Go ahead - Embed.ly it!

embed.ly

The end of the school year may create free time for students and most teachers, but it is the beginning of planning and facilitating professional development sessions for me. And, this year is crazier than ever.

But, today I learned about Embed.ly via a post on Mashable.

Embed.ly allows easy embedding of virtually anything into a web site. So, you don't have to rely on the embed code after a YouTube video or a Jing via your Screencast account to embed items from other sites into your posts for students or on you blog. You can embed anything as long as it has a URL.

I wish I found Embed.ly two weeks ago. My presentations for this week's PD sessions would be embedded instead of linked to for future reference.

Embed.ly has a free api and a subscription based pro version. The api has a Wordpress plugin or javascript code to install the tool into your site. Since I'm crazy busy right now, I wish there was a Blogger plugin.

Embedly | Home

Create a Flipping Book with FlipSnack

www.flipsnack.com

FlipSnack is a new web tool from SnackTools for converting PDF documents into interactive digital flip books.

Students and teachers can easily use FlipSnack's three step process to create a stylish flip book that can be shared on a website, via a URL link, Facebook, Twitter, and other web services.

Easily create a FlipSnack flip book in three simple steps:

1. Upload 
2. Customize
3. Publish!

Using FlipSnack, students and teachers can convert single or multiple PDF documents into one flip book.

www.flipsnack.com

FlipSnack is a great tool for students, teachers, and groups to easily publish stylish e-portfolios for sharing and celebrating learning, accomplishments and other information.

Looking for a solution to publish something? Give FlipSnack a try!

Bring Math Lessons to the Street using Maths Maps

Do you follow Tom Barrett (@tombarrett) or his projects? If not, you should.

Tom shares some great ideas and gets a lot of people collaborating online to create rich resources of ideas for using technology for learning. If you have not seen his Interesting Ways project, check them out. You'll be amazed and inspired to try new things with students using tech tools.

A couple of years ago, Tom created a project for integrating Google Maps into math curriculum. He calls it Maths Maps. The Maths Maps project is collaborative, similar to the Interesting Ways project and has led to interactive activities using rich visual materials from real world locations for learning and applying math skills.

Maths Maps via http://edte.c

Contributing to the project is easy. Just follow these guidelines from Tom's Maths Maps page on his blog site:

1. "Explore the maps below for the ideas already added, follow the links to open them in a new window.
2. Send me details of which map you want to edit and your Google email address and I will add you as an editor, follow the link from the email invite.
3. Click on EDIT in the left panel.
4. Zoom close to the city and it’s surroundings. (Don’t forget Streetview)
5. Find some TOPIC ideas you can see.
6. Add a placemark (use the right colour for the age group it is best for – see purple pin)
7. Explain the activity in the description.
8. Change the title to show how many ideas there are.
9. Send out a Tweet or write a blog post to highlight this resource and encourage others to contribute."

Visit Tom's Maths Maps page to access examples and learn more about using Maths Maps and contributing to the project.