My Technological Journey

At the beginning of the semester when we had to identify various Web 2.0 tools to determine how much we already knew about technology, I knew I had a lot to learn.    I had never heard of most of these tools and the one I had heard of I was not sure how to use them or of what use they could be in the classroom.  Throughout this semester, however, I have discovered several extremely helpful tools and products that will create technologically literate students and increase understanding while doing a lesson.  Now instead of a lecture I can show a digital story and do a flipchart.  Instead of a paper, I can have my students create a Timetoast about the project or edit a historical picture with Pixlr.  Instead of inspiring fear with a quiz, I can check for understanding using a Google Form.  All in all, the tools I interacted with in this class will be very beneficial no matter if I end up teaching middle school or high school. 

My iMovie

iMovie was the tool we used to create our digital stories this week.  Overall, iMovie was a relatively easy tool to use. Simply drag the images and music you want into iMovie and place those things in the order you want.  Next, unfortunately, adding captions was a bit of a hassle.  There were limited options for text placement and the font menu was sometimes difficult to access.  For the most part, however, iMovie is a good tool to create educational videos for your class.

The video is above is the movie I made for my digital story and is titled "The First Five Presidents of the United States".  The finished video came together well and would be very useful in the classroom.  It could be used as a review before a test as important events can be correlated with a president's administration.  Digits storytelling and iMovie can be used for almost any lesson and can add a new, exciting element to any classroom.

Digital Storytelling

Currently in class we are working on creating a digital story via iMovie.  This tool is really convenient and easy to use.  Simply upload a set of pictures and create captions.  The user friendliness of this product makes iMovie a joy to use.  Finding the correct pictures for each scene was a bit trickier.  Since we had to make sure the images were not copyrighted, we had to be very careful where we got our images from.  Since my projects is about the first 16 presidents, that was less of a problem for me as it was for others, but still I had to be careful.

Using digital storytelling in the classroom by creating movies would be a fantastic way to introduce or review a lesson.  For example, for my project I am presenting all of the key moments of early United States history and matching those events to the president in which these events occurred.  This would be useful towards the end of the year when the students are reviewing what they learned in class throughout the year.  Also this movie would be helpful for putting a name, face, and time period with the various events that they are required to know.  This movie could even be used as an interesting introduction to what the students will learn about for the year.  Overall, this versatile tool can be very useful for the social sciences and has a multitude of applications.

Digital Diagrams

This week we created digital diagrams using software called Inspiration.  The logo for this neat software is the picture posted above of a person with colors shooting out of his head.  It is relatively easy to create a digital diagram and the results look great.  I liked how much freedom the program gave the user, allowing me to be able to create whatever it is I need without many impediments.  One thing I did not like so much about Inspiration, however, was that note pages had to be attached to a concept box.  I would rather have had my notes standing on their own since often times they applied to the entire project instead of just one particular area.

Digital Diagrams would definitely be useful in the classroom.  These diagrams could give clarity during a particularly complicated lesson or simplify a concept a student is struggling with.  Since creating digital diagrams with Inspiration is so easy, I could even let my students create their own.  If we were studying the Civil War, each student could be assigned a different aspect of the war to work with.  This would give students a unique way in which to interact with history and technology, and hopefully increase their understanding of the subject.  With so many uses, digital diagrams is sure to be in my repertoire of tools to use in the classroom.

Storybird

This week the Web 2.0 tool we studied was Storybird.  This tool allows users to create their own stories.  Storybird can be accessed by students or teachers, depending on the grade level and what type of lesson Storybird is being incorporated into.  Just by playing around with this tool for a few minutes it became obvious that creating stories on Storybird was fun and engaging.  You can even add art from a multitude of different artists.  All it takes is a little creativity and your book is finished.  There are options to purchase the book so that students can easily access a physical copy of it.

There are a couple of issues, however.  With a regular account, Storybird restricts you to only using art from one artist.  PowerPoint, while more difficult to make into an actual physical book, actually essentially does the same thing as Storybird but lets you pull art from anywhere on the web you find it.  This tool might not be too useful at the high school level, since students might feel as if Storybird is too "kiddy".  At the middle school level, however, there may be some uses.  Students in a history class could create a story based around what it would be like to live during the middle ages in order to really connect to the time period.  Storybird, while a bit restrictive, can still be used as a fun, instructive tool in the classroom.

Google Forms

I really like and think the Web 2.0 tool Google Forms has a lot of potential in the classroom.  It could be really useful for getting to know your students, emergency contact forms, or even for low stress assessments to check for understanding.  In fact I think this is my favorite part about Google Forms.  From my experience in the classroom as a student and as a teacher, doing an assignment online usually creates a more relaxed atmosphere.  If I was to give out an assessment using paper and pencil and the same assessment using Google Forms, I think the mood of class would vary greatly between the two ways despite it being the same assessment.  Google Forms are really easy to create and distribute to students.  These reasons all have me very excited to begin using this awesome tool in the classroom.

Interactive Whiteboards

Even though we just began learning about interactive white boards, the benefits of these neat tools are already evident.  This can be a great way to weave technology in with learning.  I really like the different ways you can make the board interact with a class.  This could really get students more engaged and focused during instruction.  I also like how easy it is to edit or change issues on the fly.  While we were learning about interactive whiteboards, a problem arose but was quickly fixed.  Also I like that one can write on top of whatever notes or webpages are on the screen.  This makes things easier to explain to students.

This tool would definitely be useful in any classroom.  The three branches of government lesson on the interactive white board showed the differences in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.  This adds a new and exciting element in what can sometimes be a boring lesson.  Also any time a student actually interacts with the whiteboard that helps the learning set in better.