Interactive Periodic Table of the Elements Websites

Learning the periodic table of Elements has always been a bit of a bore for many but I have put together a few websites that might make this a little more enticing to your students.  there is an excellent iPad app that sparked my memory for this post but here are a few web based alternatives to try.

Touchspin Periodic Table - Very Easy to navigate with all the key components.

The Visual Periodic table - Flash based Table

The Dynamic Table - Nice and large great for Inteacitve Whiteboards

Web Elements - Not so Kid friendly but rich in content for older students.

I am sure there are plenty of others out there and I would love to hear about them.

Is the HP slate what the iPad should have been?

Recently I applied for a grant to trial touch technology with my students and I was planning to purchase some iPad's and iPod's.  However today I found the HP slate which looks every bit as good as the iPad but it offers Adobe Air, Flash and Shockwave and runs natively on Windows 7 supporting all its software.  Having been disappointed with the iPad due to it's short fallings and lack of flash & Air support I may hold out for the HP Slate.

The whole lack of Flash and Air is ridiculous from all Apple products and it is purely driven by the fact that as soon as they enable it iTunes is dead as anyone can offer apps for sale and free without letting Apple get a handout from every transaction.  iTunes is not only the worst media player available on any platform for my money but also out grown itself as Apple's very obese cash cow and needs a major overhaul

Check out these videos of the HP slate below and make up your own mind.

Super Teacher Tools - Organize your Class in a FLASH

A real quick one today but a goody none the less.  Super Teacher Tools is collection of games, classroom management tools and software that every single one of us could find a use for in a hurry.  If you need a digital class seating list, random student generator or group organiser plus plenty more then this is for you.  All of it is flash based and works really effectively on your IWB.  Enjoy it here.

Create your own Classroom Flash Resources and Games in Minutes. No Experience Necessary

What is it?  Classtools.net is a classic example of a teach savvy teacher sharing their skills to save others massive amounts of time and frustration.  Classtools is full of really great flash templates such as a simple stopwatch through to a quiz styled arcade game that you can edit within the browser with absolutely no flash skills required allowing you to fill it with your own content related to whatever topic you are teaching. 

You can then embed your flash project within your own webspace to use as you please.  Classtools is totally free, no signup or passwords required and does not plaster your finished piece with advertising.  So I give Classtools two thumbs up and recommend you give it a shot to impress your peers and students.

How Can I use this in the classroom?  Create a quiz on a subject you are teaching and put it in a cool flash game as opposed to giving your kids a paper based test.  Create a virtual book by simply adding your own text that you can then display on your IWB.  Or create a simple timeline to retell an event. 

Check out Russell Tarr's Great website here, There is a demo video below on how it works here and let me know how you have used Classtools in your classroom.

Flash Classroom

What is it?  Flash Classroom is a great site for those want to learn how to create Flash content using Adobe Flash CS3 or CS4.  Flash is a platform that allows you to create multimedia presentations, simple games and manipulate photos and videos.  Flash is really a cool tool for teachers and students to grab your audiences attention.

How can I use it in my teaching and learning?  Flash classroom has a number of tutorials specifically aimed at the teacher to create interactive white board presentation content.  A simple drag and drop game or animate images and shapes.  you can simply put your older (teenagers) on this to learn the basic concepts of Flash for a great starting point.

What level of expertise is required?  Look, this site is aimed at the novice or totally uninitiated Flash user and it could not be any simpler for that audience.   But remember  Flash is a computer programming language and if you are not familiar with it at all there will be a relatively steep learning curve.  My advice is to get some of your more advanced or older kids to work through some of the tutorials at the same time and share the knowledge around.

Would love to hear from anyone who has had a shot at flash classroom it is available here.