The Awesomeness of Twitter

Twitter is awesome! Twitter gives you the opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and share ideas. You get to connect, create, and collaborate with people miles and hours away from you.  If you are lucky, you get to meet those people you connect with virtually. I was lucky this week at FETC. I was able to connect with one of my Twitter friends, Melissa Edwards. Melissa and I connect with each other on Twitter as well as present for Simple K12.



This conversation allowed us to connect!  We talked, shared ideas, and even have some collaboration projects in mind. Had to not been for Twitter, I would have never met my new tech integration friend from North Carolina.

Melissa wasn't my only Twitter meet this week. I had the opportunity to meet the awesome leaders of #edtechchat and so many more at the #edtechchat Tweet Up. I got to put a real faces to the Twitter handles I talk to every week. I look up to these people as ed tech leaders and when I would say "Hi, I'm Eva" they would say hey I know you and comment about what I say on Twitter. That's just awesome to me!!

Because of Twitter, I caught to have a conversation with two authors about writing a book. I got to have a conversation with Kathy Schrock and Meg Ormiston. That made my night!

Because of Twitter, I get to learn from these ed tech leaders. Because of Twitter and FETC, I got to meet these ed tech leaders. All because I joined Twitter.

So what is your excuse? Why aren't you on Twitter?? What is stopping you from connecting with experts in education?

Do you have the digital skills?

On February 2013, Med Kharbach wrote an article "The 22 Digital Skills Every 21st Century Teacher Must Have". This article provides multiple resources teachers (and students) can use to meet the demands of working in the digital world within the K-12 classroom.

We are going to dive further into a four of these digital skills and some of the resources suggested by Kharbach.  I do highly encourage you to click on the link above and read the full article.


Use Social Bookmarking to Share Resources With and Between Learners
~ Pinterest
~ Live Binders

I am a Pinterest addict, both personally and professionally!  Pinterest is a like a really big cord board that you have divided into sections, like recipes, apps, science lessons, and home decor. You then pin ideas, suggestions, and images within each section.  You also have the ability to follow other Pinners as well as other boards. So when you find someone awesome like Lisa Johnson or Matt Gomez, you can follow what they post and apply it to your K-12 classroom. You can even find me on Pinterest!

Live Binders is another great way to share web resources with other K-12 teachers. Live Binders provides you with a virtual three ring binder that you can organize and fill with web sites, images, documents, etc. Like Pinterest, Live Binders can be shared with others.  When you check out Live Binders, be sure to spend some time with KB Konnected.

Compile a Digital E-Portfolio for Their Own Development
~ Evernote

Evernote is a great resource for teachers and students. Within Evernote, users create notebooks and then add whatever notes they need to within those notebooks.  Evernote has a free and subscription edition, so features like sharing notebooks will be part of the subscription. As a student, I can create an Evernote account and keep up with work samples and projects I have completed during a course. As a teacher, I can keep up with lesson plans and articles for future activities.

If you want to learn more about Evernote, you will want to check out Richard Bryne's website.

Create Screen Capture Videos and Tutorials
~ Jing

I am a big fan of Jing. Jing is the free video capture tool from TechSmith. Jing can be downloaded onto a Mac or PC. Students and Teachers can take a five minute screencast and save it to their computer or share it via screencast.com. I personally use Jing to create short how-to videos for teachers. If you need more than five minutes, TechSmith does offer other products that do cost money.

Create Engaging Mind Maps
~ Popplet
~ Bubbl.us

Thinking Map, graphic organizer, mind map - No matter what you call it, they all do essentially the same thing. Popplet and Bubbl.us are two resources students can use to organize their ideas and thoughts online.

Popplet has become a favorite site for teachers within my district. Popplet does require an account, however several teachers create a generic classroom account all students use. Students can create their own mind map using Popples (or bubbles). These Popples can contain text, images, and videos. Popplets can also be collaborative. You can share your Popplet with another user an work on it together.

Bubbl.us is another mind mapping tool online. Students can create their original mind map using the online tools. You don't need account if you plan to create your mind map and print it in one sitting.  You can, however, create one if you plan to work on a mind over multiple sessions. Bubbl.us can also be printed and exported as an image for integration into a presentation.

Do your students know how to use these sites?  Better yet, do YOU know how to use these sites? Do you know when using these sites are most appropriate? Be sure to check out the article above and the resources suggested.

happy holidays

I hope everyone has an enjoyable and rest-filled holiday season!  Thank you so much to those who read my blog. I can't wait to see what 2014 has in store!

Student Presentations with ScreenChomp

Within the Common Core State Standards, students in grades K-4 are asked to create visual displays and audio recordings for presentations.

Speaking and Listening Standard #5:

K - Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail.
1st Grade - Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
2nd Grade - Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
3rd Grade - Create engaging audio recordings of stories or poems that demonstrate fluid reading at an understandable pace; add visual displays when appropriate to emphasize or enhance certain facts or details.
4th Grade - Add audio recordings and visual displays to presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.

One tool students can use to help bring their presentation to life is with the iPad app ScreenChomp.  ScreenChomp is a free app created by TechSmith that allows students to create digital presentations with their own voice and student created drawings.

As you can see, ScreenChomp contains just what the students will need to create a digital presentation, including a cute green monster!

Students can select from three different pen widths and 12 different colors. Pictures from within the Camera Roll can also be selected for the background, if the students choose. The item between the background and pens will erase the entire screen and the eraser will let you select what to remove. Once the students are ready, they hit the red "rec" button to begin recording.

Students can pause and stop the recording. Keep in mind, clicking stop will end the recording while pausing will let you go back if needed.  You can also watch your time with the timer on the upper right corner.

Once stop is selected, students will get to preview their presentation and either trash it or share it.  If you decide to do neither, you want to at least rename the file so you can find it later on ScreenChomp.  When you click "Share" you are provided with a web address for sharing and future use. Who doesn't want to share student created movies with parents and school stakeholders?!

The Common Core State Standards are not the only standards ScreenChomp can help you meet.  Multiple NETS*S can also be included in the list above.

1b - Create original works as a means of personal or group expression.
2b - Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats.
5b - Exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity.
6b - Select and use applications effectively and productively.

ScreenChomp doesn't have to be used be one student either. Because you have the ability to pause, a small group of students can create a presentation using the same iPad. You can also find ScreenChomp being used in all subject areas, since this app is not geared toward a specific subject area. This means ScreenChomp can be used to present how to solve and multiple step problem and explain the life cycle of a frog.

So how do you use ScreenChomp?

presentation creation and the iPad

There are so many great apps out there students and teachers can use to create presentations.  One of those apps is free (yes.. free) for a limited time - Doodlecast Pro

Doodlecast Pro has a clean design with easy to understand icons for students and teachers. The presentation can be paused, continued, and saved through out the process.  Students can also open already saved presentations.

Being able to select from multiple background images has great potential. Students can select from multiple math and language arts backgrounds, like graphing paper, a comic strip, grid, and notebook paper. There are also backgrounds for music and sports. Images from the iPad's Camera Roll can also be added to the presentation. One other feature I like about Doodlcast Pro is the ability to add multiple pages to a presentation.

The drawing tools available on Doodlecast Pro include the pen, fill, pointer, and eraser. The pointer (shown above) allows you to change the color and shape of the pointer. The pen and fill allow you to change color and pen size.

Once a presentation is created, you can share through your Camera Roll on the iPad, email, YouTube, or Dropbox.  I like having share options. Student use iPads may not have a "working" email address but may have a classwide Dropbox account.

Doodlecast Pro can be used through out the school day.

~ create an example video on parts of speech to show understanding

~ create a video introducing weekly vocabulary words to post on a class website

~ create a step-by-step video showing how to solve a math problem

~ retell a story 

~ retell a particular topic from science or history

~ create a learning video for a younger class

~ create an explanation video to help reteach of topic or concept

How could you use Doodlecast Pro in your classroom?

No.. the standard doesn't say PowerPoint (part 2)

What?! Are you still using PowerPoint?  I understand, for many teachers PowerPoint is the go-to resource because they know if backwards and forwards.  Try these resources and ideas when Speaking & Listening Standard #5 is in front of you.

Third Grade - #5 Create engaging audio recordings of stories or poems that demonstrate fluid reading at an understandable pace; add visual displays when appropriate to emphasize or enhance certain facts or details

Fourth Grade - #5 Add audio recordings and visual displays to presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.

In part 1, we looked at resources students can use for create audio recordings. For part 2, we will look at visual displays both students and teachers can use when presenting information.

Infographics

Students (and teachers) can present data in beautifully through infographics.  Infographics are graphics that present information. You need to make sure you have the data (research) completed before you start putting everything together. Without data, you will find your students staring at the computer screen for a while not knowing what to do!

http://infogr.am/ and http://www.easel.ly/ ~ Two resources students and teachers can use to create infographics.

You will want to explore both sites before letting your students loose in the computer lab.

Student Created Visual Displays

Students don't need to do a Google Image Search to find presentation enhancing visual displays.  These displays can be student created in many ways.

My daughter gets frustrated when she can not find the image she wants to use. Even though she isn't an artist, she can create just the right illustration for her presentation.  Let your students draw just what they want to enhance their presentation.  Then scan or take a picture of the illustration so students can add them as needed.

Don't let picture taking stop at shooting student drawings.  Let students get creative and get pictures and/or videos to enhance what they are researching. For example, if the students working on a presentation of a historical figure, let the students reenact an event and record it. Yes, it may be easier to find a historical video, but the students will really take ownership of their learning and the project if they create their own video.

Visual displays do not have to high tech. Students can create posters that showcase the main points or key ideas for the presentation.

So, do you feel comfortable walking away from PowerPoint yet?

No.. the standard doesn't say PowerPoint (part 1)

Teachers... step away from PowerPoint! No where does it say for students to create one!

For most teachers, when they read the below Speaking & Listening standards, they assume it means to create a PowerPoint. Students can use multiple resources that don't include PowerPoint to meet these standards.

Third Grade - #5 Create engaging audio recordings of stories or poems that demonstrate fluid reading at an understandable pace; add visual displays when appropriate to emphasize or enhance certain facts or details

Fourth Grade - #5 Add audio recordings and visual displays to presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.

We are going to focus on audio recordings and the different resources out there for students and teachers. If your students are anything like my 3rd grade daughter, recording their voice should be no problem.

Vocaroo @ www.vocaroo.com
This is a web based voice recorder. You will find the website is straight forward and rather simple for students to use.

Students go to the website and click on the "Click to Record" button.  They will, of course, need a microphone.

Once the student finishes recording, they can listen, retry, or save the recording.

Students can "save" the recording in multiple ways. The recording can be shared on social media, like Twitter or Facebook. The recording can be downloaded as a MP3 or even made into a QR code.

Audacity (software for PC or MAC) @ http://ninite.com/ or http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

This is a program that can be downloaded for free on either PC or MAC. It looks intimidating, but is easy to use for voice recording.

The students will use three buttons - record, stop, and play. Once the students finish recording their voice, they will "save" by going to "File" and "Export".  Files can be saved as a WAV or MP3 file. These can then be added to presentations as needed.

I have a step-by-step guide for using Audcacity on my blog under "Handout Resources".

iTalk and QuickVoice (iPad/iPhone apps)

Both of these are free apps you can add to your iPad. Students can record their voice and then email it for future use.

   

QuickVoice Recorder is a free app for the iPad and iPhone.

Once the student clicks on the app, they can begin recording. You simply hit the "record" button and start talking. Once you finish, students can title the recording by clicking the "title" button or deleting it by clicking the trash can.

In order to share the recording, students click the second to last button and select "Email Recording".

iTalk Recorder is a free app for your iPhone, but can be downloaded onto the iPad.

 

When iTalk Recorder is selected, students can begin recording my simply clicking the large red circle. Once they finish, they click again to stop the recording.  The recording can be named and the quality can be adjusted.

Students can email the recording by clicking the "i" located on the right side of the recording title.

These tools are rather simple for students to use and can be integrated into the curriculum in multiple ways.

1) Have the students take a piece of text and record themselves for self assessment (or teacher assessment) of fluency, accuracy, pacing, etc.

2) Students can create a QR code talking about why they would suggest a particular book to another student. This QR code could then be available to other students in the library.

3) Create a voice recording of a poem to use along with student created art work to show understanding of the poem. This project could be created with iMovie.

4) Create a voice recording of a final research project to present to the class.

5) Add short voice recordings to your Google Presentation or Prezi.

How do you create student audio recordings? Share your ideas with us!