|
TeachersFirst Edge Entry: For moderately adventurous technology users. Simplybox is an online space for collecting pieces of content from throughout the web: parts of web pages, images, recipes, passages of text, entire web pages, etc. Each “box” can hold and arrange a mixture of contents and can include comments from those creating the box and those who see it. Everything moves by simply selecting and drag/drop. You can also create “boxes” that are shared among many Simplybox member/users, with each being able to add content and comments. You can publicly share boxes and allow comments by sharing the URL. To access the comment area, click "view" and choose "list view."
See a sample, publicly shared box created by TeachersFirst Edge editors
here. Leave us a comment by changing it to List View (under View menu at top left). This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
9630
In the Classroom:
Skills needed: Requires Internet Explorer 7 or Vista. Join the site (free). This requires email and must be validated by clicking on a link in the email. Once registered, be sure to watch the short video that explains Simplybox and its terminology and functionality. You can watch this while you wait for the email! You may need to check your junk mail folder to find the validation email. Do this in advance before using the tool in class! Our editors waited at least 30 minutes for the email to arrive. The email will provide a link to download and install the Simplybox toolbar. If your school machine is “locked down,” you may want to install it at home to create sample “boxes” to demonstrate to your tech folks why they should permit and/or install the toolbar. After you install, you will need to open Internet Explorer afresh for the toolbar to appear. Log in and add things to the “stuff” box they provide for you at the start. You may want to use separate tabs or windows for selecting items and arranging your “simplybox” so you can collect things quickly.
Tips: Open a web page, then use “box and save” on the toolbar to turn on the selection tool and ”grab” portions of a web page. Our editors found that pages with a frameset did not “box” very well. Box items inside the frame without the frame itself. Find the tools to arrange (view) the pieces, add comments (click on an item to edit it separately), delete an item, rename the “box” (edit menu), etc. The zoom control at the RIGHT is very important to obtain more space in the “box.” Items seem to display with the newest on “top” when overlapped, and you cannot rearrange the order.
Model and require ethical use of web content by showing students how you document the sources of the items within a “box.” Note that the link they show for the source is the home page of that site. To be more accurate, copy/paste the actual URL for the specific page into a comment, along with bibliography information. You can use comments to provide full documentation as you collect items or retrieve the data later by using the link from that item back to its original source. Since items retrieved in the past may link to a newer version of the web page, so it is wisest to collect source information as you go. The tools do record the date when you “boxed” the item.
Once you have created a box you like, Share it with others. If the others are members of Simplybox, they can edit and add to the box, too. If not, they can add comments on the items in the box you share by providing the URL.
Safety/security concerns: If you plan to have students use individual Simplybox accounts, check your school’s policy on accessing and sharing student email. Another option is to use your teacher Gmail account and set up subaccounts for up to 20 students to register (by code name or number). Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.
Possible Uses:
Share teacher-created collections of web resources using this visual tool. Even non-readers can click on an image to access the page and use it. Share a collection of sources on the same research topic for students to compare for bias, leaving their comments on which they would trust the most. Assign students (must be members) to create their own collection of information on a research topic, annotating each with comments. Imagine having each group present their “findings” on genetic engineering, including links, images, and commentary, making the “box” available during oral presentations on the interactive whiteboard and also sharing the link on the class wiki for others to comment. Allow individual students to “collect” a “box” of resources they would like to use for research on animals or cultures, commenting back to them about their choices. Learning support, ESL and ELL, or reading teachers can collect passages from various web pages for comprehension practice, placing questions in comments and asking students to respond in comments. If your students are members, assign each group a series of images that they must explain and re-order as they learn about the stages of insect development using the source pages of the images. Have student groups illustrate the sequence of urban development using a “simply box” and comments. Provide a digital “trunk show” of an era and ask students to research and write about what they learn, adding their own comments and reactions. Then ask them to create their own “trunk show." Art teachers can collect images to demonstrate design concepts, then assign students to make their own annotated collections of images with analogous color schemes or good examples of texture, etc. Have students turn in current events “boxes” showing and explaining different angles on a single event from different cultural perspectives. Have students collect snippits of language from many web pages illustrating figures of speech such as metaphors. Let them add images to show the metaphor. Have students create visual poems using text from a poetry page and the images it generates in their mind, explaining their choices in comments. |
|
