Week 2.4
Resources...resources...resources!
I don't know where to start? What tools should I use? How should I use them? These are frequent statements from teachers just beginning their journey with technology. As a group, we will collect a list of digital tools and resources on a website called http://www.livebinders.com/. This way we can learn from each other about the tools we find beneficial for our own classrooms.
Livebinders is a free, virtual 3-ring binder that can be used to organize resources, tools and websites. Teachers can use this to create and share web information by topic, subject, or grade-level.
Our Livebinder is called Technology for Learners (to keep it consistent) and you can follow this link to get there... http://www.livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=294712. I have already begun ours with some of the tools I love and others taht have been suggested by your peers. We will continue to update this throughout the semester.
If you have suggestions of tools, please post them here with a brief statement about what it is and why you like it!
Feel free to start your own, if you'd like to collect your own resources or the ones that are most meaningful to you. We will take a look at this in class this Tuesday.
I've had the opportunity to play around with many web 2.0 resources and there were tons of great resources. Blabberize allows you to use an image of your choice to speak. For example, I was creating a lesson on the life cycle of a frog and had created a website using Weebly (which is super easy). I had an image of a frog that I uploaded to blabberize and you create a "mouth" that will move. Essentially you bring the still image alive. My intention was to have the from relay some important information on the website. It's important that you check to see which resources are compatible though because I was unable to use the frog that I created on blabberize on my weebly website. I'd definitely like to use blabberize again because I think it's very engaging for the elementary students.
ReplyDeletePerfect! Just the kind of info I'm looking for here! I've never heard of Blabberize but I'm defintely going to check it out! Thanks!
DeleteThanks Jen! I am going to have to look into this. I love little things like this because I believe they really can add so much to your lesson!
DeleteJen, I agree that this is exactly the kind of thing that brings a lesson alive, especially for young students, although I can see it being really engaging even for high schoolers!
ReplyDelete--Diana
Too say that I was only slightly overwhelmed as I began perusing through all of these resources is an understatement (and I'm sure we've only touched the surface!). However, I am AMAZED at what I've found...
ReplyDelete-I love the idea of using Glogster as an alternative to "tri-fold board" presentations. It's interactive, eye-catching, and integrates songs, animations, video clips, etc...Assign a project of this sort and class presentations will become much more engaging!
-Weebly - I've never even contemplated making my own website, but after watching their 2 minute tutorial, I'm thinking I may attempt to create a digital portfolio. Great tool for class websites!
-What about using a program like Tagul to bolster vocabulary units? Instead of writing the same word ten times or searching for a definition in the dictionary, I think it would be even more powerful for students to visually hone in on a single word and look for other key words - synonyms or antonyms - to better contextualize meaning of the word. Would likely be even more powerful for our visual learners!
-SmartBoard Exchange - Who knew you didn't have to re-create the wheel when making SmartBoard lessons? Brilliant idea!
Best part of it all...the "How-To" Guide with step-by-step instructions and pics. Everything a technology novice needs!
-Andrea
Andrea,
DeleteI used Glogster in my class for a birth defects project. The students loved it and did an incredible job with it. The interesting thing was when the students had to present it they were not sure how to use it as a presentation tool. They were so use to using powerpoints. It was a nice moment of teaching for us. I am going to use it again for a another project. Just to let you know, the free account only lets you have one user so there is not monitor of the progress. The next level has the monitoring and additional tools but it does not have the presentation tool where the whole blog is viewed without the tool bars. Now the school package has it all but there is only one person who has access to all accounts. In our case it was our media specialist. We ended up buying the middle package for our department which worked out well besides the presentation part but that was doable. Thanks for sharing all the great finds. It does seem like and endless amount.
Kate
I'm so glad you were able to sift through some of these resources. Remember the key to integrating technology is to move slow and pick one or two tools that you can truly see yourself using in the classroom. As you become more acquainted, then you can introduce others.
DeleteIt's great to hear how everyone else has tried to use these resources in their classrooms. It gets me to think about how I might use them in mine! Keep all the resources and lessons coming! :--)
DeleteThanks for sharing!!
Some of the tools I have used or know of
ReplyDeleteWeebly.com - an easy way to create a website. The site is very user friendly and free. You have to pay for an upgrade to load videos and large files. My website is still a work in progress but you can check it out at www.ecbacon.weebly.com . The only issue I have encountered was with the occasional formatting. The program tends to have a mind of its own at times. Nothing that is not easily fixed.
goanimate.com – is an easy program for students to animate. Students pick the characters, a location, type in what they want to say and the program puts it together. I am using it for my teen pregnancy topic. Students are given a scenario and they are to use the problem solving steps they learn to create a short script. The students use the goanimate.com program to create a short video. The program is free for a limited amount of videos under one account and then there is a fee. They do have educational package.
Xtranormal.com – another movie maker that is a little more advanced and there is a inexpensive fee for it.
Animoto.com – allows you to take photos and/or videos and make slideshows out of them. It is free and there are packages available to upgrade and have more features.
Diigo.com – is another on-line filing tool. The program is like live binder where you can store sites with the descriptions and tags for easy find. This is a free program that you can share.
Dropbox.com – a free on-line file storage program. This has become my new best friend. Drop box allows you to create and/or work on files at home, save them in dropbox.com and then open them up anywhere I am, which usually in school. No more carrying around 10 flash drives. And you can share your folders with your colleagues. I invite my students to our class folder and they send their work to me this way because I am not at school every day. You get more storage space the more people you invite. Also several of my students created their own drop box account to use for their schooling.
This is for students
myhomeworkapp.com – there is a fee of $1.99 a year to use but it has a phone app for it. I found this with one of my students who were having a hard time keeping track of his assignments and he did not want to carry around a book. But of course he had no problem carrying around his phone so an app worked out great for him. Now I have several students using it.
Kate, these are some great resources! I will be sure to add them to the livebinder over the next couples of week.
ReplyDeleteI put these together for my staff when I gave a PD. All the hyperlinks lead to a resource! Don't forget to come to the iCitizenship Panel next Thursday!
ReplyDeletehttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1RdGb6mbkqfb-WqfdAVyd1dzMuK9X0AmcVIQc-k-VDR8/edit
Very cool! Thanks for sharing this with everyone!
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ReplyDeleteI am so happy that you showed us how to use LiveBinders! I was able to tell my co-workers about it and they loved it! It certainly will help organize my lessons, especially when I am bringing all my students down to the computer lab. It's amazing how many tools are out there to help educators!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad your sharing it with your co-workers!
DeleteAccessing internet resources at my work place is a bit tricky. Over the years I basically gave up on trying to incorporate web 2.0 resources due to the restrictions, but so far I have been able to access many of the resources provided on liveBinder. I can't wait to use them with my students.
ReplyDelete~Anna
Did you post it anywhere online?
ReplyDeleteYES -> It's not private!
NO -> Private!
I had a BLAST making myself into a cartoon. I was using storyjumper to create a book about my history as a reader for another class and I decided to take my picture and turn it into a cartoon/drawing. After I did this I wanted to keep the book consistent so I changed ALL of my images that I uploaded into cartoons/drawings. This site was SUPER EASY to convert uploaded images into drawings/photo effects.
ReplyDeletehttp://kusocartoon.com/photo-to-cartoon.php