What a week this one was! Week 4 saw us practice the group 2
of the digital tools; images, podcasts and digital videos. As always, I will be
evaluating the technical aspects followed by the possible uses of these tools
within my teaching environments (Secondary English and Geography), concluding
with a PMI (plus, minus, interesting) table to consider the digital tools
objectively.
First up… IMAGES!
With such a large portion of learners being visual learners,
images play a vital role in delivering education. Taking an image is something
a one year old can manage on an iPhone; however how that image is delivered
through ICTs can have a huge impact on the ease and speed of the program.
Resizing to alter the pixels used to display an image, is an effective way to
use images in the classroom whilst minimising the time and storage it takes to
present them.
I choose to resize a holiday snap from my holiday to
Santorini in the Greek Islands last year as I thought this could be used with a
Geography class (see below). I used Microsoft Office and clicked on resize and
chose the smallest pixel predefined option (448 X 336 px) and it was
ridiculously simple! Be sure to save the resized image under a separate name if
you wish to keep a copy of your original.
I also checked out Flickr to see what images I could find
for Santorini to support my own photo for a Geography class (photo below is
what I found). Flickr has AMAZING photos but be sure to click on Creative
Common option under advanced search so you are able to use the images. I found
Flickr easy to sign up for and use and probably safe to say a better source
than Google images. You are also provided with the option of saving the images
in different sizes as well which is great if you are going to use on a website
or blog.
Plus
|
Minus
|
Interesting
|
·
Great for presenting to
visual learners
·
Easy to use, especially
after resizing
·
Students taking and
using images in context assists in higher order thinking skills
·
Engaging
·
Endless uses from
everyday classroom to end of year assessments and also for extracurricular
activities
|
·
Time spent sourcing images
·
Students not taking ethical and safe images
·
Technology and storage space required
|
·
Have to acknowledge owner of image
·
Be sure to use images ethically and safely
|
Next… PODCASTS!
First, I trialled Voki. I am not the biggest fan of Voki’s,
I think they are a little creepy but perhaps secondary students may think they
are a cool way of introducing a subject or to provide little reminders (like
for assignments). It was very simple to use and you have the option of typing
what to say or recording an audio clip using your computers microphone which is
great. See mine below…
Next I tried out PodOmatic, also a very easy tool if you use
the basic options. Like Voki, after signing up, you use the microphone inbuilt in your computer and record your voice before you create the audio clip. I decided to trial making a podcast for an English poetry
class homework assignment. The students need to listen to the podcast and then
complete the assignment. I have linked it to my Wiki if you’d like to
listen http://nikkiryanwiki.wikispaces.com/PodOmatic+Poetry+Activity , keep in mind it was my first time at using it. Once your podcast is
recorded you need to assign it an image and then publish. There is the option
to link published podcasts together which would be great for weekly homework
assignments.
Plus
|
Minus
|
Interesting
|
·
Ease of use
·
Free
·
Multiple Vokis to
choose from with different voice and recording options
|
·
Creepy
·
Not sure
it is the most effective use of ICTs
|
·
Many other options other than Voki which may have
more options
|
Finally….DIGITAL VIDEO!
I have used iMovie before in to produce a movie trailer for a group literature assessment. It has a lot of great features but it did take a while to get a hang of it, and it was terrifying at first! This time I decided to take a video on my iPhone and upload it to MovieMaker. Continuing on the theme of an English poetry class I decided to create a welcome video (see below) and trialled making one of those cool visual clips that are all over the internet, please be kind because mine is AVERAGE! But hopefully you get the idea and my skills will evolve with time. MovieMaker also has a lot of options, all I did was load audio over the whole clip considering as teachers we won’t have too much time to be focusing on a welcome message. As you will see I also referenced in my clip, a youtube clip (also below) which I imagine to be immensely helpful in both English and Geography if you can find the right clip to back up what you are trying to communicate.
|
Plus
|
Minus
|
Interesting
|
|
·
Engaging
·
Can be used in pedagogy
practices to delivery content
·
Students can create
digital videos for assessments which develop higher order thinking skills
·
Can embed in
powerpoints, Prezis , blogs, websites, etc.
·
Caters to both visual
and audio learners
|
·
Time consuming to make
·
Some software options cost money
·
Need to have technology available
·
Students may not use the tool in an ethical and
safe way
|
·
Need to consider ethical and safety issues
·
Many different softwares available
|
I had a lot of fun playing with these Group 2 digital tools, and think yet again I have gained some valuable resources to use in my own classrooms in the near future.
Thanks for reading,
Nicole.
Image, video and audio acknowledgements:
Sunset on Podcast: Spectacular photography of sunsets,
Designzzz, http://www.designzzz.com/photography-sunsets
/
Youtube clip: Measuring poetry by Luka K, http://youtu.be/be/tmayC2AdkNw
Music on clip: Hey Ho (You're My Sweetheart) by Rob Vegas
Music on clip: Hey Ho (You're My Sweetheart) by Rob Vegas
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