Carla+Circo's+Research+Workspace


 * Carla Circo's Research Workspace **


 * Directions **: This is your unique page. Use it to evaluate the digital tools presented in the Jog The Web activities. You can type in the tables below by clicking on the Edit button in the top, left-hand corner. When you are done, click Save.

=Digital Tools for Research=

Search Engines
Particularly helpful for young students or students who are visual learners || Loved it! Will use with students. Computer voice is a little robotic, but still easy to understand || 5 || Search for Kids || safer way for children to search info and images || search for an image and it comes up as a link rather than a whole page of images || teachers, children, families || Searched for images of nurses and under Ads quickly found an inappropriate image; Better for find links for students than to let them Google || 2 || English || search engine and a wiki using simple English || can search and edit if you join; usually many words underlined so you can link to definitions or further information || everyone; ELL, students with learning disabilities, young elementary students || Seems like it would be a good starting point for research, but should not be the only source used || 4 || Search || Can create your own custom search using only the sites you have found || free custom search which can be easily embedded on a wiki || Educators || I created a custom search for my Jamestown wiki; worked really well on some topics; may need to add more sites to make it more useful || 5 || Teachers and parents should know about this to help with find online resources that are readable || Would use this with all students, but particularly for primary students that are ready to start researching || 4 || >
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 * Qwiki || uses slideshow to provide info || Can share on twitter, facebook, email, or embed on web site || Everyone
 * Google Safe
 * Ask Kids || designed for kids doing research || not many features; movies and games || teachers and K-12 students || Pulled up good web sites; Didn't like that sponsors came up first and were loosely connected to search || 3 ||
 * Famhoo || for families searching the web to keep children from inappropriate material || Homebase is nice which includes national weather radar; Says where site was found; Allows users to report inappropriate content || families, teachers, students || Best sites were not always first, but it did find good site. I liked how they include some of the text from the site to give you a better idea if it is what you are looking for || 4 ||
 * Sweet Search || designed for students || suggestions for web research; search for social studies sites; search for emerging learners; biography search; link with facebook and twitter; send links to google docs || students and teachers || Good sites were found; could not figure out what the check boxes were for; would like to explore this search engine more; liked the biography search engine || 4 ||
 * Wolfram || calculates problems, shows graphs, quantifies questions || Gives you the stats on the subject you are searching; includes time lines; links to other sources || everyone || Enjoyed this search engine; Would use it for math classes; Found it interesting to compare cities; Good starting point for many topics || 5 ||
 * Search-Cube || web search that presents info in a 3-D cube--images and videos || can flip the cube around and easily link to the site because it show up on right side of cube || everyone, visual learners || I think some students would really like this format, but many sites were not relevant to the topic searching for; pulled up elementary student sites and corporation names || 4 ||
 * Wikipedia Simple
 * Awesome Library || search engine for educators, parents, and students || Can do a regular search or can go into areas designated for teachers, parents, kids, teen, librarians || educators, parents, and students || when doing a regular search, it only found a couple of sites and then directed you to their pages which were hard to find the topic you were looking for; kid math page had mostly definitions and lesson plans || 2 ||
 * KidRex || search engine to keep kids safe on the internet || I like how the site can anticipate what you are typing and select it so you do not need to type in the full word or phrase || elementary students || This engine brought up some kid friendly videos and site that I had not seen in previous searches; do not like how ads come up first and students may miss this; most relevant was not always at the top || 3-4 ||
 * Google Custom
 * Twurdy || tells the readability of a web site || Different levels of searching from fast to slow with more accuracy; Color coding to show readability level || Everyone
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Tools for Simplifying and Summarizing Content
for Mac || System preference that can be turned on or off to read any highlighted text on the screen || students with reading difficulties; visually impaired; young students who are non-readers or beginning readers || You can turn it on and off and select the command keys you want to use to activate it || I have used this feature on the Mac to help with editing; voice is somewhat robotic || 4 || for PC || Looks like a free download-able application to convert text to speech || students with reading difficulties; visually impaired; young students who are non-readers or beginning readers || Does everything that the Mac version does, but also converts text to Mp3 files to listen to them on an iPod || Seems useful; voice is a little more natural than the Mac version; wonder how well the downloadable works--conflicts with other programs || 4 || for Word (Mac/PC) || Similar to Text Compactor; summarizes using Word || students with reading difficulties; young students who are beginning readers || highlight important points, summarize the most important points, other options for summary formats || PC version seems like more steps. Maybe Auto Summarizer will stay in ribbon for the next doc you create or open || 4 || Bookmarklet || A program you download that gives you the option on your browser to clean up the site to make it easier to read or to send it to your kindle || everyone || Can subscribe to get more features, but the most crucial ones are free || If I had a Kindle, I would definitely download this program || 4 || English || Way to translate articles in Wikipedia into Simple English, making it easier to read || students with reading difficulties; young students who are beginning readers || Made a long article significantly shorter || Could not find an article right away that could be translated into Simple English; Searched for Dog and finally got the option to translate || 2 || Click to Jog through the tools
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 * Text-to-Speech
 * Natural Reader
 * Text Compactor || Enter text and tell what percentage you want of the text, and it provides a summary || students with reading difficulties; young students who are beginning readers || Slide button to select percentage; summary can be copied into word processor so you can use text to speech || May use this on a site that has a lot of content; wouldn't use regularly; special ed teachers would find this very useful || 3 ||
 * Auto Summary
 * Twurdy || Searches and gives you the readability of the document || everyone may use this, but especially useful for students with reading difficulties; visually impaired; young students who are non-readers or beginning readers || Can select faster search with less accuracy or slower search with more accuracy || Found the color coded readability to be helpful and accurate; worth the extra wait for Twurdy with Pop (longer wait, more accuracy), really didn't have to wait long || 4 ||
 * Readability
 * Wikipedia Simple
 * The Find Tool || Control + F brings up a box to search for a certain word on a page || everyone || Can also find Next or Previous occurrence, highlight all, or match case || Easy to use and I forget about this feature || 5 ||
 * // Feel free to add your own tool(s) here // ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   ||

Tools for Organizing Research
Read/Write/Think || Allows person to take notes online; no registration necessary || educators and students || No bells and whistles, but it is free and can be printed or copied into Word; section for Notes, things you want to remember or look into later || Easy to use and no registration necessary; Need to copy and paste it into Word each time; Best used for a smaller research project || 4 || CLRS Research Guide || Guides students through the note-taking process || educators and students || Similar to online note taking, but gives prompts to help with note taking || Did not like the look of the page and thought that some topics do not fit easily into this format; Better to use when students need more guidance || 3-4 ||
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 * Easy Bib || Guides you through making a bibliography: web site, book, newspaper, database... || educators and students || Can save to Word, Google Doc, or print; search the web for book titles and then select from a list || Way to site sources; video ads very annoying || 4 ||
 * Notestar || Allows teachers to set up assignments (topics and subtopics) and view student progress on these assignments || educators and students || Can set up classes and add students. Drop and drag a NoteCard icon to the browser bar to allow easy access || Registered and set up a class and entered a few students; Getting quite time intensive, but it may be worth the time in the future; A lot of online support || 4 ||
 * Online Note Taking
 * Outline Maker
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