Other Helpful Tools

Here are some helpful tools for classroom technology projects that you may find useful - Mailcatch, PIXsizer, Zamzar, and Splicd.

OPTION FOR STUDENT EMAIL ADDRESSES

The problem that often occurs in schools is the need for an email address to create and verify a student account for a Web 2.0 tool. Most students do not have email addresses nor do their parents want them to have one. If a teacher helps a student create an email account that is later misused by the student, the teacher may face liability issues.

Mailcatch is a disposable email address service that you can use to create student accounts. You can go to mailcatch.com and retrieve any emails sent to it, but it does not allow you to send email messages from it. In a few hours, the email disappears. No registration or sign-in is required.

So how can you use this site in your classroom?

Let's say Logan Poole in your 4th period English class needs an email address to create an account at Viewbix. When the website asks for the email address enter loganpoole_eng4@mailcatch.com. Complete the account registration form.
Then go to mailcatch.com and enter "loganpoole_eng4" in the "Check your inbox" box. You will see the confirmation email message there which lets you click on the confirmation link to Viewbix. After a little while, the email disappears.

Mailcatch is a quick and easy way to overcome the email obstacle for setting up student accounts requiring email addresses. It has been an extremely helpful tool at my school for using Web 2.0 teaching tools.

EDITING PICTURES

PIXresizer is a helpful tool that is very easy to use for resizing and reformatting photos. It is a freeware program that comes as a compressed file you download to your computer. This single screen program is very user-friendly and is great for the classroom.

You can shrink photos by a specific percentage or enter a set of dimensions for a picture. PIXresizer smoothly converts fileformats and also rotates pictures and converts to grayscale. Another good feature is that a newly edited pictureis saved as a new file so that you retain the original picture.

Using this program in the classroom easily lets students and teachers create web and email friendly versions of pictureswith reduced file sizes.

Video Tutorial - "Resizing Single Photo"

Working with Multiple Files - PIXresizer lets you resize all of the photos in a folder at one time which is a great time saver!

Begin by creating a new folder inside of the folder of pictures that you want to resize and name the new folder something like "resized."
Open PIXresizer. Click the SOURCE button, find the folder of pictures you want to use, select it.
Click the DESTINATION button; find the "resized" folder.
Select the size you want for the new pictures and click SAVE PICTURES!

Click HERE for more helpful tools for editing pictures.

CONVERTING VIDEOS and OTHER FILES

Zamzar enables you to convert files without having to download a software tool. You simply type in a URL or upload a file from your computer and the site converts the file to another format. You receive an email with a URL from where you can download the converted file - another helpful tool for the classroom.

Zamzar supports conversion between a wide variety of different file formats.

Currently on the free Zamzar service you can upload a maximum of 100 MB. Users can pay a monthly subscription in order to access preferential features, such as online file management, shorter response and queuing times and other benefits.

Using Zamzar in the Classroom -

How to Embed Videos into PowerPoint

Video Tutorial

EDITING VIDEOS

Splicd - YouTube offers lots of great videos for the classroom, but sometimes you don't need to show the whole video. With Splicd you can select the video segment you want and make it into its own shorter video. This website is a helpful tool for students and teachers, very easy to use and requires no registration.

So how can you use this site in your classroom?

Go to youtube.com to locate a video for a class lesson.
Watch the video to decide how much you want to share in your classroom.
Make note of the timer at the bottom of the video player and write down the start and end time for the segment you choose.
Copy the URL for the video and then go to Splicd.com.
Paste it in the "YouTube URL" box with the start and end times. Click "Continue."
You will then see the video segment you selected. The URL is given for the segment which you can share with others. If you click on the title of the video, you can see the original video.

Video Tutorial

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SBI!