Week 5

Week 5 - Powerpoint, Prezi, Glogster + More


This week we yet again engaged with a multitude of digital resources. PowerPoint was the first resource I explored. While I had used PowerPoint in the past, I was excited to use it again this week as I was trying to think of a way to convey the ideas I needed to teach on prac this week without having to rely on my lesson plan too much. I hate having to pick it up all the time to check that I'm still on track...it makes me feel unorganised and I'm sure it gives the students the same impression. I did my lesson on Comparisons and have included two screen shots of my slides. It was a really great tool to have and I felt much more confident having the prompts on the board to remind me of what I needed to cover.  I think sometimes these presentations can be a bit boring so I made sure to add plenty of questions for my grade 6 class to respond to which really helped keep them focused. In an early years classroom I can see this being a really useful flipchart tool. You could add sounds to match words, letters, animals etc and make the pictures move around a lot too keep them interested. There are so many reasons for why this type of technology would be useful in the classroom. Here are a few I came up with
-Suits auditory and visual learner when watching and kineastheic too when constructing
- Allows students to present their ideas in a different way
- Allows students's to address criteria surrounding justification, explaining and illustrating

I guess the biggest thing that could be a drawback is overuse of this technology. While a really handy tool, overuse would definitely see the students in my class 'switch off'.

How do you overcome repetition in the classroom? Leave a comment with your ideas!

The next digital tool I explored this week was Prezi. Prezi is an online interactive slideshare tool similar to PowerPoint but much more interesting and engaging. I was really excited when I realised that you could import a PowerPoint presentation and select a Prezi theme, instantly turning an old mundane presentation into something much more engaging. Since i'd never used Prezi before I found it a little tricky to begin with and while by no means an expert,  I feel confident that I could create a fun presentation relatively quickly on Prezi. Im sure that students would engage with the tool with quite a bit of practice. I think they would really gain a lot out of viewing something through Prezi but could struggle with the construction. It takes a bit to get used to and is definitely more suited to the upper primary level. I've included the Prezi link to view my much more fun lesson on Comparisons below!

http://prezi.com/_rqvindqvkdx/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

The third digital tool I explored this week was Glogster. I've used Glogster before and I LOVE it!!!! Glogster is an online scrapbooking tool that's easy to use and makes embedding video's and content really really simple. I've included the link to a Glogster I created last term for Science. It's attractive and easy to navigate making it the ideal tool for student engagement. It really allows students to express their own personal creativity. According to Florida (2002) "Everywhere we look, creativity is increasingly valued. Firms and organizations value it for the results that it can produce and individuals value it as a route to self-expression and job satisfaction." Its also safe for students to use which makes working responsibly, ethically and safely so much easier to achieve. The only drawback I can think of with Glogster is probably one that most online sites would encounter....expired pages! I went back in to check that my Glogster was all good to upload and the video link was no longer valid.....a quick search and replace and it was sorted. I guess that just highlights the importance of always double checking content before you ask your students to access it!  I've embedded it below:


Hover over the two right hand side ones.....notice the links to websites and video? What are your thoughts about Glogster? Do you have something you prefer to use? 

I've also created a PMI on Glogster to show how I found the functionality of the site!

Plus
+   Fun and bright
+   Easy to Navigate
+   Suitable for all ages
+   Can embed documents, video and audio

Minus
-   Web pages sometimes expire
-   Students could create a very 'busy' space

Interesting
*   You can pick a theme or design your own
*   There are heaps of pictures already available

Finally we were asked to pick a new tool from the group 4 technologies. I chose to have a go at bubbl.us this week. Its a tool that allows you to create online mindmaps. They're really easy to export and create. They would be hand to use on the go in the classroom for brainstorming activities, as a prepared map designed to assist with the lesson or as an digital activity for students to complete to show their level of understanding on a topic. I tried to fit the different technologies we've already looked at into mine and this is the result.....I'm pretty happy!

We got to explore some really useful tools this week! Its been a real eye opener into what you can really achieve in the classroom where digital pedagogy is concerned. I really would have liked to have had more time to explore some of the other tools out there too. Zooburst is one that really interests me as I think it would be a fantastic resource for an early childhood cohort. It's an online interactive storybook that allows you to set the background and choose the characters and script! Really cool, interactive and fun.

I look forward to next weeks discoveries....until then, happy blogging

Tarina

References

Bubbl.us (2013). Brainstorming Made Easy. Retrieved from https://bubbl.us/
Florida, R. (2002). Creative Class (Electronic Resource) Retrieved from http://library- 
               resources.cqu.edu.au/cro/protected/fahe11001/fahe11001_cro960.pdf
Glogster (2012). Retrieved from  http://www.glogster.com/
Prezi (2013). Retrieved from http://prezi.com/
Wordle (2013). Retrieved from http://www.wordle.net