Tutpup

Tutpup is a free web site whose focus is to help children gain confidence and mastery of basic educational skills. Children from all around the world can log in to Tutpup and play games against each other.

I first found out about Tutpup while watching a video on teachers.tv. I follow the blog of one of the teachers shown in the video, Tom Barrett and he uses Tutpup with his students. The students enjoy competing with other children around the world as they are also practicing their math and spelling skills.

Teachers can create a class code that students use when they register for Tutpup. When registering, students are only asked to provide only minimal information, their first name and year of birth. After students are registered and have played the games teachers can check out their students' progress by going to the Reports section. Since this is a UK web site, teachers should check out the levels that would be appropriate for their students.

Panwapa

Developed by Sesame Workshop and funded by Merrill Lynch, Panwapa.com is a free, non-commercial site that is designed to inspire and empower children to be responsible global citizens. This exciting web site provides a wonderful opportunity for schools and organizations to teach children about the world and its people. Panwapa is produced by Sesame Workshop, the people behind Sesame Street, in partnership with the Merrill Lynch Foundation.
Aimed at three to seven year olds, but also appropriate for older children, Panwapa provides children the opportunity to create their own Panwapa kid and explore the globe visiting other Panwapa kids. Children can communicate with other kids by leaving their Panwapa cards with a comment selected from a list of messages.
In addition to using Panwapa at homes, teachers can access the formal and informal online lessons plans co-written by Gayle Berthiaume and myself, and edited by Seseame Workshop for use in the classroom.
Also, be sure to check out the videos available on the site and on iTunes.