TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Mar 15, 2020

Here are this week's features. Clicking the tags in the description area of each listing will present a list of other resources with this topic. | Click here to return to the Featured Sites Archive

 

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url List - Burke Holland and Cecil Phillip

Grades
K to 12
1 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Do you need to share a group of URLs? url List makes it easy to create and share a list of URLs without having to share each one individually. Copy ...more
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Do you need to share a group of URLs? url List makes it easy to create and share a list of URLs without having to share each one individually. Copy and paste each link, then share the URL created, no need to even register! As you build your list, use drag and drop features to re-order items. When finished, give your list a name and description and publish it. Once published, copy the URL from your browser to share by email or however you usually share links. Create a free account if desired to save, manage, and edit your lists.

tag(s): bookmarks (47), curation (35)

In the Classroom

Bookmark url List to use whenever you want to share a group of links. For example, gather all of your online resources for any unit into one list for your personal use or to share with students on your class website for easy access at all times. Create an account at the site to keep track of your bookmark lists and edit as needed. Ask students to use this site when doing research projects and ask them to include their URL list as part of the final project.

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Netboard - netboard.me

Grades
4 to 12
0 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Curate and share texts, documents, links, photos, and more with Netboard. Register and activate your account to begin. Choose "create" to begin a new page and begin adding content....more
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Curate and share texts, documents, links, photos, and more with Netboard. Register and activate your account to begin. Choose "create" to begin a new page and begin adding content. Enter the URL for any website, upload information from your computer, or add text boxes. Personalize the look of your page using layout, font and background skin options. Save your Netboard and share the custom URL with others, privacy options allow others with the link to only view or contribute to your board and for boards to remain private.

tag(s): bookmarks (47), bulletin boards (14), collaboration (85), communication (136), curation (35), images (270)

In the Classroom

Use Netboard to curate and collect resources for any subject. Create a new board to share with students for each unit, for example, when teaching a unit on fantasy in literature share resources to examples of fantasy writing, student examples of writing, images to inspire fantasy writing, and more. Have students create a Netboard to accompany any research project and ask them to include a link to all resources they used as part of their research.

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Weje - Webjets Ltd

Grades
K to 12
0 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Curate, organize and share web content with Weje (formerly Webjets). Create your account and begin working with your Weje desktop. Use links at the bottom of your workspace to add ...more
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Curate, organize and share web content with Weje (formerly Webjets). Create your account and begin working with your Weje desktop. Use links at the bottom of your workspace to add lists, mindmaps, folders, and more. Drag and drop content from your computer and add to your workspace. Install the bookmarklet onto your computer browser to automatically push information into your inbox. Weje operates on a system using "boardss." After creating a board, personalize content by changing backgrounds and adding information. Collaborate with others by sharing boards and allowing them to edit information.

tag(s): digital storytelling (142), microblogging (18), organizational skills (90)

In the Classroom

Use Weje to organize and curate content for any unit. Share video and website links, upload notes, and create mindmaps for student review. Ask older students to create their own Weje to organize information for large projects and when collaborating with other students. Weje is perfect for creating and curating career research information. Include a link to a curated Weje board as part of a larger multimedia project shared using a digital storytelling tool like Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here.

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3x3 Links - Federico Elles

Grades
K to 12
0 Favorites 0  Comments
 
3x3 Links is a bookmarking site that organizes saved websites into a 3x3 grid. Add items as a link to any website or create a folder that links to a ...more
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3x3 Links is a bookmarking site that organizes saved websites into a 3x3 grid. Add items as a link to any website or create a folder that links to a new grid with websites you add. Customize your page to include a personalized URL, add a background image or color, and include or delete captions.

tag(s): bookmarks (47), preK (254)

In the Classroom

3x3 Links is an excellent tool for efficiently managing online resources in your classroom. For younger students, use this site as the home page on classroom computers. Add direct links to sites for student use or create folders for each subject. This site allows the creation of multiple grids, create a grid for each content unit or semester. Use the embed code to add the grid to your class webpage. For older students, this site is perfect for organizing and sharing resources for study or research projects. As an example, if your students are doing a research report on a state, ask them to create a grid to include folders linking to different topics including famous people, population information, geography, and history. Although there is an option to create up to 9 cubes in your grid, it isn't necessary so the number of cubes can be suited to fit your needs.

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Wakelet - Jamil Khalil

Grades
K to 12
2 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Create, curate, and share web content with Wakelet. Save online links, including articles, videos, tweets, and more then organize them into collections called wakes. Share collections...more
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Create, curate, and share web content with Wakelet. Save online links, including articles, videos, tweets, and more then organize them into collections called wakes. Share collections with a personalized link or use the embed code to embed anywhere online. Use the keyword search to explore and view wakes created by other Wakelet members. Save information from other wakes to your account for use in your own wakes. To make your wakes more distinctive, add a cover image, background, and choose the layout you prefer. Wakelet works smoothly with many apps such as Microsoft Teams, Google Classroom, and Flip, just to name a few. Note: Wakelet now has a Pro version. This review is for the free version which includes everything mentioned above and Unlimited items & collections, Unlimited share to view, 3 collaborative collections, Publish 4 collections, and Explore other collections

tag(s): bookmarks (47), collaboration (85), communication (136), curation (35), DAT device agnostic tool (143), multimedia (43), news (229), personalized learning (9), playlists (10), social media (53), social networking (68)

In the Classroom

The possibilities for using Wakelet in the classroom are endless! Create collections with tips for writing in different genres, current events, information about specific countries or cities, math games, and much more. Have students set up their own wakes as part of a research project. Put together a wake scavenger hunt to introduce a new unit or as a review at the end of a unit. Share wakes on your class web page for student use at home to review and practice class content. Having the ability to have a cover image and background for your wakes makes them much more interesting and easily identifiable, especially for young or visual students!

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Reddit - Reddit.com

Grades
9 to 12
0 Favorites 0  Comments
   
Reddit democratizes news through voting on the headlines that matter to you. Though informative, it is not eye catching. Simply "upvote" or "downvote" a headline to bring it higher...more
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Reddit democratizes news through voting on the headlines that matter to you. Though informative, it is not eye catching. Simply "upvote" or "downvote" a headline to bring it higher (or lower) in the news column. Curate the best stuff on Reddit by creating a Subreddit. Note: New accounts are unable to make a Subreddit without time spent being active in the community. Search or view the various Subreddits for a topic of your choice. To make a Subreddit, choose "Create your own Subreddit." On the left-hand side are the boxes for your Subreddits (under the Multireddit label). Subscribe to various threads of interest through the subscribe button. As you subscribe to the threads, your Reddit page will change to show these subscriptions. Some threads are Ask Me Anything (AMA), and the poster will answer when you ask. As Reddit is Social Networking, be sure to look at the comments of others before sharing with students. Since you can curate your own topics, this may not be a major concern.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): microblogging (18), news (229), social networking (68)

In the Classroom

Use Reddit to show the uniqueness and value of topics by the upvotes and downvotes. Also discuss the thinking behind the upvotes and downvotes. Comments to the posts offer more detailed information to portions of the topic that can lead to different points of view, deeper analysis, and discussion of related topics. Since the average person and professionals use Reddit, students can ask a question to get crowdsourced answers such as "How to write a better term paper?" View the various topics that have high or poor ratings and determine whether the ratings are based upon facts or opinion. Students can find various topics for term papers or research by viewing the Reddit topics. Reddit is also popular for finding peer review journals and tutorials.

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Google Photos - Google

Grades
K to 12
5 Favorites 1  Comments
Find, organize, edit, and share your photos from one place with Google Photos. Automatically upload pictures from any device to one storage platform. Use keywords to locate any uploaded...more
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Find, organize, edit, and share your photos from one place with Google Photos. Automatically upload pictures from any device to one storage platform. Use keywords to locate any uploaded image. Use the editing tools to create animated GIF's from images or combine related images and videos into a movie with a matching soundtrack. Google Photos allows you to upload photos from any mobile device and provides free unlimited storage for photos up to 16 megapixels or videos up to 1080 HD.

tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (143), images (270), Storage (6), video (256)

In the Classroom

Create a classroom Google account for students to upload video projects or images for projects. Share raw materials for student multimedia projects, such as photos of lab experiments or local historic sites. Share classroom projects privately and easily from your Google account. In elementary classrooms, teachers can use this tool to share photos from field trips, assemblies, project presentations, and other special events. Share the password with parents only. Have older students create their own Google account for collaborating on multimedia projects.

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Papaly - Papaly

Grades
6 to 12
0 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Create boards of links to your popular tools and bookmarks curated into one beautiful and simple interface! Use Papaly to collect links from Twitter, Facebook, news sites, Pinterest,...more
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Create boards of links to your popular tools and bookmarks curated into one beautiful and simple interface! Use Papaly to collect links from Twitter, Facebook, news sites, Pinterest, existing computer bookmarks, and new bookmarks. Follow the pop-up messages to learn the controls from the tutorial. Hover over Boards to click on the + sign, and then name the new board. Select from popular categories to instantly populate your board with common tools. Use Papaly with any browser, however, you can import computer bookmarks by installing the Chrome extension or creating an HTML file of them by following the tutorial. Click on Board Properties in the upper right corner to change your board to Secret (private), make your board Invisible for Google, alter your settings, and change the layout of the board. Share boards by email, Twitter, or Facebook. Note: If using the boards with students, be sure not to import information from personal sites such as email, Twitter, Facebook, etc. as the login information would be visible to students.

tag(s): bookmarks (47), collaboration (85), news (229), social media (53), social networking (68)

In the Classroom

Create an account to keep track of bookmarks to share with students in your class. Papaly bookmarks can be viewed on any browser, anywhere. Create separate boards for the various projects and units in your class. Add information that is useful for student understanding and application of concepts. Keep the boards and bookmarks throughout the year. Consider creating a board for student current events or happenings. Use this for access to information on various topics such as food issues, diseases, political information, cultures around the world, and more. Create a board with more challenging topics for your gifted and advanced students. Students can create a board of links from the web on a certain topic to share with other classmates. Create a professional development board to share with other teachers. Challenge your middle and high school gifted students to curate a board for themselves on a topic of individual interest. For example, a student interested in rocketry can locate and add blogs from rocket scientists, NASA feeds, and more. Talented writers may want to collect links to literary publications and author blogs. Consider creating a login that all students can use in order to add bookmarks that they find useful.

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Raindrop.io - Mussabekov Rustem

Grades
K to 12
3 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Raindrop.io is a smart bookmarking tool to "collect" online and media content. It is available as a mobile app, as a web tool, and as a browser extension for Safari, ...more
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Raindrop.io is a smart bookmarking tool to "collect" online and media content. It is available as a mobile app, as a web tool, and as a browser extension for Safari, Chrome, Opera, or Firefox. After adding the extension to your browser, a couple of clicks saves and organizes content into thematic collections. Collections can include videos, files, images, and other media. Watch the tour videos to see how it works. Add tags and notes, and drag and drop bookmarks between collections as you wish. Browse your collections using the search bar and keywords. Use Raindrop's social networking feature to create and share collections or find and subscribe to others' collections. Receive a weekly email digest of your bookmarks, or turn that feature off.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): bookmarks (47), collaboration (85), curation (35), DAT device agnostic tool (143)

In the Classroom

Use Raindrop.io to create a bank of resources for each content unit within your subject or your class. Have students download and use the materials you provide via Raindrop to make their own projects, complete webquests, or to learn independently. Create a separate class account for students to curate their own lists of bookmarks and resources. Use this tool to compile web treasure hunts to learn or introduce any topic within your content area. Collect links to informational texts for students to read "closely" a la CCSS. With younger students, create collections of audio books for children to view and listen to. Share simple interactives teaching colors, numbers and more for a computer center. Have students create their own Raindrop as a place to store links for a project and ask them to attach it to attach it to their final project. Share a link to your Raindrop on your class webpage. Save pictures of class activities with a Raindrop collection to share with parents. Encourage your gifted students to curate collections of media and articles above the level of current curriculum or for individual research on related topics they are interested in. Share these "advanced" collections with all students to spark personal learning.

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Listly - Shyam Subramanyan and Boomy Labs

Grades
9 to 12
1 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Listly is an online application for creating, curating, and sharing "social" lists. You are able to view lists without any login or account. Create an account on Listly to start ...more
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Listly is an online application for creating, curating, and sharing "social" lists. You are able to view lists without any login or account. Create an account on Listly to start your own list following the simple instructions, using your online dashboard. Edit features include tags, description, and options for comments and guest participation. Allow others to add to your list or move items up and down in rank. Use the code to embed a list into your website/blog or share by URL. Add the bookmarklet to your browser's toolbar to easily add any web page to a list. Not ready to create your own lists? Use the search bar to find lists already created on any subject.

tag(s): bookmarks (47), curation (35), organizational skills (90), polls and surveys (46)

In the Classroom

Listly is useful for polling students for their suggestions and votes on any topic: MOST important reason why the colonists revolted, BEST example of a sonnet, best book for science lovers, etc. School library/media centers can share lists of favorite books or best places to learn about a specific topic and allow students or classes to edit/re-rank the lists. Listly requires individual logins to vote. The best solution to greenhouse gasses? Favorite math site? The best resource for learning about pollution... best anything! Create a list to collect parental input on field trip ideas, class t-shirts, or many other topics.

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Diigo - Education - Diigo, Inc. 2010

Grades
1 to 12
9 Favorites 0  Comments
  
This interactive social bookmarking and collaboration tool does so much more than any ordinary bookmarking tool. It is a research curation tool, knowledge-sharing community, website...more
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This interactive social bookmarking and collaboration tool does so much more than any ordinary bookmarking tool. It is a research curation tool, knowledge-sharing community, website annotation tool, and social information network all rolled into one "cloud" package. To get started, check out the About link. You will find information and videos on the uses of Diigo. Set up an account, being sure to click the FREE education edition upgrade. This is a device-agnostic tool, available on the web but also available for free as both an Android and iOS app. Use it from any device or move between several devices and still access your work. App and web versions vary slightly. At this time Diigo is experiencing issues with the "Top 10 Tags" from the menu on the left.

This tool can be used as a basic bookmarking tool, simply allowing YOU to save, sort, and access your own bookmarks from ANY computer or mobile device (once you are logged in). You have the choice whether your bookmarks are public or private. You can gradually ease into more advanced and interactive features: highlight parts of sites and save or share those annotations, add sticky notes to parts of websites, pictures, screen-shots, documents, audio, and more. Do group collaborative research. Organize your bookmarks by tags. Unlike sorting bookmarks into file folders, adding tags permits you to put multiple tags or "labels" on one site. The same site you tag for book reports could also be tagged for biographies, for example. Additional Diigo features include groups (a way to share and exchange bookmarks with a certain group of Diigo users), messaging, and search features. You can search all the public bookmarks made by others and discover other people with similar interests, already bookmarked and ready for you to mark as your own. There are many groups you can join, such as those with a specific teaching interest or hobby. See "Tools" for many helpful options, including bookmarklets to make bookmarking instant on multiple devices. Bookmarklets drag directly to the toolbars on your computer and are well worth it. It goes beyond simple bookmarking and adds options like highlight, capture, send, read later, comment, search bar and Diigo message options. You decide your own level of use and desired tools to be shown on the bar. If choosing not to install the toolbar, then there is an applet called Diigolet that will be used in its place. It is not as strong a tool as the toolbar, but will work well if the toolbar installation is not possible. Check our sample group. You can also install a widget on your blog (or class web page) that will show your bookmarks there.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): bookmarks (47), collaboration (85), curation (35), DAT device agnostic tool (143), forum (2), organizational skills (90), social networking (68)

In the Classroom

Teachers even in very early grades can use Diigo simply to share links with students and parents. To get more ideas on the potential education uses of this site, see this SlideShare powerpoint here. Use this tool easily in your Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) classroom since all students will be able to access it for free, no matter what device they have.

Assign students a research topic and allow them to use Diigo collaboratively to collect and share resources. Share teacher-selected options (complete with comments or directions) easily using Diigo. The research and conversations created through highlighting and annotating what they read can greatly enhance both their research skills and their online interaction on academic level skills. Or use Diigo to post discussion assignments on specific articles or even parts of articles using the highlighting tool. Find a relevant article for your subject, highlight the part that you want students to read. (If students are younger, keep it short to reduce the intimidating reality of too much information for kids.) Attach a sticky note with a discussion question for the students. Have them comment on the link in a "class discussion" as a homework assignment. If you are fortunate enough to have all students with computer access in your class and at home, such as in one to one laptop program schools, you can organize many assignments using Diigo. Use this site to help all of your students stay organized. Share this resource with your (not so organized) gifted students to help them manage projects and not "lose" the information they "found somewhere." Post assignments, readings, online interactive labs, and more. The site even allows students to submit responses by adding a comment. Of course others will see what they said, so you may not want the comments to be the only thing they do! If you assign gifted students to do projects beyond the regular curriculum, consider having them curate and annotate a collection of resources on a higher level topic. For example, extend your study of World War II by having them collect web-based primary sources showing the propaganda leading up to the war, political cartoons during the war, and advertisements from the time. Have them annotate the collection explaining each artifact and how it reflects the sentiments and biases of certain groups. That same collection could provide other students a class opportunity to interact with "objects" from the time. If you have contact with other teachers of gifted students, they could collaborate across different schools or classrooms.

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Mix - StumbleUpon

Grades
6 to 12
2 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Are you looking for some of the best content on the web? Use Mix to browse and search for information based on your interests and those of like-minded people. ...more
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Are you looking for some of the best content on the web? Use Mix to browse and search for information based on your interests and those of like-minded people. Mix imports content from news sources, popular blogs, and additional world-wide resources. The more you browse and save material, the more Mix will refine its understanding of what you like. Create collections by adding information found on the site or by keeping links to web content found as you browse the Internet. Use Mix's web browser extension to save URL's to collections with just one click. When ready to share your collection, use the share icon to copy the link, send via email, or share on social media.

tag(s): bookmarks (47), evaluating sources (28), social networking (68)

In the Classroom

Use Mix for your personal research and professional development. Visit Mix occasionally to find new ideas and new sites for teaching. Create and share collections of websites to share with students for use with research projects. For example, as you prepare to teach a science unit on plants, create a collection containing news articles, explainer sites, and online games for students to use as a virtual resource for supplementing classroom lessons. Include documents, slide presentations, and more from your Google Drive for student access from any device. Another use of Mix is to create collections when teaching students how to evaluate online resources. Create a collection from a variety of different resources based on the same topic and ask students to reflect upon the validity of the information and the source. Ask them to use a presentation tool like Sway, reviewed here, to share their findings by including links to the information along with supporting evidence. Another idea for using Mix is for students to create collections to share as part of multimedia projects as a virtual bibliography. In addition to websites shared, ask them to add their written work, images, or other creations. Mix is an excellent tool for creating an online portfolio for students to use when applying to college. Show students how to easily create new collections using their work, but personalized to individual college applications.

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