, youtube

http://www.teachinghacks.com/2007/03/26/classroom-20/

Tags: classroom 2.0, Collaboration, Ramblings, Wiki

Steve Hargadon started Classroom 2.0 on Ning for

encouraging broader cooperation and dialog, and for mobilizing an army of folks who are having success using the tools of collaborative technology in their classrooms.

I like the idea of a central social edublogger network pulling together people in order to help each other. I remember that Josie Fraser started an Edublogger Frappr map a few years ago with a bit of social networking.

Classroom 2.0 has lots of potential, with tools to help channel voices for those who choose to contribute. Take a look for yourself. There were about 55 members when I last looked, but it will be the contributors that make the community.

The other component, that I was less thrilled about, was the Classroom 2.0 wiki. I like the idea, don’t get me wrong. I guess I’m just frustrated.

Each of these projects is coming from a different approach, but with similar goals.

http://eduwikipedia.pbwiki.com/
http://goodbaduglyoftheinternet.wikispaces.com
http://www.curriki.org

I’m just hoping that the Classroom 2.0 wiki will sustain interest by a wider community of contributors.

classroom 2.0, Collaboration, Ramblings, Wiki

http://www.teachinghacks.com/2007/03/28/toondoo/

Tags: comic creater, Internet Safety, Online Tools, Ramblings, toondoo

ToonDoo is a wacky way to get creative with comics. You can now create your own comic strips, share them or insert them in your blogs with just a few clicks and drag-n-drops!

I have talked about comic creators in the past, this one seems to take better advantage of the social web. The end product looks better, and it is really easy to embed and share with others.

Toondoo also has a contest:

We

http://www.teachinghacks.com/2007/03/28/you-can-toondoo/

Tags: comic creater, Online Tools, toondoo

I’m having way too much fun with Toondoo.

This was a neat idea too:

Rajendran a toondude, explained to me that they are working on a cloning tool where you can remix parts of other peoples cartoons in your own cartoon.

He also shared a tip, that I missed when I was importing my photo into a toon.

you can crop your images even better than just straight lines. just lock the loaded image (lock icon is second from left, in the bottom strip), and NUDGE the line connecting the points using the mouse (drag the line…) and you will be able to get much smoother more professional-looking cutouts.

comic creater, Online Tools, toondoo

http://www.teachinghacks.com/2007/03/29/scrapblog-for-media-rich-pre

I have been experimenting with Scrapblog as a presentation tool for an upcoming workshop. It is a neat mixture of scrapbook and presentation tool. I know my better half is going to love this web site.

I was able to embed photos (your own and a range of sites like Flickr), YouTube videos (You have to hover over them to get the play button), background music, titles, transitions, captions and more into the presentation.

The site has lots of social features, and of course, the ability to embed presentations into your blog. Here’s the one I was working on. (FYI - Some of the links are local to my school district)

View the full sized presentation here. If you use the left and right arrows instead of selecting the “Play Slideshow” button you can stop and watch the videos.

---Related Articles at Teaching Hacks.com:

More Comic Generators

tteach

Remixing Tools For Educators Using Video Sharing Sites

Another Toon

You Can Toondoo

Toondoo

http://www.teachinghacks.com/2007/03/30/another-toon/

Did I mention that ToonDoo is addictive?

---Related Articles at Teaching Hacks.com:

tteach

More Comic Generators

Remixing Tools For Educators Using Video Sharing Sites

Scrapblog for Media Rich Presentations

You Can Toondoo

Toondoo

http://software.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=06/03/17/1633214&from=rs

http://feedrinse.com/

Feed Rinse is an easy to use tool that lets you automatically filter out syndicated content that you aren't interested in. It's like a spam filter for your RSS subscriptions.

http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/03/28/why-you-may-need-an-online-p

The Web Worker Daily weblog explains that despite the common perception that you should strive to keep your online activity anonymous, you would do well to cultivate a professional and intelligent online identity.

http://zamzar.com/

Converts youtube videos, and downloads to computer.

http://www.slais.ubc.ca/courses/libr500/04-05-wt2/www/D_Jackson

Cyberbullying Course - UBC

http://www.hitask.com/

HiTask is a simple web-based task management application you can use together with a group of students.

http://teachdigital.pbwiki.com/googletools

Wes Fryer shares a ton of resources here - be sure to look at the sidebar.

http://www.edtags.org/

Edtags.org is a website for educators (e.g., teachers, education graduate students, professors, librarians, etc.) to connect with people sharing similar interests, discover relevant materials that may have "eluded" the traditional card catalogue search, a

http://amberjack.org/

Create AJAX based web site tours easily.

http://feeddigest.com/

http://www.ncwiseowl.org/Impact/ncgeocache/agenda.htm

This is a great resource around geocaching and using it for K12 education.

http://helios.hampshire.edu/~apmNS/design/RESOURCES/HOW_READ.html

How to Read a Scientific Research Paper-- a four-step guide for students and for faculty

http://core.rminder.com/

Phone reminders - 8 free - to anywhere in Canada/US. Sychs with iCal, Outlook, Google Calender and many more.

http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9703620-2.html?part=rss&tag=

How-to Newbie's Guide to Flickr.

http://www.jamglue.com/

# Upload or Record your own Tracks # Create an original Mix or personalize someone else's in our simple online Mixer # Show off your music: email it, embed it, or just sit back and let the Jamglue community discover your talent!

http://www.podtech.net/home/technology/2578/cyberbullying

In this podcast, Wendell Davis interviews Symantec Internet Safety Advocate Marian Merritt on "cyberbullying," and what parents can do to help prevent it from happening to their children.

http://notes.2view.org/home

Create (flickr like) Notes for any image.

http://www.mainada.net/comics/

Draw a Comic Strip

http://www.click2map.com/

Click2Map is the easiest way to build and share your Google Maps online.

http://www.bubbleply.com/default.aspx

Add Bubbles to any video sharing site like Youtube, Google Video. Post it anywhere you wish! Great for adding translations and teachable moments.

http://www.qoolsqool.com/

Selected Educational Resources

http://www.tteach.com/

School 2.0. Where the world educates each other and where you learn what you want to learn. Teachers earn a share of advertising revenue & learners create their own schools of knowledge.

http://www.esnips.com/

Got stuff to share? Give it a home on eSnips and expect the unexpected!

http://planyp.us/plans

Welcome to Planypus, the place to make plans with your friends without the hassle of phone calls and emails! Make a plan, let your friends fill in the details, and get notified when it's all been decided!

http://www.benjaminstrahs.com/itube.php

http://www.saveyoutube.com/

Save and download YouTube videos

http://www.teachinghacks.com/2007/03/31/remixing-tools-for-educators

I’m compiling a list of third party tools that educators can use in conjunction with video sharing sites like Youtube for future workshop. I would appreciate it if you shared any other video remixing tools that you have used.

Adding Subtitles

http://www.overstream.net/ - Overstream
http://mojiti.com/ - Mojiti

Enhancing Videos

http://www.bubbleply.com/ - BubblePly (Adds pop-up bubbles on top of videos with hyperlinks)
http://www.gotuit.com/scenemaker/index.html (Lets you bookmark or “deep tag” specific scenes within an online video)
UPDATE: http://www.cuts.com/ Cuts - Add captions, skips and loops.

Downloading YouTube A Few of Many Tools

http://keepvid.com/ - KeepVid
http://www.benjaminstrahs.com/itube.php - Ares Tube
http://www.saveyoutube.com/ - Save You Tube
http://zamzar.com/ - ZamZar
http://www.oyoom.com/ - OYOOM

Online File Conversion

http://mux.am/ - mux video converter

Presentation Tools

http://scrapblog.com/preview/- Scrapblog allows YouTube Video Embedding

---Related Articles at Teaching Hacks.com:

tteach

More Comic Generators

Another Toon

Scrapblog for Media Rich Presentations

You Can Toondoo

Toondoo

http://www.feedity.com/

Create an RSS feed for a page that doesn't have one.

http://www.teachinghacks.com/2007/03/31/more-comic-generators/

After having so much fun with toondoo I thought I would see what other comic makers were out there.. I have used Gnomz.com and the Read-Write-Think Comic Creator. On my desktop I use Planetwide Games Comic Book Creator, and if I had a Mac I would use Comic Life.

Here are a few of the better ones that I found. Toondoo still ranks at the top of the online apps, but Comic Life has it made for offline comic creating.

http://stripgenerator.com/
http://www.stripcreator.com/
http://www.fabrica.it/flipbook/index.php

I also found Comics @ Mainada. This site is very much in beta, but it was a neat experiment of repurposing a comic creator. When I realized I would have to freehand draw the comics with my mouse, I thought it would be better to draw out a few words.

Here is what I created, the direct link is http://www.mainada.net/comics/show_strip/2372.

---Related Articles at Teaching Hacks.com:

Scrapblog for Media Rich Presentations

tteach

Remixing Tools For Educators Using Video Sharing Sites

Another Toon

You Can Toondoo

Toondoo