So here's the thing...
I seem to be totally addicted to the internet - correction - addicted to looking for free tools on the internet that will be useful to me as a teacher.
As such I have opened no end of wikis, spaces, mail boxes and the like, tried out quiz and webpage generators and downloaded programs ranging from game making programs to office applications. On this wiki I'll try to keep a record of all the other tools that I've tried.
At best this will be useful to others, at worst .... I'll have a list of tools I've tried and which work for me.

If you'd like to contribute just mail me at susan59@nana.co.il and I'll add you to the community.

Join me on Teachingit

I've decided to take this thing a step further... what could be a better way to feed my web habit than working/playing with other teachers and trying out new webtools together before taking them into the classroom. If you're like me then you probably register at least twice for every new, webtool you find, once as admin or teacher and once as student. You probably know the process, register, go to mail in order to confirm registration, change temporary password to your chosen password etc, time consuming and a nuisance. Often just finding a username that hasn't already been taken and that you can remember can be a seemingly endless chore. So here's what I propose: we use a collective username and password when we just want to try things out. We share our thoughts on the different tools that we test, we also share ideas of what can be done with those tools. If you feel like joining me in this venture, mail me at susan59@nana.co.il, write "teachingit" in the subject line and include the name and address of your school in the body of your message. In return I will forward you the teachingit password and other relevant information. To see a list of some of the sites and tools we are testing go to our wikispace http://teachingit.wikispaces.com


Suziq
never say never

Protopage

Has to be my Favorite Start Page So Far... What is it and why do I like it so much?

It is...

another of those pages that you create by adding your favorite content from around the web inside "widgets" or "gadgets". There are plenty of start pages around, Yahoo "My Web", Google "personalized home", Pageflakes, NetVibes and Microsoft Live to name but a few, so...

Why do i like it so much?

really you have to see it and compare with the others.
Design is much more fun and fluid, the gadgets can be overlapping and resized according to the surfers preference, or "docked" (hidden to be pulled down in another page). They can be duplicated and pasted on other pages. Whole web pages can be added. Pages can be public or private.
I particularly like it because the sticky notes can be edited in Html which means I can actually write in Hebrew with the correct right to left alignment (something that is often a great problem)
check out mine on
**http://www.protopage.com/home4home**

Keep on reading ... PageFlakes ...coming up

Vaestro_gbk.jpg
Sign my audio guestbook
(one of those great finds which make you feel like it's christmas!)

Wow first member! WelcomeTo Mrs Caldwell

Page Flakes:

Here's one that seems promising! http://www.pageflakes.com this is referred to as web 2.0 (whatever that means). PageFlakes is a personal or collaborative portal put together by adding different gadgets to the pages.

Gadgets include:
  • collaborative online word processor and spreadsheet
  • bookmarks list
  • online (shareable) file storage at box.net or openomy
  • sticky notes and todo lists
  • gmail, google searchbox
  • chat
  • miniweb browser
  • and many more ..(73 and counting)

Multiple pages can be opened under your username with different privacy/sharing options for each page. You can choose to have the page public (public pages can only be edited by the page owner), private, or shared with friends - whereby they also have editing permissions. I've set up a page which I will share with subscribers to this wikispace in order that we can have fun and find out how to use this tool in an educational context.

If you would like to test PageFlakes together with me, sign in to www.pageflakes.com
using the email id family@hachoresh.org.il
password: 123456

Podcasts- Love them or hate them?

I found a great site for podcast hosting.
http://www.podomatic.com
It is very easy. All you need is a microphone. This site even provides intro and outro music for you. I advise you do some of your own editing using the free software Audacity first. Good luck on your podcasts!
Please come visit my podcast site at http://mrscaldwell0.podomatic.com/

Music Under the creative commons licence

for your podcasts http://podsafeaudio.com/

Thanks, here's another couple:
Odeo Studio http://studio.odeo.com/create/home although the playback doesn;t seem as clear as podomatic (could be my computer only)
Gcast: http://www.gcast.com/?nr=1&&s=69892539 (haven't tried it yet)