3 Summaries from Technology-Related Blogs

1^st Blog Review:

Mrs. Smoke's Blog 

Mrs. Smoke’s  “Making Teachers Nerdy” blog has a great entry on May 14, 2009 called “Best Sites to Find Public Domain Images and Sounds for Student Projects.”  Here is a summary (page 1):

• Since a growing number of teachers publish their students’ work through digital storytelling, podcasting, wikis, and blogs, it is important that educators and their students follow the copyright and fair use guidelines. 
• This blog includes a very helpful list of websites where teachers can find free images and sounds for student projects.
• Image Sites (here are 4 of her 9 suggestions): Artistic images for backgrounds @ www.4freephotos, Library of Congress photos @ www.loc.gov/pictures, Science diagrams, drawings, and photos @ www.photolib.noaa.gov/search.html, her favorite public domain image site @ www.photos8.com.
• Sounds (here are 3 of her 4 public domain suggestions):  free mp3 classical music @ http://www.musopen.com/music.php, vintage recordings @ http://www.publicdomain4u.com, and background music for video & podcast projects at http://www.soundjay.com/.

 2^nd Blog Review:

Tech Tip of the Week 

Tammy Worcester’s “Tech Tip of the Week” blog has an informative entry called “Tip 97 – Google Search by Reading Level” on Jan. 20, 2011.  Here is a summary (page 1):

·        A new feature in Google gives the ability to find books by reading level.

·        Directions:

                        1.   www.google.com,

                        2.  “Advanced Search”

                        3.  Desired keyword(s)

                        4.  Use the “Reading Level” pull-down menu to choose from 3 reading levels.

                        5.  Click “Advanced Search” button at bottom right.

                        6.  Results will show only books within desired reading level.

                        7.  Click links beside bar graph to switch to different reading level.

3^rd Blog Review:

Students Ready for the Future 

On Nov. 1, 2009, Jonelle Gardner’s blog entitled “Students Ready for the Future: Surffers” has a great entry on Digital Storytelling which she borrows from creator Jennifer Carrie Dorman’s video.  Here is a summary (page 1):

• Digital storytelling adds multimedia elements of voice, imagery, and music to create a visual story.
• Many examples are shown, as well as scaffolding ideas.
• Steps are presented and resources are listed
• Public sites such as Calisphere and istockphoto.com are recommended
• Rubrics for digital stories website: www.digitales.us/evaluating/scoring?guide.php
• Software recommendations: imovie, moviemaker, Microsoft PhotoStory
• Web 2.0 storytelling applications: Storytelling 2.0
• Publishing Stories at: moonk.com, schooltube.com, teachertube.com.
• More help available at http://jdorman.wikispaces.com/digitalstorytelling

References

Gardner, Jonelle. (2009, Nov. 1). Igniting Student Creativity through Digital Storytelling. Message posted to http://ghesblog.blogspot.com

Smoke. Mrs. (2009, May 14). Best Sites to Find Public Domain Images and Sounds for Student Projects. Message posted to http://mrssmoke.onsugar.com

Worcester, Tammy. (2011, January 20).  Tip 97: Google Search by Reading Level. Message posted to http://www.tammyworcester.com/TipOfWeek/TammyWTechTipOfWeek/Entries

 

**DISCLAIMER: This blog is an assignment for the EDT 655 course at National University. It is not a real blog.