Omnivorous Surfer

Oh, how I do enjoy a cup of tea, especially with a good book on these cold, cloudy days. After reading an email  (the contents of which don't seem to be on her website) from Isabel De Los Rios on the differences between and the health benefits of the different varieties of teas, I found Adagio Teas online. I ordered some samplers and an IngenuiTEA "teapot," I we tried out the pot and the chai tea this evening. Mmmmmm! I like both!



I have always preferred loose tea to bagged tea--much better flavor and no tea dust--and this teapot provides the easiest way I can imagine to deal with loose tea. A reusable filter fits snugly in the bottom of the tea pot. You can boil the water in the microwave in the pot, add the tea, and steep. Then comes the neat part; you set it on top of your cup or pitcher, depending on which size pot you have, and the tea pours out of the bottom, leaving the leaves in the pot. Then dump out the leaves, rinse, and put the pot in the dishwasher! Much better than using the infusers I have tried.

I may have to have both sizes of the IngenuiTEA...and I'll definitely have to order more tea from Adagio!

I received an ereader for Christmas. I had been wanting one but couldn't justify buying one since I could read ebooks on my iPod Touch, so, though it isn't the one for which I had techno-lusted, I do have one and I do like using it. I have learned that many of the books for which I would have to pay from its online bookstore, true also for Amazon and I suspect Barnes and Noble, can be downloaded free from some other source. Of course, sometimes it's a matter of saving $0.89, but I DO enjoy getting things for FREE. Well, also, since I do read a lot, including copyright-free classics, the cost would add up over time. In case anyone is in the same boat, I thought I would share my findings.

 First, you need to know what format(s) your reader accepts and how to transfer to it ebooks that you download to your computer. You may find the same ebook in different formats on different sites, so don't give up easily.

I will mention later a few different sites, but sometimes simply doing a Google search will give you want you want. Let me give you an example. After searching unsuccessfully on a few ebook sites for Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather in epub format and free, I tried this search: "Death Comes for the Archbishop free epub." The result listed first was exactly what I wanted. I really would recommend this method. (You might use the same process to compare prices on newer books still under copyright, though you might have a more difficult time finding the book in a compatible format for your reader.)

There are many sites offering ebooks in different formats as free downloads. These sites are not created equal, as some offer mostly self-published writings, and others offer illegal copies of copyrighted books; I am not interested in these types, so there are no links to them here. I would definitely discourage you from stealing from authors by downloading pirated copies!

Three sites I have used in the past and found useful are:
Project Gutenberg
Feedbooks
Google eBookstore

If you are looking for copyrighted books, you may still be able to compare prices to find a better deal. You could use the same Google search process described above, but here are three digital bookstore sites you might check as well:
eBooks
Kobo
Google eBookstore

Flickr has so many tools. Here's one that's easy and really enhances the viewing experience. Simply copying and pasting the BlackMagic code in a photo's comment provides a link that will open the photo with a black background. If you can copy and paste, you can do this. Check it out at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nosha/3277989393/. This looks like a regular Flickr page, but read to find the code and instructions.

Here's a sample.

I suppose now that Flickr displays an image on a black background when you click on it, this isn't that much help, but it would give you a nice background if you wanted to send someone a link to a specific photo.

Diigo certainly isn't a newcomer, so many may already at least be aware of it. If you have never checked it out, I would heartily recommend that you do so. I, like many others, have been using delicious for some time, though I also had a Diigo account. The talk about Yahoo dropping delicious led me to do some more investigation of Diigo, especially since I was set to do a training on social bookmarking. After learning just how much Diigo has to offer, I have moved all my bookmarks to my personal Diigo account and have just received approval of my application for a Diigo Educator premium account in preparation for the training.

In addition bookmarking, Diigo lets you highlight and annotate web pages so that when you go back to them you don't have to remember what it was you thought was important. You can also share your finds and annotations with a Diigo Group. For example, there is an iPad iPhone and iPod Touch Users Group, and I've found some great information through my weekly email update of group activity. You can even have an ongoing dialog or conversation on a web page using the Comments feature. Diigo users can choose to use either a Diigo toolbar or a browser button to quickly add and annotate sites, or, of course, they can add bookmarks on the Diigo website itself.

Since I'm still exploring it myself, if you want to know more about the Diigo Educator premium account, check the FAQ page. It has all the features you would need, including privacy for students and no requirement of email addresses for adding student accounts.  It would be great for student researching.

While I still use Symbaloo as my go-to, everyday bookmark repository and browser homepage, I now catalog interesting and useful sites I find on Diigo.

PRESENTATIONS ETC
On its Presentations ETC website, the Educational Technology Clearinghouse makes available "free backgrounds, templates, letters, frames, and buttons for school presentations, websites, class newsletters, digital scrapbooking, and student portfolios. Thousands of presentation elements and millions of combinations allow you to customize your school projects, electronic scrapbook, or eportfolio. A friendly license allows teachers and students to use up to 50 items in a single, non-commercial project without further permission."

graphic of samples from the Presentations ETC website

Thanks to Free Technology for Teachers for alerting me to SnipSnip.it! (If you're not reading Free Technology for Teachers or following them on Facebook or Twitter, you're missing out.) SnipSnip.it lets you easily clip a section of a YouTube video for sharing with others. This will be great for teachers, students, or presenters who want to use only a portion of a YouTube video in their projects. Use of the site is FREE and there is no registration required.

All you have to do is to paste the URL of the YouTube video into the provided box on the SnipSnip.it website and press Enter. Play the video to determine and enter the beginning and ending times of the clip you want. You will be give a code to embed the clip on a webpage and a link to view the clip on the SnipSnip site. I extracted a clip from the How to use a Flip YouTube Video Camera YouTube video to include only some basic tips for those taking videos. I have embedded the clip below, and you can view it on the SnipSnip site by clicking here.

cropped with SnipSnip

The resulting video is in the Flash format, which may limit its availability for viewing in some instances.

One of the stumbling blocks to having students blog is the necessity of using an individual's email address when accounts are set up. Another is the need to assure the student's safety while online, while a third is that many sites require users to be at least 13. Kidblog addresses all the concerns and, even better, it is FREE.

Kidblog was designed by teachers for teachers, primarily for elementary and middle school use. The teacher has administrative control over her/his class accounts, and students' blogs by default are private, viewable only by their teacher and classmates. If desired, a passworded guest account can be added so parents can view their student's blog posts and comments. Rare for free accounts, there is no advertising! If you're interested in learning more, see the About Kidblog page.

I recently read an excellent blog post, Middle School Blogging: Students Constructing Their Own Knowledge, which shares examples of students' blogs and the reactions of both students and parents to the experience.

This Directory of Learning Tools from the Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies offers access to a listing of  "over 2,000 Tools for Learning - for schools, colleges, universities and the workplace." Select your category from among the thirteen listed and you will be presented with an annotated listing of sites presented in a table format so that additional information can be given for each. For example, for Live Tools you can see which offer web conferencing, audio conferencing, video conferencing, screen/application/desktop sharing, remote access/control, live broadcasting, 3D/virtual worlds.

What a wonderful resource for both teachers (there is an Instructional Tools category) and students...as well as the general Internet-using population. I'm going to have fun mining this one!

Youblisher is an interesting site. It takes your PDF document and makes it into a flippable online document. The site requires registration, but it is 100% free.

I tried it out on a simple Word document I've been working on to see how it works. After saving it as a PDF document and uploading it, I was given a link to the publication, code to copy and paste a link to the publication, and code to embed either a small or large cover to serve as a link to the publication. Click on the embedded cover at right to view my document. When on that site, click and drag on a page to turn it.

How cool for students to be able to "publish" their creations in this way!

Brain Nook  is a FREE "virtual world" that offers over 100 educational games for students based on fundamental math and English grammar concepts which are embedded in virtual worlds that the students can unlock and explore. The games are designed to also help students strengthen skills such as reading, reasoning, decision-making, analysis, memorization, dexterity, and computer literacy. Games are based on California State Board of Education standards for grades 1 through 5 (ages 6-10).

While free membership includes access to many areas of BrainNook, including a Parent Report Center where parents can track their child's progress, Premium Members get much wider access.

During account creation, a parent email address must be entered. The parent will receive an email with a link which must be clicked on to activate the account. A chat feature is available, but without free-form entry. Students with a free account may use only menu-based chat, selecting from a list of pre-approved chat phrases. Premium members can use a whitelist chat which allows them to access a preset list of safe words.

BrainNook @ School includes over 200 educational games and offers other features including student reporting.

In an effort to keep some semblance of security, I use different passwords for different sites/programs/types of sites..and I have accounts on a lot of sites! Occasionally I have trouble coming up with the right password for one I access infrequently. Anyone with me? I have found a reasonably secure way to keep access to all those passwords at my fingertips. It's a little free program called KeePass.

Put KeePass and its database on a flash drive and you'll always have it with you. Folders are provided for you which you can rename if needed, and you can add more folders for organization if you wish to.

You use a password, a  key file, or both to access the database. Read KeePass help for further information. Be aware that there is no backdoor to the database. IMPORTANT: If you forget your password, your database is locked and useless. Think about this carefully!

You can read more about other features of KeePass on the download page at ZDNet or on the KeyPass website.

KeePass is considered a Portable App, which means it doesn't have to be installed on a computer, but can be carried and executed from a flash drive (or CD). Other OS posts on portable apps include:
System Nucleus - view, edit, and manage system resources and settings;
PortableApps Suite - a single download for a collection of apps;
Gimp - portable photo editing;
Portable Freeware - characteristics of  a portable application and a link to The Portable Freeware Collection.

I'm beginning to wonder if I couldn't do an entire year of Google tips! The ability to filter search results by reading level was apparently added in early December 2010.

Here are the description and directions from Google support:

The feature is based primarily on statistical models we built with the help of teachers. We paid teachers to classify pages for different reading levels, and then took their classifications to build a statistical model. With this model, we can compare the words on any webpage with the words in the model to classify reading levels. We also use data from Google Scholar, since most of the articles in Scholar are advanced.

Understanding that the classification may not be totally accurate, it still might prove to be a useful start for finding appropriate results for the intended audience.