cool+tech+tools

Audacity – free software you can download and use just like a tape-recorder. Great for projects that require interviewing or sound files. Students can also use it to edit, layer, or remove background noise from their own audio tracks. Even better, they can save the files as MP3 files and export them to their iPods! http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Blogger - Students can use a variety of pre-made templates to create their own blogs for free. These blogs support the uploading of media-based content [|http://www.blogger.com] and can be used as learning logs.

Bloglines - After creating a free account, students can use this service to keep track of the webpages to which they have "subscribed" (for free) using RSS technology [|http://www.bloglines.com] Teachers can "subscribe" to their students' blogs and easily keep track of who has posted new content.

Brochure Creator - Design brochures and flyers by selecting themes and templates, editing the text, adding your own images, and printing. http://www.mybrochuremaker.com/brochure-creator-fun.html

BubblePLY - Allows you to add speech and thought bubbles to any online video.

Bubbleshare - Allows you to edit audio and images online for free [|http://www.bubbleshare.com]

Bubbl.us - Easy-to-use, online graphic organizer that is shareable. http://www.bubbl.us/

Chat Creator - Lets you add a chat window to your site

ClassTools - Provides flash-based templates for the creation of graphic organizers, puzzles, and worksheets http://www.classtools.net/

Clipmarks - Allows you to "clip" images, text, and other pieces of websites into your own personal "archive" and to tag and vote on the items that others have clipped. http://www.clipmarks.com/ ClustrMaps - Lets you add a cluster map that shows the geographical locations of all the visitors to your site - [|http://www.clustrmaps.com]

Comeeko - Free, well-designed software that lets you create comic strips and save them for others to view. - [|http://www.comeeko.com]

Create Your Scenario - Darling tool that lets elementary students select characters, type lines for each one, save their work, and generate a playscript. http://www.kids-space.org/HPT/1a/11a.html Cmap - Free, online collaborative concept mapping that allows you to attach documents and photos and include hyperlinks. http://cmap.ihmc.us/

De.licio.us - This free social bookmarking site allows you to create an annotated list of online bookmarks to your favorite websites and to share them with friends. Great for groups who are trying to keep track of what they have each discovered in researching their topics. [|http://del.icio.us]

Dumpr - This free online suite of tools allows you to edit your Flickr photos in order to turn them into coloring book images (VERY COOL), make them look old, turn them into globes, or add reflections. You can then save them to your Flickr account. (Still in beta) [|http://www.dumpr.net]

Evite - This site allows you to design custom invitations for various kinds of events, draft a guest list, send the invitations, and track the responses automatically. You can choose from pre-made themes and templates, or create your own.

FDs Flickr Toys - Some FUN things you can do to Flickr photos (such as create CD covers, magazine covers, mosaics, trading cards, etc.) that would make super assignments. http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/

Five Thousand Resources to do Just About Anything Online - Metalist that compiles all the individual collections of lists re: various applications and tools from Mashable (Social Networking News blog) into one giant list.

Flickr - Allows you to create libraries of images that you can share with others and is a particularly good place to "store" a shared collection of photos for a group. [|http://www.flickr.com]

FoxIt - Free PDF reader that allows users to annotate PDFs via highlighting, text, or drawing tools, to fill out forms and save them, to view PDFs as text, etc. Also has a multi-language interface, self-upgrade, on-demand download, and javascript support.

Generator Blog - A fantastic blog that contains links to all sorts of free, interesting generators (such as cereal boxes, insurance cards, money, etc.) that would be great tools for students to use in creating creative advertising campaigns

Giveaway of the Day - Fully functional, commercial software and tools that can be downloaded for free (one item each day with restricted licenses). Read the "About" section for more information. RSS feed and e-mail subscription notifications available. http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/

Gliffy - An online application that allows you to create diagrams and share them with others. [|http://www.gliffy.com]

Go2Web2.0 Directory - A handy directory of Web 2.0 services

Google Alerts – Lets you have Google notify you via an e-mail message when anything is posted on the web on the topic of your choice http://www.google.com/alerts/

Google Books – Lets you search the full text of lots of different books [|http://books.google.com]

Google Docs - Free, online spreadsheet and word processor like Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word that lets multiple users on different computers edit a document simultaneously and save it online. Great for collaborative authoring among various group members. Combine this with Skype for voice features too! [|http://docs.google.com]

Google Notebook – Lets you copy snippets from online articles, or create your own running notebook on the topics of your choice online. The notebooks can be kept private or shared, making them a great place for students to take notes, keep track of sources, and know where their peers have already looked. http://www.google.com/gn

Google Reader - After creating a free account, students can use this service to keep track of the webpages to which they have "subscribed" (for free and very easily) using RSS technology. Teachers can "subscribe" to their students' blogs and easily keep track of who has posted new content. http://www.google.com/reader

Google Scholar – Returns only scholarly articles and books, tells you how many people have cited them, and links you to related articles [|http://scholar.google.com]

GoToQuiz.com - Allows you to create free quizzes, polls, and surveys that you can use on your blog, MySpace, etc. http://www.gotoquiz.com/

Jumpcut - Allows you to edit digital video for free online. Great for students who don't have access to anything but the internet at home! [|http://www.jumpcut.com]

Keep Toolkit - A free, online project planning template that allows students to input images, text, and video into different "boxes" to create a shareable "project portfolio." [|http://www.cfkeep.org]

Media Convert - A free, slick little online tool that will let you identify a media file on your desktop or at a particular URL and convert it to the format of your choice simply by filling in a simple form. No registration required.[|http://media-convert.com/convert/]

Meebo - Lets you manage chat/IM from multiple services all in one window. Also lets you create a customizable chat widget to add to your blog.

Meeting Wizard - A free, online tool that allows you to negotiate a date for an event, send out invitations, collect responses, and send reminders. . . all automatically!

Motivator - Create your own motivational posters for free with a digital photo and a few clicks. Download them, e-mail them, print them, or upload them to Flickr. You can also order print copies. http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/motivator.php

Pandora - Type in your favorite artists and Pandora will create "stations" of streaming music that is similar to the work of the artists you have selected, based on research from the Music Genome Project. You can create up to 100 stations for free (registration required)! [|http://www.pandora.com]

Picnik - Absolutely fabulous, free, easy-to-use, extremely functional, online image editing software. Lets you rotate, crop, color, or edit photos and will soon offer special effects. Interfaces very well with Flicker. (Still in beta) http://www.picnik.com/app/

Pikipimp - A free, online site that lets you upload pictures, add all sorts of accessories and speech bubbles to them, then save them. The site will generate a URL where the pictures can be viewed, as well as code for your webpage. [|http://www.pikipimp.com]

Protopage - Ever wonder what a Web 2.0 webpage will look like? Well, here's the answer! Register for free to get your own page, then customize the content by clicking on any of the tabs and altering their contents. Make as much as you like public or private. Like someone else's content? Simply click import and watch it all get added to your page!

Quickmaps - Allows you to pinpoint locations on a Google map, title and annotate the map, draw on the map, save all your annotations, and then generates a code you can embed into your blog or website to display the map. http://www.quikmaps.com/

Quintura - A very cool search engine that returns the results visually. Mouse over one of the tag words to see additional layers of results. [|http://www.quintura.com] See the new site for kids here: http://kids.quintura.com/

Scrapblog - Combines the purposes and multimedia features of blogging with the visual affordances of scrapbooking. Comes with built-in templates and can accommodate music and video too [|http://www.scrapblog.com]

Scribd - Allows you to upload documents to share with others http://www.scribd.com/ SearchCrystal - PHENOMENAL tool (still in beta) that taps the power of chunking, comparisons, concept maps, search, AND visual thinking to let you "compare searches, remix, and share!" Can be customized and embedded in your own blog, Facebook, or website.

Similicio.us - Beautiful, simple site. Type in a URL and this little application returns similar sites culled from people's del.icio.us tags. Very ingenious.

Singshot - American Idol meets You Tube in a Web 2.0 sort of way. . . record and upload songs just like you might do with photos to Flickr. People can vote on them, etc. [|http://www.singshot.com/index.html]

Slide.com - Use premade themes to create slideshows from your photos that you can embed in your blog or website. [|http://www.slide.com]

Snap - Gives you visual previews of the websites that appear in your search results. [|http://www.snap.com]

Skype – Free software that allows you to talk to anyone in the world (up to 4 people at once) through your computer for free with a cheap headset mic (like the telemarketers wear) as long as the other person also has the software. Great for group conversations about projects. You can also call landlines or cell phones, but there is a charge for that [|http://www.skype.com]

Swicki - Free software that allows you to create a search engine on your site that will evolve the results over time to better serve users based on their click patterns. [|http://swickihome.eurekster.com/faqs.htm]

Swivel - Lets you explore, compare, and share data

The Amazing You Tube Tools Collection - A collection of tools to help those interested in using/publishing materials to You Tube.

Tubes - Allows users to drag and drop content (audio files, bookmarks, documents, e-mail contact lists, spreadsheets, videos) into a "tube" that can then be accessed by all those who have been invited to share it. Invitees can also upload content to the tube, making project collaboration easier. The latest versions of content in the tube synch up when the user is online. Click on the Download link to see a 30-second demo.

VoiceThread - Easy way to connect photos and voices--particularly useful for emphasizing language without ignoring visual (in FL classes, for example). Would also be great for capturing family history.

Webnote Wiki - Allows users to collaboratively take color-coded notes in a space they create and organize them graphically. People can subscribe to your RSS feed.

Websites as Graphs - Lets you visualize the content of a website (in terms of images, tables, text, etc.) graphically. Useful for evaluating websites in terms of content and design issues.

Wikispaces - Allows you to set up collaborative work spaces where multiple people can collaborate. Allows uploading of documents, files, images, and multimedia in addition to basic text, and includes discussion boards for every page, editing histories, revert options, RSS subscriptions, and the ability to review recent changes. [|http://www.wikispaces.com]

Yugma - Free Web 2.0 videoconferencing software. (Read more about Tim Lauer's experiences with it here: [|http://edu.blogs.com/edublogs/2007/02/yugma_free_web_.html]) [|https://www.yugma.com/index.php]