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Free Technology Tools for Teachers
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Free Tools for the Classroom
Webinar
Karen Brooks6/15/2010
FREE UDL Technology Tool Kithttp://udltechtoolkit.wikispaces.com/About+UDL
The Following are from the UDL Wiki
Audio Books• Audio books are a great way to increase access in your classroom.
Providing a selection of audio books for all students can support fluency, expression, and comprehension.
AudioBooksProject Gutenberg- Free print and audio books are available for downloadCAST UDL Bookbuilder- Interactive book maker and readerBookshare- a free subscription is provided with proof of a print disabilitySigned Stories- free audio books designed for elementary readers that are also signed60 Second Recap- a 60 second audio/video presentation of classic works of literatureOnline Audio Stories- a collection of elementary audio booksThe Mother Goose Club has a number of rhymes and songs that provide audio support for the text.
Free Text to Speech• Free Text-to-Speech
(Why? Two reasons - 1. It is essential for struggling readers; when text is digital it is now accessible and 2. it supports the writing process, especially when editing and revising work)
Note: Databases are adding text-to-speech features for their articles. Ask your librarian if the school offers any of the Gale products with text-to-speech features.WordTalk - a free text-to-speech program for the PC that works within WORD and Outlook and highlights each word that is read. Includes a talking spell checker and a talking thesaurus. WordTalk was upgraded in January 2009 and now includes the ability to save settings (Wow!) and you can convert your text file to a wav or MP3 file. Makes this free download even more valuable
• Natural Reader - another free text-to-speech software program which converts any written text to speech (Word, pdf, websites, emails)
• Click,Speak - a free Firefox extension that reads the Internet and highlights phrases and sentences as it reads• SpeakingFox - a free Firefox extension for the Mac which converts text in Firefox to audio• DSpeech- scroll down for a very cool free text-to-speech AND speech-to-text tool. PC only• Balabolka- Free text-to-speech download, can also download a portable version that runs off a USB thumb drive.can save as wav
or MP3 file.• PowerTalk - free text-to-speech for PowerPoint presentations• Read The Words - Register first, upload file or choose text or website to read, a recording is generated which you can listen to
online or download to an mp3 player, upload to a blog, etc. Very Cool tool worth letting your students explore.• Spoken Text - online text-to-speech MP3 converter• YakIToMe! - Listen to important documents, PowerPoint presentations, emails, RSS feeds, blogs and novels. YAKiToMe! is multi-
lingual (English, Spanish, French ...) and brings you the world's best text-to-speech (TTS) synthesis technologies. Easily converts to podcasts.
• ReadPlease- there is a free version and a pay version.• iSpeech - converts web pages to audio.• Simultaneous Stanza Reader - SSReader is a free large font reader for Macintosh OS X that speaks text files aloud and displays
the text stanza-after-stanza, simultaneously. The program works well with free books from Project Gutenberg. Watch a quick introductory Video here
• Text to Speech (offers a variety of languages)• Odiogo- free text to speech for your blog (turn your blog into a podcast)•
If your student has an iPodTouch or iPhone show themDragon Dictation for iPhone or iPod Touch> - Allows you to speak emails, sms's, and notes into your iphone. Also available for laptops and computers.
Digital Storytelling• Multimedia and Digital Storytelling Tools
Voice Thread - capture audio for online digital storytelling. THIS IS A MUST HAVE! This is one of the best tools for reaching the needs of all the learners in our classrooms, for all content areas from K-12. The pro version is free to K-12 educators. Make sure you watch the excellent tutorials to take advantage of all the features this tool has to offer.– Here are some examples to show you how other educators are using Voice Thread for Education.
• Photo Story 3 for Windows - you will be amazed at how quickly you can create slide shows or movies from your class photos. Upload your photos in seconds, easily add music and you have a year end presentation of your class activities. MANY other uses.
• Photo Peach - even easier than Photo Story and it's online so it doesn't matter what computer platform you are using. Import photos, write captions, add music, done! The spiral effect is cool. Watch the demo here.
• Animoto - create fully customized videos of user-selected images and music almost instantaneously. The web application does all the work once you select your images and audio. EASYT This one is so cool! Animoto For Educators
• FotoBabble - create talking photos, EASY• ScrapBlog - Create online multimedia scrapbooks from your text, video, audio and photos• Storybird - collaborative storytelling• Story Maker - create fairy tales, great for young students.• MagicStudio -Create interactive visual resources to reinforce instruction or to allow students to demonstrate what
they know using web-based tools. Can also create quizzes and timelines. Watch the tour here.• Pikistrips.com - Easily create free photo trips, show pictures, FREE• Building Wings: How I Made it Through Schooll - A free "Readers Theater Implementation Toolkit" accompanies
this autobiography by Don Johnston "which helps learners take charge of their learning potential!" Learned about this from Valerie who left a comment.
• 50 2.0 Ways to Tell a Story (Alan Levine--CogDogRoo)
Study Skills• NEW! Head Magnet "Headmagnet is a learning tool that helps you to memorize new facts quickly and maintain
what you have learned. Headmagnet helps you to predict when you will forget things, so that you can review only what you need to." Based upon memory and cognition research - helps you learn what you need to learn. Take the tour here.
• New! StudyHive.com - create your own study cards or search the public decks. You will need to download Siverlight to use the site online (the link is available at the site). Syncs with Flashcards Pro app (free) for the iPodTouch, iPhone or iPad which allows you to study anytime.
• CueCard - an electronic flashcard program download with multiple features including ability to import audio and graphics. Keeps track of correct responses and can be printed out.
• Study Stack - create interactive web-based flashcards or use ones that are already created; if you use stacks that are already created, check them first as there are errors in several of the created stacks.
• Flash Card Machine - allows the user to create interactive web-based study flash cards.• Flash Card Friends - online, interactive flash cards• Flash Card Exchange - large online library of flashcards. Create your own, study online or offline. Can be
downloaded to Word, & Excel• Quizlet - described as an online tool for learning vocabulary• Cramberry - clean and simple online interactive flash card tool. If you are looking for simplicity, this will work
for you. No bells or whistles; just a simple user interface. (a $ .99 iTunes app is also available).• MyMentor - create, share and study flashcards online; download flashcards in printable format.• Awesome Highlighter - tool that highlights text on a web page; save the URL or email it• Pocket Mod - Free, recyclable personal organizer and study guide, can be used in a variety of ways• Diigo - Use the highlighting and Extract Annotations tools to collect important information for later review.• Create note taking templates in Word• Use "Power of Color" within Word (background color, highlighting color and font color tools) to reinforce
concepts, to determine salient points and for review• Use the "Organizational Chart" in the Diagram Gallery that is part of the Drawing Toolbar in Word to reinforce
concepts and relationships which promotes learning.• In Word, press the Alt tab + mouse click within a word to access the Research pane. When you are online, you
will instantly get a definition of the word.
WOW & FREE
• How to Study.org -Great Resource to help High School and College Students develop effective study skills/time management skills
FREE Literacy Tools• New - My Study Bar - a comprehensive set of portable open source and freeware applications to support learners with literacy difficulties.
MyStudyBar is similar to popular commercial programs which use a floating toolbar to support literacy. The main difference is MyStudyBar is free. The toolbar includes a range of tools to support inclusion such as mind mapping, screen masking, word prediction, talking dictionary, text-to-speech, Save as MP3 and voice recognition. PC Only. (Speech recognition only works in Vista or Windows 7)
•StarFall - Pre-K - 2nd grade online activities that promote literacy
• Literactive- interactive primary reading activities• Inkless Tales - Listen to stories including Dolch words. (use the control + keys to enlarge the font size if students are following along)• Into the Book - Excellent reading comprehension resource - Using Prior Knowledge, Making Connections, Questioning, Visualizing,
Inferring, Summarizing, Evaluating and Synthesizing. K-4• Spell a Picture- Excellent activity for building phonemic awareness, phonics, and spelling for early readers, lots of picture prompts•
Word Magnets - just like magnetic refrigerators letters or words only much cooler and way more possibilities. Explore the backgrounds for even more ideas. It's possible to add sentences as well to sequence stories, events, etc. Important: When you click on the link, wait five seconds for the NEXT button to appear in the bottom right of your screen. This will take you to the FREE version.
• Cast UDL Book Builder - Check out a previous post to learn about this free online tool for creating digital books with embedded prompts.• UDL Editions - Leveled support for seven texts geared for ages 10 and up•
GenieBooks - Decodable books in Powerpoint• Story Line Online - Listen to stories read by Screen Actors Guild members - follow along with the text• Children's StoryBooks Online - illustrated stories for young children, older children and young adults. Some include audio.• Browser Books - "This website was created to allow beginning readers to read books on their web browser. Readers can click on the
triangle in the lower right-hand corner of each page to turn the pages. If they are unsure of a word, they can click on it to hear a child's voice read the word to them. The books have been sorted by level and by subject according to the curriculum." (from the website)
•Tar Heel Reader Here you’ll find a collection of easy-to-read books on a wide variety of topics. Each book is switch accessible and speech enabled. You may download the books as a slide show in PowerPoint, Impress, or Flash format. Appropriate for beginning readers of all ages, including adolescents.
• Planet eBooks - Free classic literature to download (middle school and up)• Poetry Foundation - free resource to find poetry by category, by name, by title, by author, or by first line. It's digital, attach a voice and it's
now accessible!
Writing Support Tools• NEW My Study Bar - a comprehensive set of portable open source and freeware applications to
support learners with literacy difficulties. MyStudyBar is similar to popular commercial programs which use a floating toolbar to support literacy. The main difference is MyStudyBar is free. The toolbar includes a range of tools to support inclusion such as mind mapping, screen masking, word prediction, talking dictionary, text-to-speech, Save as MP3 and voice recognition. PC Only. (Speech recognition only works in Vista or Windows 7)
•Ginger Spelling - "Ginger provides an automatic spell checker, through an intelligent automatic context-based correction of spelling mistakes and misused words." Excellent correction, currently in beta, available for download. Add this to your classroom computers and tell your students about it so they can download it to their home computers.(PC only)
• Ghotit - Online context spell checker service, great for students with LDs! Tell them to add it to their home computers.– Check out the downloadable Ghotit version that provides text-to-speech within the correction window.
• MyWebspiration - Beta version of Inspiration - graphic organizers.• Spelling City - insert the week's spelling list and students can play games, finish worksheets, and
complete other interactive activities.• Paper Rater - offers grammar, spell-checking and plagiarism detection. (High school and above
writing only)
Writing Tools• Writing Tools
Writing Fun - watch this screencast to see how to use this interactive, online, structured writing tool to help elementary age students write descriptions, narratives, poetry, explanations, procedures, etc.
• Wacky Web Tales - an online "madlib" tool• Writing Fix - Interactive Writing Prompts• Read/write/think- Interactive digital activities (click the interactive links - there are many to choose
from)• Online Note-Taking Tool (one of the interactive Read/Write/Think resources)• OurStory - online timeline tool• Mnemograph - collaborative, online Time Line tools• ToonDoo - Online comic strip creator• Make Believe Comix - Online comic strip creator• Scholastic: Story Starters for Grades 1-4 - Story Starters is a bank of writing prompts. Student spins
the lever to get a writing prompt. To allow for even greater creativity, the student can spin wheels to change any part of the prompt.
• Kerpoof has created a free story creator that provides many prompts to students as they generate text and ideas. Specifically, it limits students to 3 themes: alien, rock party, and pirates. For many students, limiting choice can assist task completion.
• Story Maker - use this with reluctant writers to create a fairy tale
Free Collaboration Tools• Titan Pad, Pirate Pad,-Primary Pad Sync.In "- these tools offer web-based word processing, synchronously;
"really real time" no signup required. Can be used immediately. Easy to use.• WallWisher - an online bulletin board. Easy to use. (refresh often to see new posts)• Google Docs and Spreadsheets - allows students to collaborate on work from any computer including while at
home• Scribblar - a real-time, multi-user online whiteboard which offers text chat and audio. Perfect tool to try when
face to face isn't possible.• Zoho - full suite of online, collaboration tools - word processor, presentation, notetaking (can insert audio),
spreadsheets, planner. Users need to create an account!• Zoho Share Create a centralized public space for sharing documents, all users need to create an account,• Zoho ChatZoho Chat - Make Group Decisions Faster, invite friend, all users need to create an account•
Web-based social bookmarking tools such as Delicious ,or Diigo- create class favorites that your students can retrieve anywhere to help them study
• oooVoo- Share a video conference and your desktop with up to six parties• dimdim - Conduct web conferences, share wepages, presentations, and white boards. No downloads required.
Basic features are free.• Go 2 Web 2.0 - here you will find every Web 2.0 application imaginable. There are tools for everything.
Constantly updated!• Web 2.0 Tools - (These tools especially benefit the learner with reading, organizational or attentional issues as
the material can be easily retrieved, read or listened to online)– Wikis - provide group collaboration opportunities and study guides– Blogs - provide opportunities for written expression without time constraints and can use text-to-speech, spell check,
grammar check etc. before posting. Blogs are great for students who are less vocal IN class, for a variety of reasons, but still want a chance to participate in discussions
– Podcasts/videocasts
Free Research Tools•
UDL Strategy Tutor • Reference Portals• EverNote - Notetaking tool on Steroids; capture, clip, save and share - watch the video but think of the education applications
• NoteStar - an Internet utility to assist in the preparation of research papers. Teachers and students can set up research projects with topics and sub-topics. Students may then take advantage of NoteStar's many features to collect and organize their notes and prepare their bibliography page.
• For documentationBib Me - Bibliography Maker
• EasyBib - Bibliography Composer• Research & Documentation Online Download sample papers (MLA & APA styles) with Hacker & Fister's well-known guide• NoodleBib MLA Starter• Citation Machine > • For note-taking
UberNote (for tagged notecards and notes)• Online Note-Taking Tool(an interactive resource from the ReadWriteThink.org website) - can print notes or copy and paste them into
Word.• Google Notebook•
Alternate search toolsClusty(clustered search with vocabulary and category supports)
• Grokker (offers both map and cluster results)• Kartoo (visual search shows relationships)• Quintura (tag clouds suggest keywords and categories)• Soople (busts out Google's features)• Jux2 (compare Google, Yahoo, and MSN with One Search)• Debbie Abilock's Choose the Best Search Engine for Your Information Need•
Search engines for KidsAsk for Kids (reference, question answering)
• KidsClick! (directory selected by librarians)• Yahoo Kids (for grades 2-7 organized by topic)
Wow, Free and For Students!!!
• New - Sweet Search - Search engine for K - 12 students, "every website in Sweet Search has been evaluated by our research experts."(see additional search engines below)
Math Tools• Some students struggle with organizing their written work and
forming numbers and symbols. These tools compensate for mechanical issues:
• Number Navigator - A program that assists those with fine motor problems to set out columnar arithmetic, without the need for a spreadsheet
• GraphCalc - Online Graphing Calculator• Create A Graph> • e-Tutor Graphic Calculator Graph equations• FooPlot - Online plotting tool• PDF Pad - Create and print graph paper• EfoFex - Higher Level Math - free for students with special needs
Continued• Virtual Math Manipulatives• National Library of Virtual Manipulatives - a library of uniquely interactive, web-
based virtual manipulatives or concept tutorials, mostly in the form of Java applets, for mathematics instruction (K-12 emphasis)
• Glencoe Math Manipulatives for K- 8, use the Help menu to understand how to use this online resource
• Tools that promote Math understanding:• ConceptuaMath - Interactive fraction tools for instruction which align with NCTM
standards. • WebMath - K- Higher=Ed math• Time for Time - Online analog clock, can manipulate clock and show digital time
equivalent. Great for Interactive WhiteBoards or touchscreen monitors• Math Playground - excellent site for Math activities for K - 8, make sure to explore
the Mathcasts. Mathcasts allow students to review math when THEY need to.• Thinking Blocks - a creative, interactive math resource to help students
understand how to solve word problems. Watch the video here to learn how to use it.
• K-7 Mathcasts Project - Short videos (using VoiceThread) of math concepts by grade level and strand. Great for students to review at home.
• AAAmath.com• Real World Math Using Google Earth• The Math Forum This is a site that will answer many different types of math
questions.• Talking Calculator- A calculator that reads the numbers and symbols to students
WOW & Free!!• Math Games• SumDogMath - 100 Numeracy
topics at ten levels. Teachers can upload their class list. Ability to customize specific math such as add numbers up to five, ordering numbers up to 20. Students can log in and save scores. Audio can be distracting for some students (turn it off in the Talent Game activity if that is the case) as can the time pressure.
Tools to Use for Handwriting Issues• Consider using these tools to bypass output issues, for example, as
an alternative way to record homework assignments, and get ideas recorded or as an alternative to paper-based posters.Dial2Do - lets you do common tasks by just calling a number and speaking. Use it to send EMAIL or TEXT messages, record REMINDERS to help you remember things. . It's easy and handsfree. Watch the video here.
• Vocaroo - very easy to use online audio recording service; can email, download or post the recording to the internet.
• TokBox - Free video chat and video email. View the demo here.• Glogster - create online, interactive posters.• Voxopop- create message boards that use recorded audio, not text
Additional Free Toolshttp://udltechtoolkit.wikispaces.com/Additional+free+tools
• If you do not know this Wiki – Learn about it. It is imperative for all educators. It is updated and maintained as well by some very dedicated professionals.
• http://www.sdst.org/shs/library/jvweb.html and http://teachingeverystudent.blogspot.com/ and http://speedchange.blogspot.com
More FREE Resources from Different Sources
World Talkhttp://www.wordtalk.org.uk/Home/
• Free Windows Text to Speech Plug in for MS Word
Click N Typehttp://www.lakefolks.org/cnt/
• Virtual Keyboard for students with limited typing abilities
Evernotehttp://www.evernote.com/
• Evernote - Use Evernote to save your ideas, things you see, and things you like. Then find them all on any computer, phone or device you use. For free.
Diigohttp://www.diigo.com/
• A Research Tool, A study Tool, A social Bookmarking Tool
Ghotithttp://www.ghotit.com/home4edu.shtml
• Ghotit – Assitive Technology Tools Free for Schools
TeckTrekers Free Stuff for the Classroom
http://www.techtrekers.com/free.htm
Discovery Educator Classroom Toolshttp://school.discoveryeducation.com/
Education World – Free Stuff for Teachers
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr110.shtml
Federal Citizens Information Center Teacher Page
http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/teachers/
Free Technology for Teachers Bloghttp://www.freetech4teachers.com
Open ClipArthttp://www.openclipart.org/
Do2Learnhttp://www.do2learn.com/
PC Mag – Best Free Software of 2010http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,28
17,2361876,00.asp
• Plus, 100 best FREE Apps http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2356415,00.asp
• My Current Favorite – Whistle for the iPhone or iPad
Free Tools for Teachershttp://www.suelebeau.com/freetools.htm
200 Online Free Classes to Learn Anythinghttp://oedb.org/library/beginning-online-learning/200-free-
online-classes-to-learn-anything
More Free
• Free Teacher Resources for Special Ed - http://www.mangomon.com/teacher-resources/
• Free Resources for Education - http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/community/freeresourcesforyou/
• Twinkl - http://www.twinkl.co.uk/• Free Software Applications and Tools -
http://www.nortellearnit.org/resources/teacher_resources/links/software/
• 100 Free Web tools for Elementary Teachers http://www.classroom20.com/profiles/blogs/649749:BlogPost:180818
• Quizinator - http://www.quizinator.com/• Free Printables for the Classroom -
http://www.mandygregory.com/free_classroom_printables.htm
• Free Virtual Classroom - http://www.wiziq.com/virtual_classroom.aspx
• Free for Teachers from Palm Beach Schools - http://www.palmbeach.k12.fl.us/learning_tools/teachers/free.htm
Check out
• Delicious.com/dembe01/free• Delicious.com/dembe01/web2.0• Delicious.com/dembe01/teacher• Delicious.com/dembe01/ela• Delicious.com/dembe01/ss• Delicious.com/dembe01/language• Delicious.com/dembe01/math• Delicious.com/dembe01/science
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