Geogebra - A Tool For All Math Teachers

I have been playing with Geogebra for several hours. It is a wonderful math applet that applies to algebra, geometry, precalculus, and calculus. The wonderful part about Geogebra is that no download is required to use the program. This means that Geogebra can be used anywhere there is an internet connection. There are some great resources on how to learn to use Geogebra within the geogebra wiki and at Math 247.


Geogebra Wiki contains some ready to use activities created by math teachers. Click on the topic that your class is studying and try one of them out. You do not have to be good at geogebra to use these activities. Most of them contain directions right on the activity so that they can be used by students with no knowledge of geogebra.

If you want a better understanding of how geogebra works and would like to create activities for your own class, start at Math 247. There are loads of instructional materials for the teacher, beginning witht the basics.



Do you remember working a problem in Pre-Cal or Calculus in which there is a boat offshore at point S and the occupant needs to get to point Q by a combination of rowing and walking? At what point R should the occupant land his boat in order to get to point Q in the least possible time? Students have a very difficult time with this one. Click on the following link for a great mathcast on the boat landing problem at math 247. The teacher takes you step by step through the problem, completely illustrated by geogebra. Not only is it a great solution, but you will pick up a lot of techniques to become more adept at geogebra.



Below is a very simple geogebra sketch of a parabola. Move the sliders to see the the effects on the graph of f(x) = ax^2+c when the values of a and c are changed. I plan to use this sketch in my algebra class when we begin quadratics.


I found other wonderful resources on Geogebra besides those mentioned above. See Kate Nowak's post on triangle centers and embedding a geogreba sketch into a blog. See Mr. L's Math on geogebra projects with parabolas.

Do you use Geogebra for demonstrations or do you have students construct sketches? Let me know in the comment section.

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Sorry, the GeoGebra Applet could not be started. Please make sure that Java 1.4.2 (or later) is installed and active in your browser (Click here to install Java now)

Five Ways to Use Google Forms in the Classroom

Google Forms is such a useful tool. Listed below are all the different ways Google Forms can be used by the classroom teacher.

1. Use a Google Form to collect parent and student information such as email addresses, phone numbers, and other general information. The hardest part is deciding what information you want to collect. After that it just takes a few minutes to create the form. Once created, copy the link to the form and post it on your website. Keep in mind how parents and students might respond to each of your questions. For example, when you request a name, you might want to do two separate questions, one for the first name and one for the last name. Otherwise, you might not be able to easily sort alphabetically later.

2. Use a Google Form to collect links from student of projects they have done online. This makes it so easy for grading later. I have used a google form to collect the URLs for student created animotos, glogs, toondoos, and prezi presentations. This cuts down on printing and organizes all of my student work in one spreadsheet. I simply have to click through the spreadsheet for class presentations or for grading.

3. Use a Google Form to survey your students. Perhaps you would like to know who they would like to work with when you are about to change groups. Maybe you want their opinion on a certain activity.

4. Use a Google Form to give a quiz. Write a few questions, post the link to your website and ask students to take a quiz. Be sure to take the quiz first so that the first line of your spreadsheet contains the answers. If your quiz is multiple choice, make it self grading. Click here to see a screencast on how to create a quiz that is self grading. For more information on self grading quizzes, check out Wes Fryer's blog Moving at the Speed of Creativity.

5. Use a Google Form as a sign up sheet for various things. For example, my daughter's band director asks students what kind of sandwich they want before the game via a google form.

Create a Quiz at Mystudiyo

Want to create a quick quiz that your students can access online? It is pretty simple to do at at mystudiyo. All you have to do is sign up for an account, select the quiz style you want and type in your questions. You can also upload upload images to go with your questions. See below for a five question geometry quiz on right triangles. Some of the questions are pretty tricky. Try it out, responses are anonymous.

Let's Get Zesty With Prezi

Debbie and I are conducting a workshop on Prezi at the Sam Houston State Technology Conference on Saturday, October 23, 2009. Our presentation is in the form of a prezi and is embedded below. Included are snapshots and links of several student created Prezis. Prezi is a non-linear presentation tool that is so much better than PowerPoint. It can be used with virtually any subject at any grade level. We have found that students find prezis much more interesting to watch than traditional slide shows. They also feel that prezi presentations are both easy and fun to use. Both of us have had very positive experiences using Prezi with our students.


Conference participants please click on this link to share your Prezi with the group.

Technology In A Science Class

I wanted to share some ideas that I have used in both my Chemistry and Biology classes integrating technology with the WOW carts. To begin, I must tell you a little about me and my perspective with technology. I love using technology and learning new applications. I would spend hours working with various programs learning what they could offer me and my students. I wanted to share as much as I could with my students but was limited by computer availability and more importantly I was limited by my lack of imagination on how to implement the technology in a meaningful way in a science classroom. I have since been able to use certain Web 2.0 applications in my class to differentiate and support my students. In the beginning of the school year when we were reviewing safety in the science laboratory I assigned students to create a safety cartoon using ToonDoo. This was a modification on an existing assignment where the students would create paper safety cartoons.

Another program I have had success with is Wallwisher.
My biology students created walls of vocabulary terms for review of our cell unit. They were instructed to provide a description of the various organelles and include a picture for each term. I then borrowed Jill's great idea, I had the students submit a Google Form with their wall address to turn in the assignment. Because it timestamps the submission I was able to determine if the student was on time.

If you decide to use wallwisher make sure the students choose that anyone can view their wall but only they can add sticky notes. I would also suggest that you tell them not to overlap their sticky notes. They can extend below the viewable space on their page to add more. Make sure they stay within the width of the computer screen. This allowed me to print their virtual walls to post on my walls of our classroom. I

BookBox - Display Your Favorite Books

BookBox is an easy way to display covers of your favorite books in your blog or webpage. This might be a useful tool for teachers to advertise required reading. Students might use it to show the bookcover when writing book reports for their classroom blog or wiki.

BookBox is very simple to use. All it requires is the title, author, or ISBN number of the desired book. I entered four of my favorite titles for my classroom reading, created a password, and clicked on save and embed. The site generated an embed code for me to copy and paste onto my blog.

My BookBox is located below. If you click on one of the books, it will take you to its Amazon page. This might be convenient in that it gives the student or parent more information on the book as well as pricing information. It is also good for Amazon. The creator of the site indicated that plans were in place to offer additional book stores in the future.

LIve Binder - An Online Notebook for Teachers and Students

Like most teachers my lesson plans are located in a three-ring binder. I have hard copies of any electronic documents, presentations and notes located in this binder. I also have a flash drive that contains all of my electronic items. Bookmarks of relevant sites to my curriculum are saved in Google Bookmarks as favorites. I have always wished that I could keep all of these nice and organized in one place. Live Binder is the answer to this wish.

Live Binder allows you to add text, upload files, and upload links to an online notebook. There are options to share the notebook by email or by embedding it on a blog or webpage. I found it to be pretty easy to create a notebook. It took me a while to gather all of my materials that I wanted to place in the book. The sample notebook that I created below is an AP Statistics unit that is a work in progress. I can easily update it with new items or remove outdated items that I no longer need. The link will always find the most current version.

Live Binder is still in beta and I hope that they add a few more features. I would like to be able to copy and paste pictures from my computer to illustrate some of my lessons. Pictures can be uploaded, but won't appear until they are dowloaded. Currently, pictures from Flicker can be added to illustrate the text. I would also like for there to be an option to turn my documents into ipaper. I could have gotten around this by uploading my documents to Scribd then uploading that link to my Binder. However, I was in a hurry and did not take the time to do this.

I see LiveBinder as a valuable tool for teachers. They can use it for personal use to keep track of their lesson plans as I did in my sample. A department could also display common items to all teachers to embed in their webpage for students and parents to access. The science teachers at McCullough Junior High School have created a Live Binder for their common science forms, links, and assignments. It is located at www.livebinders.com/edit?id=2440 This binder is private and requires an access code. The access code was given to students and is on the science teachers' websites. However, I will not list it here to maintain their privacy. It is nice to have the privacy option available for the content in Live Binder. My sample is public so that you can view it. There are also several other public notebooks at the Live Binder site. Hopefully, you will find this application useful for your classroom.

AP Statistics - Planning a Study

Presentation Tools - Technology Session IV

A collaboration between Jill Malpass and Debbie Shepard

Before we begin please access the presentation tools wiki by clicking here. This page includes other types of presentation tools that you may find interesting and want to learn more about on your own or later this year.

Five Helpful Tools for the Math Classroom

I am always on the lookout for really cool internet applications that I can use in math. If you know of others, please comment.

Equation Editor

You might notice that I have added an equation editor to the sidebar of my blog. Click on the format of the equation needed, make a few modifications and you have a very nice looking math equation. Normally, I use MathType on my own computer with MS Word. However, MathType is not free and not available in the cloud. Thus, when working on internet based computers, other options have to be utilized. I wouldn't want to have to type a whole worksheet using this gadget, but it isn't bad for one or two equations to use in a presentation.

Flash Cards

I am a big fan of Quizlet for vocabulary flash cards. I previously wrote about quizlet here. Quizlet is great for learning vocabulary. It is wonderful for differentiating instruction with minimal effort on the part of the teacher. This summer students in a PSAT Prep class typed in 16 word lists with definitions of 25 words each in under an hour. Afterward, they were instructed to concentrate on learning the first list. It was fun to watch students make their choice on how to learn. Some of them reviewed the flash cards electronically. Many of them played one of the two games available on quizlet. Several others practiced the words by taking a quizlet generated test. A few chose to learn the old fashioned way by creating index cards for their words or by studying the list on paper.

Students often are required to memorize many formulas in math as well as trigonometric identities. I wasn't able to figure out how to get quizlet to handle a math formula. Then I discovered another flashcard application called Cobo Cards that uses Tex to make beautiful flash cards with equations. Once I learned how to copy and paste the Tex commands into Cobo Cards, writing equations was a breeze. Click here to see my set of trigonometric identity cards.

Graphs

Math teachers use many graphs on their tests and worksheets. Students, too, need to be able to use internet based graphing options if they are to create presentations. My twitter friend @JackieB introduced me to Graphsketch shown at the left.



Another option for creating graphs would be to utilize the computational knowledge engine at WolframAlpha. I typed in an expression, then used Photo Filtre to copy it and save as a jpeg. It does not have the grid lines like graphsketch, but it is very well done.




Animoto

I found the animoto embedded below at http://teachingcollegemath.com/?p=654. I thought it was great and plan to show it to my students once school starts. Hopefully, this will help them understand the concept of a function. Another use for math animotos might be to illustrate a theorem or develop a proof in geometry. Students could create an animoto illustrating the steps of solving an equation. The site mentioned above describes the method for creating the function animoto using PowerPoint slides. I think Google Doc Presentation slides could easily be substituted. Each slide would need to be saved as a jpeg and uploaded to animoto.






Games

One of the best sites for math games is coolmath.com. Here you will find all kinds of games for all levels, elementary to secondary. The games are interactive and just plain fun. Be prepared to lose a few hours while exploring this site.

I hope that you will find these tools useful as well. Please leave me a comment regarding your favorite internet math tool.

Wikis - TWHS Technology Session III

A collaborative presentation by Debbie Shepard and Jill Malpass

Differentiate Instruction with Technology - Presentation with Prezi

Recently, Amy Mayer wrote a post about what an amazing tool Prezi is for education. The community manager of Prezi contacted her to see if she would be interested in testing an embed feature, which will be available shortly. They kindly allowed me to test it as well.

Embedded below is a prezi presentation of a brief description of Web 2.0 tools that would be helpful to teachers who are just getting started integrating technology into their lesson plans. It is organized by study tools, presentation tools, audio tools, and teacher tools.

Truly, I created this Prezi so that I could improve my own prezi skills. In my opinion Prezi is one of the most incredible presentation tools available. Prezi's showcase contains several examples that I thought were very creative. There is one using rings to create a giant Venn diagram about books. There is a really cool religious one in which verses from Psalm 33 of the Bible have been placed into framed pictures that sit on a shelf. The one that interested me most featured a photo that was used as a background to incorporate the presentation. This is what I wanted to try. I chose a picture, created a presentation about technology, and used their newest embedding feature.

Thank you Prezi developers. Now, I can't wait to try your next new feature!
          
 

No Frills Podcasting & Other Audio Tools

by Debbie Shepard

Collect and Organize Online Videos

Have you ever wanted to keep track of all your online videos in one place? Vodpod allows you to collect videos found on the web in one convenient place. The site makes it easy to organize videos used to support your curriculum. When you are ready to show the video, go to your vodpod account and select it. Create an account at vodpod and start collecting. See my collection here.

Summer Technology Session - Classroom Blogging

Computational Knowledge Engine - Wolfram Alpha

WolframAlpha is really cool! Enter a date and the site will reveal all kinds of facts about that date. Enter a question: What is the meaning of life? It gives you the answer as revealed in the movie Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (42). Enter a math formula. Wolfram Alpha will graph it and provide the derivative, integral and other interesting math facts about it. Enter a city. Wolfram Alpha will report data about that city. Enter a name. Find out the history and popularity of that name.

Watch the introduction video for other questions Wolfram Alpha can answer.

I entered http://www.conroeisd.net/ and received the following information about the website.

Creating Slide Shows Using Online Applications

My previous post involved sharing slide shows that have already been created. What if we want to create one with the WOW computers? Open Office is available on the computers, but there are other online options as well. Recently, Jose Picardo, a modern languages teacher at Nottingham High School posted information on his blog regarding five different applications for creating presentations. The applications he reviewed are Empressr, Google Docs, Prezi, Slide Rocket, and Zoho Show. At his site, he lists the pros and cons for each program. There are two obvious advantages to using any of these applications. One is that the presentation is accessible from any computer. The other is that presentations can be created collaboratively. Click here to view the Box of Tricks post.

Sharing Presentations Online

Slideshare is an easy way for teachers to post their PowerPoint, OpenOffice, and Pdf presentations online for students to access. Simply upload presentations at http://www.slideshare.net/ Presentations may be made public for everyone to view or private for just a few viewers. Share presentations with others either by copying a link or embedding the presentation in a blog or website. Assign tags for organizing and to facilitating a search for content. Slideshare also keeps statistics on how often the presentation is viewed. This gives the teacher information on whether or not the presentations are actually viewed. Above right is a snapshot of a slide show with information on the number of views and the tags that apply to the content of the presentation.

View the presentation below for more information on using slideshare.

SlideShare Quick Tour - Summary of features & capabilities

View more OpenOffice presentations from Amit Ranjan.

Classroom Blogging

Last week I started a classroom blog for my AP Statistics classes. I can tell that I am really going to enjoy using a blog with my classes. I wanted to start using more technology with my students, but didn't really know where to start. It was overwhelming to consider all of the technological choices. Plus, I am on a deadline. My students need to be ready to take the AP Exam the first week of May. I didn't have time to waste.

A blog seemed ideal because I could use all of the curricular material that I have currently. I started by retyping a quiz I usually use to review students before the test into a Google form that could be embedded into my blog. I then used the WOW cart of laptops for the students to complete the form in pairs. For the next day I posted two problems from assigned homework for the students to solve by posting a comment. In class I used the blog when going over the homework to review the comments that were posted. My most recent post is a set of Quizlet flashcards for them to use to review terms relating to our current topic of study.

My Weblog has become an interactive part of my instruction. I can post announcements, homework problems, review materials, a countdown gadget to the AP Exam, photos of my class, and my favorite books that relate to statistics. Of course I could do some of this at my school website, but a blog is incredibly easier. Plus, students wouldn't be able to comment on my school website. The best part is that when the school year is over, I am going to have a record of my course organized with labels for easy reference.

Will Richardson provided a list of classroom uses of weblogs in his book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. A few of his suggestions are listed below:

• Provide examples of classwork, vocabulary activities, or grammar games.


• Provide online readings for your students to read and react to.


• Invite student comments or postings on issues in order to give them a writing voice.


• Publish examples of good student writing done in class.


• Showcase student art, poetry, and creative stories.


• Create an online book club.


• Build a class newsletter, using student written articles and photos they take.


• Post tasks to carry out project based learning tasks with students.


• Post prompts for writing.

View the video Blogs in Plain English embedded below for more information on blogging.

Kindle for iPhone

You may have heard of Amazon's Kindle, which is a wireless reading device that retails for $359. It is gaining in popularity because it is so lightweight and can store 1500 books. The Kindle didn't appeal to me at first because of the initial expense and because the books that I read most often come from the library. The only books I tend to buy are those that I use as resources in my classroom.

I recently discovered that the iPhone has a FREE Kindle application. In addition, there are numerous books available from Amazon for the Kindle that are free. Amazon also offers the option to read a sample of any book before you buy it. I downloaded the app and researched the Kindle book offerings on Amazon. All of the classics that are on high school reading lists such as Jane Eyre and The Scarlett Letter are available free of charge. Most of the other books are $9.99 or less. Plus, there are several promotional books by famous authors that Amazon makes available for free. I have downloaded several of these free books as well as sample chapters of books I am interested in reading.

I have to admit reading on the iphone is very pleasant. I love the flexibility of being able to read while standing in line or waiting for my daughter. The lighting in the background is bright enough to read in the dark, yet very comfortable on the eyes. It is so easy to hold the phone while reading and flip pages with a finger. The only thing that is keeping me from reading exclusively on the iPhone is the price of the books. I find it difficult to justify purchasing a book when I can check it out free from the library. However, I do plan to buy some books for my iPhone this summer when I travel. No longer will I be limited by the number of books my luggage will hold.

Google, Moodle, Wikis, and Blogs

Are you interested in learning more about Google, Moodle, Wikis, and Blogs? The video embedded below provides an overview of them all. I discovered it at WNY Education Associates Blog. Video creators are Leigh Murrell and Heidi Beezley.

Using Google Docs In the Classroom

I was first introduced to Google Docs by my daughter's band director, Amanda Pritchard at York Junior High. Ms. Pritchard created a form that she posted on her website for band parents to complete. It was a questionnaire regarding email addresses and other contact information. I clicked on the link to the form, completed my information and submitted. I got a message that my information had been added to her spreadsheet. Instead of spending hours compiling a contact list from handwritten information, the band director created one form, added it to her website, and notified band parents to access the link. In essence the band parents collaboratively completed her contact list for her. This was amazing to me! I was instantly interested in finding out more about Google Docs.

I visited the Google Educators site and found this great slide show on how Google Docs can be used in the classroom. I also discovered that every teacher and student already has a google account through a partnership between Conroe ISD and Google. Usernames for students and teachers are the same as in first class. The password is *last 5 digits of their social security numbers. This means that teachers can create short quizzes by using a form and posting a link to their website. Students can take the quiz by clicking on the link and signing into their google account. When their answers are submitted, the teacher's spreadsheet will show the date, time, and username of each submission.

There are many more uses for Google Docs. The Common Craft video embedded below gives a great introduction on how to get started with Google Docs. For more ideas, be sure to watch the slide show for educators.

Organize a Lesson with Drop.io

I used drop.io to organize all of my technological tools that I planned to use during a recent WOW (Web on Wheels) study session. I loved it. Drop.io worked like a webpage, only much easier to set up and create. I quickly added links to the site to give us access to Web 2.0 tools I wanted to access. It took just a minute to upload the documents that described the tools we were using as well as the tools we used at the previous study session. I was also able to send the drop an email and upload a photo of my class. I even accessed the chat feature and left a quick note. I could have also recorded a voice message by phoning the drop. Creating this drop was so easy that from now on anytime I lead a class or inservice where technology is involved, I will use drop.io.

To view the WOW teacher drop please click here. This drop is not password protected. Visitors can add comments, documents, voice mail, links, notes, music and send an email. The only feature that visitors do not have access to is the delete option. Drop.io accounts are private and can not be found via a search engine.

Teachers working in teams could use a drop to share all of their documents. Many times I have heard teachers complain that they are filling up their email memory quotas by sending large documents or PowerPoints to each other. A drop.io account would solve this problem since each drop allows users 100 MB of storage. Each drop is a secure site and could be password protected. Plus, it is accessible wherever there is an internet connection. For more information, see the how-to video on the drop.io home page.

Student Expectations with Technology

Students today expect to use technology everywhere. They have cell phones with lots of bells and whistles. They are more familiar with computers than many adults. They want instant access to information. The other day in my classroom, we were discussing a problem that referred to chicken pox. Someone wondered why the virus was called chicken pox. I didn't know so I asked him to google it later that evening and let us know the next day. About five minutes later, the student said, "I have the answer to that question now." I inquired as to how he was able to get such a quick response. With a smile, he said, "it just came to me via a wireless connection to my brain." This student is the owner of an apple iphone. Students have much higher expectations in receiving information than my generation did. Today there are all kinds of media in which to glean information. The student made video embedded below illustrates the difference between a traditional and modern way of gathering information. I found the video on Bill Ferriter's site, The Tempered Radical. It made me laugh, but also made me think that we really do need to catch up with our use of technology within our classrooms.

Choice and Differentiated Instruction

Malcom Gladwell, author of Blink, The Tipping Point, and my personal favorite Outliers, talks about choice in the video embedded below. The video reminded me of providing choices for students to learn information when differentiating instruction. In the video, Gladwell discusses how Ragu and Prego were missing 1/3 of consumers by not offering chunky spaghetti sauce. In the same way we miss a large group of our students if the only method we use is lecture. Also in the video, Gladwell discusses Pepsi's pursuit of finding the best Diet Pepsi. Pepsi employed Dr. Howard Moscowitz to discover the public's perception of the best tasting formula for diet Pepsi. Dr. Moscowitz collected a great deal of data, but came to the conclusion that it is not the best Pepsi that we should seek but the best Pepsis (plural). Similarly, there is not just one great way to teach and learn, but a variety of ways to do so. Education is not a one size fits all for either teachers or students. Ideally, we need a collection of best practices to use for every unit we teach. Both students and teachers will enjoy class more if they are provided choices in how they receive new information as well as choices in how they demonstrate mastery.


Our WOW carts and integrating technology into the classroom can become part of our collection 0f best practices. These tools provide another mode of instruction for students to both learn and demonstrate acquired knowledge. We now have so much more available to us as teachers than ever before. We have online flash cards, interactive posters, slide shows, streaming video, and online notebooks to name a few of the tools available. With all these choices students are sure to find rich experiences in the 21st century classroom.

Quizlet

Quizlet is a flashcard application. It is the best one I have seen so far. It allows the user to enter words and their corresponding definition or fact associated with the word. Once the flashcards are created, students may learn them the old fashioned way by flipping the card electronically. They can also respond by typing in the corresponding word when given the definition. The features that I like are the quizzes that it automatically generates. The student is presented with several different modes of answering questions. The quizzes can be fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice, matching, or true/false or all of these. Please click on the link http://quizlet.com/demo/ to see how easy it is to create a flashcard set.

Students or teachers can create the flashcards for a private or public audience. If they are totally private, then only the creator can see them. They can also be associated with a group in which the creator provides members of the group with a password to access the cards. Finally, they can be totally public for anyone on the web to use. Instead of creating a set, I chose a public set of geometry flash cards to use. If you choose this method, be sure to check that all of the definitions are correct.

I see this as a great way to learn vocabulary words or a foreign language. Quizlet includes a couple of games to play with the flashcard set. I like the scatter game the best in which the student drags the definition on top of the associated word or vice versa to make both of them disappear. The game stops when the board is cleared. The student is told how much time elapsed and is asked if they want to play again to beat their time.

Click on the picture below to try a public set of geometry flash cards.

Bubbl.us

Bubbl.us is an application that allows users to create mind maps or brainstorm ideas. It can also function as an organizational chart. Once created, users can share their work by embedding it into a blog or website. They can send it by email or export it as a file. The application also has a collaboration option to invite others to join in the creation of a mind map.

Bubbl.us is easy to learn. I was able to create an organizational chart for quadrilaterals (shown below) in about five minutes. I have not tried the collaboration option yet. I am concerned it may be cumbersome to do so with a class because you have to input all of the student emails into the website. I don't think it would be a good idea to use for the whole class instruction anyway. It might be better to assign groups of four to access bubbl.us. Have one student begin the creation of the page and invite the other three members to collaborate. Mind maps may then be shared with the whole class by printing them, or displaying them online.

Evernote for Education

Evernote is a program that allows the user to create an online notebook. It is a way to remember information from sites that are visited online. I have been using this feature since December. I now have several different notebooks that I have created for different purposes. One of my notebook topics is about a book that I read called Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire by Rafe Esquith. I wanted to remember several of the items the author discussed in his book. I did a web search on the topics mentioned and highlighted the information I wanted to save. With one click I added not only the information highlighted, but also the URL source of the information. In Evernote I was able to add notes and organize my information. I have displayed an evernote widget of my notebook below. Click on any of the notes to see my notebook and the information that I collected.



Both students and teachers will benefit from using this application when researching a new topic online. Evernote can store pdf files as well as webpages. Items stored in evernote are searchable for easy access. Even the pictures can be searched for key words.

Pictures from a digital camera or a cell phone are easily added to a notebook. I bought a Clarifi lens for my iphone so that I could take pictures of student work and other handwritten documents to add to my notebook. The Clarifi lens makes the document clear and readable.

Glogster

I have recently discovered several Web 2.0 applications to utilize in the high school classroom. One of these tools is called glogster. This application allows users to create online posters with uploaded or linked graphics. Users may add text, images, video, and sound. Posters may be published or kept private. Teachers can create accounts for up to 200 students. I quickly created a glogster poster with the course I teach, AP Statistics as a theme. It took only a few minutes to get used to using the available tools. I have embedded a copy of my glog below.