Cool Tool of the Week - A visual dictionary

Shahi - A visual dictionary | Blachan Lab
Originally uploaded by carlaarena

Shahi is a fantastic tool for educational use. Just type a word, you'll see Flickr photos related to it on the left, plus explanations with examples of how the word is used.

I can already picture many ways to use them with students. How about you? Any creative ideas?

Where I am From in Images4Education

family_oldphotos
Originally uploaded by carlaarena

I am from a Brazilian dream
thriving on the "Planalto Central"
in the middle of nowhere
Brasilia

I am from a Brazilian dream of
hard working souls who built in five bustling migrating years
on a plateau with twisted trees and low vegetation
Cerrado
Concrete, modernism

I am from a cultural mix of Brazilian North easterners
and Sicilians
running along the aisles of coffee plantations
eating polpette della nonna

I am from the sounds of my mom's sweet deep voice
following the tones of a guitar
The loud Italian table that seemed like a Sicilian battle

Loud laughs
Comforting laps
Integration and separation

I am from a dream of Carlo and Maria
the intensity of gestures
the Italian temper
the just
the sister connections never untied

I am who I am because of this dream.

______________________________________________________

We've finished Week 2 of our Images4Education session. It's ineffable. No words for the way the connections and tasks have evolved. As Cheryl Oakes says this session is a true example of open source learning in its best form.

Ning has proven to be a powerful connector, a distinct content starter, an incredible human network architect. The almost 400 participants are everywhere, and still you find them in the "aisles", actively engaged in a discussion, fomenting reflection, and adding value to their teaching practices through those connections.

I feel I'm part of something bigger, meaningful. I'm thankful to be working with a wonderful team and excited, generous educators from every corner of this vast world.

Learning has just started.

Cool Tool of the Week - Toasting My Screen

Today, via Coolcatteacher in Twitter, I came across Screentoaster, a free online screencasting option with no need to download any apps to your computer.

They are still in Beta and you need an invitation code, which I got in my email immediately after I requested it.

It's very straightforward to record your screen there following the instructions. The audio you record after you've captured the screen, which feels a little awkward, but it's manageable after some practice. You can also add subtitles after having captured the screen.

Then, it's just a matter of publishing it and getting the embeddable code.

Free online screencasting tool

All in all, screentoaster is a nice free option to prepare tutorials, show specific collections of pages and adding voice comment.

In this first toasted screen above, I talked about a very nice Flickr post Cheryl Oakes sent to me. It can be very useful for our educational visual explorations.

The Flickr Love Project

More than words, I think the slideshow depicts how a fantastically simple idea can be of a huge impact for people. The Flickr Love Project is such an amazing example of a connector.

You send a Flickr Mail to Keiko, a sweet Japanese girl, and she sends to you hearts in an envelope. The only thing you need to do? Take a heart photo, spread love and share it with the group.

Simply that. The result? Powerful. Joy, sense of belonging, sharing, enjoyable moments, and way beyond.



As an educator, I can't resist it! I think this idea is one that could be used with any kind of object to connect classes around the world. I've been part of a Teddy Bear project with kids, and I now can picture a new twist to it by connecting classes via Flickr as the Teddy travels the world. It can be a simple paper Flat Stanley or monster.

Also, the guys at the Photo Fridays Group is doing a similar exchange with some raisins. Really cute.

I can picture some very nice and effective collaborative projects happening using Flickr, snail mail and an object to connect people and raise more cultural awareness, tolerance, peace...