Technology Tidbits
Three Great Items Worth Exploring
Blendspace (Formerly Edcanvas)
This was named a 2013 Best Website for Teaching and Learning by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL). AASL explains, "Edcanvas is a connected space where students and adults can organize, present and share information. Gather, annotate and share presentations easily by dragging and dropping images, movies, maps, audio and text and embedding hyperlinks onto a blank canvas. Use multiple frames on each canvas to pre-teach a topic, provide 1:1 and differentiated instruction, and share pathfinders and explore connections. Use your own content or searching on the Internet, without leaving the Edcanvas page to create collaborative projects. Older elementary and secondary students can create collaborative projects by copying individual canvases to make a complete dynamic canvas."
Litpick
Litpick is another AASL Best Website. They explain "LitPick provides free electronic books to students in grades 4-12. Students take on the role of a book critic, reading books, developing and posting reviews anonymously on the LitPick site where other students can read them." This source can also be used to provide free e-books to students to showcase student book reviews.
Youngzine is yet another AASL top website for Teaching and Learning. AASL explains "Youngzine is a child-centered website that provides articles, images, and videos about world news, science and technology, society and arts, movies, and books. School-age children are encouraged to respond to the content and may submit articles, short stories and book reviews. All content is reviewed by Youngzine’s editors and updated every two weeks. Grades K-8." This would be a wonderful way to incorporate age appropriate informational text into the classroom.