EDUCATIONAL 3D VIDEO GAME TO LEARN BIOLOGY

Interactive educational videos are excellent when you want to explain complex details,whatever the science subject.A new educational 3 D video game has been developed for High school students studying Biology.The interactive video game helps them understand the basic concepts of immunology, microbiology and cellular biology. Immune Attack is at once both engaging and challenging for a student playing in the virtual bloodstream.
Students are challenged to heal a sick patient as they traverse the virtual human body and make choices regarding the white blood cells and those causing infection.
Immune Attack is free to download and certainly useful for college students as well.

Recommended Reading:Virtual Cell
Cell Division-Mitosis
Path Of A Red Blood Cell
Cell Structure

HOW TO BECOME A CERTIFIED PILOT IN ONE YEAR

Smart career choices during recession?The aviation industry beckons you for a high flying career as a pilot.The corporate world and the airline industry is always in need of good certified pilots trained to industry standards.You should be atleast a high school graduate or a graduate depending on the training school.
The Philippines has a number of pilot training academies,but the best is one that adheres to safety norms,with the best maintained aircraft,certified flight instructors,and gives you the CPL(certified pilot license) in 12 months.The student batches are a maximum of 12 for well organized theory and practical training.
Some want to be a pilot just for the glamour attached to it,some think there is good money to be earned.Whatever be the reason,if you are passionate about becoming a pilot,you are encouraged to study subjects such as Physics and Maths in order to qualify apart from being medically fit.
Suggested Reading: http://howtobecomeapilot.blogspot.com/

LEARNING ENGLISH VOCABULARY MADE FUN

English spellings are often learnt using spelling lists,and online are a number of sites that help parents and teachers help their students with it.The most commonly used are spellingcity and spellquizzer.Preparing for Spelling Bees are a breeze these days with such useful online tools and software.
Building up one's vocabulary in English means making an extra effort to read up books,newspapers,magazines,playing word games,puzzles and watching movies.Apart from all these,finding a native speaker and engaging in conversation time and again builds a newer confidence in picking up and using new words and become more fluent and expressive.
Students preparing for exams such as GRE,TOEFL,SAT,IELTS, need to be proficient in the English language.And have to spend some time preparing for it in order to get higher score.Vocabulary learning has never been more fun for K12 or for the students getting ready for GRE,TOEFL,SAT,IELTS.Word games such as online word search, an online crossword puzzle,and hangman online and several more are categorised for easy search and are worth spending your time on,to build a good vocabulary,and great fun too!Try this website for great vocabulary learning fun!

HOW TO CONNECT WITH A VOICE BLOG

How would you like to add a piece of audio into your profile or blog?You can record your voice with a microphone or upload an audio file and choose to let it play when your profile or blog post is visited.Snapvine is a website that lets you do just that.Educators can connect with their students online.Languages can be learnt easily since online learners get to hear the teacher's pronunciation. Comments to your blog or profile pages can be also added via the same method,ie.,recording your voice.You have the phone in option to record as well.You can connect with other peers/educators when you are tired of replying by writing/typing.Your profile will become more personal when your readers hear your voice.Visually handicapped can also make use of this feature effectively. Voice blog is easy to set up with snapvine and anyone can leave comments as well.

CREATE A TALKING AVATAR TO ENGAGE YOUR STUDENTS

Engaging students online can be tough on an educator,but it can be very interesting for both teacher and student if an avatar or two are created and used in the class blog or wiki. Emails with an avatar also are much more interactive particularly if the avatars are given a personality and a voice.Yes,a voice! Voki is a website that allows you to create an avatar using the ready library of faces,clothes,hair,colours and then changing the background .Once ready,you can lend it your voice,using a microphone or use the phone in option or the text to speech option or even upload an audio file.You can then choose a player and also choose whether the Voki should load onto your blog/email and begin speaking as soon as the page loads onto the recipient's browser.Teachers have been experimenting with speaking avatars and find that the class becomes at once more lively and engaged as the teacher is able to increase the attention span of students.When students are given the opportunity of creating their own,and using their own voice to record,they learn faster,especially languages.
Teachers who have successfully used these speaking avatars have used it in the following ways.

1. Creating a personality very much like herself,a teacher changes the dress and colours of her avatar every day according to what she will be wearing that day and uses the phone in option to record her voice and tells the class to prepare for a certain lesson to be done that day. Assignments are also given out this way.
2. Another language teacher asks her students to create their personality avatars and engage in fruitful conversation in the language being pursued.
3. Embedding an avatar in the classblog's sidebar can be fun,too,as children are allowed to comment in their own voices with their own avatars.
4. Visitors to any blog can be welcomed with such a speaking avatar,and readers quickly respond to a human voice urging them to sign up for a newsletter,or subscribe to the blog.
5. Announcements to any upcoming event can be effectively announced with a personal avatar.
6. An avatar can be used in emails as well.

MOUSEXERCISE,FUN WAY TO LEARN TO USE THE MOUSE

Computer literacy is being promoted as an essential life skill. Holding the mouse steady between the thumb and fingers a you click through,forms the first part of computer learning.Making it fun and an effective exercise at the same time is the mousercise. An interactive funfilled game as you become adept at using the computer mouse.
Whether you are a new learner,or not comfortable yet,with computer learning,this surely helps getting your fingers moving as required.The prompts and the different ways of using the mouse is shown,sure to make you adept in less than 10 minutes.

LEARNING ENGLISH SPELLINGS THE FUN WAY

English spellings need to be perfected whether you are in elementary school or getting acquainted with the vocabulary skills for a test such as SAT,TOEFL.You need grammar to speak English well. And the basics of grammar can be taught once you master spelling.To write excellent English,you must have good punctuation,spelling and grammar.

Tedco software has an excellent spelling software that can be downloaded to any computer with a 30 day free trial offer. Anyone learning to read and write English will find this useful. Practicing English spellings can be a bore for some elementary school children.Teachers may not be able to give individual attention to every child in class.Parents are often left to assist their children in learning spelling lists sent home every week.Mastering spelling lists for a lifetime just got easier.

Spellquizzer is a new and fun way to enhance learning spellings and can be of great benefit.The publisher claims,"SpellQuizzer helps students master their spelling words fast. The software helps the student practice his or her spelling words by quizzing them on their spelling words using audio prompts. The parent, teacher or student can input the words for each list making a sound recording of each word. SpellQuizzer then quizzes the student on each word correcting them when they make a mistake."
Spelling lists are available for download.There is even a special spelling section for homeschoolers to download.

Having a fun filled interactive homework session in front of the home computer would engage a homeschooler or elementary schooler to learn spellings more effectively. An excellent resource for parents, teachers, and home schoolers,guaranteed to help any student master their weekly spelling lists in time for their end of week test.

ART AS HOBBY FOR STUDENTS

Students need to engage in activity other than just surfing the net or playing video games.A wise parent helps nurture any inherent talent that the child possesses by providing a good coach/tutor and making sure a timetable is set for the activity/activities each week.I met the father of an engineering student yesterday who told me that he had just bought his son an electric guitar simply because he played the regular guitar well and was brilliant in studies.Now, he was the apple of his father's eye playing the guitar for the youth group at church.
Students perform well at academics when given the chance to engage in hobbies and creative pursuits and their talents are showcased.A well rounded personality is developed when they take up sports,literary pursuits,art,music,or simply develop a reading habit.Schools encourage such extra curricular activities,but it takes a parents keen eye to make sure that the particular activity that their child is extremely interested in pursuing, should be taken to higher levels with extra coaching.
A word of caution,here to parents who are overindulgent! Some parents want to engage their children the whole afterhours at school with activities ranging from swimming and music lessons to yoga and drama.And their argument is that they never got the chance to learn and that they want to provide the best for their children.But,the child only develops fatigue and a disinterest in everything including studies.It is imperative that a couple of activities should be chosen which the child is passionate about and not just because his friends are engaged in it.
Some art sites for students that I found interesting are here.
msjuliesartschool
thatartistwoman
modernart4kids
teachkidsart
artprojects4kids

CAN ONLINE GAMES BE EDUCATIONAL?

Students and adults get immersed in the games they play,especially online.Various games are found to engage the mind and help relax,whether one like to play alone or with a group.Can games be used to aid learning?Educators and counselors seem to think so! What if games can be created by students themselves.It enhances creativity.
Check out this surprisingly good collection of such Online educational games.
Math,problem solving,critical thinking,geography,reading and many more are found to be truly educational here.

HOW TO FIND COLLEGE NOTES FOR FREE

College students are usually looking for notes that they missed or relevant notes which are much easier to study from,or simply because their own writing is incomplete or illegible.Whatever the reason,finding the perfect notes is easier online.Notemesh and knetwit are examples of such sites where college and University students can download class notes,share them,use in study groups.Knetwit also helps you get paid for inviting friend and sharing notes.Flashcards are a new addition here. With notemesh,the users in the same class can collaboratively create a definitive source for lecture notes,very much like a wiki where anyone can edit or add to the existing notes.Depending on their needs,students can take their pick.

Recommended Reading: Free Study Material For Graduates and Undergraduates
Free Online Book Summary Guides

ENGLISH STUDIES AND DIGITAL LITERACY

Digital literacy is the need of the hour and especially when students are more comfortable using gadgets and the internet as a favourite pastime.The teachers are left behind and are not keeping up with the advancement in technology much to the disappointment of their students.Leave your comments after you watch the following video.


Recommended Reading:Why We Need To Teach Technology In Schools

HOW TO MAKE A SUPERHERO

Superheroes are fun!Especially if you can create your own!The Hero Factory is one such website where you can lose track of time creating and having real fun.Check it out now! After making your choice of male/female,a wide selection is offered for you with respect to face,hair,upper body,lower body.Adjust the colours,add abilities and Voila,your hero is ready for you to print or download. Or simply begin all over!
Recommended Reading: Make Your Own Superhero

WHY WE NEED TO TEACH TECHNOLOGY IN SCHOOLS?

Meeting an educator of a famous Bangalore school,I could not but enumerate the technological influences that her school uses in effective teaching.PowerPoint presentations are encouraged to be used and teachers do not find time to look up any other tools they can use to aid teaching.Yes,technology is the need of the hour,but as Sohne rightly enumerates teachers and parents must find themselves "comfortable" with technology and become technology leaders first.It is often seen that the students are more adept at using technological gadgets,social networking and online tools.But,not all are relevant to what they must be doing.Entertainment through music/games, and networking takes up most of their time online and the majority are hooked for the greater part of their waking hours.Educators can definitely engage this interest by effectively guiding their students to use Web 2.0 tools in creating,and sharing online.Students are then better equipped for their future.

SUPER IDEAS FOR TEACHERS TO USE GOOGLE DOCS

Google Docs are used effectively to create,share and publish forms,spreadsheets,presentations and word documents. Pdf's can be uploaded but not published as of now.Educators find this extremely useful to collaborate their students projects who can submit and be graded online.Teachers can also collaborate on a topic or discuss grades with fellow staff using the share and chat feature.
Creating forms to be filled or to give special instructions for a project,or to even create a special assignment just got easier.You can choose multiple checked answers or add paragraph answers,before you share via email or embedding on your blog.Very convenient and useful tools.Book reviews and rating them,conducting student surveys,tracking missing assignments,data collection gathering group feedback just got easier.
Examples for some more interesting ideas for teachers.
Check out videos of the GoogleDocsCommunity on youtube for exciting ways to use Google Docs.
Recommended Reading:How To Generate Math Equations For Google Docs
How To Send Hindi/Kannada Online Assignments To Your Teacher

FREE STUDY MATERIAL FOR GRADUATES AND UNDERGRADUATES

Graduate and undergraduate students can always find their topics of study on the internet or the library.They have to make their own searches and spend some time trying to find the best textbook or the relevant material to help prepare for a test or exam.If they are lucky enough,they may have a friend who was willing to part with their study notes which they finished with,the previous year.
Coursehero is an opencourse website that is built by students for college students.It is a network of educators,selflearners and students.Anyone can share their notes by publishing them online and view other academic resources online.Online study groups have benefited greatly as the material available is all user generated,making it easier to share their courseware and to teach each other.Coursehero is an open platform that engages educators and students meaningfully and helps supplement a student's classroom understanding of the basic concepts and apply them.An educator can reach beyond the classroom to students that cannot attend,or may be in other parts of the world,or share his knowledge with fellow educators from across the world.Here is a sample-University Of California at Los Angeles UCLA EE 2
Students and educators alike will find Coursehero very useful once they register for FREE and contribute some of their study material as well for other students.Textbook solutions and study material are archived for an easy search.If you are on Facebook,it is beneficial as Coursehero is a Facebook application partner.Being on Coursehero translates to better grades using the resources 24x7.Whether it be an Electrical Engineering Lecture Note ,PowerPoint slides for a lecture in Corporate Finance or Chemistry Lab reports,you will find them all here.

WHY YOU SHOULD USE ZOHO FOR PRESENTATIONS

Presentations are extremely useful for board rooms as well as classrooms.And there are several online tools such as PowerPoint to create and share.Zoho is one such where it is easy to create a presentation,changing themes and playing around with clipart and shapes and then sharing it simultaneously online with viewers from all across the globe.You can import it MS PowerPoint or embed it on your blog or website.Educators are utilizing this tool effectively.Online tutors can explain their presentations more effectively to students cross the globe.
Recommended Reading: PowerPoint Presentations Vs Slidecasts
How To Make Engaging Presentations
Powerpoint In the Classroom

EDUCATIONAL USES OF SECOND LIFE

Second Life is increasingly being used by educators the world over effectively.Languages are being learnt in addition to subject matter and learners are of varied age groups.As more and more educators are familiarizing themselves with the way Second Life works,more lessons are being prepares and classes conducted.Many Universities are already holding virtual classrooms using Second Life.Very useful for students from all parts of the globe.
Recommended Reading: Second Life In Education
How To Use 3 D Worlds In E-Learning

HOW TO USE MOVIES TO TEACH ENGLISH GRAMMAR

Movies for fun,movies for entertainment and movies for education.But learning English grammar?Yes, Claudio Azevedo, an English teacher in Brazil shows his students English movie segments and gets them to understand the nuances of English Grammar.Students are happy to be seeing a movie during class hours and the teacher is able to keep their attention while he makes them understand the construction of sentences.It is part entertainment and part education,but certainly effective in pulling up grades.
Claudio's blog offers free resources for English teachers to use movie segments to perk up their English classes.Lesson plans are also given and he shares with you how to use them with your students.He also tells you how you can use your own DVD's to make up your own lesson plans for your select group of students.