This week's readings is about using presentation tools. My first exploration was with Voicethread, and I initially thought that voicethread was like
a podcast – just voice. Apparently this is not the case. “It’s often described
as a media album that is made of a series of different types of media, images,
documents, and videos that others can comment on in multiple ways: using voice
(with microphone or telephone), text, audio file, or video (with a Webcam) –
and share them with anyone they wish” (Berger & Trexler, 2010, 133). It
sounds to me like this encompasses pretty much everything we have learned so
far!
Taking a look at a few voicethreads, this reminds me a bit
of twitter. What I am understanding this as... is that someone posts a question,
comment, etc…then other people can add their thoughts, questions, etc…related
to the topic. These people can add text or sounds of their voices.
Berger and Trexler discuss voicethreads quite extensively, so I decided to look it up. Okay…so I didn’t realize there was a
cost, as the text said that registration for the educator pro account is free. Guess this isn't the case anymore...
Costs aside, I did like some of the ideas presented in Ned's Keeper blog:
- make different slides for familiar words and have kids share their own words for that to compare cultures
- create optical illusions - have kids take pictures of something familiar REALLY close up and have others guess what it is. (Okay...this would be lots of fun, especially if tied in as an introduction to a new unit!)
- book discussions (Berger & Trexler, 2010, 137)
Next stop...
Animoto
Oh yay! I have already played with this one, and posted my experiences in a previous blog post. I did like Animoto for it's ease of use, and it is quick to come up with something that is fun. It's too bad that it is only 30 seconds...it would have been nice if it was at least the length of a short song.
I decided to play a bit with Jing to do a screenshot of my video that I made in Animoto. I like this tool! I haven't figured out if I can embed it into my blog right from Jing. I notice that I could share it to Facebook, Twitter...but I didn't see anything about a blog. To get this, I saved it as a file on my computer, then added it to my blog by "Insert image."
So moving along...
Glogster is a new one for me. I haven't used it yet, but I have heard of people using it and liking it. My first impressions are that there is a lot on one page, and some pages can look a little overwhelming, but it looks like it would be fun for students to put together.
I went to glogster.com and noticed that there was an educational aspect as well. They have a deal for $20 per year, but I am just looking for the free one right now! I also got a pop up to link to Facebook as well...I don't think I am comfortable with my glogs popping up in Facebook for all to see!
Oh... maybe I wanna become a GlogStar!!!! I had to laugh at the message that appeared in my mailbox:
Get fans & get famous - Get your Glogs noticed to attract fans. The more fans you have, the closer you'll be to becoming a GlogStar!
...Really??!!
So I chose a predetermined template, but I think I need to watch some tutorials on how to use this! It doesn't look like a quick and easy thing to learn late at night!
Every time I sign in to glogster, I get this message:
I don't think I am comfortable with this, nor would I want this to happen to students.
Using glogster is kind of fun, but I decided to use some of the pre-made templates, which made it much easier to figure it all out. Some of the animated graphics are fun to add. I can see students enjoying putting these "poster-like" pages together. I am thinking there are many more uses, and I have only played with a few of the features. At least if I can get a basic understanding, I am thinking that students would take off with it!!
I have been trying to upload some pictures, but it is certainly taking awhile. Maybe I should have tried to only upload one at a time.
Now I need to figure out how to post my glog into my blog (wow...gotta love technical terms!!) I'm not sure if it worked. I tried both ways (in compose mode, and in html mode). I did get permission from my 13 year old daughter if I could poke a little fun at her!
http://www.glogster.com/nsauer/kaylee-13/g-6ku3i3ir16ehj4hh9mu9ca0
I decided to play a bit with Jing to do a screenshot of my video that I made in Animoto. I like this tool! I haven't figured out if I can embed it into my blog right from Jing. I notice that I could share it to Facebook, Twitter...but I didn't see anything about a blog. To get this, I saved it as a file on my computer, then added it to my blog by "Insert image."
So moving along...
Glogster is a new one for me. I haven't used it yet, but I have heard of people using it and liking it. My first impressions are that there is a lot on one page, and some pages can look a little overwhelming, but it looks like it would be fun for students to put together.
I went to glogster.com and noticed that there was an educational aspect as well. They have a deal for $20 per year, but I am just looking for the free one right now! I also got a pop up to link to Facebook as well...I don't think I am comfortable with my glogs popping up in Facebook for all to see!
Get fans & get famous - Get your Glogs noticed to attract fans. The more fans you have, the closer you'll be to becoming a GlogStar!
...Really??!!
So I chose a predetermined template, but I think I need to watch some tutorials on how to use this! It doesn't look like a quick and easy thing to learn late at night!
Every time I sign in to glogster, I get this message:
I don't think I am comfortable with this, nor would I want this to happen to students.
Using glogster is kind of fun, but I decided to use some of the pre-made templates, which made it much easier to figure it all out. Some of the animated graphics are fun to add. I can see students enjoying putting these "poster-like" pages together. I am thinking there are many more uses, and I have only played with a few of the features. At least if I can get a basic understanding, I am thinking that students would take off with it!!
I have been trying to upload some pictures, but it is certainly taking awhile. Maybe I should have tried to only upload one at a time.
Now I need to figure out how to post my glog into my blog (wow...gotta love technical terms!!) I'm not sure if it worked. I tried both ways (in compose mode, and in html mode). I did get permission from my 13 year old daughter if I could poke a little fun at her!
http://www.glogster.com/nsauer/kaylee-13/g-6ku3i3ir16ehj4hh9mu9ca0
http://www.glogster.com/nsauer/kaylee-13/g-6ku3i3ir16ehj4hh9mu9ca0
Oh, I think I may have figured something else out...
Oh, I think I may have figured something else out...
I think it may have worked!! I needed to go look at the glog, then there was an embed tool at the bottom. Yay! (sorry Kaylee....it's public now!!)
That's a pretty cool looking Glogster! I think they can be a very fun, engaging way to present multi-media all collected together. A virtual poster. I also agree to be wary about the facebook integration, and the "star" program and the escalating costs involved. Best to avoid that stuff. I saw your comment over on Carol's blog about bandwidth, and you are right, its a super bandwidth hog, and all the images, videos and animations being loaded by 30 different students can bring everything to a crawl.
ReplyDeleteI could not get to your Jing, I think you had the same issue as with embedding your glogster, you just need to find the right "embed code" over at your jing video, and then copy and paste that into the "HTML" view when making your blog post.
Overall, a good blog post this week with your thoughts, explorations and reflections!