Make images interactive, free

There are an astounding number of places for students to go to get information they want. However, while the online universe can be a rich source of information, the educational potential of the internet is not in what can be consumed. The greatest power of online learning lies in what students can create.

One of the most useful free tools for useful, creative student projects is Thinglink. The idea is simple. Upload a picture, then make it interactive. See the example below.





The site designers had students in mind when they created it. You have the option of creating student groups and registering your students so that they don't have to. Once you have a log in set up for your students, they can go in and start annotating images as a way of explaining what they know about a given subject.

This tool has an amazing number of uses. Here are a few ideas:

• K-12
• Elementary- Students can label the pictures they take themselves. 
• Middle- After completing a poster, students photograph it. Then they add tags explaining what it all means. 
• High- Students create online reports for history, literature or science. They include interactive pictures. 
• Professional development- Upload images of items your team needs to learn about. Add relevant information in the form of text, video or links to other pages. 

Use Prezi as a memory tool

If you haven’t tried working with Prezi yet, you’re missing out on an amazing product. What makes it so useful is the break from that forced march from beginning to end you get with other presentation tools like Power Point. Prezi allows you to zoom in and out of a virtual canvas, revealing text and other objects in crisp detail as you move closer or further out.

This zooming feature makes it perfect for a memory technique known as the memory palace. Here is the technique in its most simple form. Think of a place you know well like the home you grew up in. In each room, you create a vivid image representing the idea or fact that you want to recall. To remember it later, just mentally move through the rooms until you find what you need.

You can create as many memory palaces as you need. Prezi can really help in this because you can create an online version of your palace and use it as a visual aid while you memorize the material.

To do so, get a picture of a house. Make sure you use something that is licensed for reuse and modification. I like to go to Google Advanced Search and filter my search by license in order to make sure I’m not breaking any laws or ticking someone off. Next, create a blank Prezi. Now, drag and drop your (copyright friendly) image onto the Prezi. It should upload automatically. Once you have the image, simple add text describing the facts you want to recall.

Here is a sample Prezi I made as an example.