Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
Lutz Integrate - Livebinders - Collect resources and share them easily
Live Binders is a web tool that allows you to create an online binder with tabs and sub tabs. You can use this to share and annotate images, websites, google docs and more. This would be a good site to create an online portfolio for students and professionals.
This is a Binder about iPads that shows how LiveBinders can be used to share information through topics and sub topics.
http://livebinders.com/media/get/MTgyNTQ0
Live Binders
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Lutz Integrate - Kid Zui The Internet for Kids
This is a web browser made just for kids and can set parents minds at ease when their children are on the internet! The site allows kids to search for kid appropriate videos on yourtube, play kid appropriate games and lets them search and look at websites for kids! Parents can sign up and track the amount of time the child is on the computer and password protect them from getting off the browser and going somewhere else. I have tried this out on my daughter and she seemed to really like it, the interface is easy to navigate and there is a lot to choose from. I am intersted to see how this could be used in a classsroom setting for yound students, if I get the chance to try it I will share later!
Kid Zui
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Lutz Integrate - App - Splashtop Remote, see your computer screen on your iPad
This iPad app allows you to see and interact with you computer via your ipad. The app cost five dollars, and seems to be worth the small fee. I tried a bunch of different programs on my computer and they all seemed to work well. Teachers you can manipulate your computer and presentations without being at the front of the class! You can try this app free for 5 minutes before you have to buy it.
Splashtop Remote
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Lutz Mac Utility - Caffeine Utility - Stop your mac from going to sleep!
Caffeine is an app for Macs that will stop your machine from going to sleep, dimming the screen, or starting screen savers. This is a great app to have for presentations or use a Mac for teaching. It is quick and simple to install and easy use. Its one of the apps that is a must! Click below to check it out and download it!
Caffeine
Lutz App - Cardio Trainer - Android Fitness Activity App
If you have an andorid phone and you are looking for a fitness app, Cardio Traier is the app for you. I have used this for the last half of a year, and honestly it is one of the reasons I stuck wit the android platform and not the iPhone. This app will tarck your walk/run and give you statistic like mile per hour, calories burned, and actually show a map of your walk/run. You can also save and share the work out via Facebook and Twitter. If you like to listen to music, there is a player embedded in cardio Trainer as well. I use the free version and I love it...so search Cardio Trainer in the Andorid market or click the link below.
Cardio Trainer
http://www.worksmartlabs.com/cardiotrainer/about.php
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Lutz Integrate - Prezi - Change the way you present and impress your colleagues and boss!
I spent most of the day working on a Prezi, which is an online and offline presentation tool that blows up traditional presentations by living a 3d environment. With Prezi you can Zoom around a set path and focus on key words and objects impressively and cleanly. Prezi allows you to create text, shapes, frames, set color themes and embed pictures an videos into your presentation. A better way to explain Prezi is to show you, check out my 60 in 60 presentation from PETE&C and see how a prezi works. I have also posted a teacher link below as well.
Shakespeare Prezi
https://prezi.com/secure/c30a5342c92f99f52b368c34aff0e82497f5b2e8/
Prezi definitely has a bit of a larning curve, but if you watch the tutorials and practice a bit you can start to make really dynamic presentations and also share them on wikis and blogs or download to show them offline. I have also used prezi to make videos using screenshots and explain the steps for guided notes. There a lot of great things you can do with prezi! So check it out!
Prezi
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Lutz Integrate - Live Scribe Pen - Pen that records audio, writing and drawing and links to your computer!
Live Scribe Pen
This pen allows you to hear, write and draw your notes and then upload them to your computer. I find myself getting distracted in meetings when I have my computer in front of me, by using this pen and paper, I can write and record my notes and then revisit the notes and audio later. The pen will record just your writing if you choose and make sure you ask permission if you would like to record the audio of a lecture or meeting!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Lutz Integrate - Handbrake - Convert video to use with your mobile devices including DVDs
Have you ever wanted to convert your DVDs and have them in iTunes or another media house? There is a free program called Handbrake that will let you do just that! You can use Handbrake to grab DVD’s to be played on your computer, phone, iPod, iPad, Apple TV and any other mobile device you may have. Simply down load and install Handbrake onto your computer, insert your DVD and select the type of device you be playing the movie on.
http://handbrake.fr/
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Lutz Integrate - Evernote - Quick and easy note taking tool that syncs to all devices
First I want to say thanks to everyone that has been visiting my blog, I hit 1000 page views in a short few weeks! That is motivation for me to keep sharing the tools I love to use! I am still trying to figure out the best way to share, I really appreciate you taking the time to check out this blog! Please comment if you find the resources useful and if there are any questions you may have! 
Evernote is an awesome note taking tool that allows you to create text notes, audio notes, video notes and save many different file types. If you add a picture to evernote it will actually search the text in the picture as well! I personally use evernote everyday to take down to do lists, meeting notes, and attach PDFs I receive for easy access. The best part is I have access to everything I post on evernote on every device I own, multiple computers, smart phones and other mobile devices. I also have access to it through the web, so its easy to find any resource through search and share it via e-mail or by whole notebook.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Lutz Integrate - Typewith.me - Collaborative Document site that does not require a log in
Have you ever tried to create a collaborative document in google docs but everyone doesn't have a google docs account. It can be a pain to get everyone to sign up for google docs. You can easily create a collaborative document using www.typewith.me with out the log in hassle. I have shared a typewith.me doc below, please check it out and add a little note!
You will notice the site I created has my one url, you can do this by going to the site and simply adding a sirname at the end and it will ask you if you would like to create the site. click the box and you will be on your new document! This is an etherpad site, there are a bunch of different sites that do the same thing. I like typewith.me, but feel free to try some of the other sites if you would like.
EtherPad Like Site
Cynapse http://www.cynapse.com/syncin
ietherpad http://ietherpad.com/
Meeting Words http://meetingwords.com/
Pirate Pad http://piratepad.net/
Primary Pad http://primarypad.com/
Sync In http://sync.in/
Titan Pad http://titanpad.com/
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Lutz Integrate - Firefox add-on Video DownloadHelper - allows you to download videos and music files from any web site!
Video DownloadHelper
Download videos easily with the firefox addon, when there is a video you are able to download to your computer the button will turn into...
which tells you that you can click on the arrow and download the video onto you computer like this...
it then asks you where to save the video and then presto, you have the video saved on your computer to play when ever you would like. **Please look at the copyright information and Fair Use policy of the video you are downloading!**
How do you download the Video DownloadHelper Addon?
First open Firefox, click on Tools and then Addons, then make sure you click on the "Get Add-ons tab to the left. Now follow the directions in the pictures below.
Now the little Video DownloadHelper icon will appear in your tool bar and you are ready to download!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Lutz Integrate - Quizlet - Create online flashcards to study and reinforce concepts with ease!
Quizlet is an awesome resource for students and teachers that allows you to create your own flashcards and study them online in many different ways. You can play games to learn, study the cards, or print off physical note cards to study to name a few. You can also search a ton of already created flash cards, so teachers can even find cards made for entire text books.
Teachers can create flash cards for lesson and students can study them at home or in school. There are also apps that connect quizlet to smart phones, ipads, iphones and itouches! More on that to come!
Here are some Examples: The Flash Cards, Review Learning and then the Scatter Game!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Lutz Integrate - Posterous - quick and easy way to create a blog, and autopost everywhere!
Posterous is a blogging site that allows you to post out to social netoworking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, Youtube, and a ton of other sites in one simple click. It is also easy to post from your phone or any other mobile device, you can even send a post via e-mail. As you can see posterous is the tool I use to send out this blog. It allows me to spread the word to many different people and the social networking sites they like best.
Teachers, you can use Posterous to share your daily work with students and their parents. It is an easy way to post web sites, collaborative documents, videos and other great educational resources quickly and easily. So check out Posterous and see how easy it is to become a blogger!
POSTEROUS
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Lutz Integrate - Free Rice - Donate rice to third world countires by answering vocab questions and various other topics
Free rice is addictive so watch out! Simply select a category and start answer questions, for every correct answer you donate 10 grains of rice to a third world country. Challenge friends and yourself to see what level you can reach, it gets pretty tough! Here is a list of subjects you can test your knowledge on.
Teachers this is a great site to get your students on if you have a few minutes of down time, or for that students that gets done early. I had a student go home and earn over 3000 grains of rice in one night. Some teachers actually give extra credit for playing free rice at home. Check it out, I promise you will not be disappointed!
FREE RICE
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Bloom's Digital Taxonomy Activity Analysis
This post is geared more towards educators, but I had to share!
Thanks to Virginia Glatzer for sharing this on the CFF listserv, this is a link to a pdf that links activities to Blooms Taxonomy. This could be very useful for teachers, to get ideas for all levels of Blooms and to connect with their students.
This is a great tool to validate 21st century learning skills into the classroom!
Thanks to...
http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/
As well for creating this!
What is Blooms Taxonomy?
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Lutz Integrate - Jeopardy Labs - Create an online Jeopardy game with ease for the classroom or for fun!
Jeopardy Labs
Jeopardy Labs is an easy way to create a jeopardy game for test review, fun with friends or for any other reason you would want to create a game. Simply go to jeopardy Labs, click start building, add your title and the subtitles for sections and add your questions. Once you are done, make sure to bookmark your url for playing and for editing so you can get back to it and then you are ready to play Jeopardy! You can also download your created game so you don't have to rely on the internet. I have teachers that use this for test review and then share the link with tehir students so they can review for the test at home as well. If you are havig a party you can create one to play with friends. All in all this is a great tool for assessment!
Here are some pics...
Hope you find this useful!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Lutz Integrate - Dropitto.me - Allow students, colleagues or friends to send files directly to your Dropbox account
Sites used:
Now that you have a dropbox account to back up data you can now use www.dropitto.me to allow students, colleagues or friends to share large files (up to 75mb) with you. Simply create a dropitto.me account, and connect it to your dropbox account. Don't worry it's password protected.
So it looks something like this.
My Drop URL http://dropitto.me/blutz01
You see above you need a password to get to add content to the dropbox
What my drop looks like...
Click browse, add desired file and press upload. Within a minute or two the file will show up in your dropbox folder named DROPitTOme!
Lutz Integrate - Dropitto.me - Allow students, colleagues or friends to send files directly to your Dropbox account
Sites used:
Now that you have a dropbox account to back up data you can now use www.dropitto.me to allow students, colleagues or friends to share large files (up to 75mb) with you. Simply create a dropitto.me account, and connect it to your dropbox account. Don't worry it's password protected.
So it looks something like this.
My Drop URL http://dropitto.me/blutz01
You see above you need a password to get to add content to the dropbox
What my drop looks like...
Click browse, add desired file and press upload. Within a minute or two the file will show up in your dropbox folder named DROPitTOme!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Is Your Data Backed Up? If Not, Check This Out!
DROP BOX
Drop Box (2GB for Free)
Teachers:
The biggest mistakes my teachers make is not backing up all the great lessons and flipcharts they create. I have found a really easy way to backup your data so you have access to it on your school computer, home computer & the web! Below you will see one strategy I suggest on backing up your data!
Everyone Else:
Using dropbox to save really important files, and save without having to put them on a flash drive and have mutilple files and versions!
How to get started:
Ok, all you have to do it create a droop box account and download drop box on every computer you would like to access your data on. Then simply save your work in the drop box folder and it will automatically upload to drop box servers and to any other computer you have drop box downloaded on, it is that easy. So when your computer crashes and you lose everything, anything that was saved in your "drop box" is still available and Backed Up!
Click here to create an account and help me earn some extra storage space!
Video about Dropbox
Wait there's more...
Tomorrow I will show you how to have people send content to your drop box!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Download Videos from Youtube onto Your Computer
Youtube is blocked in my school dirstrct, but there us some good content that has educational relevance on Youtube. So as long as you make sure you watch the whole video before you show it, you can use a web tools called Zamzar to download the video so it is found locally on your computer. Then you can easily show it on a flipchart, smart notebook, power point or through any video player. I made a video a few years back, so that is emebeded below and I also took a screen shot and annotated it. Please post a comment if you have questions!
Zamzar can also be used to convert file formats, of many different files...
ZAMZAR
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Whats the purpose of this blog?
I had a teacher ask me today, what exactly am I sending out on facebook. So I thought I would give a little background and rationale for my staring up this blog.
Background:
I am an Instructional Technology Integration Speacilaist in the School District of Philadelphia. Bottom line I work with administrators, teachers and students to inetgrate technology into their schools and classrooms. I also present at various conferences and would like to keep in touch with those participants. So, I need a platform to share out great tools, ideas, and converging technologies with everyone and this Posterous blog will allow me to that forum.
Purpose:
My goal is to post something almost everyday that is informative, short and to the point. Posterous allows me to post directly to the blog, but then share the posting via many different avenues like Tiwtter, Facebook, and my older blog. By posting to Posterous I can share with my administrators, teachers, students, presentation participants and anyone else who is interested. Other times I have tried to blog, I was always worried that I would make gramatical mistakes and the post had to be perfect, my new take is that there are going to be mistakes, but as long as you get the point and see what I have to share, I am not going to worry about the little things. So, I am sure there are mistakes in this quickly written post, but the bottom line is did you get the point?...Good!
So, I thank you for checking out my blog and hope what I have to offer might intrigue you, and get you coming back for more!
Brandon
P.S. - Site to check out today!
Have you ever seen Glogster? Create a visual blog, a project, a report or a cool page to embed in a wiki! So check it out!
Teacher & Students: http://edu.glogster.com/
Everyone Else: http://www.glogster.com/
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
POSTEROUS BLOG
This is it...Finally going to blog using Posterous, which will connect to Facebook, Twitter, my blogger account. These posts will be quick, simple and to the point! I will be sharing ideas, web tools, and a possible retry of my 365. Stay tuned!
Check out this site for easy web site organization and sharing!
Here are my pearltress....http://www.pearltrees.com/blutz01/15744211/
Brandon
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