This time of the year is a whirlwind - so thankful for spring break. It's almost time to close up shop for the summer...and start thinking about next year (oh yes, you are!). One thing on my summer to do list is to organize all of the bookmarks that I have on my Portaportal, a free web tool that lets you place all of the websites you use with your class in one place. All you have to do is give the students your guest access name, and they can click on the links you post on your page - no more worries about having students type in the wrong web address over and over! You can organize your links into subject folders and then subfolders. It's been a great resource to connect my students quickly to the web for the past few years.
Once I started using Edmodo, however, I found myself just posting the links right to our class page for my students to use in "real time" when I needed them to access something for practice or to work on a project. I would use my Portaportal to locate the links (many that now need to be replaced), but it was less of a resource for my class and more so for me.
And now...I have been introduced to Symbaloo. It's as if Portaportal just got a facelift. Instead of making folders to organize your links, you create "Webmixes," which are essentially tabbed pages of related links you create. What I like best about Symbaloo is the visual appeal (the webmix pages remind me of apps icons on an iPad). In place of text, a tile is created every time you add a web link. If the website doesn't bring up its own visual for the time, Symbaloo has ones you can choose from. This would be very appealing to younger students who can't read yet, as they could be directed to click on a certain color tile or image.
As a teacher you can create a free Symbaloo account; from making my own account and playing around with it, I don't feel that purchasing a plan is necessary (your students just won't be able to have accounts under yours...and you won't get a personalized URL). With your education account, you can choose to make your webmixes private or public. There are already public webmixes, so if your class is doing a project and you want links on a specific subject, you can search for ones on Symbaloo and share it with your class (check all the links for yourself first).
This is how I plan to use Symbaloo in the fall. I am going to post webmixes for given subjects to our Edmodo class page so they can access the links for projects and class time in the computer lab. To do this, you click "share" on the desired webmix on Symbaloo, then after selecting whether to make your webmix public or private, it will give you a link. Post or embed this link on Edmodo for your class to access! There is also a free app for Symbaloo (for Apple and Android); it's meant for a phone or smaller mobil device, but you can enlarge it - but it will only orient longways.
I'm looking forward to updating my links for next year using this - maybe we will be sharing webmixes in the next few months!
www.symbalooedu.com
