Public Library Digital Story

Our final technology project for the semester was to create a digital story that we could use in the classroom.  I chose to create a digital story about how to use a public library by doing a virtual tour of my local library.  I started by going to the Clyde W. Roddy in Dayton, TN, and taking photographs of all of the different sections that the library has, and then taking pictures illustrating how to search for books, find them, and check them out.  I then designed a project around these images and created a digital story using iMovie software.  With this software I was able to organize the photos, use transitions, add captions and caption slides, and add music.  After planning the whole thing out well it was really easy to create on iMovie.

After creating a digital story of my own I see how useful they could be in the classroom.  It would be a great way for start off the school year by showing them one about your own life and then having them to create one about their own lives.  It could also be used by students to create book reports.  Teachers could also use it various different ways to teach new material in a different fashion.  Although I used iMovie on a Mac for my project, Windows Movie Maker is a similar program that comes on Windows computers that can be used in the same way.  I have used it in the past and it works in the same way with similar end results.  I think that either program could be easily used by older elementary students to create short videos.  I look forward to making use of digital stories in my future classroom.

Digital Diagrams

An image of my Digital Diagram on the Four Seasons

This week we have we worked on and completed our Digital Diagrams assignment.  For this assignment we used the Inspiration software to create our own Digital Diagrams.  This is a great program that is really easy to use.  I was able to create my own diagram with little time and little trouble.  The program is very straightforward and simple to understand.

Not only is the program easy to understand, but so are the diagrams built on it.  The program includes multipe different personalization options for diagrams and a little creativity can go a long way.  After consulting TN state standards and finding a text book I chose to do my diagram on the four seasons.  This is part of the second grade science content in Tennessee.  This was a really good choice to use for this project.  With Seasons as the main point on the diagram it was easy to branch off into the four seasons and then to describe each season with a few important aspects of them.  I was able to make mine attractive by using a dark grey background behind bright colors that pop really well against the grey.  This makes the diagram really stand out, and also makes it easy to read.  For better understanding I added notes to a couple of the text bubbles.  I also added an image to represent each season and added arrows that show the order of the seasons.  

I really enjoyed this project.  I was able to create a professional looking diagram in a short amount of time.  It literally took me more time to think of a topic and gather my information than it did to make the diagram.  I can see how this tool could be really useful in my future classroom.  I think elementary students could definitely benefit from diagrams that will increase their understanding.  Since diagrams are usually simple they allow for a wonderful introduction to a topic, yet still leave it open to build on the basics.  I hope to get the chance to use this tool more in the future.

Storybird

This week my group and I were able to teach the class how to use a very useful Web 2.0 Tool, Storybird.  Storybird is a tool that allows you to create virtual storybooks online.  The stories can then be looked at on the site with computers or other digital devices, or print versions can be ordered and mailed to the creator.  The stories can also be shared online.

Considering that my group was made up of elementary teacher education students we all found the tool to be really useful.  We enjoyed learning how to use and teaching the class to use it.  We all thought that are lesson went quite well.  We split up the task between the three of us and each took turns talking to the class while the others walked around the class and made sure everyone was staying on task.  Our students followed our directions really well and kept up with the lesson.

Selden started out our presentation by introducing the class to the tool and telling them about it.  She then showed them an example Storybird.  She also made sure made sure that everyone had created their accounts as we had instructed a few days before, and that everyone was logged in and ready to work.  I then took over and guided them through the process of creating a Storybird.  Emily finished up the presentation by telling the class the uses, strengths, and weaknesses of the tool.

I thought the whole group did a great job of presenting, and really felt that our preparation had made for a successful lesson.  I think we got our points across quite nicely.  Storybird is a great and useful tool, especially for Elementary teachers.  We were able to teach them how to create their own Storybirds, and how to publish and share them.  Most importantly we were able to tell them how they could use it, and what limitations that it had.  Without adequate preparation and research on the tool we could not have done this.  I hope that our class is able to take advantage of this tool in the future!

Interactive White Boards

http://www.princetonacademy.org/weblogs/news/archives/2010_07.html

Aside from using the Promethean board in our classroom as a projection screen we really had not used it very much until this week.  This week we started to learn how to use the Promethean board, and other interactive white boards, to their full potential.  We have learned what an interactive smart board is and how useful it can be in the classroom.

Interactive white boards are more than just normal projectors for duplicating what is happening on a computer screen.  With an interactive white board the board becomes the computer and allows you do to many cool things!  You can use an interactive white board with any program on a computer and use it to project the image on the large screen and then use the pen as the mouse and navigate the computer without having to go back and forth to the computer.  You can also use the software that comes with the board and create interactive presentations.

In our work with the Promethean boards we are using ActivInspire software to create presentations.  With this software we are learning how to make interactive presentations.  It works a lot like Powerpoint, but has many more features and options that make it interactive.  With this program you can create elements on the individual slides that move or change with input.  This makes it an especially valuable teaching tool.  Teachers are able to call students to the board and let them interact and answer questions on the presentation.  The students may find the answer by erasing a certain portion of the slide, moving an object to uncover the answer, or they can sort items that the teacher has on the slide.

When it comes to using an interactive white board in the classroom the possibilities are really unlimited.  When used with the correct software they can be implemented into a classroom in ways that will benefit both the students and the teacher.  They are becoming more and more common in classrooms, and it is likely that most schools have some sort of interactive white boards in them to some capacity.  The boards are such a useful tool that it is hard to imagine going back to a classroom that only has a chalkboard or dry erase board.    I hope that by learning about interactive white boards now I will be better prepared to use them in my future classroom, and may even be able to help other teachers that are not taking full advantage of the boards in their classes.