Library+Tools,+Tricks,+and+Tips

=Ms. Braaten Recommends...= __ **Wikis and Websites are easy online "platforms" for you to create in order to organize and communicate your information to your audience. Many times, you are also able to embed other technology tools onto the wiki or website, so your audience can use your wiki/website without leaving your page!** __ **Wikispaces**–www.wikispaces.com Wikispaces allows you to create a website where a "community of users" can add or edit content. Wikispaces is a wiki space that is free and easy to use! After you join, check out their tutorial videos for help getting started:  @http://www.wikispaces.com/content/wiki-tour

Wikipedia, the most famous wiki on the internet, gained a bad reputation for many years because it allowed anyone to edit its pages. Now, it's gaining in reliability and credibility because of its restrictions for people who create and edit pages, and its "Rate this page" feature.  * **Weebly**--www.weebly.com A website creator, Weebly is an easy way to build your own website for free--as long as you keep "weebly" in the web address. Weebly has simplified this process by having an easy "drag and drop" interface. Because of the wide variety of options for building your website, weebly may be more visually attractive than a wiki.

Check out their features (@http://www.weebly.com/features.php) and then sign up! See an example of how you can use weebly at the library's website-- http://millbrookmediacenter.weebly.com 

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__ **So Now What?** __ __ ** Use these technogies to increase your audience's participation in your instruction and understanding of your Sports Med material. If you have questions, check out the technologies help links identified or ask a librarian! ** __  **Symbaloo**–www.symbaloo.com ~embed~

Symbaloo allows users to “bookmark” anything with a web address for easy access. For their presentation, students may choose to link to websites, videos, pictures, online documents, etc. For help getting started with Symbaloo, check out these Symbaloo tutorials

~embed~
 * MindMeister**–www.mindmeister.com

Create a graphic organizer or “mindmaps” from MindMeister in order to have a neat and ordered presentation visual. MindMeister allows users to show a clear hierarchy and links between ideas, to add pictures, and to link to anything with a web address. For help getting started with MindMeister, check out this cheat sheet

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: georgia,'times new roman',times,serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">~embed~ Most students have completed a Glogster for one class or another in order to make an online poster–usually crammed full of information. However, not many students may have considered using Glogster as a compelling visual aid. And if you haven’t checked out Glogster lately, changes and improvements keep happening to this online tool.
 * Infographics and Glogster**– www.glogster.com

Infographics are visual ways of communicating knowledge and data. Check out the Daily Infographics at @http://dailyinfographic.com/(search to see if there is there one you can use like this one @http://dailyinfographic.com/americas-food-drink-spending!) and then build one of your own with Glogster or another program.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Today's Meet** –www.todaysmeet.com ~link~ A backchannel allows you to have a conversation behind the scenes--whether it's in-person or digitally. With Today's Meet, you can share thoughts, ideas, questions, links, feedback or anything else your group thinks of with just the simple step of setting up a "room" and sharing the link.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: georgia,'times new roman',times,serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">~sometimes embed / sometimes link~ Almost everyone has been caught in the YouTube obsession at one point or another, watching and linking to new videos. Help your audience stay focused by creating a YouTube channel for others to subscribe to in order to check out the videos that you recommend. For help getting started, watch one of YouTube's YouTube tutorials or YouTube's Help.
 * YouTube Channel**–<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">www.youtube.com

~embed~ <span style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Want to know the main points of an article or website in a few seconds? Copy the text of any online document and paste into Tagxedo to find the most commonly appearing words in the online document. Your tag cloud can reveal immediate information without reading the entire article.
 * <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 14px;">Tagxedo **-www.tagxedo.com

~embed~ Engage your wiki audience by writing questions and embedding them on your wiki page. Participants' answers will appear as a tag cloud in the space below your question.
 * <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 14px;">Answer Garden **-www.answergarden.ch

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: georgia,'times new roman',times,serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">~embed~ Animation Domination Sports-Med Style? Create an account with GoAnimate to create free animations videos to teach or review material--and maybe catch a few laughs from your audience in the meanwhile! For help getting started, complete the GoAnimate tutorial when setting up your video.
 * GoAnimate**–<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">www.goanimate.com

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**ToonDoo** –www.toondoo.com ~embed~

Advertised as the "world's fastest way to create cartoons," set up a free account with ToonDoo and help teach or review material. For help using ToonDoo, check out their wiki

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Storybird--**www.storybird.com ~embed~

Here's how Storybird describes themselves: "Storybirds are short, art-inspired stories you make to share, read, and print. Read them like books, play them like games, and send them like greeting cards. They're curiously fun."--AND they are beautiful, free, and super easy! Create a free account and then get help getting started by exploring their FAQs at @http://storybird.com/faq/general/ (look under "Making and Managing Storybird").

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Bit.ly Short Cuts--**http://bit.ly
~link~

Sometimes you have a GREAT web link to share with someone, but the web address is 4 lines long and has lots of symbols, numbers, and underscore junk. Instead of burdening your audience or with that lengthy mess, create a web short cut at bit.ly. Go to http://bit.ly and paste the long web address. Bit.ly will generate a short cut for you automatically--if you create a bit.ly account, you can save all of your short cuts and customize them to suit your needs (like the short cut for this wiki!) @http://bit.ly/WildcatsSportsMed

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Activity Game Creators** ~embed sometimes / link sometimes~

http://www.quizlet.com <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #114488; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline;">[]

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==== [] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: 'Segoe UI','Lucida Grande',Arial; vertical-align: baseline;"> -- would have to be done at home - requires downloading ====

[] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: 'Segoe UI','Lucida Grande',Arial; vertical-align: baseline;"> -- need to use the free trial
==== [] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #444444; font-family: 'Segoe UI','Lucida Grande',Arial; vertical-align: baseline;"> -- a listing of other options ====

<span style="color: #333333; display: block; font-family: georgia,'times new roman',times,serif; text-align: left;">**RSS Feeds** ~embed~

Do you have a lot of websites, blogs, or other pages that you want to keep track of? RSS feeds can be your friend! With a Google account, you can use GoogleReader to follow those sites; GoogleReader will track any changes that these websites make, so you will only need to check one website to know if there is anything new on all of your favorite sites. Access your Reader on the computer or your smart phone! To embed an RSS feed on a wiki, go to "Widget" and click on "RSS Feed." Copy the feed link from the website that you want to be able to follow through your wiki