Embed Plus Offers Real-World Context for Vocabulary Words

Embed Plus is a free service for clipping and annotating YouTube videos. I wrote about the service and included a demo of it last winter. This morning I learned from Learn It In 5 that Embed Plus also provides a nice service for learning how to pronounce words and watch some examples of those words being used in a real-world context.

Embed Plus Dictionary allows you to search for a word, hear a pronunciation, and watch a video clip in which that word is used in a real-world context. The example that Embed Plus features is about the word "salmon." I've embedded their example below.


Applications for Education
Embed Plus Dictionary could be a good resource for students of high school age or older. The video clips that I saw would not be terribly engaging for younger students. If you're looking for clips that would be appropriate for K-8 students, I recommend visiting Wordia.

Think Tutorial Now Offers More Than 1000 Tutorials

Think Tutorial is a site providing free, easy to follow tutorials on a variety of web services, software, and mobile applications. When I originally reviewed the site last summer, they had a few hundred tutorials. Now they have more than 1,000 video and text tutorials. Of particular interest to educators is the addition of a Moodle Tutorials section. In that section you will find more than four dozen tutorials on all things Moodle.

Applications for Education

Think Tutorial could be an excellent resource to send to friends and colleagues who aren't as proficient with technology as you are. The next time you're about to create a software tutorial for the faculty at your school, check Think Tutorial first and you could possibly save yourself from trying to reinvent the wheel. Along the same lines, you may want to check out Learn It In 5 for some good web services tutorials designed for use by teachers.

Learn It in 5 - Tech How-to Videos for Teachers

Learn It In 5 is a relatively new site that features short how-to videos for teachers. The videos are intended to help teachers quickly learn how to use some of the the web tools are essential to being a successful user of classroom technology. The videos cover tools like Skype, Diigo, VoiceThread, and more. I learned about Learn It In 5 from Lee Kolbert who directed my attention to the video about Google Reader embedded below.


Applications for Education
Videos like those found on Learn It In 5 can be great resources for helping teachers learn about web-based tools they can use in their classrooms.

Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
Google for Teachers - Free Ebook
Google for Teachers II - Free Ebook
Seven Videos All Educators Should Watch