Directly from Free Technology for Teachers blog by Richard Byrne is an idea for locating music for student videos. Check out his blog for some fabulous tech for the classroom ideas.

“I always encourage people to use their own music creations in the videos they produce, but I recognize that that is not always possible or practical. My next recommendation then is to use Creative Commons licensed music (here are seven good sources). This morning through Pitchanan Gaysornmas I learned about another good place to search for and find Creative Commons music, the Vimeo Music Store.

“The Vimeo Music Store offers more than 45,000 music tracks. Not all of the tracks are free or Creative Commons licensed, but roughly one-third or more of them are. In the Vimeo Music Store you can search for music by genre, license type, price, and length.

“Applications for Education
The next time your students are developing multimedia projects for your class, have them take a look through the Vimeo Music Store to see if they can find a tune to enhance the message of their productions.”

Learn how to use Google Apps in the classroom with a new bi-weekly
webinar series lead by Google Apps for Education Certified Trainers.
Webinars will be held weekly on Tuesdays, 4:30PM PT/7:30PM ET and will
also be recorded and archived.

Future webinar topics for this series include:
- Jan 25: Introduction to Forms in Google Docs -
https://google.webex.com/google/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=969555359
- Feb 1: Advanced forms in Google Docs -
https://google.webex.com/google/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=968743187
- Feb 8: Embrace your inner Einstein: Using Google Apps for the Google
Science Fair Online - https://google.webex.com/google/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=961203885
- Feb 15: Managing Google Docs with your classroom -
https://google.webex.com/google/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=961914912
- Feb 22: Building a class site with Google Sites -
https://google.webex.com/google/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=962684060

For more resources, check out the Google Apps for Education Online
Training center at edutraining.googleapps.com. View recorded webinars
in the Google Apps for Education Resource Center:
http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/edu/resource_center.html

To have someone come and deliver customized professional development
at your school, contact a localGoogle Apps for Education Certified
Trainer: http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/edu/trainer_directory.html

I have extolled the wonders of DropBox on several occasions. Here’s something else to consider. What if others could send files to your DropBox without accessing it? See dropitto.com.

DropBox – is a great utility for saving and transferring files and DropItTo makes it even better.

Using DropItTo, you can create your personal web-based utility that anybody can use to send you a file. Once you register, you get a unique URL like www.dropitto.me/abc. Anybody who needs to send you a file can then go to the URL and upload the file. The file will be directly uploaded to your Dropbox account and be easily accessible.

Personally, I like this better than receiving files attached to emails (Sara)

Read more: DropItTo: Let People Send Files To Your Dropbox.
Yet another great idea from MakeUseOF

I have mentioned before the wonders of Dropbox, a free, quick, safe, and simple download that places a tiny open box icon on your menu bar. Inside this box, you can save files, folders, pictures, etc. that can be accessed from any computer. The file list in Dropbox look like any file menu on your computer.

I use Dropbox to safely store all the docs I frequently work on and may need to access at home. I know that if my computer crashes, those files will be saved. At home, I loaded Dropbox on my computer there. Voila! All my files are there. Any changes I make to them at work or at home are saved. I have also gone out of town, used a computer in a hotel business center, and accessed dropbox.com. From there, I got to all my files. I can do the same in my classroom.

One caveat: It is best to save any material that would fall under FERPA rules on one of the college servers rather than Dropbox.

Here is the link to MakeUseOf’s manual for everything Dropbox.

Try it–you’ll like it! http://tinyurl.com/34gz9vz

Thanks to Bob Perkins on our EHHP faculty, here are some safety measures for young people engaged in social networks, particularly Facebook.

If you have not checked out the blogs and news stories on Common Sense lately, here is a good piece on the continual change of privacy settings on Facebook and at least two important concerns with youth and their settings:

What Parents Need to Know
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/facebook?utm_source=newsletter10.07.10&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=feature1 <http://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/facebook?utm_source=newsletter10.07.10&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=feature1>

This review of Facebook was written by Carla Thornton <http://www.commonsensemedia.org/user/carla-thornton>

Parents need to know that teens must be diligent about setting their privacy controls on Facebook. When Facebook unveils a new feature, users must pay attention to their privacy and account settings to make sure they understand what information they are releasing to others or keeping private. The privacy settings can be confusing. There are settings in applications and other places that also need to be selected. The new applications dashboard allows users to view and change what information applications access, and to remove applications. With Groups, users’ friends can add
them without asking first (users can remove themselves after they’ve been added, but cannot prevent themselves from being added). Anyone who is friends of their friends could be added to a group (in other words, possibly strangers), and wouldhave access to anything anyone—including your kid—has posted in the group. Places is a location-based service that lets kids tell others where they are and find out who else is there. This function is easy to use and teens will want to use it, but we recommend teens do not use location-based services <http://www.commonsensemedia.org/managing-location-sharing-apps-keep-teens-safe>  because of safety and privacy concerns as well as the potential to be targeted by advertisers. Parents need to set ground rules about what is and isn’t appropriate to share before letting kids have an account. They also need to go over the privacy settings one by one with teens — not just once, but regularly.

Tuesday, September 21st

10am PDT (US) / 1pm EDT (US) / 5pm GMT/UTC (intl times):
“PBS Franny’s Feet Training,” with host Corey Nascenzi. “Learn more about the science, social studies, language arts, & global awareness resources available from Franny’s Feet!”

http://www.learncentral.org/event/85959

10am PDT (US) / 1pm EDT (US) / 5pm GMT/UTC (intl times):
ELLUMINATE LIVE EVENTS
“Selling To The C- Suite ,” with presenter Dr. Steve Bistritz. “It’s the goal of every salesperson: getting access to senior client executives – the C-Level decision makers responsible for approving top-dollar deals.
http://www.learncentral.org/node/100514 (registration in advance is required)
11am PDT (US) / 2pm EDT (US) / 6pm GMT/UTC (intl times):
ELLUMINATE LIVE EVENTS
“Learning In Today’s World: Blending The Best Of Formal, Informal And Social
Approaches- A New Blended Model,” with presenter Lance Dublin. Join Lance to learn the distinctions between formal, informal, formally-informal, and social learning, and the learning theory behind them.
http://www.learncentral.org/node/102298 (registration in advance is required)
5pm PDT (US) / 8pm EDT (US) / 12am GMT/UTC (intl times):
“60-Second Video Contest,” with host Rushton Hurley. “Next Vista for Learning and CUE are doing a video contest, and you and your students can take part! Join this session to learn more.”

http://www.learncentral.org/event/98418

Wednesday, September 22nd

11am PDT (US) / 2pm EDT (US) / 6pm GMT/UTC (intl times):
ELLUMINATE LIVE EVENTS
“Websites Speak Louder Than Words ,” with presenters Aaron Sloman and Ron Rogowski. “Over the past decade, consumers have increasingly turned to digital media to get their news, connect with friends, and make sense of the world. As companies focus more on the Web, they need to differentiate themselves by going beyond just useful and usable experiences if they want to generate a lasting positive impression.
http://www.learncentral.org/node/102299 (registration in advance is required)
3pm PDT (US) / 6pm EDT (US) / 10pm GMT/UTC (intl times):
“You Think You Know Google Search Part 1: Googling,” with host Rochelle Rodrigo. “We all do it, Google when we want to know something; however, do we really get the results we want? Come to this webinar to learn tips and tricks to harness the power of the Google search engine. We’ll also talk about ways to incorporate advanced Google search strategies into assignments to help students gain critical information literacies.”

http://www.learncentral.org/event/92758

6:30pm PDT (US) / 9:30pm EDT (US) / 1am GMT/UTC (next day) (intl times):
MATH 2.0 SERIES
“Math 2.0 Weekly: Equalis”, with host Maria Droujkova. “During the event, we will discuss the new hub Equalis with its president Carmine ‘MathMob’ Napolitano.”

http://www.learncentral.org/event/96641

6:30pm PDT (US) / 9:30pm EDT (US) / 1am GMT/UTC (next day) (intl times):
“CSLA Smackdown – Web2.0”, with host Marie Slim. Join this webinar for a Web 2.0 Smackdown Ideas brainstorm and planning session.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/99936 (2.5 hour session)

Thursday, September 23rd

11am PDT (US) / 2pm EDT (US) / 6pm GMT/UTC (intl times):
“Dual Exceptionality – Gifted Children & Learning Difficulties,” with presenters Margaret Keane and Anna Giblin. “In this webinar Margaret Keane and Anna Giblin of Giftedkids.ie will explore this complex area and look at a range of learning difficulties which can be found amongst the gifted population, most specifically Aspergers, ADHD and Dyslexia.”

http://www.learncentral.org/event/93109

3:30pm PDT (US) / 6:30pm EDT (US) / 10:30pm GMT/UTC (intl times):
THE AUSTRALIA SERIES
“Australia Elluminate Users,” with host Coach Carole. Join Coach Carole for this one day online conference.

http://www.learncentral.org/event/99757

4PDT (US) / 7pm EDT (US) / 11pm GMT/UTC (intl times):
“Kick Off the Year with VSTE,” with host Karen Richardson. Join this webinar to preview upcoming events from the Virginia Society for Technology in Education (VSTE). VSTE provides professional development events and access to online resources for educators.

http://www.learncentral.org/event/98344

4pm PDT (US) / 7pm EDT (US) / 11pm GMT/UTC (intl times):
EDUBLOGS SERIES
“Edublogs Fine Focus – Going LIVE & PAPERLESS with GoogleDocs.” Join Jo Hart for a look at the many ways of using Googledocs. Ellena Bethea will focus on how she uses Google Spreadsheets, Google Drawings, and Google Forms to eliminate worksheets in the high school classroom, with an emphasis on high school science. Ellena is a fourth year high school chemistry teacher at a private school in Manhattan. Her focus is finding ways to use technology to enhance inquiry and learning in the classroom.

http://www.learncentral.org/event/101930

Saturday, September 25th

9am PDT (US) / 12pm EDT (US) / 4pm GMT/UTC (intl times):
“Teacher Feature Webinar,” with hosts Kim Caise, Lorna Costantini and Peggy George. Join the Classroom 2.0 LIVE co-hosts for their first session in the monthly “Teacher Feature” series. Zoe Branigan-Pipe will be the first teacher featured and is a sixth grade teacher from Hamilton, Ontario in Canada.

http://www.learncentral.org/node/102308

Wordia Brings Words to Life in Video

Wordia is a free visual, video dictionary. Wordia features a selection of user-submitted and professionally created videos explaining the meaning of a word. The videos focus on the everyday use of words while the text accompanying each video provides the dictionary definition of the word. The video below explains the word literacy.

Applications for Education
Wordia is now offering an education section of their service. Wordia Schools provides a private area for students to share videos that they have created for the vocabulary covered in your curriculum. Wordia Schools is free, you can take a tour and sign up here.

Here are some related resources that may be of interest to you:
Visuwords – Online Graphical Dictionary
Lexipedia – Webbed Word Connections
Snappy Words – A Visual Dictionary and Thesaurus

There are so many great videos on this site for K-12 students, it is difficult to choose just a couple of examples for you to see here. This site is great for our teacher ed candidates and for parents. What a great resource for the classroom. Check it out and you will be hooked.

The beauty of a panorama can never be described in words; it has been to be seen to be believed. In an extremely crowded world, panoramic spots are few and far between. Oh yes, you can see an entire city laid out in front of you from the top of a skyscraper. But nothing beats watching the natural ones. For instance, the one from Yavapai Point at Grand Canyon is a natural wonder. Check these out and share with your students. A great addition to Google Earth.

360Cities: 360Cities.net has a good collection of panoramic vista from around the world. Most of the panoramic shots are geo-referenced and interactive. You can start off from the Editor’s picks or go to their World panorama map and the Photographer map for travelling to a spot from a world map. You can watch the panoramas in full screen and navigate on it with the controls provided. The sweep of the eye is also represented on a Google map alongside.

If you have Google Earth installed, you can literally travel to spots around the world and view panoramas using a downloadable KML file.
But right now, I am checking out what they advertise as the world’s largest 360 panorama – an 18 Gigapixel shot of Prague.

Panoramas.dk: The panorama website is the work of Hans Nyberg, a photographer and an enthusiast of immersive panoramic images. As he says, an interactive VR panorama cannot be seen in a book or on a printed image. It has to be experienced on a computer screen. The site also has links to other great resources for learning more about the art of VR photography. The site has a huge collection of panoramas from around the world. You can even check out Obama’s Nobel Prize speech or panoramic photos from Tour de France.

Gigapan: The Gigapan panorama website is all about gigapixel panoramic images from around the world. What’s interesting is that GigaPan was developed by Carnegie Mellon University in collaboration with NASA Ames Intelligent Robotics Group, with support from Google.

The panorama website also has a community formed around the common passion for panoramic photography. You can join for free. Use their uploader to share your panorama shots with the general community. You can search through the collection using the search box, or go for the orange filters at the top that are marked as – Most Popular, Most Recent, Tags, and Conversations. You can view a lot of the panoramas on Google Earth using the link given just below the snaps. The site does not give a full screen view, but Google Earth does.

ARounder: Immerse yourself in panoramic vistas of cities, museums, parks, local cafes and stores, cathedrals, and more. ARounder is an online travel magazine and a neat panorama website with a smaller collection than the ones before it. But it is neatly arranged according to region. And there are two outer-worldly places on the moon and Mars too for the space buffs. You can click a location and take a wide-eyed virtual tour through the place. You can also get ARounder’s free iPhone app for some virtual sightseeing while on the move.

I am not going to Tahiti; instead let me do a bit of virtual roaming across the landscape of Mars for a change.

Panoguide: Panoguide is a free central stock of information and community discussion on panoramic photography. Their About page says that the panorama website is also a how-to on techniques for creating panoramic images using a conventional camera and “stitching” the images together on a computer. Click on the tab that says Gallery and dive into their collection that’s arranged around country names. You can also use the Google Map for a point and click approach.

ViewAt: Select the wide variety of locations from the dropdown or on the map and you are there with two clicks. You can watch the default panorama or go for the high resolution image. The site’s forum is also a spot to visit if you are interested in panoramas and photography.

Panedia: Panedia is a combination of Panoramic & Encyclopedia. It is actually a professional services site for ‘georeferenced photography using immersive panoramic technologies’. The site has a small collection of panoramic photos, all on Australia. Every panorama has hotpsots which are clickable links to more panoramas. If you like the Australian outdoors you can check out their small demo collection.

1001 Wonders: This is a panorama tour of the sites that are listed on the World Heritage List compiled by UNESCO. Presently, 263 places are being showcased on the website. The ultimate goal is to panophotograph 1001 sites.