Wiki Tech Reviews and WebQuests

Setting up a wiki using PB Works was super simple. Of course, there are many possible uses for wikis within the classroom. I love that students and teacher are not restricted by time or space to collaborate on assignments. Students can work in groups on a presentation regardless of one student leaving for resource or another leaving for a doctor's appointment. Endless possibilities.

The technology reviews were very beneficial. There are many new emergent technologies coming onto the scene, and it's very difficult to keep up with the latest, particularly for us non-techies. One particular resource that I will use the classroom is Storybird. This is a collaborative story writing site that allows writers to pull from beautiful, professional illustrations to inspire stories.

The WebQuest assignment was a good exercise for me. It allowed me to set up a website for the first time, which was actually quite easy. The WebQuests themselves, however, did not prove to be my favorite educational tool. I like the concept of using web resources to self-teach, but the format was just brutal. I read many WebQuests online and through course bookmarks and they just about put me to sleep. Introduction, task, process, resources,  and evaluation don't exactly scream "fun" to a bunch of elementary students. I could see high school students being more receptive to this type of assignment. I would not use a WebQuest in its traditional format with my elementary students. If I modified it somewhat to make it a bit less intimidating I could potentially work it into my curriculum, maybe call it WebQuest Jr.

Technology in the Classroom

The past three weeks, I've had a chance to teach in a classroom with a Smartboard. Love it! I am amazed by all of the possibilities. The students arrive each morning to find their names on the Smartboard. To choose their lunch, they simply touch their name and slide it into the appropriate box. Once lunch count and attendance have been taken, they are sent to the office via email. No more need to send a runner to the office. 


Smartboard has also helped add interest to my lessons. Typically, I would use the Smarboard to display dynamic PowerPoint presentations, but I also used it for simple things like video and displaying student work pages created on Word or directly on the Smartboard notebook. 


Beyond Smartboard, there were many other uses of technology represented in the classroom. Each student worked weekly with a program called Odyssey. Based on test scores, individual paths in language arts and mathematics were created for each child. Students had fun playing games and completing activities on the computer which helped support learning. Students also used a program called Pixie to create colorful cover pages for a social studies project. Pixie provides easy to insert clip art and fun font options.

Desktop Movies with iMovie HD

My previous experience with iMovie HD involved simply importing pictures and setting them to music in a slide show type presentation, which was generated automatically. It was simple, but I had not used any of the more "advanced" features like adding an introduction, credits, transitions, and effects.

Learning from previous experiences in EDCI 505, I decided to watch a few short tutorials on iMovie first before beginning my project. However, the tutorials listed in Module 7 were made for iMovie HD 09. I was using an earlier version, so I looked up some tutorials on YouTube specific to my needs. I opened up the first tutorial I came to, and I hope I'm not exaggerating when I say, I think the kid was 8. This cute as a button little 8 year-old boy was teaching me how to create a introduction using iMovie HD. It was really too much to take! I decided that if a third-grader could figure this thing out, then I could too.

I chose to create an educational movie on the skin, its layers and their functions. I reasoned that because I would need a lot of text and detailed drawings, I would first create my project in PowerPoint. PowerPoint was simple to use and I had many tools from which to create interesting text and graphics. I was then able to save my PowerPoint presentation and import it in its entirety to iMovie. My presentation appeared in individual slides in my work space area. I was then able to choose each slide individually and place them wherever I needed within my iMovie presentation.

Creating the introduction, credits, and transitions could not be easier. Even laying the sound track into the presentation was as simple as clicking on the selected soundtrack and dragging it to the desired location. The trickiest part was finding a way to change the length of each individual slide within the movie. This actually turned out to be quite simple as well. I simply had to click on my slide, then click on "Show Photo Settings." From this point I was able to manually change the timing of each slide.

I adjusted my slide lengths multiple times before the finished product was published on YouTube. Initially I felt my presentation was too fast to be able to process the text and images. Then, I'm afraid I went too far the other direction. Hopefully, on my final attempt I was able to reach a good balance, keeping the presentation moving while still being able to process the information.

PowerPoint 180

 I have seen enough dull and unimaginative PowerPoint presentations in my day to have a less than enthusiastic view of working with PowerPoint. I mean, if I have to watch one more person read their PowerPoint slides word for word without looking up or stopping to breath...! But, I digress. To be fair, I've created my share of mediocre presentations that, I'm sure, put a few professors and fellow students to sleep.

Honestly, I had no idea about all the possible uses for PowerPoint. My previous belief was that PowerPoint was created for businessmen and teachers to disseminate as much information as possible in the shortest amount of time. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised to learn of new and creative ways to use PowerPoint. The hyperlinks and the options to move from one point within a presentation to any other point give a dynamic quality which lends itself to more flexibility and interaction. Quizzes, reviews, games, interactive stories, and other projects are all possible to create using PowerPoint. I'm officially a fan.

Now, for the negatives. Why must there always be negatives? I wish there was a way to prevent a slide from advancing it to the next slide due to a random click. This way, only when users intentionally click on "Action Buttons" or hyperlinks or any predetermined button would the slide actually transition to whatever function it was designed for. How many times must we suffer as a teacher inadvertently taps on a Smart Board to point to something and the presentation automatically advances to the next slide? Laptop users also suffer the same fate quite frequently, as touch pads can be sensitive. This flaw becomes particular cumbersome when you are interacting with a dynamic PowerPoint presentation like a quiz or review game where advancing to the next slide would confuse the user, who may find it  difficult to navigate back to the desired slide.

Negatives aside, my view of PowerPoint has done a 180. PowerPoint is a fun and simple way to incorporate technology into the classroom and enhance learning.

Graphic Organizers Using Kidspiration and Fun with Microsoft Excel

Simple. Kidspiration, as the name implies, is simple enough for kids to use. I see this as Kidspiration's greatest strength. With a short tutorial, I could envision even a 3rd grader creating a simple graphic organizer with Kidspiration. Using graphic organizers is a great way for students to visualize how concepts are related to each other. Adding technology to the mix adds to student interest and increases motivation.

My only complaint with Kidspiration is the lack of variety. I understand the idea of keeping things simple for student use, however it would have been nice to have some additional graphic organizer options.

Working with Excel was great. Who doesn't love Microsoft Excel? Easy. Practical. Great tool. I was a bit nervous  that at some point in the assignment I would need to write my own formula for a function. I'm not great with tasks that must be so precise. However, when I saw that the formula for the IF function was provided... cake!

Fun with Netvibes and Microsoft Word

When first previewing some Pageflakes' and Netvibes' examples, I was a bit intimidated.  I chose to use Netvibes, and found it to be fairly user-friendly. Embedding the video was the most challenging part of this assignment. I admit that I tried figure it out on my own before watching the tutorial - not a wise choice. Once I reviewed the tutorial, embedding the video was not a problem. The only aspect of Netvibes that I wasn't thrilled with was the lack of layout options. I felt somewhat limited. Otherwise, I would certainly use Netvibes in the future to create information portals. I think the information portals are a wonderful way to help students and parents use the internet to its full educational potential.

The Microsoft Word newsletter assignment proved to be a bit frustrating. Until this assignment, I had never created a newsletter-type document on Word without using a template or without extensive use of text boxes. Though I went into the assignment kicking and screaming, I am glad to know that I can format a newsletter on my own without needing to use a template. I think this will help me to be more creative with fliers and newsletters in the future and allow me to "think outside the box."

Technophobia

It really exists. Google it. Technophobia. And if it's on the internet it must be true. Freudian psychotherapists say that fears can often be traced to experiences in childhood or something your mother subjected you to. In my case it was both.

My high school's first "computer" course, which was really just glorified typing and limited word processing, was taught by my mom. Somehow, despite her generational disadvantages, she was gifted in all things technological. I, on the other hand, was not so fortunate.

Still, the verdict was still out. I could still master this technology thing. My Freshman year of college I was forced to take Computer Applications I and II. How hard could this be? Has anyone out there ever heard of Quattro Pro or Lotus? Basically, you had to be a computer programmer to run those systems. Not intuitive at all. Ok, verdict in- I am a technophobic.

Despite the unflattering self-diagnosis, I have actually been forced to work extensively with computers in the years post undergrad. Technology and I have come to an understanding. Technology has become much more intuitive in recent years and I have become proficient at figuring out some way to get tasks completed using Word, Excel, etc. provided that I am allowed to take 2 to 3 times longer than it would take anyone born a decade after me.