Subject area: any
Targeted grade/age: probably high school, perhaps middle level as well
URL: http://www.twitter.com
Description
Twitter was voted the #1 Tool for Learning 2009 by 278 professionals according to this presentation by Jane Hart (http://c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/index.html).
Twitter was voted the #1 Tool for Learning 2009 by 278 professionals according to this presentation by Jane Hart (http://c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/index.html).
One of Twitter’s most notable characteristics as a “micro-blogging” tool is its 140-character limit. That is, if you have a lot to say as in an essay or something similar, Twitter is not the place to do it!
Remember that’s 140 characters, not words, so let me re-emphasize the micro-ness of Twitter. And these short “posts” or “tweets” can be sent in via text message as well, so a connection to the Internet is not even required.
The purpose of Twitter is simple: use short little blurbs (micro-blogs) to connect people. And all sorts of people are on Twitter: professional athletes, actors, musicians, teachers, students, plumbers... well there are probably plumbers, I can’t verify that. As far as an educator is concerned, Twitter could be used as a tool for a short homework assignment. I could tell my math class “by midnight tonight make sure you have tweeted me a link to an interactive geometry website.” It could be that simple. Plus it’s FREE. Signing up takes little more than 60 seconds and an email address. Similar to “friends” on Facebook and MySpace, Twitter allows you to “follow” or be followed by others. A teacher could set aside a class period where he/she and all his/her students set up Twitter accounts with the stipulation that they all “follow” each other, essentially creating a little micro-blogging community. That would be pretty neat! I think one of the issues lazy teachers like myself have with many web tools is that they take a lot of work to set up and maintain, or at least they seem like they do. What makes Twitter so great is its simplicity.
Go to Twitter.com right now... you’ll see no advertisements anywhere. Just a simple user interface allowing you to “keep in touch with colleagues and friends no matter where you are or what you’re doing” (http://c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/index.html).
Category - Score (out of 4)
Usability for teachers - 4
Set-up - 3
Design elements - 3
Content and administration - 2
Output, Publication, Archiving - 4
TOTAL (out of 20) - 16
Usability for teachers - 4
Set-up - 3
Design elements - 3
Content and administration - 2
Output, Publication, Archiving - 4
TOTAL (out of 20) - 16
Description
Screenr was voted the #55 Tool for Learning 2009 by 278 professionals according to this presentation by Jane Hart (http://c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/index.html).
Screenr was voted the #55 Tool for Learning 2009 by 278 professionals according to this presentation by Jane Hart (http://c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/index.html).
Screenr is a free, web-based screencasting tool, which means it captures what is displayed on your computer screen as a video.
I use screencasts to make math videos for my students. I use an Interwrite wireless pad (http://www.einstruction.com/products/interactive_teaching/pad/) to virtually write on my computer screen and I use my computer’s built-in microphone to talk as I write. I could use Screenr to do this and have a video uploaded to the web in minutes. Screenr does not have editing abilities and requires videos be under 5 minutes in length, but this is still a powerful and easy-to-use web-based tool.
This web tool is very simple to use. An example assignment I could use in my class would be to have kids record themselves solving a problem using my wireless pad while they say why they’re doing what they’re doing. So I could tell them to show me how one could solve
5x + 3 = 3x + 7.
The resulting video file would have the student's work, visually, as well as their directions and commentary, audibly. By the time they got home they could show their family what they created that day by going to the web page where their video was uploaded.
Getting started with Screenr was incredibly easy. It works for PC and Mac, requires no download, and uploads your audio-video presentation to its own site absolutely for free. Pretty neat stuff I think the kids would enjoy embedding onto their MySpace page to show off!
If you have 30 seconds, go to Screenr.com and record your screen for 5 seconds like I did, just me moving the mouse around and talking jibberish... it’s fun!
Category - Score (out of 4)
Usability for teachers - 3
Set-up - 3
Design elements - 3
Content and administration - 3
Output, Publication, Archiving - 3
Usability for teachers - 3
Set-up - 3
Design elements - 3
Content and administration - 3
Output, Publication, Archiving - 3
TOTAL (out of 20) - 15
Subject area: any
Targeted grade/age: 5th - 12th grades
URL: http://www.animoto.com and http://www.animoto.com/education
Description
Animoto was voted the #31 Tool for Learning 2009 by 278 professionals according to this presentation by Jane Hart (http://c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/index.html).
Animoto was voted the #31 Tool for Learning 2009 by 278 professionals according to this presentation by Jane Hart (http://c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/index.html).
Animoto’s web site declares “the end of slide shows,” and its ability to take your photos and create fantastic looking videos might not “end” slide shows but will at least inspire people to put together neat photo-movies using this easy, web-based tool.
What Animoto does is take your uploaded photos and create an exciting, professional-looking short video including the photos and small amounts of text you can include. You can also select from a variety of audio tracks to accompany your video. As its name implies, Animoto adds a bit of animation and life to your photos, zinging them in from the side, zooming and twisting, etc. This makes it sounds a bit Powerpoint-y, but its far prettier to look at than those ugly “slide transitions.” Ew.
An example assignment I envision is a social studies teacher having students collect information and photos about a historical figure, uploading them to Animoto, then creating a video presentation which gives a quick idea about that individual. It wouldn’t take a ton of time as Animoto does most of the work. The down side of this is that you do not have full customizability; Animoto has tons of built-in animation that it does on its own. Perhaps this is a good thing though.
A few months ago I read about Animoto somewhere and decided to give it a shot. I uploaded a few photos of my wife and I, and made a few decisions on what I wanted my video to look like.
Here's the 30-second video of my wife, myself, and friends: http://animoto.com/play/TTMlmZV3IbHtEu0Z0YKQvA.
Not too bad for probably less than 5 minutes of work on my part.
Category - Score (out of 4)
Usability for teachers - 3
Set-up - 3
Design elements - 3
Content and administration - 3
Output, Publication, Archiving - 3
TOTAL (out of 20) - 15
Usability for teachers - 3
Set-up - 3
Design elements - 3
Content and administration - 3
Output, Publication, Archiving - 3
TOTAL (out of 20) - 15
Summary: I picked these three because I was slightly familiar with them and because they sound both FUN and EASY to use in the classroom. At least compared to lots of other tools.
And though their scores could've been a bit higher, I don't think that should keep anyone from trying them out. When tools are this simple, they're bound to score lower in some areas due to lack of all-around features.
But I don't know about you, but I could use a little more simple in my life. Less is more, baby.
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