Weebly for Education is website builder. It's "drag & drop" feature makes is super easy for anyone to create a professional looking website. This web-hosting servie offers a range of pricing options. The FREE plan include all the basic and necessary features. Premium plan pricing starts at $4. (I'm not sure what extras those plans include because I have only used the free. New users will not have to install anything onto, or upgrade, their computer. The video below gives a very brief, but clear description of how to start a Weebly site of your own.
I have been using Weebly for about a year now. The first time was to add grade level information to my school's website. It was very easy for me to navigate and figure out. I happily volunteered to continue to update my grade level's page because of how easy and fun it was. I next used Weebly to crete "presentations" for my graduate courses. Two of those presentations were group presentations. Everyone in the group was able to contribute and update the site in real time. I thought it was really cool to put together a group presentation without meeting face-to-face with my group. Everyone contributed. I have included the URL to one of the sites I helped to create below.
So far, I have no complaints with the Weebly for Education website builder. It is so easy to use . . . and it's FREE! Everything you need to create a website is in one place, which takes away any guesswork and frustration.
Here are some ways that you could tailor a Weebly site specifically to your classroom:
Create a classroom website
create student e-portfolios
presentations for projects
I hope that you found this blog post useful and that I have convinced you to start creating a classroom website of your own!
Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.
My first experience with Wordle started out easy enough, but got quite tricky (for me) when I tried to add my image to another blog. It took me several tries and some time to take the image from the Wordle site to the blog site. It wasn't a simple cut and paste. I had to take a screenshot, then crop the image, then save it to my computer, and then I could finally upload it to the blog post. A few extra steps, but think it will be okay once you get used to them.
Another critique is that you cannot choose the form of the words that you want. For example, you cannot format the words into a specific shape. The words will be formatted into whatever shapes are programmed onto the site. (I believe there is a site that can do that--Tagxedo.) But, you can change the colors and the font of your Wordle image.
Also, all images are saved to the public gallery. This means anyone and everyone will be able to use them. (So be sure not to include any personal or identifying information onto the Wordle generator.) This means users can conduct a search for a Worlde instead of creating one. There are many Wordle images to choose from--in many different languages.
As with everything else, we should all be cautious of what we do and see on the Internet. According to Wordle's creator, the Wordle homepage will never feature images or links that are inappropriate for classroom use. I recommend looking at the FAQ page before using Wordle in your classroom. Here is the link: http://www.wordle.net/faq#license.
I will end on a positive note . . . using Wordle is FREE. Considering that, I suppose I really have no complaints, after all.
http://www.blogger.com Blogger is a free and very user-friendly tool for creating blogs. The site is hosted by Google at the subdomain blogspot.com. Users require a Google account. Signing up is easy. Once your account is activated, you can get started on setting up your blog. In case you don't know what a blog is . . .
Definition of blog (n)
Bing Dictionary
blog
[ blog ]
diary on Web site: a frequently updated personal journal chronicling links at a Web site, intended for public viewing
have weblog: to create or run a weblog
As it turns out, the word "blog" is derived the the words "web log."
Getting started is quite easy. Watch this short tutorial.
Users can create more than one blog, all on the same Google account. I'm still a newbie, so I'm still learning about how to personalize my blog using templates from other sites. I've also learned that you could add "widgets," which are basically badges or icons, that will connect readers to other sites or online applications. So far, my experience using Blogger has been a positive one. The posting page is set up very similar to creating a Word document. There are icons and tabs that give you the option to modify font, add images, weblinks, lables, and more. It didn't take long at all for me to figure it out. Like other technology tools, the more you use it, the better you get at using it. I wish there were more options for font style, though. Also, I read somewhere that users cannot delete comments made by other people. I'm not sure about this, as no one has commented on my blog yet. If that is the case, the downside to that is not being able to delete negative, offensive, or obscene comments. I have also not noticed a "flag" feature for such cases. That is something I will keep looking in to. I want to wrap up by saying that blogging is a great way to get students engaged in classroom discussions--especially students who don't like to speak in front of others. A class blog would give kids an alternative to the traditional face-to-face meetings. It would also give them the opportunity to practice their writing and reading skills. One last thought . . . it would give them the opportunity to connect with other students all over the world. So, give it a try and get started. Happy blogging!
Hafa adai! This blog will be dedicated to reviews of technology tools and resources for educators. I am currently teaching first grade, so most of the tools I select will be geared toward the elementary level. I hope you find my reviews informative and helpful. Thank you for stopping by!
