When you access the home page you are greeted with an introduction in the center with the choice of launching a classroom. The upper right-hand corner allows you to follow the Stoodle people on Twitter and Facebook. Along the left-hand side are six options.
These six options, starting at the top, give you the choice of opening and closing the tool bar (three lines icon), going to the home page, reading about the site objective, features, and benefits for students and teachers/tutors, educational leaders at certain schools, how Stoodle started and key persons responsible and contact information (address, phone and fax numbers, email, spot on map). I then moved back to the center clicking on the green Launch a classroom! button. At the next window you are asked to give your name and whether you will grant Stoodle the use of your microphone.
Once you have entered in a name and clicked OK your corkboard is ready for use. On the left-hand and right-hand side are a variety of choices. The top selection on the left opens and closes that tool bar.
Moving from the top down on the left you can:
- share a link on Facebook, Twitter or via email
- add the shape of a square or circle or draw a line
- add an image of any size by clicking and dragging
- clear the board and
- mute or unmute the speaking feature.
Every time you click on one of these choices the tool bar disappears. You will need to select the three lines icon to bring the choices back.
When you use the add-an-image tool, a large lists of choices for obtaining files appears. They are:
- My computer
- Google Drive
- Dropbox
- Box
- Sky Drive
- Picasa
- Flickr
- Link (URL)
- Github
- Gmail
- Take Picture
- Record Video
- Web Images
- Evernote
- Alfresco
- FTP and
- WebDAV.
When you select Web Images you can type in a keyword; Stoodle will search Wikipedia, Google Images and Flickr. Once an image has been placed on the board it can't be resized. Make sure you have your shape close to the shape of the image or it will appear distorted.
The tool bar on the right gives you the following selections:
- drawing on the board
- inserting text (a prompt appears on the screen identical to the box asking you for your name)
- move elements around
- delete elements
- undo
- redo
- colors for drawn lines/text and
- add pages/move among pages.
If you want your text to be a specific color please click on that color (black, purple, blue, green, red or yellow) prior to adding your words. By clicking on a color before adding any shapes the outline will be in the color chosen. Each time you use an item on the tool bar to switch to another, make sure you toggle back to it and click.
Many members of my PLN on Twitter have been talking about the reading of Snowflake Bentley, a Caldecott Medal winner by Jacqueline Briggs Martin with woodcut illustrations by Mary Azarian. I have created a Stoodle for books on snow which I have used in the past for units and currently own.
Please follow the link here, Let It Snow. Let me know in the comments below if you would like to add other elements. I would like to see how the collaboration works. When you follow the link you will be asked to enter in a name, then the collaboration or viewing can begin.
The best part of Stoodle is there is no registration. This allows students under the age of thirteen to use this website. Every time you access the site to launch a classroom, a new URL is assigned to your board. As a word to the wise, make sure you keep track of your created board URL links. The ease of use is also a major plus. I concur with Richard Byrne and Larry Ferlazzo; Stoodle should be placed in your virtual toolbox.
Great post! Thanks for sharing! Stoodle seems awesome
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