Latest Technologies A-Z
This A-Z features web 2.0 websites currently popular with teachers and/or students. Brief descriptions and safety information are provided. Some of these sites are typically blocked in school settings for educational and safety reasons. Sites are blocked by the Internet Service Provider used by the school. Occasionally sites are blocked at a 'Department' level but this is rare.
Schools always have the choice to allow/block individual sites at their own school location. This should always be an informed decision with teachers and students aware of their responsibilities. Discussions regarding use of such sites may still be beneficial to encourage empowered student use.
This page highlights some of the issues with these sites and presents some of the safety and privacy information included on each site. Ultimately, schools and parents should decide on the appropriateness of an individual site. Connect maintains a 'white list' of sites considered safer for students. Search to check if the site is included. All use of the internet should be supervised.
We have used a series of symbols to highlight the issues to be considered when using each site. The severity of these issues ranges widely with these sites (remote chance to high possibility).
Issues guide
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Copyright |  |
Digital Footprint
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Privacy |  |
Cyberbullying |  |
Strangers Online |
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Inappropriate Content |  |
Digital Literacy (is it true, reliable?) |
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| Pageflakes | |
‘Pageflakes is the easiest way to read, see, discover and share your favorite things on the web. Start by easily creating a web start page that keeps you up to date on the many blogs and news sources that you read daily. Add photos, videos, a calendar, email, a to-do list and more to make your page even more personal. You can even make special pages that you can share with friends, family, or post on the web for everyone.
Pageflakes has thousands of Flakes (widgets or modules) including Facebook, a universal News Search, YouTube, Twitter, message board, blog, and hundreds of RSS feeds to choose from. Design and create a page that you can have for yourself or share with anyone you choose.’
Some of the widgets allowable in Pageflakes are typically blocked in schools including Facebook and YouTube. However, there are a number of components that are suitable for educational use. Allowing Pageflakes in the school environment for educational purposes will generally be a school-based decision with choices to be made about what would/wouldn't be included.
| PB Works | |
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PB Works is a hosted wiki solution suitable for businesses and education. It has a variety of security settings.
| PodOmatic | |
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PodOmatic specializes in the creation of sophisticated tools and services that enable anyone to easily find, create, distribute, promote and listen to both audio and video podcasts. PodOmatic is a large and widely used service for creating and hosting podcasts.
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| Reasonably Clever | |
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Make a lego – based character. You can save your creation to word or paint. Students can click from this page to the main site where they may find inappropriate content. Exercise caution in using this site.
| Rollermache | |
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Create your own animations. Browse clips, create story boards, develop characters and experiment with props. 'Once you have registered to become a rollercoaster/rollermache member you will need to wait one day for your username to be approved and you are able to upload your own media. You will also need to click on the link that they send to the email address you provide to confirm your registration.'
Rollermache has been designed for use in regional Australian schools.
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| Scratch | |
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'Scratch is a new programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art - and share your creations on the web. Scratch is a free download.
Scratch is designed to help young people (ages 8 and up) develop 21st century learning skills. As they create Scratch projects, young people learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also gaining a deeper understanding of the process of design.'
A ‘flagging’ option exists for inappropriate content and responsible use guidelines are stated.
Sketch Swap
Create your own ‘sketch’ and then click ‘send’. You will be sent a picture created by someone else! Draw cartoons, art, brainstorms, anything. If you add text, please use English so they can approve it. Every sketch is approved before it is sent to others with part of the criteria being suitability for children. Caution should still be used.
| Skype | |
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Make calls from your computer — free to other people on Skype and cheap to phones and mobiles around the world. A free download. You will get a user name and can then search for other users you know. You can also send instant messages and files.
| Slideshare | |
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Upload powerpoints and other media and share with others. Can be embedded in a blog. Users need to sign up to save presentations. Presentations are searchable and there is some inappropriate content.
| StumbleUpon | |
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'Channel surf the internet with the StumbleUpon toolbar to find great websites, videos, photos and more based on your interests. StumbleUpon learns what you like and makes better recommendations.
Connect with friends and share your discoveries, meet people that have similar interests.' Allows you to read and create website ratings and reviews. Blocked in many schools.
| Survey Monkey | |
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Survey Monkey has a single purpose: to enable anyone to create professional online surveys quickly and easily.
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| TeacherTube | |
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Based on the popular website: YouTube, TeacherTube is a web video sharing site that lets teachers and educators store short videos for private or public viewing.
| Toon Doo | |
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Cartoon creation site. You can share comics and embed them in blogs. All you need to do is click or drag and drop. Register to create your own.
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Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?
Users create networks with other interested parties and share their thoughts. You choose to ‘follow’ and ‘be followed’ by other users who can be blocked if necessary. Essentially an instant messaging tool, Twitter is blocked in most schools.
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| Voice Thread | |
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A K – 12 site with free registration and unlimited uploads for teachers. Upload your own content including PowerPoint presentations, photos or other media. Easily add your voice and choose whether to make your presentation private or public. If private, presentations can only be accessed by invited parties. Presentations need to be made public to be visible on a blog. There is also an education version which has some paid options which may provide additional convenience and safety.
| Voki | |
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Create your own character and choose from various hairstyles, clothing etc. Type or voice record comments for your character. Voki avatars can be included in a blog or wiki and are regarded as a good option for creating an online 'avatar' image rather than photos. Age 13+
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| Wee World | |
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‘Create a Wee Mee, hook up with friends, get cool stuff and play games’.
Safety advice includes, ‘Never share your password. WeeWorld staff will never ask for it. Never share personal details including email addresses and phone numbers. Don't give away any personal information that may identify you.
Remember the person you are in contact with may not be who they say they are. If you are under the age of 18, speak to a trusted adult before arranging to meet someone in the real world. You can also block users by going to My Settings on your page.’
Don't forget that others can see what you upload so think twice before posting content that might embarrass you or others or before saying something you might wish you hadn't. Also remember that anything you upload can be downloaded and passed on to others. Think about the fact your boss, teacher or family might see your WeeWorld home page and what's in it!’
| Wikispaces | |
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Wikispaces is a hosted service that lets you create a wiki for collaborative working. Wikispaces is regarded as a safer wiki option for education.
| Wetpaint | |
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Create or join a free wiki project. Wetpaint wikis are quite user friendly and have convenient features and tools.
Wetpaint can be searched for other wikis, some of which are very inappropriate. It is possible to 'allow' individual, appropriate Wetpaint wikis without allowing the home page (which can be searched). Talk to your school technician about this. Wetpaint wikis have ads, however you can request an ad free wiki for education and this is usually approved within a few days.
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| YouTube | |
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YouTube is blocked from most schools. Inappropriate content can be flagged however it may take some time for it to be removed. Whilst some moderation occurs, there is a wide range of content, some of which is inappropriate for student viewing. ‘Streaming media’ sites such as YouTube are also very expensive in terms of download costs. YouTube is one of the few sites to have been blocked at a Department level.
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| Zimmer Twins | |
Watch or create your own movies. Includes movie starters and a helpful tutorial on how to create a movie. Movies can be saved to the site and then viewed by others. You can also share with others using a provided link. All movies are moderated and guidelines for appropriate content are provided. Users must use a ‘nickname’ rather than their real name.
To contribute to this list A-Z, please email connect@edumail.vic.gov.au If you see issues we have not identified here please let us know and be aware that sites do change and develop.