eteacher

Isn’t she cute!!!!

If you are looking for a easy-to-use website  creation program, then you have your answer at www.weebly.com. This WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) website building tool for non-techies offers a one-step process for adding content that’s already somewhere else on the Web, such as Flickr photos, YouTube videos and Google maps.

When you click-and-drag a YouTube video onto your page, a flash player appears with it, and you can adjust the viewing screen size. It allow easy creation of blogs.

You can change design on the fly and there is a very large number of templates to choose from. The drop and drop interface makes it a breeze to add images, Google maps etc. You can easily use this program with kids in the primary school and it is not ‘blocked’in schools as many other web 2.0 programs are.

Ning is a platform for creating your own social networks. It puts new social networks in the hands of anyone with a good idea. With Ning, your social network can be anything and for anyone.

You start by choosing a combination of features (videos, blogs, photos, forums, etc.) from an ever-growing list of options. Then customize how it looks, decide if it’s public or private, and add your brand logo if you have one. People who join your network will automatically have a customizable profile page and will be able to message and friend each other.

I have set up an eteacher ning site to try out the Ning features. Feel free to visit and have a look.

Vodpod to help you collect videos from 1000s of sites around the ‘Net. You can use Vodpod search to find videos on YouTube, Google, Myspace, Comedy Central and Daily Motion. Or, use our browser button to add videos from 1000s of sites around the web. When you see a video you like while surfing the web, just click the “Save to Vodpod” button and we’ll add it to your Pod (that’s what we call video collections).

Once you’ve collected a few videos, you can put them on your blog, Facebook, Myspace, Netvibes or your personal website with our widgets. It is sSimply the best way to collect, share and watch videos. Adnd it is FREE and easy to use it. Sign up today.

Miketemple123 Edublogs Tutorials site has many useful tutorials on using edublogs. If you know how to embed photos, videos, audios etc, then this is a site that you must visit. You have links to many useful educational videos. There is a link to Maths Video lessons, BBC Education news and of course, tutorials on how to use Edublogs (and I am sure that you are using one, and it is free to all teachers).

Below is a tutorial on using vodpod in your blog. Please visit his site for many more useful videos.

Setting up a vodpod – for video

March 2nd, 2007 by miketemple123

Vodpod is a great way to show videos directly in your blog. No downloading needed for the viewer

1. go to www.vodpod.com and register – it’s free
2. give your vodpod site a name – like a username
3. you probably have one already – remember, it will show on your home page
4. when the site opens up, click on start a new pod
5. give the pod a name – you can change this later
6. it automatically adds this to the url – just leave it as it is
7. you can upload your own videos to this pod, or add other pods as needed
8. Now the clever bit
9. click on widgets
10. go to the bit with bookmarklets
11. simply drag the button onto your browser toolbar
12. then when you see an online video like youtube
13. simply click this button
14. choose the pod
15. this will then automatically add the video to your pod – and update the pod on your blog
16. to get the pod on your blog
17. stay in widgets
18. on lhs, simply select the pod from the menu
19. go down the page
20. copy the code
21. go to your post on the blog
22. click on html
23. paste the code in save and publish as normal
24. you should have a player on the page

If you are interested in creating movies, digital stories etc and not sure what to do, then have a look at Jennifer’s Blog. You may get some ideas to use with your class.

If you have made a good movie with your class why not enter in the first ever TROP JR: The Worlds Largest Short Film Festival for Kids! By Kids! (By Australian Children’s Television Foundation).

Sharing Station offers safe, FREE video sharing for educators. Link to your videos, or embed them in your web pages. Add Video, Documents, Pictures, and Audio (MP3). More important, it is most likely NOT blocked in schools, like the YouTube. ,

Although it is still in its final stages of beta testing, you can join and start using it. It has no advertisements and they claim that it will remain FREE.

It also has the option of grouping videos, audios forming a lesson list. Looks very promising.