A free widget to enhance collaboration and discussion right in your blog!

We recently came across CollaborizeClassroom and think that anyone with a blog will love what they offer!

CC_logo

Like blogging, CollaborizeClassroom makes it easy to have discussions online. And best of all, there is a widget that lets you embed questions and polls right into your blog!

Anna and the team from CollaborizeClassroom was nice enough to set up a site just for edubloggers – you don’t need to even be an Edublogs user to use it. You can also set-up your own online space and the service is completely free either way!

So play around with the following directions and let us know what you think!

Step One: Visit the Edublogs Collaborize Community. Click Ask a Question. When the window pops up, it’s time to set up your poll.

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Step Two: This is the form where you’ll create your poll. In the first field, type in the topic (or title) of your poll. Add any other information you would like to include in the description area. We recommend using this space to explain how you would like people to use your poll. Next, select a category. If you don’t see a category that is specific to your poll, you can use the “Other” category. You can also add an end-date or attach an image, video or document.

AskForm

When you are done, click Publish.

Step Three: Once you see your topic displayed in the topic listing, click Make Widget (the link with the gear icon next to it). You will be taken to a wizard that guides you through the process of customizing your widget’s appearance.

MakeWidget

Step Four: Once you have customized your Widgets appearance, click Next then click Grab Code at the bottom of the page.  Copy the Widget Code.

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grabcode

Step Five: From your Edublog site, in a New Post – Click on the HTML Tab and Paste in your Widget Code.

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Step Six: Click Publish and view your new widget in action!

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Thanks CollaborizeClassroom for putting together this site for our community and for helping with the directions above!

Spicing Up Your Posts: Part II Wallwisher

Many online tools provide embed code that you can use to embed them into other web sites.  The good news is that Edublogs allows you to add almost any embed code into blog posts, pages and text widgets.

This means there are lots of online tools that you can embed to really spice up your posts — providing more variety for your readers and engaging your students!

Let me show you how easy it is to set up a Wallwisher and add it to a blog post.

About Wallwishers

Wallwisher is an online notice board creator.

It’s a really fast and easy way to create engaging activities to use with students.

It’s as simple as:

  1. Create your Wallwisher
  2. Add some sticky notes
  3. Embed into your Blog Post
  4. Add more sticky notes

The sticky notes can be as simple as text only OR very creative with images, audio, video, SlideShares, Google Presentations, blog posts (basically almost anything you can link to via their URL)!

And students don’t need to have a Wallwishers account to use it!

Here’s examples how you can use with students:

  1. Frieda Foxworth’s Wallwisher’s in the classroom – includes a great ‘How to’ Wallwisher video
  2. Ann Leaness’s Wallwisher and Stupeflix in the Classroom - make sure you check out the video at the end to see how she uses a Wallwisher to gather images to create a video with Stupeflix
  3. Tom Barrett’s 19 Interesting ways to use Wallwisher in the Classroom
  4. The Conch’s online “post-it parking lot” for pop culture points. Students earn extra credit when they make connections to what they are learning in class. Click on each post title to check out their different wallwishers.

Below is a  Wallwisher I’ve created:

I’ve set up this Wallwisher as a sandpit site.

Click on ‘Post a Sticky’ to add your own notes to the wall — why not add your thoughts on how it could be used or share links to your Wallwisher!

How To Create a Wallwisher

1.  Go to Wallwisher and click on ‘Build a wall

2.  Select your Wallwisher image, add your title and your subtitle

Adding your wallwisher details

2. Add your name and email address

3.  Choose your Wall URL, who can view, who can post sticky notes and decide if you want to approve every post before it is added to the wall.

Choosing your preferences

4.  Select your preferred theme and click Done.

5.  Presto!  Your Wallwisher is created and you can now start addding some sticky notes.

Adding and Viewing Sticky Notes on Wallwisher

1.  You just double click any where on the Wallwisher to add a new sticky note

2.  When the sticky note opens up add your text and/or the URL location of any images, audio, video, SlideShares, Google Presentations, blog posts etc you would like to include in your sticky note and then click OK

Creating a sticky note

Tips:

1.  To locate the URL of an image just right click on the image and select:

  • ‘Copy Image location’ when using FireFox
  • Properties and then copy the Address (URL) when using Internet Explorer

Copy Image Location

2.  When viewing a sticky note with an image embedded – click on ZOOM if you want to enlarge the image

Enlarging an image

3.  When you link to the URL location of audio, SlideShares, Google Presentations, blog posts etc it shows that link using a View icon.  Clicking on VIEW opens up the item on your Wallwisher.

Viewing links to other web pages

Embedding a Wallwisher in a blog post

Edublogs and Edublogs Campus blogs have been customised so that users can embed almost any HTML code into posts and text widgets.

This means most javascript, iframes and object code can be added e.g. videos, google calendars, vokis, Voicethreads, ebooks, widgets

To add any type of object that uses HTML embed code into a post it is as simple as:

  1. Grab the HTML embed code
  2. Click on the HTML tab
  3. Paste the HTML embed code
  4. Click Publish

Embedding a Wallwisher is the same as any other embed HTML code:

1.  Completely write your post including adding title, text, images, tags and categories.
2.  Click on Save Draft, previewed your post and make all necessary edits.

Previewing your post
3.  On your Wallwisher go to Do More and select Embed.

Select embed

4.  Copy the embed code

Copy the embed code

5.  Click on HTML Tab on your blog post.

Your  HTML Tab

6.  Paste the embed code for your Wallwisher into your post where you want it to appear then immediately click Publish

  • Don’t click back to Visual Tab before hitting Publish as it can break the embed code.
    Immediately close your post once you’ve published.
  • Change back to Visual Editing mode when you write your next post by clicking on the Visual tab.

Adding PhotoPeach Embed code to a post

Presto! Your Wallwisher is embedded in your blog post and others can view and/or add to it!

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Spicing Up Your Posts: Part I PhotoPeach

Adding your own digital media content to blog posts isn’t hard and it does spice up your posts — providing more variety for your readers!

Let me show you how easy it is to create a PhotoPeach and add it to a blog post.

About PhotoPeach

PhotoPeach is probably one of the fastest and easiest ways of creating a story or quiz using photos.

It’s as simple as:

  1. Uploading your photos
  2. Adding music
  3. Adding your captions.

Presto!  You’ve created a story that you can embed as a slideshow into your blog post.

Here’s Examples!

  1. Look What’s Happening in Room 102! (Grade 2) PhotoPeaches:
  2. Mrs. Nessman’s class (Grade 1)

    • The Mural has arrived – excellent example of using it to increase cultural awareness between collorabive classrooms in different countries

Below is a quick quiz I created with PhotoPeach:

How To Create A Quiz

Creating a PhotoPeach Quiz is really easy.

Here’s how it’s done:

  1. Click on Edit once you’ve created your PhotoPeach
  2. Then click on Edit Captions and PhotosClick on Edit Captions and Photos
  3. Now click on each photo and then Quiz to add your questions Creating a Quiz
  4. When finished click OK

Disabling Comments

As Linda Yollis points out you can’t moderate comments on PhotoPeach.

You can turn off comments (if your prefer) by:

  1. Click on Edit once you’ve created your PhotoPeach
  2. Then click on Manage Comments  Managing comments on PhotoPeach
  3. Change setting to Don’t allow comments  Changing setting to not allow comments

How To Embed A Photo Peach

Embedding a PhotoPeach is the same as any other embed HTML code:

  1. Completely write your post including adding title, text, images, tags and categories.
  2. Click on Save Draft, previewed your post and make all necessary edits. Previewing your post
  3. Go to your completed PhotoPeach and hover your mouse over the PhotoPeach to bring up the menu items on the left hand side of the PhotoPeach.
  4. Click on Embed in Blog. Click on Embed in Blog
  5. Copy the Embed HTML code. Copy the Photopeach embed code
  6. Click on HTML Tab on your blog post.  Your HTML Tab
  7. Paste the embed code for your PhotoPeach into your post where you want it to appear then immediately click Publish
    • Don’t click back to Visual Tab before hitting Publish as it can break the embed code.
    • Immediately close your post once you’ve published.
    • Change back to Visual Editing mode when you write your next post by clicking on the Visual tab.

Adding PhotoPeach Embed code to a post

FINAL THOUGHTS

This is part of a series of spicing up your blog posts using digital media content.

Please share your cool examples of digital media that you’ve used in posts as we’d love to check them out!

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50+ Ways To Create Digital Stories With Students

Creating stories using web tools is fun and engaging for student while also teaching them new skills. Best of all you can embed them in blog posts to grab readers; including something a bit different makes reading posts more interesting.

Web Tools For Creating Stories

To make the task easier we have Alan Levine‘s 50+ Ways to tell a story. This excellent resource documents how each of more than fifty Web 2.0 tools can be used to create a story using images, audio, and/or video. It has been broken into the following sections:

  1. How to come up with Story ideas
  2. Example of a simple story board
  3. Finding images, audio and video for your story
  4. A review of each Web 2.0 tool – he has reviewed more than fifty tools for creating a story
  5. Examples of the same story created using each of the 50+ tools, with both linked versions and embedded versions

My favorite section is examples of the same story created using each of the 50+ tools because he has a simple review of each and you can check out the example to see if it fits your needs before using it yourself or with your students.

Embedding Stories in Blog Posts

Once you have created your stories it is embedded into blog posts using the same procedure for embedding any HTML code. Here are the steps:

  1. On your blog dashboard, go to Write > Post
  2. Completely write your post adding all text and images including adding your categories, tags and post title
  3. Make sure you tell your readers that you have embedded an object below as many feed readers such as Google Reader may remove it.
  4. Click on Save and View this Post to do any final edits on your post
  5. Go to the story you have created and copy it’s embed code
  6. Go back to the post you are writing and click on HTML Tab
  7. Paste the embed code for your story into your post where you want it to appear then immediately press Publish. (Don’t click on Visual Tab to change back to Visual Editor before hitting Publish)

Image of adding embed code

FINAL THOUGHTS

Would love your feedback:

  1. If you are currently using web 2.0 tools for creating stories – Can you please share your favorite web 2.0 story tools and why you like them?
  2. If you use Alan Levine’s 50+ Ways to tell a story – Please let us know how you go?
    • What worked/what didn’t work?
    • Would love to check out what you and your students create — just leave a link and I’ll drop past and leave a comment.

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