I just learned that in the other Web class that I am concurrently taking so I included it here, but I also did the blabberize website (see Koala below!) Both are fun little attention getters, that I hope to periodically use to spice up posts online (I haven't decided if I want a class blog or Google+ community - currently I am leaning to a community?)
As for the animoto, I also had done this in class last year. My students made presentations on scientific instruments. They watched each others and graded them too. Instead of doing another animoto, I tried Gickr. You can make a little slide show, like flash, from pictures. I took some pictures from a bridge build project that I use to do in chem/phys class several years ago. This too, may make a good element on a web page, blog or post (but it also kind of makes me dizzy!) The Gickr can be found at
animated gif maker.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Prezi, Voki, Blabberize and Gickr - Activites 8, 9, and 10
This week at Northwestern where I am doing research, I need to submit a short PowerPoint describing the project I am working on - I thought perfect! - I hope they will take a Prezi instead! So I made my first Prezi (also below) . It took awhile to get started but then it got easier. I like the idea of an overall picture - story that the presentation is telling. In my classroom, I can use it myself or have students create their own. I am sure I will do both next year. Then after they are created, we can share them in class or put online and share that way. For the Voki,I just learned that in the other Web class that I am concurrently taking so I included it here, but I also did the blabberize website (see Koala below!) Both are fun little attention getters, that I hope to periodically use to spice up posts online (I haven't decided if I want a class blog or Google+ community - currently I am leaning to a community?)
As for the animoto, I also had done this in class last year. My students made presentations on scientific instruments. They watched each others and graded them too. Instead of doing another animoto, I tried Gickr. You can make a little slide show, like flash, from pictures. I took some pictures from a bridge build project that I use to do in chem/phys class several years ago. This too, may make a good element on a web page, blog or post (but it also kind of makes me dizzy!) The Gickr can be found at
animated gif maker.
As for the animoto, I also had done this in class last year. My students made presentations on scientific instruments. They watched each others and graded them too. Instead of doing another animoto, I tried Gickr. You can make a little slide show, like flash, from pictures. I took some pictures from a bridge build project that I use to do in chem/phys class several years ago. This too, may make a good element on a web page, blog or post (but it also kind of makes me dizzy!) The Gickr can be found at
animated gif maker.
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Lisa, I am impressed by your Blog--it looks so professional! The Gickr is a neat--I think that students would really like that. Not sure if making one would make sense in your curriculum, but it certainly does spice up a webpage! Your question about at Google+ community or blog is an interesting one--I find the blog more intuitive and versatile, but I'm not sure the students would feel the same. I also think that if many teachers across disciplines all start doing the same thing (we all use a Google Community or all start requiring a blog) students can get burned out (I've seen it happen before and even started to see it happen with Animotos last year). However, as we move into more digital learning, I think that these Web 2.0 concepts will be used in more and more classes, so introducing the kids to them now is only going to help them be ready as they encounter them more in the future.
ReplyDeleteThanks Hilary, I was impressed with your blog too! I do worry about student burn out with certain programs but maybe they were burned out before if they had to make one more poster or write one more essay?
DeleteI agree with Hilary, your Blog is looking good. I clicked through your Prezi, noticed you were only able to get subscripts at the end of a compound, not in the middle. Was this a Prezi limitation? If so, you might want to try to create the compound in a google doc and then cut and paste it into the prezi. Sometimes this type of formatting sticks and other times it doesn't. Worth a shot if it was a limitation.
ReplyDeleteAs for Google+ vs. a Blog. Student's can blog and then post their blogs to their Google+ community. I think kids will be able to do both without hesitation. If you keep everything within the Google Apps for Education (GAFE) world, all of their products will be easily shared from one platform to another.
Blogging would be to show individual work. Posting the blog to the community when appropriate and sharing other items to the community when appropriate. Combining them keeps more doors open. On the other hand, if this is the first year of really diving into a big tech focus and want to keep it simple, I would limit yourself to one. In that case, I would choose the blog, because of the narrow focus. Just my 2cents. I know I played both sides on this comment.
I have searched and Prezi does not do subscripts, superscripts - a real limitation for a science presentation. There are crazy ways around it like doing a screen shot and pasting it in as a picture or making a text box and manually moving it up or down. It is sad that some of these truly basic formatting are not included. I may have to go back to PowerPoint for the presentation.
DeleteI guess I still have to envision what the blog or community would look like in the classroom. If I have 100 students blogging - am I reading all of them??? Any advice from other teachers who are already blogging with students?
I didn't notice the issue Maureen pointed out, I was just in awe of your prezi skills on the first try! And while I may not understand your project fully, the bits and pieces I did understand were because of how well you constructed your presentation. The graphs and text were nicely balanced and the path seemed really clear. And thanks for sharing your Gickr work and details - I'll have to check it out!
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