Assignment 7: Online Digital Story

VoiceThread was the product that was used to create the digital story, and is sort of a Movie Maker type application. Static pictures, clipart or photos can be used to create the voice thread background, and it can really be on any subject or topic. There is great potential for this application for both

teachers and students in and out of the classroom. This would be an ideal product to use for flipping the classroom because it is something that students can watch at home at their own pace, and then they can make comments or ask questions all the while listening to and watching a presentation. This would help make the mundane lecture much more appealing for students.

Students would also be able to create their own voice threads making it possible for the instructor to assess what they know about a particular subject, object, topic, etc. This would definitely help put a new spin on the typical assignment. An example in my class might be an assignment that requires students to develop an investment portfolio. The students could gather pictures/photos of specific types of investments that they would include in their personal portfolio and share information as to why they chose this option in the voice thread. They would also be required to include a specific number of terms so that it is obvious they know the definitions of pertinent terms and relevant information. Once the voice threads are created, classmates would be required to review a certain number of postings and comment using the different available tools. I believe that this type of assignment would certainly peak the interests of the students and would provide a new and exciting way to share their knowledge.

Assignment 6: Interactive Online Poster

The interactive online poster was created with a creation tool found at Glogster.com. This was a fairly simple application that allows the user to create a relatively complex graphically designed document promoting the topic of choice. I created my poster to reflect one of the courses that I teach, which is Graphic Design, and it promoted the software application we use, which is Photoshop. The poster is visually appealing as well as interactive and allows students to click on areas of the poster to find more material and/or information. The application allows drag-and-drop for pictures and videos, and the text options offer variety and ease of use. The only challenges with the application is trying to come up with the idea(s) to use and choosing the graphics and video that is to be included on the poster.

Click to view my glogster poster

The implications for education include interactivity, which motivates students to explore the information contained within the poster; communication because it gets the students talking about what they have learned; and engagement simply due to the ability to interact with the poster. It would also be fairly simple for a teacher to integrate this application into the classroom by allowing students to create their own Glogster poster. The poster could be based on a particular topic, a subject area, or it may even serve as a timeline of events. The application is super easy to use and would be applicable in K-12 education. Of course, the younger students would need more assistance in creating their poster, but it could work well, especially with the use of graphic representations. Personally, I plan to use Glogster in all of my classes on the high school and community college levels. This will be a great way for me to get an idea of what the students have learned about a particular topic. The experience was a good one.

Assignment 5: Go Animate

Go Animate--fun, fun, fun! This is an online animation application that allows for the creation of a short animated film. Registration is free and it can be used for free, but the free tool only allows for a maximum of a 30 second video. Within the application, there is the ability to select different backgrounds, props, and avatars, all done with dragging and dropping. The avatars can be given different expressions, poses, motions, and voices. Dialog can be recorded by keying in what is to be said by the characters and then you can choose what type of voice you wish to be heard. For example, you may choose a female avatar for your story and give her an Australian accent when she speaks. Another option is to record your own voice and apply to an avatar. It is a great way to introduce a topic or unit, tell a story, create tutorials, and/or provide marketing for social media.

The implications for education are vast due to the fact that teachers and students can utilize this tool. Teachers can use it for introducing themselves to a new class, delivering course material, and teaching and training tutorials. Students can use this tool to demonstrate knowledge of a particular subject, produce creative videos for specific activities, tell stories, and/or create a video resume`. Go Animate creates visual excitement and helps keep students engaged and interested. I have used this in my classrooms and was amazed at how excited the students were while using it, and how creative they were in the making of the videos.

A Day in the Life by gonzaleskg on GoAnimate

Assignment 4: Online Instructional Video

Screenr is a wonderful tool and I really do love it! With this tool, it is easy to record the movements that you make on the computer and capture the screen that goes along with the movements. In other words, if you are trying to show someone how to open a program from the Start button, you can start Screenr and then actually perform the task on the desktop. While you are completing the task(s), Screenr will record all of the movements. Once the recording has been made you can share it with others, then they can play the recording and follow along performing the same actions. I found this tool to be very easy to use and manipulate. Registration is not necessary; you can begin the screen caster directly from the website.

This is extremely helpful, especially for teachers who teach students how to use specific software applications or want to create tutorials for eLearning. The teacher only has to perform the actions once and then share it with all the students in all of the classes. Screenr is certainly a time saver as well as an instant screen caster. It can be shared through social media and embed videos on other sites, blogs, and even phones. You can also sign in with various social media and email addresses. Students can use Screenr to record their screens as well in order to demonstrate their knowledge of a particular topic.

My Screenr

Assignment 3: YouTube Video

The making of a YouTube video was not a good experience for me. It was my understanding that we could not use screen capture for this so I just used an older video camera and the capture was pretty sad. I was able to make some of the video edits, and text, and audio, but the mixes were not representative of good work.

The transition for my video worked and looked good as did the title, description, tags, and other information included in the assignment. I did enjoy making the video and can see the implications for the classroom. It would be very useful for group projects to let the students make their own YouTube video, however, my students are blocked from YouTube. There is a possibility that they might be able to make it from home, but it is doubtful. The best chance I would have of using this tool would be in my community college online courses. If fact, I am going to have my desktop publishing students do a video tutorial showing how to create a professional desktop publishing document.

My video

There were also issues will trying to embed the code on the mixxt site. I tried it from two different computers, allowed pop-ups, updated java and flash and tried myriad options for uploading, none of which worked. After many hours and attempts, I finally got it to work, but I’m not really sure what I did exactly. I still could not get the Animoto video to embed. It may be the security settings on my home computer and I am just not willing to risk lowering security settings to post videos. I would try it from my work computer, but the district locks us out of the mixxt site so I cannot post. 

Assignment 2: Panoramic and 360 Photographs

One of my favorite activities was the 360 degree movie made with Dermandar. It was definitely a challenge to take the series of photographs needed to make the movie because the camera had to be held very steadily, at the same height each time, and at the same angle in order to work properly. I had to do several takes before it actually worked and then there were still some shadows in the movie. I enjoyed it so much that I made two movies; one was taken outside at the baseball field and one was in the library at Northwest Rankin High School. After make my movie I showed my students how to do it and they loved it. They took their phones outside and made panoramic pictures and the 360 movies. They told me later that they had a lot of fun doing it with their friends.

I later tried several different phone apps to try to create the same type of movie, but did not have much luck. The other apps would either turn off it would try to make the movie before all the pictures had been taken. The apps I tried included EasyPano and DMD Pano. I definitely prefer Dermandar. I am hopeful that better apps like this will be available in the future for Android.

Click to view my panoramic photo.

Assignment 1: Animoto and Picmonkey

 

 

Animoto is an interesting video editing tool allowing the creator to develop a story with a theme. It is a free and fairly easy to use and has great implications for the classroom environment. Teachers could use it to introduce materials to students quickly and embed it in a class website or as a link within a learning management system. Used in conjunction with Picmonkey, it is possible to edit the pictures before including them in the video.  Both applications are quite easy to use and offer several tools, such as music in Animoto and flowers and butterflies that can be added to photos in Picmonkey.

I created a video that introduces personal finance to my students by asking them the things for which they are saving and how personal finance can help them make those dreams come true. Personally, I did not have any problems with the product, but had a bit of a problem embedding the code in the mixxt site. 

The potential for teachers in the classroom may also include the students using this open source software to create a video about the objectives they learned in the classroom. One of the potential uses would be in a biology class where students could take pictures of their experiments or dissections, and then create a video with Animoto that shows the process and the results. History classes could use this approach using artifacts to produce a video showing what students have learned about a certain period of time. Math classes could have students take pictures of the problems they worked and create the video from each step they used. Teachers may also want to use this software to create virtual field trips for their students. For example, foreign language teachers might create a video using photographs of landmarks in the country of the language that they are studying.

My Animoto