Friday, November 30, 2012
Digital Story
This week and last I spent a lot of my time creating a movie for class. I used picture I took at home in Philadelphia to create a video of a tour of Philadelphia. Doing this project took time, but I really enjoyed doing it. I think I learned a lot during this project. First I learned the benefit of choosing a topic I am highly interested in. I was very excited to make a video of Philadelphia and show classmates my hometown. I think I worked harder on this assignment because I felt more invested in this. This is something I should keep in mind while I am teaching. If I am able to give my students my freedom on topics during assignments, they may feel as I did during this project and work harder. By providing choices to my students, they feel involved and engaged in the assignment. This isn't something that I will be able to do all the time, but when it is possible I should.
Next I learned about two video creating programs. First I began by using iMovie on a Mac. The program gave me trouble at first, but it become easier to use as I got the hang of it. What I really did not like about iMovie was I could not save it and work on it at another computer. This meant I would have to go to the computer in class anytime I wanted to edit the video. I decided that this was not good for me because I wanted to really take my time with it and work on it more at my leisure. Since I have a PC, I began to use Windows Live Movie Maker to do the video. It was a change so I had to spend some time learning it, but the program was very easy to use as well. I really enjoyed how easy it was to save to my computer multiple time. I liked this because if I want to see what my movie would look like if I completed changed an aspect I was able to save it, make the change, and then just reload the saved one if the changed wasn't something I liked. This saved me time when trying new things with the program.
The last thing I learned was the benefit of taking my own digital photographs. It took me time to gather the photos I took, but since it was something I was interested in I had fun doing so. Once I had my photos, I was free to use them and did not have to worry about copy write issues. I could use,adjust, or edit the pictures however I wanted. I also used one of these pictures to edit using Pixlr and it was fun to change a picture I actually took. This again teaches me that in my class if I want student to do work with photos, I should allow students to take the pictures themselves if this is an option. It makes them feel more invested in the assignment.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Digital Diagram
This week we worked with digital diagrams on Inspiration. I thought this was a great tool to use for all grade levels. Diagrams are so common in every subject and this tool makes creating a diagram so simple and fast. I can easily see myself using this to quickly create diagrams to use in all subjects to hang around the room. They will be great for helping introduce a topic, or to create at the end of a unit to help review for a test. They are so simple to create that students can create their own. I do like the classic diagram on the poster board where students have to write out the information because I think it helps it stick more, but I can see this tool as a way for students to organize what they will put on a poster before they start. It being on the computer though is great because it allows for links to online sources. This is nice because you don't want too much information on a diagram so the links provide a way for student to obtain additional information.
I wish I had known about this tool before this week because I recently attempted to make a diagram through Microsoft Word and it was a mess. It was so difficult and time consuming. By the time I was done with it, it did not look nearly as good as if I had done it with Inspiration. Having had to create a diagram that way and then with Inspiration really helped me appreciate how useful this tool is. This has been one of my favorite tools we have learned so far.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Animoto
Make a video of your own at Animoto.
Animoto is a tool I like a lot. It is great for creating short videos made up of images. I really enjoy how easy it is to use and I think it has some good practical uses in the classroom. The main way I could see myself using an animoto video is to introduce a new topic we are about to cover. It can give them a real quick view at what we are about to be learning. Also with the images and the music it really is an attention grabber to get them engaged. I think another great use is to use it as a review concepts. I think since the videos are so short they can quickly be viewed to refresh students memory of what they have been learning. I could see my students viewing the same video several times and quickly remembering each of the items in it. The animoto example I made was of the first 10 U.S. Presidents. I think this is great because I can break down the long list of all the presidents and make several short videos. This way students can focus on one group at a time and eventually learn them all. Longer videos can be made, but that requires an account. I would definitely like to be able to create longer videos, but I do see a great use even for the short ones. Also since they are easy to make, I could just create a few short ones in place of one long one. Lastly I can of course see myself sing this tool through having my students make one. It is very simple to do and I feel students will really get into the idea of creating their own video. Students probably see similar video all the time online so for them to actually be able to create one I think would really get them engaged. Overall I think Animoto is a terrific tool that both my students and I will enjoy using.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Active Board
This week and last we started work on the Promethean Active Board. I really enjoy this tool and was unaware of all the different things that can be done with it. When I was in school we did not use these boards so I do not have that much experience with them. To be honest I have been kind of intimidated by them and thought it would be too complex for me to use. After having the lesson and seeing them in use at schools, I think that I will certainly use them. I did not know that some lessons have already been created online that can be used. I know that all of them will be prefect, but they will serve as a great starting point when I am creating my own lessons using the Promethean Board. Also I see that you do not have to be elaborate when using the board. They can be a huge help when it comes to just taking notes on the board and is clearer for students to read. Also the way I have seen the Promethean Board used the most is with the teacher bringing up a document or worksheet so they can write on it on the board. This is so much more effective than the traditional overhead projector I am used to. It is much cleaner and also allows for the teacher to restart it and write on the same document again. So if they teacher is doing a problem on the board they can do the problem and then clear it and let the students do the same problem on the board. The Promethean Board is going to be something I will use a lot in my class and is crucial toward incorporating technology into the classroom. I look forward to working with and learning more about this tool.
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