Week #7 Mind Mapping

I have not done a mind map this large since my undergraduate work and I know I used inspiration software that did really cool stuff. For this assignment I wanted to check something new out and it is called Popplet.

Uses in the Classroom: I think mind maps are great. I have not used them at all in my Kindergarten classroom but I have used it with 6th and 7th grades before. They did theirs using pencil and paper but using easy online content like this would be a great motivator.

Copyright: All images were taken by John Babinski and are free to use and modify. Be aware that children are in the images and should be given privacy and be respected for educational purposes only.

Issues to Consider: When using mind mapping software or online content it must have a free flowing editing that is easy to use and not hinder the creative process. My biggest issue with using Popplet was that I could not just upload any picture I wanted from the internet. I would have had to save it first then upload. This was not my first choice of software. I tried gliffy which did not load for almost an hour, then I tried mindmeister which worked for only a few minutes before I could not upload any pictures or take them from the internet. So I was left with popplet which was very easy to use but lacked some editing possibilities.


Popplet Mind Map


Mind Map Link Screencast

Week #6 Image Manipulation

This week we considered the uses of images in products for companies and for teachers. We need to understand how important it is for teachers since we use images for almost every activity. We can try to develop new ways for students to think outside of the norm by editing and manipulating photos.

Uses in the Classroom:
When students sit down to create something from images they need to be aware of copyright restrictions and what the purpose of their finished product will be. I would not be able to allow my kindergartners to manipulate an image using Photoshop because it is to complicated for them to complete a specific task. I would use an animation portion to set up a lesson that involves movement. We had completed a science lesson on push and pull which would be perfect for getting students to learn about movement in a video and then try to duplicate it in person. The animation I used below could be an art activity because as the car moves from one slide to the next the colors mix to create new colors.

Copyright:
Pixlr image was taken by Joe deSousa on March 23, 2014 of a 1970 Plymouth Cuda 440 Six Pack
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mustangjoe/13540590223/

I have altered the photo in three ways from the original. I have changed it from all color to black and white and added my name. I have also changed they color of the car. Finally I cropped the photo down, added contrast and stamped over the background of the people with gray flooring.

Issues to Consider:
Learning how to manipulate photos is a process that takes time. Students will need access to available content for photos such as online creative commons or personal photos. They will also need to be aware of how easy it is to break a law by altering images. We cannot forget that photos we see everyday from magazines or other media is altered to get the best picture possible. Don't believe everything you read or see without proof it is authentic or original.

Week #5 Infographics

This week I focused on creating an infographic. Basically it is data that has been streamlined for the reader to help understand the data at a glance. Without reading an entire article about something we can create multimedia content that shows a summary of an article.

Uses in the Classroom: 
The possibilities are endless when it comes to how you want to use an infographic in a classroom. As the teacher you can create a summary of content for students to see and use as a review. They could create one for a fictional book report or summary of informational text. I might use this one as part of my social studies unit that covers why we work.

Copyright:
All images are property of piktochart. Data used for this infographic is from Frank Tomas's Jan. 19, 2014 article in USA Today.

Issues to Consider:
This takes a lot of time to gather the materials in a way that can be turned into a sort of story format. With this simple one I had made it was hard to find ways on how to display this information. Students would need ample time to brainstorm, gather data, outline, design and edit.  I originally started with the idea to use my class data wall to see what they are doing and not doing but thought it might be a little dull for something so flashy.

Week #4 Instructional Video

This week I was asked to create an instructional video using a screen cast. I have never done any videos or editing to anything in my life. I found this to be very difficult and will be practicing different methods in the future to see what will work best for myself and my students. Hopefully you find this to be helpful and can practice with your students too.

Uses in the Classroom:
The primary focus for this screen cast was to have students practice sounding out more than one letter sound at a time and with some practice can improve overall test scores.

Copyright:
I used SMART Notebook and the SMART Exchange to create my slides and Jing to screen cast my desktop of my computer. Images are courtesy of John Babinski

Issues to Consider:
I would have loved to include a live stream video into the screen cast but will need to test out several different kinds of screen casting / editing / live video formats to find one that works best with my computer set up. I think for what I was trying to achieve from this instructional video it was overwhelming. I wanted to set up the lesson as much as possible but was limited with time. It would be better off used as a Smartboard activity to give students the opportunity to change the dice letters and practice more. But it gives teachers ideas on what they can set up with SMART products.

 Again I would have loved to embed this into my blog but was unable due to the format used.

 Here is my link so you may check it out:
http://www.screencast.com/t/5J16Jg9E2yQR

Week #3 Digital Storytelling

Uses in the Classroom: After viewing several different podcasts and digital storytelling videos I thought about how I could bring that into a Kindergarten classroom. Then it clicked:)

I saw several that used high quality images and photos to tell their story which are great for middle school and high school students. But a few showed how teachers took pictures of the student's hand illustrated then uploaded it into a web site called voicethread. From there teachers had the student record what their picture/sentence/words were. With a little help prompting them it was awesome!

I will have my students write a three part story that includes a beginning, middle and end. Then I can take pictures of each page and upload it to the website. Then students could comment and record their voice about their picture.

Issues to Consider: This is going to be a huge undertaking when working with the 18 students I have in my class. Not only do they need to create a high quality piece of writing, it will take a lot of time on my part to email myself the pictures then make sure that all the images are accounted for. Finally when recording students voices it can get load in the classroom or hallway at certain times of the day that might interrupt a student.

Copyright: All illustrations and voice are courtesy of John Babinski.

https://voicethread.com/share/6505619/

First Day Introduction

Greetings and Well Wishes Educators,

I am writing this blog to begin my professional development in the field of Educational Technology. The benefit of this career field is that technology and the way we access our life data is constantly changing. In order to stay on the leading edge of this field it is important to test, utilize and update the tools we use with students as we see that older tech is decreasing in effectiveness.


Best of luck to all you teachers out there and stay tuned for great ideas to come!


Fotobabble Intro

Fotobabble Powerful Image