Today’s tech snack can be found at the following url: http://nowcomment.com/.
What is it?
Nowcomment is a free tool that lets you add running discussions and annotations to any document, picture or online video.
Well, first you need to sign up for a free account. An active e-mail account is required. After you create an account, you will need to go to your e-mail inbox and click on the activation link that nowcomment has sent to you. This will allow you to create your unique password for your account. After this is all set up, you can start uploading documents to your account. These documents are stored under the “your library” link. In order for other people to have access the documents you have uploaded, they need to be invited. (This only applies if you want the documents to be private) You invite people by clicking on the "invite people" button and providing their e-mail addresses. They will then have to make their own accounts on nowcomment in order to add commentary to the document. You can create multiple groups using this tool and each group can have access to the same document.
***Note: if someone deletes a document from their library, it does not delete it for everyone. It just deletes the document from the individual user’s library.
This tool also has a highlighting, color coding system to help you and your students gauge understanding. You can personalize these highlighting options to meet the needs of your students. Students click on the color, then click and drag on the part of the text they are commenting on.
This is a simple to use tool that could be used with students from grades 3-12 though more demonstration and guidance will be needed for elemenetary/middle school students. This tool can be used to help create a flipped/blended learning environment in your classroom because you can assign readings and comments for students to do at home.
** Please note that since I posted this blog post, there have been some wonderful changes to NowComment. You no longer need or require email addresses for students (done specifically with elementary school students in mind). To learn more about how to manage the use and creation of student accounts, click on the link below:
http://nowcomment.com/help/managed_users
Also, now possible to edit (and add to) NowComment documents! To learn more about that click on the link below:
http://nowcomment.com/help/makingchanges
You could create a class account for students using this tool for group projects. You could also collaborate with other teachers for assignments and more using this site. You could insert your own questions to the documents and then have students provide their responses. You could also encourage your students, to add their own questions about passages of text they do not understand. You could also use this tool for peer reviews, and collaborative authoring.
Oh so many possibilities! Happy snacking!