inspirED 01/17/2010
 
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inspirED looks like an interesting site because it supplies what teachers often need most - inspiration! It is only updated 3 times a year, but its tri-annual newsletters contain some great examples of teaching and learning in the classroom. It is supported by BECTA, the UK's educational technology advisory body, so there is plenty of online learning examples too. Sign up by email to receive the latest news and get the inspiration to do something new in your class.
 
 
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The BBC has a great flash animation slideshow of how earthquakes happen. This is a particularly timely tool given recent events, but it could also be used to help illustrate the Science of earthquakes to students studying this as a topic. The earthquake demonstration is part of a series of natural disaster animations, all of which can be accessed on the same page. Clear and succinct explanations of tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanoes and tsunamis are all covered, with printable PDFs of each presentation also available.
 
 
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The days of interactive whiteboards may be numbered with Epson's announcement of Brightlink interactive projectors. With the Epson 450Wi, Epson is hoping to remove the interactive whiteboard and replace it with an interactive projector that can project onto any surface, yet retain the functionality of a full interactive whiteboard tool. You can project images up to 102" in diameter with an ultra short throw that means you will not have the problem of shadows or glare covering your workspace. If the price is right, these new projectors could quickly find their way into classrooms all over the country. The first units are expected to ship in the Spring, but you can check out all the features and specs on the Epson website.
 
 
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Just a reminder to check out this special offer from Kloonigames.com. As part of their birthday celebrations, you can buy Crayon Physics for whatever you want to pay for it, but only for a limited time! This great game would be an excellent interactive whiteboard resource and a useful game for using with gifted and talented kids, or for Physics lessons. See the embedded video below for an example of all that it can do. The minimum purchase for this game would be just 1 cent, but feel free to pay what your conscience allows. The retail price of this game is $20, and the pay what you want offer expires on January 15th 2010.
 
 
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Cloud computing is something that we are all going to hear a lot about in 2010, and ZumoDrive is hoping it will help meet all our needs. ZumoDrive is a bit like Dropbox, but all your files are stored online. Whether you are working on your desktop, laptop, netbook or iPhone, you can have access to all your files without actually storing physical copies on each device. You can even stream your online music files with iTunes, or choose to have some files downloaded for permanent storage. You are given 2Gb of storage for free, but anything more than that starts you on the payment plans. The reason I like Dropbox so much is the ability for me to work seamlessly between school and home without worrying about transferring or emailing myself files. ZumoDrive also works in just this way. Learn more, and watch an introductory video, on the ZumoDrive website.
 
 
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Larry Ferlazzo recently posted a link to Phillip Martin's Clipart, but I have only recently had time to look at it. There is a lot here to like, and it can all be used free in the classroom, or for non profit use. It is generally split up into curricular categories, but there are bonus sections like holiday clipart too. A search facility would make it even better, but it is free after all, and if you are not looking for anything too specific, there is a lot here that will likely meet your clipart needs. All good fun.
 
BBC: In pictures 01/13/2010
 
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They say a picture tells a thousand words, so why not check out the BBC's In Pictures section. With pictures from around the world of major news items, they can be a great conversation piece with your students. Today I hope to look at the aftermath pictures of the Haitian earthquake with my students to supplement our work in Science on earthquakes and volcanoes. There is also a useful Day in Pictures section that rounds up pictures from that day. Some are funny, others are thought provoking, but all are worth seeing.
 
 
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I learned about Quinura for Kids from Ollie Bray and his work with Learning and Teaching Scotland. It is a visual search engine that kind of mixes mindmaps with search engine topics to provide an interesting way to search for project based learning tasks. You can see a demo here, but if you start to play with it, you will soon get the idea. Try it out and see what you think.
 
 
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While looking for some graph paper to print out for my students at school, I came across the curiously named Incompetech. There are any number of graph papers available here for you to create to your own specification, and then download as a PDF. Squares, triangles, circles, hexagons, bricked, lined, music paper, and more. Each comes with a handy creation tool that lets you set up how wide or how many of each shape you want on a page. And, best of all, it is free, save for a discreet copyright logo on the paper at the bottom of each page. Worth bookmarking for when you need it.
 
 
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We Seed EDU is a free online tool for teachers to teach students about investing in the stock market. It uses real companies, stock prices and data, but the security of fake money! Students can build an investment portfolio, trade stocks and make (virtual) money on their investments. Sign up here to take advantages of the educator benefits. It will reinforce Math and Literacy skills, and hopefully teach your students to be wise with their money. Free lesson plans, teacher guides and private classroom groups are all included.