I remember in TPTE 485, one of the biggest challenges I had was finding images that were appropriate for public use. I had heard of Flickr in the past and looked at images from the site, however, I had never heard of Creative Commons. I am so glad that we went over this in class; it was so easy to find appropriate pictures without the hassle of checking for copyright concerning public or private use. I wish that I had known about this before I made any of my digital materials! I do make quite a few soft artifacts for my Spanish lessons, so I will most definitely be using this quite frequently in the future, if not daily! Another added bonus is the quality of the images; I will be able to save time looking up images that will be visible and crisp on the Smart Board or Promethean Board (it also lets you choose the viewing size which I think is helpful depending on your screen size, such as showing it on your class board or simply making a WebQuest for students to be used on a desktop monitor). Speaking of students viewing the images on their own computers, when assigning students digital projects, this will be a great resource to teach them to use, as well as provide an opportunity to explore copyright issues and citations, something that can be applied to any subject or class they might take!
While I had experience using iMovie and making my own videos, I had never actually tried to include a YouTube video within an iMovie project. I am so glad that I now know how to using ClipConverter! It is so easy to use…all you need is a YouTube URL. I was amazed that I had never thought to use this before, as I had used YouTube to .mp3 converters several times in the past for audio from YouTube. I didn’t realize that doing the same with the video itself was just as easy. The site is great because it will automatically recommend and choose settings for you, yet also gives you the option to choose the size of the file, the type of file, etc. I will definitely be using this tool in the future because it has so many purposes for education. Yes, there are issues with copyright when downloading these video files from YouTube, but as long as the videos are kept private, this should not be a problem. What I am the most excited about concerning downloading YouTube videos as .mp4 files and .mov files is the ability to edit the files as needed. Several times I have wanted to use a YouTube video and found the video too long, or the clip I need is right in the middle of the video. Now, I can simply edit the clip using iMovie and get exactly what I need out of it for my future classroom. Also, this makes it nice because so many schools have YouTube as a blocked website; now I know how to store the files on my computer and share them in other ways.
I have used iMovie several times in the past for different projects, probably more so than GarageBand or any other program of the iLife package. I have created slideshows, presentations for classes, education YouTube videos from my future Spanish classroom, etc. I have always used iLife ’06 for all of my projects, which offers a slightly different version of iMovie than available on the Macs in the computer lab, as well as several of my colleague’s computers. I actually prefer the older versions of iMovie, mainly because it does offer less features but is more intuitive and offers all of the necessary means to make a quality iMovie project. Also, iMovie makes it super easy to share the videos once they are completed as you can publish them directly from iMovie to YouTube or through the Media Browser, as well as select the size of the video. I found this process much easier than publishing my audio-only podcast. I will most likely use enhanced podcasts, or vodcasts, more in my future classroom because I just find them so much more engaging than an audio-only podcast. I enjoy the inclusion of visuals and will most likely use vodcasts to take my students on mini virtual field trips to different destinations and historical sites.
I had actually been sent a Doodle before and filled it out. I thought it was great but I had no idea what it actually was or how to create one. I was so happy that we went over this tool because I had been wanting to make my own for a few months now; I just never remembered to search for it and find it. I think it’s a great way to both schedule meetings and choose options. It is very intuitive and has many options for customizing your poll, as well as how to share your Doodle (like linking your own calendar and contacts into the site).
I definitely plan on using this in the future for both parents and students to remain in contact with me and plan meetings and what not. I think it will be great for planning teacher-parent conferences instead of emailing, calling, giving contact information, etc (it is also great because you can require a participant in the poll to provide their contact information). Students can also choose options, such as project units, planning a class party and who brings what, or delegating responsibilities for any type of classroom activity. I cannot wait to utilize this tool in my future classroom.
Here is an artifact I made using Doodle. It is a form that will be sent ot students to let them sign up for a partner project. I thought it would be great to do this online, outside of class to minimize the amount of class time it would take to go through each student and ask them who they would like to research, who they would like to worth with as their partner, etc.
In the past, I have never actually made a true “podcast,” but I have worked with Garageband to record audio for iMovie and making .mp3 files to be imported to iTunes. Most of the materials I made were more for recreation purposes and for audio and video presentations for a scholarship pageant (commentary from contestants during their slideshows, recording the past winner’s farewell speech, etc). I’m glad that I have listened to several examples of podcasts and gained inspiration for how to use audio with a more educational purpose in mind.
I remember when I first started using Garageband I thought the tool was so great and helpful; before the past few weeks, I had no idea that you could record audio online simply by going to a website. While you may not be able to pause and resume recording, edit the audio once finished recording, or add music, it is still pretty cool to know that you can at least record your own audio online and be able to easily share it.
Finding all these podcast tools online is great because students can create their own audio and easily share it, or incorporate it into other projects. I am excited to have students be able to receive listening practice outside of the classrooms through my podcasts and, on the other end of the spectrum, they can create their own audio and show their oral proficiency and progress in pronunciation.
I absolutely love Wikispaces! My only other experiences with wikis have been through Blackboard (creating a wiki in a group with five other classmates) and PBWorks in 486. I did not particularly like creating a wiki in Blackboard as there were issues with how many people could be editing at one time, locking access for other group members, uploading documents and then having them accidentally deleted by another team mate, etc. I had the same collaboration problems with PBWorks at times, but not nearly as badly.
What I really enjoyed about Wikispaces is that it notified you of others working on the page and the edits they had made. It also offers the ability to embed just about anything extremely easily. Learning this tool in particular has given me a more positive look of wikis and how to use them to collaborate with other students, teachers, etc. I think I am definitely more willing now to think of ways to incorporate wikis into my future classrooms.
I would like to do this particularly through the use of WebQuests (like we learned in 486 using PBWorks). I would like to use Wikispaces for my WebQuests due to what I said before about the convenience of embedding objects and files. For example, within one page I can give students typed-out directions, a YouTube video (embedded), a Google form to fill out a survey or complete a short quiz, and then include website links for further investigation. I look forward to using Wikispaces as a vehice and one-stop web visit for all of these other tools.
In a previous class, I had a horrible experience with Diigo. I always had log in problems and issues with trying to join a class study group and share resources. Delicious, however, I really enjoy, mainly because it is much more intuitive for me. The site is organized clearly and adding the Delicious bookmark tab to the browser was very easy on both a PC and on my Mac. What I did not understand, especially before revising my annotations, was the social aspect of a social bookmarking site. The point of the annotations is not so I can just remember what the site contained (which is what I thought the purpose was), but rather so other educators and fellow instructors can retrieve the resources based on what you had to say. I have found myself looking at other people’s annotations now for ideas, mainly because it is so much easier than performing a Google search every time I’m looking for a new website concerning Spanish education. Instead of having to click on websites from thousands of search results and waste at least five minutes exploring the site, I can simply look at the feedback and opinions of other teachers, most of whom will provide accurate and helpful links. I look forward to using Delicious to both remember and access my own bookmarks, but to also utilize the social aspect by browsing the resource annotations of others.
I hope that I was able to communicate in my presentation how useful and applicable this tool, in my opinion, can be to any educator or instructor. There is no downloadable software you have to install, it is completely free, and you don’t even have to register or sign up via an email address or username! Of course, you don’t have to make time and have a quiet space to record, but that is a weakness that can be applied to any tool used for audio podcasting, not specifically Record MP3. There were slightly longer uploading times for files 3-4 minutes, but I don’t find that too shocking considering how long uploading files that length from desktop programs, such as Garageband, can take. As said previously, any instructor could use this to explore a number of topics, provide news updates to their students, or even teach a subject via an online connection. In the modern language classroom, I will most definitely be using this tool to primarily provide listening practice for students at home, especially in preparation for an oral or listening exam.
I am really glad that I decided to explore this blog. Not knowing what the blog was about initially, I was surprised to see that the author, Sean, is an SLP and created this blog specifically as a resource for other SLP’s. The great thing about his site, however, is the fact that it provides so much information to several different audiences, including teachers, paraprofessionals, as well as parents.
Sean has set up the blog to where he was weekly posts, sometimes posting several times within a seven day period. In this section, he blogs about new issues, different topics, etc. What really stuck out to me were his other pages on the site, including a whole section titled “The SLP App List.” It is a collaborative effort between himself and those subscribing to his site to build a comprehensive list of any technology concerning SLP’s that may have clinical value.
My favorite part of the website, and this is why I believe his site can pertain to such a general audience effectively, is his use of analyzing new Apps, specifically for the iPad and iPhone, and the ways in which he uses them to instruct and help his students. By constantly introducing new applications and sharing their educational value with the viewers, he shows teachers and parents alike how to utilize these seemingly entertaining forms of technology and reach children through games and virtual activities. Not only does he explain these new apps and their purposes, he actually posts screencasts for viewers while demonstrating technology in a “how-to” fashion.
For me personally, I’m not sure how much I would use this site in the near future as I plan on teaching high school. As a parent though, I would most certainly peruse this site and watch several of his “how-to” screencasts in order to learn effective ways of teaching my child proper language skills through seemingly fun, yet educational, games. Another drawback as a teacher is many of the applications he discussed and provided tutorials for actually cost money. While that would be permissible for maybe a few activities, the totals would seem to add up.
All in all, I think this serves as a great resource for paraprofessionals and instructors, especially SLP’s and those working with students who may have disabilities, as well as parents, but for a high school teacher, I do not think this site would be particularly useful in addressing higher order thinking and abstract subject matter.
Becca Feher - Web 2.0 