Wonderful Voki’s For Web!

 more about “Voki For Web“, posted with vodpod

 I FINALLY figured out what the problem was with putting this Voki avatar on my page – my pop-ups were being blocked by internet explorer… anyway – what do you think??? Voki’s are free and there’s lots of different styles to choose from. You can even customise the background; I’ve used one from my holiday. You can even do a voice over like I have (even though I sound a bit funny!) or type your text and choose an accent to read your text for you! These avatars even follow your mouse cursor around the screen!

Creating a Photo Book online

My my, how far the internet has come! First you could buy things from online shops from all around the world… Now you can create fantastic momentos with your cherished memories, that is, your photos! I signed up as a member of Big W photos, as I was interested in creating a photo book. I love the idea, and since I didn’t have to go into a shop to upload my photos, it was even more appealing.

So how easy is it?? Bottom line – very easy! All you have to do is become a member (which is for free of course!), sign in and start creating an album by uploading photos already on your computer’s hard drive. I found that my photos downloaded backwards, so I’ll have a look into this next time I’m on.

I could then choose the type of photo gift I wanted to create. Once I clicked photo book, I had the option of a few different sizes and whether I wanted hard back or soft cover. If you select hard back, you also get to choose a coloured linen cover. After this, you can select the colour scheme/theme of your photo book, for example, travelling. Finally, I chose to have my photos displayed in a ‘fun’ format; the other option was contemporary. Below is a screen shot of the virtual photobook available now for me to switch pictures around, add embellishments or even change borders!

So what can teachers do with photo books you might ask? What about a fantastic resource such as a personal picture book (with narration) to show your students? Another idea may be to document an excursion. Considering that generally a class will go on one excursion per year, a photo book would be a great way of creating a durable class resource. Students could even contribute to the text. Photo books start from $9.98 (for one photo book with 20 pages). If you can think of other ways of utilising photo books in the classroom, please feel free to share

iWeb, iMovie and lots of laughs :)

Today, my colleagues Ingrid and Sherree (and myself) met to finish our workshop presentation on digital storytelling. What an interesting experience this has turned out to be!

We realised when we met with Des (along with the other groups presenting on digital storytelling) that our initial idea of creating a digital story using a ‘living eggs’ hatching chickens example would not be suitable. Des wanted us to create a personal story with people in it. After thinking about how we could make our story personal, we are happy with our finished digital story – unfortunately I can’t disclose any details here, because it is to be a surprise for our presentation next week! We even inserted some video which turned out to be a hilarious process (bloopers soon to come!). I must say thanks to both the girls for their hard work!

I’ve learned so much about iWeb in creating our website; it is such a clever and user friendly program. I would definitely use it in the future for any websites I wish to create, or even within my classroom. We could set our students a very similar task – creating a website on a chosen/given topic (rather than a how-to) and presenting to the class, rather than poster size cardboard presentations.

While I was creating our website, I decided to explore Garageband as well… I found that I could make podcasts using Garageband, with movies I had created in iMovie! Although we filmed footage to create a podcast for our presentation, we have decided to omit it becauase at the moment, we simply don’t have the time to edit our footage as we’d like to!

I am interested in learning more about ‘tracking’ – Des used a tracking software a few weeks ago in one of his lectures. Tracking on screen (as opposed to filming externally) is so much more clearer in terms of viewing. So I will have to Google some tracking software and get back to you all (unless of course someone cares to enlighten me on this process!)…

Going Podcast crazy…

Well I think it’s about time I wrote about Podcasts… I’ve been a fan of them ever since I first got my iPod video, however in those past three years, the podcast directory seems to have expanded! Just incase you’re wondering ‘what an earth is a podcast?!’ I’ll fill you in with a description from none other than Wikipedia – “A podcast is a series of audio or video digital-media files which is distributed over the internet by syndicated download, through Web feeds, to portable media players and personal computers,” (n.d.). I believe this definition sums a podcast up nicely.

The last time I plugged my iPod in for charging, I went a little podcast mad, downloading audio and video podcasts for later viewing/listening. Here are some of the ones I came across while on iTunes:

• - Technology podcasts such as “Apple Quick Tips” and “Adobe Creative Suite Video Podcast” – these podcasts provide lots of great information on how to get the most out of hardware/software.
• - Education podcasts – yes there is a dedicated section to the topic, including K – 12 education! When I went overseas recently, I downloaded a language podcast, so I could learn to speak French during my flight to the country! There are plenty of podcasts available to learn a variety of languages. I also came across “ESL Teacher Talk,” 49 podcasts for ESL teacher’s talking about lesson planning and classroom management – these ones seem beneficial for us as beginning teachers to listen to…

• Go Green Podcasts – such as “Today’s Environment Television Series.” Some of these may be suitable for our students as well!
• There are even podcast novels available!

You name a topic, there is probably a podcast available on it; it’s just a matter of looking. I only found out about podcasts due to iTunes, though you don’t need to own an iPod to download these – iTunes is a free program and podcasts are free to download as well! And if there isn’t a podcast available on a particular topic, it’s not too hard to create your own! There are even podcasts on how to create podcasts!

The year five’s at my school created their own podcast about science last term.. it was pretty interesting! Are podcasts the way of the future? I’m interested to know your thoughts!

Finally on Flickr!

After reading the blogs of Ingrid Fizely and Sherree Spargo, I was inspired to create my own Flickr account…. I’ve been intending on doing this for quite some time, and only now have gotten around to it. I too have always used images from Google when I am in need of a particular picture, often not thinking too much about copyright (but obviously referencing any pictures used!).

Flickr is also a social networking site, where participants can comment on each others photos. You have the freedom to make your photos private or public. You can even edit the photos you upload, fixing red eye, cropping etc.

I did, however, have to create (yet another!) email account with Yahoo to use Flickr. But it looks like it’s worth it as there’s lots to explore!

Flip Video!

In the time we’ve not been allowed to touch WordPress due to assessment marking, I’ve been introduced to a new gadget at school! It’s called Flip Video; a nifty little device which enables users to easily capture video and just as easily transfer to either a Mac or PC. The great thing about this product is the lack of cables! It’s a bit like an iPod in terms of functionality and to upload videos, all you have to do is simply slide the button on the side of the device and a USB (in the same matching colour of course!) flips out! So I guess that’s the idea behind the name!

 

The above is a replica of the one we have in the KLS. The students are enjoying using it, and the same can be said for the teachers! We love it! The one comment I can make about it is that it’s much faster to upload the videos to a Windows based system as opposed to Mac. If you’re interested, I’ve also included the article for the Flip Video on the left hand sidebar, which is where the above picture has been taken from. Enjoy!

A look inside the KLS & the technology available

 

What a cold, windy, rainy day Friday (August 22nd) turned out to be! At lunch time in the Kindergarten Learning Space (KLS), Kindergarten watched Finding Nemo on the large projector screen, making the experience almost cinematic! Of course, the the data projector and screen are used for many other purposes – for example, viewing and commenting on different types of shelter around the world. It ensures every child has a clear view of what is going on. Kindergarten is exploring the CeNet site (which you have probably heard of!) and are familiarising themselves with typing text on a keyboard and using the mouse on the computers and laptops. There are also digital cameras available for the students to use. In the above video, you can take a peek into the KLS – where the students are part of an engaging and innovative classroom learning experience.

Also, if you have grabbed the Sun Herald today, you will see that the KLS is featured on the front page OR you can have a look at the article by clicking on the SMH link on the left (under Interesting Articles). Not only is technology revolutionising learning and teaching…. classrooms themselves are changing and we will all be part of these changes in the near future!

An introduction to ArtRage

The three girls in the presentation on Tuesday night (Megan, Sarah and Lisa) did a wonderful job showing us all how to use the program ArtRage… and what an interesting program it is! Great for those of us who are creative! The way you can manipulate artist tools is just like reality! In the short time we had to make our own red nose day campaign poster, this is what I came up with -

Not nearly as clever as the ones the girls in the presentation came up with but I can’t wait to further explore ArtRage in my own time. What makes it more enticing is that we can obtain a free version of it!

My first YouTube video created on iMovie!

It’s been great exploring WordPress with some of the staff at J23. I’m very pleased to be posting a YouTube video here which I created on iMovie. Can I just say, iMovie and iMovie HD work so much better than Windows Movie Maker (which has crashed so many times while in use, causing a reboot of the computer EVERY time!!!). Being a part of the ICT course is good because I’ve now made myself a member of YouTube as well as WordPress, learning lots of new things along the way! Prior to this, I only ever used to watch videos on YouTube; now I am a contributor as well! The same could be said for blogging also – Facebook was the closest site to a ‘blog’ that I’d made, prior to WordPress. I’m actually enjoying adding to this blog; it becomes a bit addictive after a while!

The world of Mac

After three weeks of tutorials in the subject of ICT, there seems to be much to say! Week one was spent learning shortcuts on the Apple Mac’s (not too different from PC at all – just use the apple button instead of control on a PC!). My friends would know that I love the Mac computer, even though I don’t have on of my own. It’s great because at J23 (John XXIII Primary), Macs and MacBooks are everywhere, so I’ve been able to practise and extend my knowledge. Last year when I was on prac at the school, I was privileged enough to meet Marco Torres (who has “been recognised locally and internationally for his accomplishments in the classroom, creative program building”… and is teaching students (amongst other things) “how to use multimedia tools to share their very special stories and ideas in the world,” Click here to learn more).I recommend having a look at his site. It’s got a range of media for you to watch including digital stories. He ran workshops with the year four class I had where they were happily using iMovie, iPhoto and GarageBand, and were enjoying every minute of it. One other detail I should also mention is that Torres is also recognised as an Apple Distinguished Educator due to his innovations in the classroom. The video below is an example of how positively technology can impact on our students. It showcases Torres’ ‘project based learning,’ and is set in a Sydney Catholic school. Have a look and think about how this applies to us as teachers!

It’s great having the built-in camera (iSight?) on all types of Mac; it’s very easy taking photos with all kinds of effects and making a quick movie with music. Speaking of which, I enjoyed using iWeb during the tutorials. Students could easily be given a task in groups where they use iWeb to present the information.

It was also visually stimulating to make various arrangements with lollies during tutorials – and then trying not to eat the whole packet as the hour and a half went by! Digital cameras feature in almost every classroom these days and students are taught to use them as early as Kindergarten. One is only limited to their imagination when it comes to taking photos of objects in the classroom. Below is a photo of my lollies… which are all gone now!

 

The pink Starburst is my favourite!