Hello and welcome to Episode 2 of the podcast series, “40 Webtools for the Classroom! I’m Janice Newlin.

This series of podcasts will introduce you to some of the best web 2.0 tools you can use in your classroom to foster creativity, communication and collaboration. These tools will be presented to you using the web 2.0 tool, Only2Clicks. You may have noticed the URL to the web link at the beginning of this episode. At this Only2Clicks site you’ll be able to return later to explore and decide which web tools will fit nicely with your personal classroom curriculum. The Only2Clicks site views better in Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Please note when you click on the little yellow sticky note at each link you will find my notes from this episode.

Let’s begin with. . .

The people atWikispaces are givingaway free, private, ad-free wikis to K-12 and Higher Education teachers. Wikispaces features all the standard options of a wiki editor and allows for flexible editing and embedding of code. It is fairly straight-forward and easy to use. Wikis are great for group projects and WebQuests.

If you ever need an audio alert or greeting message for a website, blog, wiki, or whatever, then head straight to AudioPal. AudioPal is an online utility where you or your students can quickly record embeddable audios, and add them wherever you like. Created audios can be customized to auto-play on every page load.

There are 4 ways users can record audios:

By phone – Call provided number and speak to record.

Text-to-speech – Type in text and it will convert it into audio.

Microphone – Use your Microphone and record.

File - Upload existing mp3 file.

Once the audio is ready, the link to it will be sent to your email address. Then just follow the provided link to get the embed code. AudioPal is free and there’s no registration.

Present.me is a web service that lets you create effective presentations with your PowerPoint slides. It is very simple to use: you upload your slides, you then click Record, you present into your webcam clicking your slides as you go, and when you're finished you have the option to record the presentation again if you’re not satisfied with what you did. You also have the ability to edit on the fly, so if you make a mistake, you can stop the recording, go back to a good point before the mistake, and then carry on recording as if nothing had happened. Once finished recording, you can then publish the presentation, giving it a unique URL that can be shared with anyone. The free plan of Present.me lets you publish up to 10 recordings per month; each of these presentations can be 15 minutes long. Let’s watch Get Ready for First Grade.

Capzles is an amazing tool that lets you create interactive, media-rich time lines. Time lines are customized with music, text, backgrounds, descriptive text, etc. Teachers could use this as a way for students to gather sources and present information on a particular topic. Capzles can also be commented on by visitors, so students could offer peer-reviews of student works right in Capzles. Here’s an example from the Capzles’ collection of Mike Fowler, a middle school American History teacher.

Next up isPrezi: One huge advantage with Prezi is that you don’t have to stick to the linear “here-then-there” presentation method; you can jump around the scene as your audience asks questions. The presentation can be downloaded so that an Internet connection is not needed when showing the presentation.

ScreenCastle is a free online screen recording software that records the actions on your screen from your browser. There is no need to download any software; simply click the button in the browser and your recording begins. Screencastle is very simple and easy to use and has the added bonus of allowing you to record an unlimited amount of footage. Once recorded, it provides you with a number of links to the file including an embed code which makes sharing the video easy.

CuePrompter is a free online teleprompter service. This is a great tool for student speeches or presentations. Just copy and paste to CuePrompter some text and it will run an enlarged line-by-line copy of it. It offers adjustable speed, forward/stop/reverse scrolling buttons, and choice of different font sizes.

Teachers' Domain is a free online resource center featuring more than 4,000 media assets from public broadcasting and its partners that can be sorted by subject, Common Core State Standards, national standards, or state educational frameworks. Teachers' Domain also includes support materials, tools for classroom lessons, individualized learning programs, and teacher professional learning communities. Of course, remember Alabama Public Television offers the classroom teacher a free subscription to Learn 360.

Freerice.com is a website where students play educational, multiple-choice games to end world hunger. For every question the student answers correctly, 10 grains of rice are donated and distributed world-wide through the World Food Programme. Categories include: Art (famous paintings), English (vocabulary and grammar), chemical symbols (basic or intermediate), Geography (country identification and world capitals), Language Learning (French, German, Italian, and Spanish), and Math (basic math, pre-algebra and multiplication tables). As you answer questions, your total score is displayed as a mound of rice and the amount. Missed questions are reviewed which reinforces the knowledge.

Little Bird Tales is a web-based platform that lets students create interactive stories. They are allowed to record themselves, and then add both images and text to these recordings until a full story has been created. These can then be shared on the site (if the story is labeled as public), or only with specific people such as close friends and relatives. The whole process is free, and really intuitive. No special software has to be installed. As long as a microphone is available, the children will be able to record themselves. A site like this one works on multiple levels. Not only will your students improve their communicative skills, they are also encouraged to be more imaginative. And if you think about it, Little Bird Tales stands as a truly green alternative to having books made. Structurally, the site is very easy to navigate and use. The absence of external links and ads certainly keeps things cleaner and more focused.

This concludes this episode of 40 Webtools for your Classroom. Be sure to view the other episodes included in this series.