Tonight in class I taught one of the rotations for the App Party. I taught on Evernote and Skitch. These are two of my favorite tools and I really enjoy sharing them with other students. I describe them as note taking and annotating tools on crack. The options are endless with these apps! Due to the fact that I was teaching, I did not get the opportunity to move around to other rotations and see what else was being taught. I really enjoy teaching but this is just another example of a time I get confused... am I student in class or an Ed Tech? It's hard to tell. No class notes... I was busy teaching. |
0 Comments
It's that burnt out time of year. I am, teachers are, and students are. So tonight in class I really focused on tools I'm familiar with but haven't played around with much in a while. Technology is constantly changing and it's always good to refresh your skills and see what is knew.
We learned a lot about Prezi and I decided to work with it. I have used Prezi in the past many times but I am currently working on a Pearson SuccessNet course and I wanted to use Prezi to deliver some of the content material. I have used the Prezi templates already available but no created my own. I decided this time that I wanted to create my own Prezi about Maria Jones. You can find the completed work of are on the projects page for this course. After playing around and practicing during class I decided I did want to use this for some delivery of my course content. Together with Katie Dewey we were able to embed some Prezi materials into our EdCanvas'! EdCanvas has become an extremely valuable tool for me. I am currently using it for all of my canvas courses and transferring all content into and EdCanvas template. I love it because it keeps content organized and if I don't use the quiz features I can embed them into Canvas our learning system without teachers needing a login! I'm very happy with the tool and plan to use it myself and with my students and teachers in the future! Class notes stolen from Maria Jones via Evernote can be found here. Tonight in class we participated in another interactive student project using the collaborative tool Google Docs.
We followed the EdCanvas New 7 Wonders of Nature , to collaborate using a google doc and create a final product as a group. This link is for our group's almost final product. We didn't have time to finish however we were able to create a travel document about a Wonder of Nature in a short amount of time while working together. Each person was working on a separate portion at the same time and collaboration was happening in person at the same time. It could be difficult to work out some of the logistics of using this with a class of elementary students due to the need for a google account but with the upcoming implementation of CSD apps district wide it would be possible.. We also spent time exploring and playing with Google+ and Google Hangouts. I can see this being useful for online learning experiences and group projects for collaboration. This would also be a good tool to use in the secondary setting for group work and projects. I don't know that it is a tool I will spend a lot of time teaching to my Elementary Teachers. They would become overwhelmed with the logistics of trying to use it with their students when it really isn't a younger elementary tool in my opinion. Class Notes created in Evernote can be found here. In class this week we did an activity retweeting history. This is an engaging, interactive way for students to simulate a historical event. We simulated the bombing of Pearl Harbor and it was the most engaged I have been in class. I really felt it necessary to do my part to contribute and create a good final product. My group was in charge of tweeting what President Rosevelt would have said in this situation. The one thing I found difficult about this task was that the President of the United States probably wouldn't have been tweeting the details that we were discussing because of safety reasons and as not to give away what America's plan for retaliation was. However, in order to adequately represent the historical facts we had to kind of disregard that fact. Reading the tweets on Sunday and following the reenactment was exciting and I believe this could really excite and allow students to take responsibility for their learning.
The presentation tools that we discussed tonight were: PechaKucha: During our practice time I found the presentation app called iBrainstorm. I created an iBrainstorm Slide to describe PechaKucha pictured above. Haiku Deck: It is a powerful presentation app available for the iPad and it is FREE! It is easy to share, embed, and export as a Power Point. The images are bright, coloring, and engaging. There are also opportunities to create graphs and charts. This is a great article detailing what Haiku Deck is and what it can do for you. I personally love Haiku Deck and us it often for trainings for teachers, personal presentations, etc. I love how easy it is to use and yet everyone is always impressed with how clean, professional, and vibrant the final results are. These presentations a really easy to use and
Tonight we talked in class about Web 2.0 tools that enhance and help with collaboration. The question was asked in class about what collaboration is to me. Collaboration is working with someone to create a final product or process. Collaboration in education is working with colleagues, teammates, students, etc to enhance learning, create and share lessons, and improve instruction. Collaboration is give and take and learning from past experiences about what does and doesn't work.
The tools that were presented tonight are intended to help with collaboration in the classroom and amongst your PLN. -Cool Tool for Schools: A Site that had over a hundred collaborative tools and ideas for their use. Many of the link here didn't work and I'm not sure that I would refer teachers to this site in the future. However, I may look into them further to get an idea of which tools may be useful. -Dropbox: A cloud storage option that can be stored on a separate network. Ability for file sharing, collaboration, storage, etc. I use Dropbox on a daily basis for a wide variety of reasons. One of the most useful features of Dropbox for me is its ability to link to presentation and whiteboard apps on the iPad. This makes teaching teachers how to import files much easier. I love Dropbox and am always using it for collaboration with principals, teachers, and colleagues. -Google Docs: Ability to share, change, and modify documents in one location. Document options include spreadsheets, documents, drawings, surveys, presentations, etc. I also use google docs on a daily basis, specifically the documents, spreadsheets, and surveys. I would like to use presentation docs and drawing docs more often and plan to find ways to use those for collaboration. -Skype: Allows you to instant message and voice/video chat to other Skype users. I use Skype occasionally but used it more often in my classroom than I do now as an Ed Tech. Notes that can be taken during class can be found here. Tonight we went into greater detail about more apps and websites that can help build a PLN. Many of the apps and websites taught I already use and have accounts with. However, there were a few new apps that I was introduced to with one specifically exciting me and sparking my interest. The apps we discussed in class include Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, TweetDeck, Flipboard, Feedly, and Subtext. Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and TweetDeck are the apps I am already familiar with and use to build my PLN. These tools have been a great way in the past few years for me to build my PLN specifically regarding education technology. As I changed my position, it was nice to collaborate with new colleagues and learn more about this educational field. As previously mentioned, there were a few apps taught that I have not previously used including FlipBoard, Feedly, and SubText. Flipboard - Is another article, web information app where you can find articles through interest and subject searches. It seems like a good app but I didn't feel it was as user friendly as Zite and Feedly. I probably will not use Flipboard in developing my PLN however, it does have the option for creating your own magazines to save articles which could be beneficial at some point. Feedly - This app is an RSS feed where you search blogs and websites to follow, like blogger RSS feeds. This feedly app has gotten me excited! It seems very easy to use and I often enjoy searching and following ed tech blogs. You can search by blog name, topic, category. I will definitely be using Feedly and have taken time during this week to explore it further. Subtext - This is a classroom reader. It is a collaboration tool that allows classroom groups to share online texts and articles. Students can be assigned quizzes, assignments, discussions, etc. I'm interested to spend some time with this app and see how I feel about it. I haven't had any experience with it up to this point but I can see the potential in the classroom setting for collaboration and online text sharing.
Notes taken during class can be found here.
This week was the first night of our new course: Modeling Digital Age Work and Learning in a Global and Digital Society which focuses on Web 2.0 skills. We began discussing Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) which are networks of professionals with which you gain and share knowledge. Most PLNs are created through a variety of social networking sites including Twitter, Facebook, Zite, Instagram, etc. This week we focused on Twitter, Zite, and TweetDeck. We started with Zite which helps you find articles about topics you are interested. Zite has become one of my favorite tools and apps because I want to stay current on articles and news but don't find I have the time. With this site I can save the articles to EverNote and then go back and read them later. I also can access them later even if the article is not longer listed at the original location. I've been really happy with Zite and continue to use it alongside Twitter in my building my PLN.
Last, we moved onto TweetDeck which is an organizational tool for using Twitter. I've always used TweetDeck alongside Twitter because I am able to create columns with hashtags of my interest. I also like to be able to have a column for what I have tweeted, my friends have tweeted, hashtags, etc. It's a tool that makes Twitter a little more accessible for me.
Notes taken during class can be found here. |