For the past week I have been playing around with Prezi which is an online presentation application. Prezi allows for text, images and videos to be combined and grouped in the program and allows the user to create a smooth presentation that zooms in and out and follows a particular path of the users design to tell a story or present information with a 3D feel to it.
As soon as I began looking at Prezi examples online I just wanted to create my own! To me it's like an exciting version of Powerpoint that (in my opinion) allows for more creativity. The tool was a little tricky to use to start with and took me a while to work out but once you have the basics it's not very complicated and would be easy for upper primary students to use. I think it would be a great tool for students to use for class presentations, support for oral presentations or even simply as a format to present a class project, story or research investigation.Prezi would also be a great tool to use as an introduction to a new unit or lesson to engage students and create a 'hook' and could be used with students of any age.
The good thing about a Prezi is that you must sign up and log in to be able to edit your own prezi however if you are a 'non-paying' member your prezi is public and although this may be good if you are wanting to share your information, there are obviously privacy concerns if students are including personal material in their Prezi.
I would really recommend checking out Prezi.com, it's definately my favourite new tool!
Image courtesy of www.whatthegregg.com
Today I used weebly.com to create my own website. I found it to be really easy and simple to use with explanations available on how to use different features. I can see many strengths in using this tool as older students can use it as a platform to create a piece of work that could be done at school and worked on at home, allowing the class teacher and other students to share their work and view progress. It could also be used by the teacher to create a website that contains specific information to what the students are learning. The students could then use this website as part of their research allowing the teacher to have the confidence in knowing that the information is accurate and relevant, which would be particularly useful to young students. The initial set-up of the website would be a little time consuming for the teacher but I think it would be well worth it as it could be used over and over again for various students and lessons. Websites allow a variety of content to be displayed including text, pictures and other digital files, catering for a variety of learning styles.
As websites are available for anyone to see, a class could create a website that involves the wider community to share their ideas or information. Teachers would also need to take this into consideration however that anyone else may view the website if it is a public website and privacy may be an issue if students names or photographs are displayed. Some of the weaknesses or threats that I could see through the use of this tool are that if not monitored appropriately students could easily lose interest or become side-tracked. If accessed at home, parents would also need to ensure pop-ups are blocked and internet usage is managed and suupervised.
I can imagine so many different uses for websites for all ages and it is definately a tool that I would consider using in my class.
This is my website that I created after using weebly.com
My WebsiteImage courtesy of weebly.com
Today I spent some time exploring the bubbl.us concept mapping tool. I created my concept map based on topic 1 and just kept it quite simple. I found it relatively easy to use and even when I did make mistakes it was easy to delete or fix. I think this would be a great tool to use in the classroom with students and it could be used at the start of a topic, for brainstorming or at the end of a topic aswell to allow students to see the new knowledge they have gained. It was great that you could save your concept map and edit it at a later time which would be good if you ran out of time in the classroom or you decided to add to it. I found the best thing to be how organised it was and how clearly information could be displayed by simply changing colours and moving bubbles around. It would be well suited to older primary students who could easily use the tool on their own. It could also be used effectively in the early years if it was done as a class. Perhaps the use of a smart board would allow sharing with the whole class and the teacher could let young students type in words to help build the concept map while over time providing them with the opportunity to learn how to use the tool.
As this is my first blog I have started to research more into them to understand how they can be used effectively and what they are usually used for. A blog is usually maintained by an individual and can be used for a variety of purposes such as an online diary or journal, or as a means of providing news or thoughts on a particular subject, whilst also allowing others to comment and share their own ideas and thoughts. A blog can contain images, text, video and music files and links to other blogs. With most people today having access to internet, anyone can create a blog which can be done for free on several websites.
Personally I have already found blogging to be convenient as I can add to it and use it whenever or wherever I am. This tool would be useful in the classroom context as it would allow students to be involved in blogging inside the classroom and also continue with this at home, although as a teacher you would need to ensure that all students had adequate internet access outside of school.
A wiki is similar to a blog however it allows the content of the webpage to be edited and contibuted to by any users. In the classroom context, the ability to change a wiki may leave it lacking credibility and its use may not be beneficial to students as information may be changed and become false, misleading or innappropriate. This would be a tool that I would be hesitant about using with students and it would be something that would need constant supervision and monitoring for it to be an effective tool.Click
here to see my wiki.
Image courtesy of weblogcartoons.com
I was a bit nervous about starting this course and creating a blog as it was something I had never done before but I have only just started it and I'm already enjoying it and finding it relatively simple to create. While just setting up my blog I have already begun to see the advantages of using this technology in an educational sense as it's so quick and easy to see what everyone else in the course is doing with their blog, to share ideas about content and to read how others have interpreted the course so far. I'm also finding that using a blog is very convenient to my lifestyle, allowing communication and sharing with others, at any time of the day, whenever I can find a spare moment. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this course develops and to continue to improve my blogging skills.
Image courtesy of weblogcartoons.com
