The Gifted Kids Network

Most of the technology links that I write about are tools that gifted students can use to create projects and products on topics they are learning about. Today’s tech tools  are a bit different.   There are many websites to help curious kids investigate our world. 

The Why Files can help students better understand current events and connect today’s news to their own lives by encouraging them to further explore the issues of the day. The Why Files uses news and current events as the basis for science, health, and technology questions and explorations.  

 How Stuff Works is another great site.  Categories listed in those resources include earth science, engineering, physical science, life science, space, and the supernatural. Each category offers many individual tutorials that clearly and completely explain a particular topic. The earth science section of the site, for example, includes tutorials on volcanoes, rainbows, diamonds, quicksand, carbon-14 dating, and much more. Although this site is not new, the resources are constantly being updated and extended. Unlike many static science sites, How Stuff Works will provide you and your students with the most current information on any researched topic.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute invites curious kids to explore biology…
invites curious kids to explore biology through interactive games and activities. For older students, there are virtual labs, where students can explore anatomy and physiology through online experiments.

I’ve started a wiki listing many of the great resources I have found in developing my online classes.  Most of the resources are free.  Join the wiki and add your great finds to the list. 

This week’s tech tool is Museum Box .  According to the web site “This site provides the tools for you to build up an argument or description of an event, person or historical period by placing items in a virtual box. What items, for example, would you put in a box to describe your life; the life of a Victorian Servant or Roman soldier; or to show that slavery was wrong and unnecessary? You can display anything from a text file to a movie.”

This summer students in the Gifted Kids Network  Animal Planet class will be creating a virtual zoo using Museum Box.   I can’t wait to see what great exhibits the students come up with.

It’s been a while since I had the time to blog.  My summer goal is to blog at least a few times a week and share some of the great tools I’ve been using in my classes. 

Tech Tool of the Week – Glogster

I just discovered a new tech tool that I’m having fun playing with.  Glogster describes its product “Simply put, Glog is a kind of poster – fully designed by yourself! Glog is a fancy creation from text, images, music and video. … It gives you a perfect tool to express yourself.”  While the main Glogster site has some questionable content for students, the education site is amazing.  “Glogster EDU is your original educational resource for innovative and interactive learning. Glogster EDU was conceived to imaginatively, productively, and collaboratively respond to the dynamic educational landscape and exceed the needs of today’s educators and learners. We value the participation of educators and strive to assimilate their contributions to Glogster EDU, Glogster EDU is yours! Educators from all over the world are integrating Glogster EDU’s resourceful platform to make traditional learning more dynamic, more interactive and more in tune with learners today. Most importantly Glogster EDU is FUN for teachers and learners alike!”  http://edu.glogster.com/  The basic version is free. 

The glogster website has great examples of what students can do with Glogs http://edu.glogster.com/category/English%2FLanguage-Arts/   Visit my student blogs later this summer to see what cool projects my summer students have created with Glogster.

Technology is an exciting learning tool for most students, but for gifted and talented students it represents the opportunity to engage in deep and complex thinking on a wide variety of topics. In the primary grades, technology can be a powerful motivator. I don’t mean dangling a computer usage as a reward for compliance. The technology can motivate reading, writing, deep and critical thinking. In my work with primary grade students I have used several technologies to motivate students thinking. Voicethreads provide an opportunity for students to practice public speaking in a less threatening environment than standing in front of a class. It enables students to share thoughts and ideas about a story or activity without requiring strong writing skills. In teaching students to write a persuasive paragraph, students were motivated by being able to record their paragraphs for parents, grandparents, and friends to listen to on Voicethread. http://bvsd.org/schools/Lafayette/about/tag/studentwork/Pages/amazing%20grace.aspx
First graders loved creating a Geometry Video with our symmetry activities http://bvsd.org/schools/Lafayette/about/tag/studentwork/Pages/geometry%20video.mp4
Seeing their work on the school website was extraordinarily motivating to kindergarten students http://bvsd.org/schools/Lafayette/about/tag/studentwork/Pages/Kindergarten%20Corner.aspx?PageView=Shared
Students in primary grades require assistance with all of these technologies however they can quickly become competent in using them with supervision. The rewards of increased motivation, increased deep thinking are well worth the investment in time to introduce the tools.

Carol Fertig recently posted Ideas for Studying the Olympics. She’s given some great links that I encourage teachers and parents to explore. 

Personally I love the Olympics as a way to learn more about geography. Here are a few ideas:

• Plot the route of the torch on a map.
• Locate each country participating in the Olympics on the map and learn more about these countries.
• The New York Times has an Interactive Map of the medal or use Community Walk or Google Maps to create your own Map the medal count of each country

There are also some great Google Tools for learning about geography while watching the Olympics.

National Geographic has a site dedicated to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games

Here’s a great challenge: read a book about each country in the Olympics or by an author from that country by the end of the year. 

Don’t miss this great opportunity to learn more about our world while enjoying the summer Olympics.

I was searching for the perfect tool for my students to create their virtual zoo and came across this fabulous list of Online Drawing, Sketching and Painting Tools  most are free and many are open source. 

An e-portfolio is a collection of a student’s work in electronic format.

1. Supporting files of various formats (text, pictures, video, etc.) 

2. Evaluations, reflections and recommendations 

3. Writing samples
4. Projects prepared for class or extracurricular activities 

5. Evidence of creativity and performance 

6. Evidence of extracurricular activities, including examples of leadership

A portfolio is an opportunity for a student opportunity to reflect on his/her experiences and accomplishments over the year(s).  As students enter high school the portfolio is a way to document activities and accomplishments they want to share with prospective employers and colleges. 

• Begin by creating a record of your accomplishments. What activities have you been involved in? Have you won any awards and special recognition?
• Next reflect on your experiences. What you’ve learned and how you will use the information you have learned?
• Google yourself and see what comes up. Are there any surprises?
• Create a document with your online presence. What are your screen-names, what social networks do you belong to? What will potential employers and schools see about you?

A wiki is a great way to create your online portfolio.  Younger students can keep their portfolio private.  As students begin thinking about college and job search they can share their portfolio with prospective colleges and employers. 

Here is a sample portfolio for a high school junior:

Name:  Jonathan

Educational goals:  pursue a career in public health and medicine

6^th grade

1. yearbook 6^th grade editor of the year
2. Science fair, first place in regional science fair, “how does heat affect metamorphosis?”
3. honor roll second semester
4. math award

7^th grade

1. year book 7^th grade editor of the year
2. history roundtable participant
3. organized video drive to collect videos and games for new hospital
4. honor roll first semester
5. elected to NJHS – Shakelton
6. History day
   1. first place in group documentary category at regional history day competition
   2. Participated in Colorado State history day
7. citizenship award

8^th Grade

1. NJHS secretary and webmaster
2. yearbook Head Editor
3. science fair project on lactose intolerance Got Milk? The Efficacy Of Enteric Coatings
   1. first place in BVSD science fair health and medicine category
   2. first place in Colorado state Science Fair Health and Medicine category
4. volunteer teacher at Hebrew School
5. developed Hebrew calligraphy business
6. citizenship award

Freshman Year

1. Marching band
2. BBYO chapter member, coordinated successful café fundraiser
3. attended Colorado Legislative day as representative
4. webmaster for Cycling To Serve web site – volunteer experience
5. volunteer teacher at Hebrew School
   1. Received award for innovative Hebrew game show program

Sophomore Year

1. marching band
2. attended national student summit on Israel through AIPAC
3. Jewish youth group chapter programming vice president
4. attended National Student Leadership Conference on health and medicine
5. attended film making workshop
6. National History Day – Mickey Mouse: The Triumph of Walt Disney and the Triumph of Imagination
   1. first place in individual documentary category at Regional History Day competition
   2. competed in Colorado State History Day

 Junior Year

1. marching Band, Clarinet Captain
2. Jewish youth group chapter president
3. volunteer leader of youth programming at High Holiday Services
4. Jewish youth group regional board member

 Reflection: Over the last 6 years I have been involved in a variety of experiences that have helped to define my interests and goals.  I am a very creative person and love opportunities to express my creativity using technology, film and music.   I have been active in Jewish youth organizations and taken on a variety of leadership roles.  I also have been active in marching band and again have taken on leadership roles.  My academic interests are in the area of science, particularly biology.  I learned so much from participating in the science fair competitions.  My summer at NSLC in health and medicine helped me to realize that I really enjoy medicine and public health. 

Online presence:

• Facebook:  student profile page
• Video’s I’ve made: 
• My blog:

My students will be beginning their portfolio’s this week. 

Photo Sharing Digital photography websites are numerous and offer free services to upload photos, edit them, organize photos into galleries, and share them with others.

• Fauxto (www.fauxto.com)
• Picnik (www.picnik.com) Edit photos online without software on your computer.
• Flickr (www.flickr.com) Share photos and tag both images and parts of images.
• Voicethread (voicethread.com) annotate pictures with text or audio messages.
• Morgufile (www.morguefile.com) View and download royalty-free, high-quality images that are well categorized. Enable students to use professional art and photography in their projects.

Video Create custom videos and share them with others.

• Splashcast (http://web.splashcast.net/) Create Your Own TV Channel.
• Animoto (http://animoto.com/) Create short videos.
• dFilm Movie Maker (http://www.dfilm.com/live/moviemaker.html)
• Jumpcut (http://www.jumpcut.com/)

Document Sharing, Presetation and Collaboration Tools Collaborative documents enable students to work together on a word-processing document, spreadsheet, or presentation.  Collaborative documents are very similar to their single user versions but allow students to work together without being in the same room.  A Wiki is an easy to edit web page that does not require programming knowledge. 

• Google Docs (docs.google.com/) Set up an e-mail account, sharable calendar, and collaborative document account (documents, spreadsheets, and presentations) that you have control over. Write and create collaboratively with your students.
• Wikispaces (http://www.wikispaces.com Offers ad free space for educators. Create an easily-editable collaborative website that uses a wysiwyg editor.
• PBWiki (www.pbwiki.com) Another free wiki site for teachers and students.
• Slideshare (www.slideshare.net) Upload your presentations and share/embed them anywhere. Add voice to create an enhanced presentation. Put Smart Board notes online. Share conference presentations. Share student work in an organized format.

Mapping

• Community Walk (www.communitywalk.com) add pictures and annotations to any map.
• Google Maps ( maps.google.com/)
• Google Earth (http://earth.google.com/)

Research Tools

• Internet Archive (www.archive.org) Access sound files, video files, and documents all shared under creative commons licenses. Remix and mashup others’ content.
• Footnote (http://www.footnote.com Find primary source documents about nearly any subject.

Writing

• Glypho (www.glypho.com) Submit a novel idea and collaborate on plot points, chapters, and organization. Work on a class novel or researched book.
• Story Creator 2 (http://myths.e2bn.org/create/) Create your own myths and legends.
• Fodey (http://www.fodey.com/) Create your own newspaper clipping.

City Simulators

• City Creator (http://www.citycreator.com/) Build a virtual city.
• SimCity Classic (http://simcity.ea.com/play/simcity_classic.php) Another city building application.

Graphic Organizers

• Bubbl.us (bubbl.us/) Create graphic organizers on the web and embed it onto any webpage.
• Gliffy (www.gliffy.com) Create diagrams and flow charts.

Cartoons/Comic Strips

• Toondoo (http://www.toondoo.com/Home.toon)
• Comic Strip Generator (http://stripgenerator.com/)
• Make Belief Comics (http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/comix.php)
• Quicktoons (http://www.quicktoons.com/create)
• Howtoons (http://www.instructables.com/group/howtoons/)
• Pixton (http://www.pixton.com/home)

Drawing and other Creativity:

• Letter Pop (http://letterpop.com/)
• Sketchcast( http://sketchcast.com/)
• Create an Art Scrapbook (http://www.artic.edu/artexplorer/)
• Kerpoof ( http://www.kerpoof.com/)
• Google Sketchup (http://sketchup.google.com/)
• ArtPad (http://artpad.art.com/artpad/painter/)
• Architect Studio 3D (http://www.architectstudio3d.org/AS3d/design_studio.html)
• Floorplanner (http://floorplanner.com/) Create a floor plan for a room.

Miscellaneous

• Survey Monkey (www.surveymonkey.com) Create a survey. Take an informal assessment or survey of students. Perform interest and ability surveys.
• CircaVie (http://www.circavie.com/)create an interactive timeline.
• Create A Crossword Puzzle (http://puzzles.puzzled.com/crossword/) create a crossword puzzle.

Please share your favorite tools and sites with us!

I’ve been working with Google Docs and Survey Monkey today and find both to be great tools for the Enrichment 2.0 Network.  I work with PowerPoint 2007 most of the time and am still finding it a bit frustrating working on a PowerPoint and then loosing the formatting and animations when I load it to Google Docs.  My first attempt at a Google Docs presentation is a bit disappointing but hopefully they will get better over time.  I really like Survey Monkey.  I’ve set up a two surveys to get students started in Enrichment 2.0.