Jakes Online Website: http://www.jakesonline.org/websearching2.htm
Royalty Free Music Website: http://www.royaltyfreemusic.com/
Soundzabound Website: http://www.soundzabound.com/
When you begin a digital story, music and images are two things that you are going to need to go with your recorded story that you wrote. I wanted to share some great image and sound sites that would be useful for a search for pictures and music.
If you aren’t using your own personal pictures, there are a lot of great databases that have pictures you can use, however keep in mind to give credit where credit is due. Among many good places to find images are Flickr, Google, Snap, and All the Web.
Finding music is tricky because of copyright laws. It’s always important to know what music you can and cannot use. Some of the places I’ve found are useful because they offer free music such as Soundzabound and Royalty Free Music.
Annette
Sunday, April 20, 2008
A Great Storyboard Organizer
Jakes Online Website: http://www.jakesonline.org/storyboard_side.pdf
Jake’s Online website has been a place I have been visiting lately to learn more about digital storytelling. I have found a pdf that gives a template for creating a storyboard for your digital story. A storyboard is simply a graphic organizer to outline your digital story before going to the computer and getting started. It gives the learner a way to organize all of their thoughts for images, voice, and transitions before they sit at the computer for hours and hours trying to figure out what they want to do.
It’s pretty much like a rough draft for the computer. This storyboard above is definitely a great layout of what a digital story should look like. However, it must be taught and modeled to make it work.
Annette
Jake’s Online website has been a place I have been visiting lately to learn more about digital storytelling. I have found a pdf that gives a template for creating a storyboard for your digital story. A storyboard is simply a graphic organizer to outline your digital story before going to the computer and getting started. It gives the learner a way to organize all of their thoughts for images, voice, and transitions before they sit at the computer for hours and hours trying to figure out what they want to do.
It’s pretty much like a rough draft for the computer. This storyboard above is definitely a great layout of what a digital story should look like. However, it must be taught and modeled to make it work.
Annette
10 Steps to a Digital Story
Lasica, J.D. (October 2, 2006). Digital Storytelling: A Tutorial in 10 Easy Steps. Retrieved April 20, 2008, from the Tech Soup Web site: http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/training/page5897.cfm
Hi fellow readers. I have found a great article to share today that has 10 sequenced steps to creating a digital story. Here is a brief overview of those steps:
1) Choose the story you want to share
2) Gather materials by collecting photos that would bring about writing ideas
3) Write your script
4) Prep your equipment making sure you have a computer, scanner if needed, microphone, etc.
5) Create a storyboard on paper where you connect what writing goes with what pictures for your presentation
6) Digitize your media by scanning pictures if needed or save all of your images into a folder on your computer
7) Record a voice over by reading your story onto your computer
8) Add your music to your story
9) Edit your story in whichever program you are using to do your digital story
10) Share your story
These steps are the basic guidelines for creating a digital story. In a classroom setting, you can follow these steps much the same way, just keep in mind time and management while going through these steps. I still continue to search for a good system in a large classroom; however, I think some of the tips in my last post could be used as a trial and error to create a system that works for you.
Annette
Hi fellow readers. I have found a great article to share today that has 10 sequenced steps to creating a digital story. Here is a brief overview of those steps:
1) Choose the story you want to share
2) Gather materials by collecting photos that would bring about writing ideas
3) Write your script
4) Prep your equipment making sure you have a computer, scanner if needed, microphone, etc.
5) Create a storyboard on paper where you connect what writing goes with what pictures for your presentation
6) Digitize your media by scanning pictures if needed or save all of your images into a folder on your computer
7) Record a voice over by reading your story onto your computer
8) Add your music to your story
9) Edit your story in whichever program you are using to do your digital story
10) Share your story
These steps are the basic guidelines for creating a digital story. In a classroom setting, you can follow these steps much the same way, just keep in mind time and management while going through these steps. I still continue to search for a good system in a large classroom; however, I think some of the tips in my last post could be used as a trial and error to create a system that works for you.
Annette
Friday, April 11, 2008
Examples of Digital Stories
Jeong, Silvia (n.d.). My Potato Story. Retrieved April 5, 2008, from the KQED Digital Storytelling Initative Web site: http://dsi.kqed.org/index.php/contest/story_big/49/
Making Apple Crumble. Available online at: http://story.e2bn.org/movie.php?id=5&wm=11.0&qt=6.0&browser=ie&ismac=false
Digital Storytelling has continued to be an interesting place to learn about a form of visual literacy. I have worked on this post to find examples about DS to share with my students to intrigue their interests and give them ideas about how they will be able to use DS in the classroom to develop their writing. Above are a couple of examples of how digital stories are composed into the final product.
This post simply gives some ideas to use and ways to go about using digital storytelling.
Annette
Making Apple Crumble. Available online at: http://story.e2bn.org/movie.php?id=5&wm=11.0&qt=6.0&browser=ie&ismac=false
Digital Storytelling has continued to be an interesting place to learn about a form of visual literacy. I have worked on this post to find examples about DS to share with my students to intrigue their interests and give them ideas about how they will be able to use DS in the classroom to develop their writing. Above are a couple of examples of how digital stories are composed into the final product.
This post simply gives some ideas to use and ways to go about using digital storytelling.
Annette
The Media Equation
Reeves, Byron, and Clifford Nass. 1996. "The Media Equation," pp. 3-24 in The Media Equation. Cambridge University Press.
I was very humored by this article, The Media Equation. In summary, this article did a study that said humans interact with computers as if they were humans. Although it was very funny to think that way, the study proved its theory to be true. Humans treat computers as comparable humans.
Through the humor I had reading this article, I have to agree! I think we find a relationship to our machines because most of us spend so much time communicating with others through them. I couldn’t tell you how much time I spend in front of my computer…emailing friends and family, doing educational things, surfing the Internet to find the latest information. My machine connects me to the world in more ways than I can count. It’s sort of like a life line to things that are not within my grasp.
When I think of how this article could relate to my topic about digital storytelling, I consider the many possibilities that digital storytelling can bring to my students. Media can give students a voice, a way to connect to others. I think just that thought alone can prove to be a pathway for students to learn to be better writers and communicators. The visuals of media can help students develop comprehension and critical thinking because media allows them to ‘see’ what they are learning. The changes that our society has been going through since computers have become so integral in daily functioning is providing our students with a new way to connect with media and computers.
Annette
I was very humored by this article, The Media Equation. In summary, this article did a study that said humans interact with computers as if they were humans. Although it was very funny to think that way, the study proved its theory to be true. Humans treat computers as comparable humans.
Through the humor I had reading this article, I have to agree! I think we find a relationship to our machines because most of us spend so much time communicating with others through them. I couldn’t tell you how much time I spend in front of my computer…emailing friends and family, doing educational things, surfing the Internet to find the latest information. My machine connects me to the world in more ways than I can count. It’s sort of like a life line to things that are not within my grasp.
When I think of how this article could relate to my topic about digital storytelling, I consider the many possibilities that digital storytelling can bring to my students. Media can give students a voice, a way to connect to others. I think just that thought alone can prove to be a pathway for students to learn to be better writers and communicators. The visuals of media can help students develop comprehension and critical thinking because media allows them to ‘see’ what they are learning. The changes that our society has been going through since computers have become so integral in daily functioning is providing our students with a new way to connect with media and computers.
Annette
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Management Tips for Digital Storytelling
Classroom Tips or Keeping Exciting Digital Storytelling Projects on Track. Available online at: http://www.adobe.com/education/digkids/storytelling/classtips.html
As I have been dabbling into learning more about Digital Storytelling as a form of visual literacy, I have began to wonder about how effective it can be in a classroom of 21 students. A great resource I have used in the past for other things, Adobe Digital Kids Club, had a section to offer up some good management ideas to be able to incorporate digital storytelling effectively by planning out the management first. The article I read offered up some key ideas:
• Give students roles such as the storyboard manager, recording voiceover manager, graphics coordinator, etc. Giving a student a role simply means they are the ‘lead’ person for that area to ensure it gets done and everyone is on board.
• Create a type of process or checklist that students would follow through their project. Have students review their process ahead of time to ensure they know what to do next.
• For those students that need a question answered, set up a management process called ‘Three Before Me’ where the student should ask 3 of their peers the question to find the answer before they go to the teacher (whom might be working with another group). The article notes that this management helps to create independence and peer support on each other.
• To keep on a time schedule, have students create their entire project on paper (storyboard) before they head to the computer. The computer can sometimes lead the students to sit and play without getting busy.
• Create deadlines and expect things to be done in a somewhat timely manner. For students who are not focused and contributing, give them an alternative assignment that is non-technology related. This will hopefully encourage their next technology opportunity to be more driven.
Going through these tips gave me some good things to think about in response to wanting to help my students tackle writing in a more involved way. It has led me to focus more on getting their motivation going about this type of activity and how to introduce the idea of using digital storytelling in their writing. My thoughts after synthesizing this article are: 1) behavior management isn’t as much a problem for me, my concerns are the time and focus of my students, and 2) what exemplifies a good, quality project…what do I want them to give me?
Annette
As I have been dabbling into learning more about Digital Storytelling as a form of visual literacy, I have began to wonder about how effective it can be in a classroom of 21 students. A great resource I have used in the past for other things, Adobe Digital Kids Club, had a section to offer up some good management ideas to be able to incorporate digital storytelling effectively by planning out the management first. The article I read offered up some key ideas:
• Give students roles such as the storyboard manager, recording voiceover manager, graphics coordinator, etc. Giving a student a role simply means they are the ‘lead’ person for that area to ensure it gets done and everyone is on board.
• Create a type of process or checklist that students would follow through their project. Have students review their process ahead of time to ensure they know what to do next.
• For those students that need a question answered, set up a management process called ‘Three Before Me’ where the student should ask 3 of their peers the question to find the answer before they go to the teacher (whom might be working with another group). The article notes that this management helps to create independence and peer support on each other.
• To keep on a time schedule, have students create their entire project on paper (storyboard) before they head to the computer. The computer can sometimes lead the students to sit and play without getting busy.
• Create deadlines and expect things to be done in a somewhat timely manner. For students who are not focused and contributing, give them an alternative assignment that is non-technology related. This will hopefully encourage their next technology opportunity to be more driven.
Going through these tips gave me some good things to think about in response to wanting to help my students tackle writing in a more involved way. It has led me to focus more on getting their motivation going about this type of activity and how to introduce the idea of using digital storytelling in their writing. My thoughts after synthesizing this article are: 1) behavior management isn’t as much a problem for me, my concerns are the time and focus of my students, and 2) what exemplifies a good, quality project…what do I want them to give me?
Annette
Friday, April 4, 2008
The Process of Making and Teaching Digital Storytelling
Porter, Bernajean (2007). Seven Steps for Digital Storytelling. Retrieved April 4, 2008, from the 21st Century Connections Web site: http://21centuryconnections.com/node/234
Digital Storytelling (DS) has been a neat way to tailor my interests in visual literacy, especially in the form of developing productive writers. My neat find today is a place that gets me started on my quest to learn more about DS. I have been looking for a set of steps or guidelines to walk through the process of making DS in the classroom effectively. This site showed a 7-step process including time frames and tasks to create a DS in the educational environment. An overview of the 7 steps are:
1)Writing a script-creating a memorable story, brainstorming, editing, conferencing with student about writing (6-8 hrs over a week)
2)Planning the project-a handwritten storyboard of the students outline for the project…this step involves almost making a ‘comic strip’ of their project BEFORE they get on the computer to plan out pictures, voice, music, etc. This requires conferencing also along with about 2-3 hours during a week.
3)Organizing folders-Creating a folder on a computer before starting the project ensures all of the media (pictures, video, music clips) are located in one place to make the process of the DS easier. Students should collect all of their materials and store in a folder. (15+ minutes)
4)Recording voiceovers-It is wise to record students voiceovers before they begin. Ensure they are using good fluency and expression to gain their purpose for the story. Voice can be recorded in many programs such as Audacity (which is free) and saved for later use. (30min to 1 hour during a week)
5)Gather, create, and edit media resources-Students should now put their materials into their software utilizing tools to edit photos, add media sounds, and recognize the power of the way things are laid out to tell their story. (5-6 hours over a week)
6)Finalizing project-This 6th step is geared for students to tweak their projects to edit timing and effects. This involves paying attention to titles (words on their slides), the effects of how the music accompanies the pictures and voice, and how everything works together to tell their story. (3-4 hours over a week)
7)Finale-The story is now ready to share and be discussed. Students should observe others’ stories and discuss the key components of what makes it effective and how it can be improved.
The author of the article did mention that 7 steps are not always the best way to work through the DS process because it ‘should be a creative process that may take turns unpredicted’ (Porter, 2007). DS is a creature that can be created a million different ways and is purposefully supposed to be a creative outlet of sharing a story. However, I still found these 7 steps as a great tool to begin figuring out how to go about starting to use DS in the classroom.
As I continue to search about DS, I would like to find examples to use to share thoughts with students to guide their creations of their own DS.
Annette
Digital Storytelling (DS) has been a neat way to tailor my interests in visual literacy, especially in the form of developing productive writers. My neat find today is a place that gets me started on my quest to learn more about DS. I have been looking for a set of steps or guidelines to walk through the process of making DS in the classroom effectively. This site showed a 7-step process including time frames and tasks to create a DS in the educational environment. An overview of the 7 steps are:
1)Writing a script-creating a memorable story, brainstorming, editing, conferencing with student about writing (6-8 hrs over a week)
2)Planning the project-a handwritten storyboard of the students outline for the project…this step involves almost making a ‘comic strip’ of their project BEFORE they get on the computer to plan out pictures, voice, music, etc. This requires conferencing also along with about 2-3 hours during a week.
3)Organizing folders-Creating a folder on a computer before starting the project ensures all of the media (pictures, video, music clips) are located in one place to make the process of the DS easier. Students should collect all of their materials and store in a folder. (15+ minutes)
4)Recording voiceovers-It is wise to record students voiceovers before they begin. Ensure they are using good fluency and expression to gain their purpose for the story. Voice can be recorded in many programs such as Audacity (which is free) and saved for later use. (30min to 1 hour during a week)
5)Gather, create, and edit media resources-Students should now put their materials into their software utilizing tools to edit photos, add media sounds, and recognize the power of the way things are laid out to tell their story. (5-6 hours over a week)
6)Finalizing project-This 6th step is geared for students to tweak their projects to edit timing and effects. This involves paying attention to titles (words on their slides), the effects of how the music accompanies the pictures and voice, and how everything works together to tell their story. (3-4 hours over a week)
7)Finale-The story is now ready to share and be discussed. Students should observe others’ stories and discuss the key components of what makes it effective and how it can be improved.
The author of the article did mention that 7 steps are not always the best way to work through the DS process because it ‘should be a creative process that may take turns unpredicted’ (Porter, 2007). DS is a creature that can be created a million different ways and is purposefully supposed to be a creative outlet of sharing a story. However, I still found these 7 steps as a great tool to begin figuring out how to go about starting to use DS in the classroom.
As I continue to search about DS, I would like to find examples to use to share thoughts with students to guide their creations of their own DS.
Annette
Narrowing it Down…Digital Storytelling & Becoming a Better Writer
Warren, Stewart S. (n.d.). Digital Storytelling with Stewart S. Warren. Retrieved April 4, 2008, from the Mercury Heartlink Web site: http://www.heartlink.com/pdf/DSnarrative.pdf
Since I have been exploring visual literacy, I have come to the conclusion that I have a better grasp of what visual literacy is all about. I am working towards narrowing down my vast topic of visual literacy to a more detailed area of focus. I think I am looking at focusing more on digital storytelling and how it can be beneficial to create better writers.
As I have been exploring the Internet for new resources to share, I have come across a site called Visual Literacy: Websites compiled by Sue BeLeau. This site reminded me that visual literacy encompasses so many different areas. So far, I’ve looked at visual literacy as a whole and what types of things makes it up. I’ve discussed the concept of using multimedia and still images. I’ve analyzed importance of meaning in images and how students can develop into critical thinkers and gain understanding. I’ve even delved into image interpretation. These ideas are great lessons for me, but when I thought of how I could use these images with technology software, the idea of digital storytelling seemed perfect! Put that together with trying to create better 3rd grade writers sold me completely!
One of my biggest struggles in my classroom is trying to get my students to write effectively, on topic, using main ideas and details, and having a ‘voice’ in their stories. I started searching to find out more about digital storytelling…what it is, how to do it, etc. My first encounter with the topic was this website and video. ‘Are You Sittin’ There?’ is a video that gives examples of using a digital format to tell a story. That’s basically the entire idea of what digital storytelling is. The website where I found this video also gave a lot of good details about digital storytelling (DS).
A very interesting statement Mr. Warren made regarding DS was that it was a process of ‘putting together scraps of music, photos, and movie clips and combining those with our own words to create a digitally unique story’. As I continue my quest to learn more about digital storytelling, I hope to find more examples of DS, guides to begin using DS in the classroom (management, of course with 21 students), and some basic lesson ideas to guide my process.
Annette
Since I have been exploring visual literacy, I have come to the conclusion that I have a better grasp of what visual literacy is all about. I am working towards narrowing down my vast topic of visual literacy to a more detailed area of focus. I think I am looking at focusing more on digital storytelling and how it can be beneficial to create better writers.
As I have been exploring the Internet for new resources to share, I have come across a site called Visual Literacy: Websites compiled by Sue BeLeau. This site reminded me that visual literacy encompasses so many different areas. So far, I’ve looked at visual literacy as a whole and what types of things makes it up. I’ve discussed the concept of using multimedia and still images. I’ve analyzed importance of meaning in images and how students can develop into critical thinkers and gain understanding. I’ve even delved into image interpretation. These ideas are great lessons for me, but when I thought of how I could use these images with technology software, the idea of digital storytelling seemed perfect! Put that together with trying to create better 3rd grade writers sold me completely!
One of my biggest struggles in my classroom is trying to get my students to write effectively, on topic, using main ideas and details, and having a ‘voice’ in their stories. I started searching to find out more about digital storytelling…what it is, how to do it, etc. My first encounter with the topic was this website and video. ‘Are You Sittin’ There?’ is a video that gives examples of using a digital format to tell a story. That’s basically the entire idea of what digital storytelling is. The website where I found this video also gave a lot of good details about digital storytelling (DS).
A very interesting statement Mr. Warren made regarding DS was that it was a process of ‘putting together scraps of music, photos, and movie clips and combining those with our own words to create a digitally unique story’. As I continue my quest to learn more about digital storytelling, I hope to find more examples of DS, guides to begin using DS in the classroom (management, of course with 21 students), and some basic lesson ideas to guide my process.
Annette
Sunday, March 30, 2008
More Meaning with Captions
Makela, Lee A. (1998). Visual Literacy Exercise. Available online at: http://www.csuohio.edu/history/exercise/vlehome.html
Hi, I uncovered an interesting website today that involved an exercise for the viewer. The site asked you to view 15 Japanese prints (pictures). After viewing the pictures, you were given 3 questions to answer about things you saw in the prints (observations about climate, human adaptations, and geographic features). Next, you were shown the 15 prints again, this time with captions and direction to pay close attention to parts of the picture (zoom-in selections that highlighted parts of each print). The questions were then posed again.
After going through the exercise, I observed that I caught a lot more about the pictures the second time. I attributed this to a few things: 1) I had a chance to go back through the images a second time, 2) I knew what questions I was being asked to answer, so I was paying more attention to details, 3) I had text to accompany the picture, which explained the picture a bit more.
This exercise had me pay attention to the fact that visuals alone probably aren’t enough to make literacy and understanding the most powerful it can be. Images and text together, along with guiding questions to guide the ‘eye’ when viewing images can be very effective for Reading instruction. I enjoyed this website because it had me actually interact with the idea and it made my learning more important.
Annette
Hi, I uncovered an interesting website today that involved an exercise for the viewer. The site asked you to view 15 Japanese prints (pictures). After viewing the pictures, you were given 3 questions to answer about things you saw in the prints (observations about climate, human adaptations, and geographic features). Next, you were shown the 15 prints again, this time with captions and direction to pay close attention to parts of the picture (zoom-in selections that highlighted parts of each print). The questions were then posed again.
After going through the exercise, I observed that I caught a lot more about the pictures the second time. I attributed this to a few things: 1) I had a chance to go back through the images a second time, 2) I knew what questions I was being asked to answer, so I was paying more attention to details, 3) I had text to accompany the picture, which explained the picture a bit more.
This exercise had me pay attention to the fact that visuals alone probably aren’t enough to make literacy and understanding the most powerful it can be. Images and text together, along with guiding questions to guide the ‘eye’ when viewing images can be very effective for Reading instruction. I enjoyed this website because it had me actually interact with the idea and it made my learning more important.
Annette
Friday, March 28, 2008
Visual Literacy Instructional Strategies
Zanin-Yost, Alessia and Donaldson, Christy (2005). How to Speak Out (Visually) At Your Library. Available online at: http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~mbolin/donaldson-zanin-yost.html
I found a great website that reviewed an article published in Library Philosophy and Practice. The article discussed a lot about what visual literacy is and why it is important, but the part that interested me the most (since I already knew the other information) were the instructional strategies that teachers could use with visual literacy. In summary, some of the ideas were:
• Using images to refine observational skills
• Using images for pre-reading to gain a better understanding of complex ideas (through the use of graphic organizers, mapping ideas, and timelines
• Observing how numbers work through graphs, charts, and tables
• Using multimedia for more creative expressions in projects
I found these ideas to be great precursors for effective instruction in the classroom. I was thinking about things I already do in the classroom such as using pictures for vocabulary words and graphs to represent data. However, I continue to seek ways to make things more meaningful to students the FIRST time they view it. I look for ways to have my students have that ‘light bulb’ moment. I am constantly trying to think of new ways to present material.
Today, I created a PPT quiz for an ESL student. We frequently do quizzes our team creates from the Time for Kids magazine. So, I made a PPT slide that used the ‘Record Voice’ feature. I recorded myself reading the passage using more kid-friendly language and recorded myself reading the questions from my quiz. I haven’t graded it yet, but I hope it helped my student in a new way. He loves using the computers, so I thought it might be effective for him rather than me simply read the test to him sitting side-by-side.
Always looking for new ideas,
Annette
I found a great website that reviewed an article published in Library Philosophy and Practice. The article discussed a lot about what visual literacy is and why it is important, but the part that interested me the most (since I already knew the other information) were the instructional strategies that teachers could use with visual literacy. In summary, some of the ideas were:
• Using images to refine observational skills
• Using images for pre-reading to gain a better understanding of complex ideas (through the use of graphic organizers, mapping ideas, and timelines
• Observing how numbers work through graphs, charts, and tables
• Using multimedia for more creative expressions in projects
I found these ideas to be great precursors for effective instruction in the classroom. I was thinking about things I already do in the classroom such as using pictures for vocabulary words and graphs to represent data. However, I continue to seek ways to make things more meaningful to students the FIRST time they view it. I look for ways to have my students have that ‘light bulb’ moment. I am constantly trying to think of new ways to present material.
Today, I created a PPT quiz for an ESL student. We frequently do quizzes our team creates from the Time for Kids magazine. So, I made a PPT slide that used the ‘Record Voice’ feature. I recorded myself reading the passage using more kid-friendly language and recorded myself reading the questions from my quiz. I haven’t graded it yet, but I hope it helped my student in a new way. He loves using the computers, so I thought it might be effective for him rather than me simply read the test to him sitting side-by-side.
Always looking for new ideas,
Annette
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Televison Viewing and Critical Thinkers
Considine, David (1999). Critical Viewing and Critical Thinking Skills. Retrieved March 27, 2008, from the Center for Media Literacy Web site: http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article202.html
I read an interesting article for this post that discussed the power of using media such as the television for learning and developing critical thinkers. I remember when I was a kid, I heard the ‘age old’ comments about watching too much TV or sitting too close to the TV. This article caused me to reflect and ponder the thought that media such as TV could be a good source of critical thinking for kids.
The idea posed in this article is to teach children to be critical viewers. That would mean we are teaching them to think critically about a picture and enhance their future encounters with critical thought. The article identifies that most people view TV viewing as being very passive, but the article challenges that idea by saying television viewing requires the viewer to “mentally integrate diverse camera shots of a scene to construct an image as a whole” (Considine, 1999). One of the quotes made by Jack Solomon said, "Television images lull us into thinking that they are real, that they aren't iconic signs at all but realities. Since we see them, we trust them, often failing to realize that, like all signs, they have been constructed with a certain interest behind them."
The article continues to make me consider TV as a good method for literacy instruction because it can require a student to interpret meaning and compare and contrast reality and fiction. This article made me think a bit. Yes, I do think television could be a useful tool. I have spoke to many parents and gave them ideas such as using predict/infer strategies for commercials. For example, a commercial might show a woman with crazy hair, two different shoes, and an awkard look on her face walking to work one day. The only comment on the commercial might say, “Should have had a V8”. The parents could discuss how the woman feels and what the commercial might mean to help the child construct meaning.
Good thoughts,
Annette
I read an interesting article for this post that discussed the power of using media such as the television for learning and developing critical thinkers. I remember when I was a kid, I heard the ‘age old’ comments about watching too much TV or sitting too close to the TV. This article caused me to reflect and ponder the thought that media such as TV could be a good source of critical thinking for kids.
The idea posed in this article is to teach children to be critical viewers. That would mean we are teaching them to think critically about a picture and enhance their future encounters with critical thought. The article identifies that most people view TV viewing as being very passive, but the article challenges that idea by saying television viewing requires the viewer to “mentally integrate diverse camera shots of a scene to construct an image as a whole” (Considine, 1999). One of the quotes made by Jack Solomon said, "Television images lull us into thinking that they are real, that they aren't iconic signs at all but realities. Since we see them, we trust them, often failing to realize that, like all signs, they have been constructed with a certain interest behind them."
The article continues to make me consider TV as a good method for literacy instruction because it can require a student to interpret meaning and compare and contrast reality and fiction. This article made me think a bit. Yes, I do think television could be a useful tool. I have spoke to many parents and gave them ideas such as using predict/infer strategies for commercials. For example, a commercial might show a woman with crazy hair, two different shoes, and an awkard look on her face walking to work one day. The only comment on the commercial might say, “Should have had a V8”. The parents could discuss how the woman feels and what the commercial might mean to help the child construct meaning.
Good thoughts,
Annette
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Images Embedded with Vast Meaning
Davis, Francis J. (2002-2007). Power of Images: Creating the Myths of Our Time. Retrieved March 12, 2008, from the Center for Media Literacy website: http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article80.html
Picture from: http://clifflamere.com/Graphics/Img-Flags/firemen-flag-9-11-2001-b.jpg
G’day,
Wow, I work with an Australian teacher now, I think I’m picking up the accent! This evening I wanted to share some thoughts about the vast meanings found embedded in images waiting to be discovered. I visited a site called Center for Media Literacy that discusses the power of images. The website shares what images are and uncovers a lot of myths about current images portrayed in our world (a very interesting list that you might want to read for kicks), but my most profound discovery is a section that discussed the meanings of images. As I continue to find materials on visual literacy, I am really seeing that images have a lot more to them than I ever thought about. I typically used pictures to help my students make a connection with context, but I never thought how using images could bring out discussions beyond just the colors in the picture.
An illustration the author of the piece used was the American flag. Thinking about the flag typically brings to mind a vast amount of meaning for many people. Just as I type this, I think about the 9/11 tragedy and how the flag was placed in the middle of the rubble. I can also picture the flag and think of feelings of excitement and joy when my uncle came home from Desert Storm many years ago. Images convey meanings, sometimes deep, emotional meanings. On an elementary level, what power could images have for writing? Could elaborate stories be constructed based on looking at a picture?
Until next time,
Annette
Picture from: http://clifflamere.com/Graphics/Img-Flags/firemen-flag-9-11-2001-b.jpg
G’day,
Wow, I work with an Australian teacher now, I think I’m picking up the accent! This evening I wanted to share some thoughts about the vast meanings found embedded in images waiting to be discovered. I visited a site called Center for Media Literacy that discusses the power of images. The website shares what images are and uncovers a lot of myths about current images portrayed in our world (a very interesting list that you might want to read for kicks), but my most profound discovery is a section that discussed the meanings of images. As I continue to find materials on visual literacy, I am really seeing that images have a lot more to them than I ever thought about. I typically used pictures to help my students make a connection with context, but I never thought how using images could bring out discussions beyond just the colors in the picture.
An illustration the author of the piece used was the American flag. Thinking about the flag typically brings to mind a vast amount of meaning for many people. Just as I type this, I think about the 9/11 tragedy and how the flag was placed in the middle of the rubble. I can also picture the flag and think of feelings of excitement and joy when my uncle came home from Desert Storm many years ago. Images convey meanings, sometimes deep, emotional meanings. On an elementary level, what power could images have for writing? Could elaborate stories be constructed based on looking at a picture?
Until next time,
Annette
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
Good evening fellow readers,
I have found a visual literacy-rich site today. ‘A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words’ site is from the University of North Carolina’s Education department. This website is very worthy of visiting. Have you ever wondered what types of questions you could ask students when looking at a photo? Pretty basic questions, right? For instance, “What do you think the person in the picture is thinking, feeling, or doing?” Well, this site offers questions for an image based on Bloom’s Taxonomy. Yep, it has questions that attack the higher levels such as synthesizing, analyzing, and evaluating.
For example, look at the picture above one of the analysis questions is: “Why are these boys here and not in school?” or “What do you know about their lives based on this photo?” These two questions require a person looking at the photo to think deeper about the picture.
From exploring this interactive site, it made me think about how much deeper my questions could go if I would pre-think out higher level questions for my lessons. What would that produce in my students? Would they start associating images and literacy faster?
Hum?
Annette
Picture source: The Library of Congress
‘A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words’ Available at University of North Carolina Website: http://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/articles/bloom0405-3/bloompix.html
Monday, March 17, 2008
Images to Words
Burmark, Lynell (2008). Why Visual Literacy? Available online at: http://www.educatebetter.org/a_whyvisualliteracy.asp
Hi,
As my studies into visual literacy continue, I went out intending to explore black and white images, but instead found myself fixed on a website called ‘Harnessing the Power of Visual Literacy’ created by a lady named Dr. Lynell Burmark. She does studies, seminars, and sells materials that discuss visual literacy and how it can be used in education. The site explored many areas of visual literacy, but one area that specifically caught my eye was the concept of images proceeding words and not the other way around. Does that make sense? Well, let me explain. She shared a few examples such as how Einstein’s theory of relativity was developed. Did you know he imagined riding on a beam of light before he put it to the test with experimenting and ‘book data’?
Another example she used incorporates the picture above of the sunset. This picture was on the Internet recently with the following phrase, ““Dear God, I didn’t think purple and orange went together until I saw the sunset you created on Tuesday. That was cool.” – Eugene
From that picture and quote, she pointed out on her site that “The image always precedes the thought. I didn’t think… until I saw.”
Her entire point she tries to make is that as teachers, we assume that when we say a word such as ‘car’, all students imagine the same type of car. In reality, each student is developing a different picture of a car…some might even be picturing a truck or van because that’s what they consider their ‘mode of transportation’ at home. This makes me think about how I use vocabulary in my classroom. When we go over things without images sometimes, are all of my students really understanding what they mean? I have found myself using more images to explain vocabulary and having students do more activities that involve manipulating and matching vocabulary words with pictures. I wonder how deep elementary students can process thought from images? I think it is more than we believe. My thoughts at this point are what types of best practices are there for using visual images in literacy? Is there a set prescription that should be followed?
Annette
Hi,
As my studies into visual literacy continue, I went out intending to explore black and white images, but instead found myself fixed on a website called ‘Harnessing the Power of Visual Literacy’ created by a lady named Dr. Lynell Burmark. She does studies, seminars, and sells materials that discuss visual literacy and how it can be used in education. The site explored many areas of visual literacy, but one area that specifically caught my eye was the concept of images proceeding words and not the other way around. Does that make sense? Well, let me explain. She shared a few examples such as how Einstein’s theory of relativity was developed. Did you know he imagined riding on a beam of light before he put it to the test with experimenting and ‘book data’?
Another example she used incorporates the picture above of the sunset. This picture was on the Internet recently with the following phrase, ““Dear God, I didn’t think purple and orange went together until I saw the sunset you created on Tuesday. That was cool.” – Eugene
From that picture and quote, she pointed out on her site that “The image always precedes the thought. I didn’t think… until I saw.”
Her entire point she tries to make is that as teachers, we assume that when we say a word such as ‘car’, all students imagine the same type of car. In reality, each student is developing a different picture of a car…some might even be picturing a truck or van because that’s what they consider their ‘mode of transportation’ at home. This makes me think about how I use vocabulary in my classroom. When we go over things without images sometimes, are all of my students really understanding what they mean? I have found myself using more images to explain vocabulary and having students do more activities that involve manipulating and matching vocabulary words with pictures. I wonder how deep elementary students can process thought from images? I think it is more than we believe. My thoughts at this point are what types of best practices are there for using visual images in literacy? Is there a set prescription that should be followed?
Annette
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Literacy and Multimedia
Sankey, M. (2002) 'Considering Visual Literacy when Designing Instruction', e-JIST, Distance and e-Learning Centre, University of Southern Queensland, Vol 5 No 2, Toowoomba.
Stokes, Suzanne (2001.). Visual Literacy in Teaching and Learning: A Literature Perspective. Electronic Journal for the Integration of Technology in Education, 1(1) 10-19.
Woodbridge, Jerry (January 1, 2004). Digital Kaleidoscope: Learning with Multimedia. Retrieved March 11, 2008, from the TechLearning website, http://www.techlearning.com/story/showArticle.php?articleID=17000193
Sankey (2002) characterizes visual literacy as ‘using images in the cognitive processing of information’. Woodbridge (2004) reports that multimedia is ‘a combination of digital media aspects such as text, images, sound, and video to create an application to convey meaning’. I see multimedia as a form of visual literacy because multimedia uses images combined with other components to convey meaning. Woodbridge also notes in his article that multimedia is useful in creating students that are engaged in thinking critically and finding solutions to problems. Critical thinking and problem solving are two higher level skills that encompass any literacy program. Therefore, multimedia is heavily a part of visual literacy because it strives to encourage others to find, process, and convey meaning based off of text and images in an enhanced format.
Visual literacy and multimedia have played a role in my classroom learning environment in the past. I have presented visual representation in all subject areas for students to improve academic achievement. For the basic areas of visual literacy, I have helped students learn things like vocabulary by creating vocabulary cards for a pocket chart that has a picture of the word to provide students with an image to tie to the word. I have also used things in my writing center to encourage productive stories. I added stamps and stickers for students to write with. For example, students could write a story by using stickers in place of words that would convey the word they are trying to portray. Another way I have incorporated visual literacy on the basic level is by having students act out parts of a story to gain meaning and have an illustrative representation of what is happening.
Using multimedia in the classroom is another area of visual literacy that I enjoy providing for my students. Fortunately, I am privy to have an interactive whiteboard that provides me with the ability to connect students to the World Wide Web with just a click. We use the Internet as a way to go and find images and videos that will shed light on things we don’t understand during a lesson. Students have the opportunity to create products that will enhance their learning of key concepts such as drawing conclusions and understanding story elements. Some of the things we do with multimedia are creating Voice Threads using online software, making presentations in MovieMaker or PowerPoint, and even watching educational videos on United Streaming.
Multimedia is a great way for students to seek meaning because they find understanding through using multimedia tools. Being that multimedia is a form of visual literacy, I would venture to say that any form of visual literacy will provide student achievements if used consistently and effectively. Visual literacy is going to be a powerful and dynamic concept in our changing technological world. Visual literacy will redefine what it means to be literate in our society. Multimedia will be a tool that plays a huge part in that concept.
When are digital applications distracting for students? How much is too much, or is that a factor? How do you know if the use of visual media is a help or a hinderance for students? If it's good for some, but not for others, how do you make the others its not good for feel okay with some of the classmates using technology and them not.
Annette
Stokes, Suzanne (2001.). Visual Literacy in Teaching and Learning: A Literature Perspective. Electronic Journal for the Integration of Technology in Education, 1(1) 10-19.
Woodbridge, Jerry (January 1, 2004). Digital Kaleidoscope: Learning with Multimedia. Retrieved March 11, 2008, from the TechLearning website, http://www.techlearning.com/story/showArticle.php?articleID=17000193
Sankey (2002) characterizes visual literacy as ‘using images in the cognitive processing of information’. Woodbridge (2004) reports that multimedia is ‘a combination of digital media aspects such as text, images, sound, and video to create an application to convey meaning’. I see multimedia as a form of visual literacy because multimedia uses images combined with other components to convey meaning. Woodbridge also notes in his article that multimedia is useful in creating students that are engaged in thinking critically and finding solutions to problems. Critical thinking and problem solving are two higher level skills that encompass any literacy program. Therefore, multimedia is heavily a part of visual literacy because it strives to encourage others to find, process, and convey meaning based off of text and images in an enhanced format.
Visual literacy and multimedia have played a role in my classroom learning environment in the past. I have presented visual representation in all subject areas for students to improve academic achievement. For the basic areas of visual literacy, I have helped students learn things like vocabulary by creating vocabulary cards for a pocket chart that has a picture of the word to provide students with an image to tie to the word. I have also used things in my writing center to encourage productive stories. I added stamps and stickers for students to write with. For example, students could write a story by using stickers in place of words that would convey the word they are trying to portray. Another way I have incorporated visual literacy on the basic level is by having students act out parts of a story to gain meaning and have an illustrative representation of what is happening.
Using multimedia in the classroom is another area of visual literacy that I enjoy providing for my students. Fortunately, I am privy to have an interactive whiteboard that provides me with the ability to connect students to the World Wide Web with just a click. We use the Internet as a way to go and find images and videos that will shed light on things we don’t understand during a lesson. Students have the opportunity to create products that will enhance their learning of key concepts such as drawing conclusions and understanding story elements. Some of the things we do with multimedia are creating Voice Threads using online software, making presentations in MovieMaker or PowerPoint, and even watching educational videos on United Streaming.
Multimedia is a great way for students to seek meaning because they find understanding through using multimedia tools. Being that multimedia is a form of visual literacy, I would venture to say that any form of visual literacy will provide student achievements if used consistently and effectively. Visual literacy is going to be a powerful and dynamic concept in our changing technological world. Visual literacy will redefine what it means to be literate in our society. Multimedia will be a tool that plays a huge part in that concept.
When are digital applications distracting for students? How much is too much, or is that a factor? How do you know if the use of visual media is a help or a hinderance for students? If it's good for some, but not for others, how do you make the others its not good for feel okay with some of the classmates using technology and them not.
Annette
Friday, March 14, 2008
Images with Hue (Color)
For this post, I would like to share a visual literacy website I explored. It’s called the Online Visual Literacy Project. The site contains an overview of the importance of visual literacy as well as outlining basic elements of visuals such as hue, shape, texture, motion, and many others. One of the key things I focused on while I was exploring this site was the comments about hues or colors in images. The site didn’t offer a study, per se, but it did discuss the idea that images with color (hues) provide much more meaning than when they are only black and white. I included two pictures to illustrate examples.
The first picture of the man shows a red hue that can portray anger or a strong, negative emotion. The second picture of the woman shows a blue hue that is more calming and relaxing. Both pictures without words give a context to the viewer. As I continue reading literature on visual literacy, I am starting to see that literacy isn’t just being able to read, it’s more than that. It seems that literacy is also about understanding through a variety of methods. Visual representations can easily be a method for literacy. My driving questions now are: How does age affect visual literacy? When are images not effective? Can images be effective in black and white? Will standardized tests change based on new visual literacy research and changing technologies?
Red Hue Image from: From The Year of Living Dangerously (Australia, 1983), directed by Peter Weir
Blue Hue Image from: Gucci, 1994
Pinkel, S. (1998). What is Visual Literacy? The Online Visual Literacy Project. Available at: http://www.pomona.edu/Academics/courserelated/classprojects/Visual-lit/intro/intro.html
What are your thoughts on the use of color versus black and white?
Annette
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Learning With Images
Hi fellow teacher friends,
For my first official 'learning' post, I wanted to share a couple of articles I have synthesized.
Kovalik, Cindy and Peggy King (n.d.). Visual Literacy, Retrieved February 8, 2008, from Kent State University Website: http://www.educ.kent.edu/community/VLO/
Riklan, David (2004). How to Immediately Determine which of the Top 3 Learning Styles Will Work Best for You, Retrieved February 9, 2008, from Self Growth Website: http://www.selfgrowth.com/gwlesson3.html
Stokes, Suzanne (2001.). Visual Literacy in Teaching and Learning: A Literature Perspective. Electronic Journal for the Integration of Technology in Education, 1(1) 10-19. Available at: http://ejite.isu.edu/Volume1No1/pdfs/stokes.pdf
Kovalik and King (n.d.) define visual literacy as “the ability to understand, create, and use visual images”. Their research shows that visual literacy has three parts: visual thinking, visual communication, and visual learning. Visual thinking is where a person must develop thoughts or ideas based on an image. Visual communication is where those thoughts and ideas are used to express an idea to people. Lastly, visual learning is when something is learned from an image. I believe that people do learn with images because people do apply thinking, communicating, and learning by simply looking at an image.
“Without image, thinking is impossible”, is a quote by Aristotle (as cited in Stokes, pg. 10). I think this quote sums up the entire idea of visual literacy. You cannot understand written text without applying some type of prior knowledge or understanding. Prior knowledge is the development of an image or an experience (likely a visual representation) to understand something. Riklan (2004) reports that around 65 percent of the population are visual learners. This means that they construct some type of image in their minds to interpret meaning. Visual literacy, in my opinion is simply putting a label on what 65 percent of us do daily to interpret meaning.
Visual literacy can be a powerful tool for learning in the classroom. Stokes mentioned many things in her article that I agree with when it comes to discussing the importance and impact of visual literacy. In my personal experience I have found that written text accompanied by graphics are far more beneficial for lower students than just written text. When students do not have a vast bank of prior knowledge to pull from, they need to see an image to make a connection to gain meaning. Images can play a major key in whether a student gains meaning or not. Another one of Stokes research findings related to achievement being higher when using color images versus using black and white images. I can also agree with this finding because I find that color brings more meaning to an image by expressing the image to a fuller extent. Color, for example, shows that grass is green and the sky can be many shades of blue. Black and white images do not portray the richness of that understanding.
Learning through images is also a very important tool with students of another language. In my personal experiences, I have found great success working with my ESL students with visual representations for learning. I have seen great gains in testing and observation when these particular students have the ability to attach text that isn’t their primary language to an image to help them understand. Not only is learning through images good for them, but it also will benefit all learners.
In a world that is advancing in technology very fast, many of our resources in the day-to-day world involve images to deliver content. Television, the Internet, software such as PowerPoint and iMovies, video simulations, and many other things out there today are the resources our students use on a daily basis. They relate to these things like they are second nature, so we should take advantage of that in our classrooms. Students will always have more digital media exposed to them on a daily basis as technology continues to grow. As a teacher, I think that we need to adapt and understand that our students learn in a different way than we once did. We had to create images in our minds from the texts we read in school. Now, they have the ability to already have the image to utilize and make a connection to their prior knowledge. The more we expose our students to visual literacy, the more we will enhance their learning.
Until next time,
Annette
For my first official 'learning' post, I wanted to share a couple of articles I have synthesized.
Kovalik, Cindy and Peggy King (n.d.). Visual Literacy, Retrieved February 8, 2008, from Kent State University Website: http://www.educ.kent.edu/community/VLO/
Riklan, David (2004). How to Immediately Determine which of the Top 3 Learning Styles Will Work Best for You, Retrieved February 9, 2008, from Self Growth Website: http://www.selfgrowth.com/gwlesson3.html
Stokes, Suzanne (2001.). Visual Literacy in Teaching and Learning: A Literature Perspective. Electronic Journal for the Integration of Technology in Education, 1(1) 10-19. Available at: http://ejite.isu.edu/Volume1No1/pdfs/stokes.pdf
Kovalik and King (n.d.) define visual literacy as “the ability to understand, create, and use visual images”. Their research shows that visual literacy has three parts: visual thinking, visual communication, and visual learning. Visual thinking is where a person must develop thoughts or ideas based on an image. Visual communication is where those thoughts and ideas are used to express an idea to people. Lastly, visual learning is when something is learned from an image. I believe that people do learn with images because people do apply thinking, communicating, and learning by simply looking at an image.
“Without image, thinking is impossible”, is a quote by Aristotle (as cited in Stokes, pg. 10). I think this quote sums up the entire idea of visual literacy. You cannot understand written text without applying some type of prior knowledge or understanding. Prior knowledge is the development of an image or an experience (likely a visual representation) to understand something. Riklan (2004) reports that around 65 percent of the population are visual learners. This means that they construct some type of image in their minds to interpret meaning. Visual literacy, in my opinion is simply putting a label on what 65 percent of us do daily to interpret meaning.
Visual literacy can be a powerful tool for learning in the classroom. Stokes mentioned many things in her article that I agree with when it comes to discussing the importance and impact of visual literacy. In my personal experience I have found that written text accompanied by graphics are far more beneficial for lower students than just written text. When students do not have a vast bank of prior knowledge to pull from, they need to see an image to make a connection to gain meaning. Images can play a major key in whether a student gains meaning or not. Another one of Stokes research findings related to achievement being higher when using color images versus using black and white images. I can also agree with this finding because I find that color brings more meaning to an image by expressing the image to a fuller extent. Color, for example, shows that grass is green and the sky can be many shades of blue. Black and white images do not portray the richness of that understanding.
Learning through images is also a very important tool with students of another language. In my personal experiences, I have found great success working with my ESL students with visual representations for learning. I have seen great gains in testing and observation when these particular students have the ability to attach text that isn’t their primary language to an image to help them understand. Not only is learning through images good for them, but it also will benefit all learners.
In a world that is advancing in technology very fast, many of our resources in the day-to-day world involve images to deliver content. Television, the Internet, software such as PowerPoint and iMovies, video simulations, and many other things out there today are the resources our students use on a daily basis. They relate to these things like they are second nature, so we should take advantage of that in our classrooms. Students will always have more digital media exposed to them on a daily basis as technology continues to grow. As a teacher, I think that we need to adapt and understand that our students learn in a different way than we once did. We had to create images in our minds from the texts we read in school. Now, they have the ability to already have the image to utilize and make a connection to their prior knowledge. The more we expose our students to visual literacy, the more we will enhance their learning.
Until next time,
Annette
Sunday, March 9, 2008
My Growing Area of Interest
Hi and welcome to my blog. This blog was created to share classroom ideas and technology tips prior to this entry. Beginning today, I am transforming my blog just a bit to focus more on my specific growing area of interest: the use of digital media presentations (PowerPoints, iMovies, Voice Threads, etc.) in the classroom and how it effects student achievement.
Okay, there isn't much difference, but I wanted to create a new introduction because currently I am beginning a new online course that has asked me to focus specifically on an educational technology area I am wanting to learn more about. Therefore, here we are! I hope you enjoy my blog, and I hope it offers resources for you to use. Please feel free to share and post your thoughts or resources back.
Wishes,
Annette
Okay, there isn't much difference, but I wanted to create a new introduction because currently I am beginning a new online course that has asked me to focus specifically on an educational technology area I am wanting to learn more about. Therefore, here we are! I hope you enjoy my blog, and I hope it offers resources for you to use. Please feel free to share and post your thoughts or resources back.
Wishes,
Annette
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Voice Thread
Hi, I wanted to share a great teaching resource that I learned about. It's called Voice Thread, and it's FREE! Students and teachers can create digital storybooks using this online resource. You simply upload pictures, record voice comments, and you are done!
Visit my Voice Thread on Different Types of Communities!
Annette
Visit my Voice Thread on Different Types of Communities!
Annette
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Windows Movie Maker in the Classroom
Hi, this is an example of how you can use Windows Movie Maker in the classroom. I simply imported pictures of the students and they recorded their voice as narrations. We set the timings and we had a video. Download.com has a free download for it.
Annette
Document Cameras in the Classroom
One of the new technologies I have been able to use this week is a document camera. A document camera is similar to an overhead projector in that whatever you put under the light displays on the wall or screen.
It's a bit different though. We used the document camera to explore flips, slides, and turns with shapes. The document camera is like a moving picture of what is happening. The kids are able to see the real-life of the object. Document cameras are also great for exploring things you would use a microscope to see. This website had some other good examples that a document camera could be used for http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/wp-content/files/2007/04/doccamera-uses.pdf.
Annette
Some of the Best Websites I've Seen
Hi friends,
I have been enjoying all of the new technology skills I have been learning. I have stumbled across something that I wanted to share. This site has some excellent website examples. http://topoftheclass.top-site-list.com/. I have been working on improving my classroom website to make it more functional for my students, parents, and fellow colleagues. This site gave me some very good examples of what a good website might include. I also enjoyed these particular websites:
http://www.misscampioni.com/
http://www.mrscarosclass.com/
Hope you enjoy and get some GREAT ideas!
Annette
I have been enjoying all of the new technology skills I have been learning. I have stumbled across something that I wanted to share. This site has some excellent website examples. http://topoftheclass.top-site-list.com/. I have been working on improving my classroom website to make it more functional for my students, parents, and fellow colleagues. This site gave me some very good examples of what a good website might include. I also enjoyed these particular websites:
http://www.misscampioni.com/
http://www.mrscarosclass.com/
Hope you enjoy and get some GREAT ideas!
Annette
Monday, February 4, 2008
RSS...What is it?
I'm on a roll today learning so many new things! I have moved from Social Bookmarking to exploring RSS Feeds. Wow, what a neat concept! I hope to be able to set up a bloglines and begin subscribing to all of the sites I enjoy without a hitch! I am that Digital Immigrant trying to get closer to my Digital Natives at school! :)
Here is a great article that gives some basics about RSS Feeds.
Web 2.0 Article (RSS):
Richardson, Will (May 15, 2005). “The ABCs of RSS.” Techlearning, http://www.techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=163100414
Richardson’s article about RSS Feeds gave the reader a feeling of what RSS feeds are all about and how they work. He spells out the basics. The article discussed the main purpose of what RSS feeds offer the average teacher and how they can be used to better sort through new information on the web. The biggest thing the article pointed out was that RSS feeds give the Internet user a way to sift through new information from more than 30 websites without visiting all of those sites. Instead of going to those 30 sites for the new information, the new information comes directly to the Internet user through 1 site. The article continued by giving the basics on how to start a bloglines aggregator account and what steps are necessary to begin getting RSS feeds. The article closed by explaining how to find feeds and add them to your bloglines account.
This article would be a beneficial read for a person who is just learning about RSS feeds. I guess that’s why I enjoyed it so much. It gave a simple explanation of RSS feeds as well as broke down how to get started and find feeds to subscribe to.
My Thoughts on RSS:
RSS seems to be a very powerful tool that helps the public acquire information faster. It saves the time of visiting multiple sites for information and only reports the new things directly to the reader. I think this is a very interesting concept, which will save me a lot of time visiting multiple places to see what is new. Although it might take me a while to adapt and get used to using RSS, I think I could become quite comfortable with the idea.
Again, CommonCraft has another great video on RSS Feeds. Check it out!
Annette
Here is a great article that gives some basics about RSS Feeds.
Web 2.0 Article (RSS):
Richardson, Will (May 15, 2005). “The ABCs of RSS.” Techlearning, http://www.techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=163100414
Richardson’s article about RSS Feeds gave the reader a feeling of what RSS feeds are all about and how they work. He spells out the basics. The article discussed the main purpose of what RSS feeds offer the average teacher and how they can be used to better sort through new information on the web. The biggest thing the article pointed out was that RSS feeds give the Internet user a way to sift through new information from more than 30 websites without visiting all of those sites. Instead of going to those 30 sites for the new information, the new information comes directly to the Internet user through 1 site. The article continued by giving the basics on how to start a bloglines aggregator account and what steps are necessary to begin getting RSS feeds. The article closed by explaining how to find feeds and add them to your bloglines account.
This article would be a beneficial read for a person who is just learning about RSS feeds. I guess that’s why I enjoyed it so much. It gave a simple explanation of RSS feeds as well as broke down how to get started and find feeds to subscribe to.
My Thoughts on RSS:
RSS seems to be a very powerful tool that helps the public acquire information faster. It saves the time of visiting multiple sites for information and only reports the new things directly to the reader. I think this is a very interesting concept, which will save me a lot of time visiting multiple places to see what is new. Although it might take me a while to adapt and get used to using RSS, I think I could become quite comfortable with the idea.
Again, CommonCraft has another great video on RSS Feeds. Check it out!
Annette
The World of Social Bookmarking
I have been learning a lot of new things this week. First, I learned about blogs. Now I am beging introduced to Social Bookmarking. I am excited about the wealth of new technologies there are out there for educators to grab ahold of. I learned a bit about bookmarking through the following article.
Web 2.0 Article (Bookmarking):
Jackson, Lorrie (April 18, 2006). “Bookmarking Without Borders.” Education World, http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/techtorial/techtorial101.shtml
Bookmarking without Borders is a Techtorial article about the benefits and uses of social bookmarking. The article gives an introduction about what social bookmarking is and why it is an important tool for educators. The article also briefly covers how to register and add a bookmark to your account. Lastly, the article discusses what a tag cloud is and how it is used to interact with others in the Internet.
The article would be a good quick-read for someone who doesn’t have knowledge of what social bookmarking is. It gives a good introduction to assist the beginner to get started.
My Thoughts on Social Bookmarking:
I almost feel like I’ve been in the dark ages! I am only 28 years old, but I have never heard of or used social bookmarking. I think it is an amazing tool if used properly. I think I have an over exhausted list of favorites on my desktop, and I hate creating those folders in my favorites. I end up putting things somewhere I didn’t mean to, which ends up leaving me frustrated and getting back on google.com to try to remember some of the key words to find the site again. I do admit that I am a very ‘gold’ teacher (very organized and detailed), so I am excited about the bookmarking so that I can organize all of my favorite sites! I am also even more tickled that I can now collaborate better with colleagues and share sites through bookmarking.
For another great resource, one of my UFL colleagues sent us a link for a video on Social Bookmarking. It's a good way to spell out what bookmarking is, and it's also very entertaining!
http://www.commoncraft.com/bookmarking-plain-english
Until next time,
Annette
Web 2.0 Article (Bookmarking):
Jackson, Lorrie (April 18, 2006). “Bookmarking Without Borders.” Education World, http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/techtorial/techtorial101.shtml
Bookmarking without Borders is a Techtorial article about the benefits and uses of social bookmarking. The article gives an introduction about what social bookmarking is and why it is an important tool for educators. The article also briefly covers how to register and add a bookmark to your account. Lastly, the article discusses what a tag cloud is and how it is used to interact with others in the Internet.
The article would be a good quick-read for someone who doesn’t have knowledge of what social bookmarking is. It gives a good introduction to assist the beginner to get started.
My Thoughts on Social Bookmarking:
I almost feel like I’ve been in the dark ages! I am only 28 years old, but I have never heard of or used social bookmarking. I think it is an amazing tool if used properly. I think I have an over exhausted list of favorites on my desktop, and I hate creating those folders in my favorites. I end up putting things somewhere I didn’t mean to, which ends up leaving me frustrated and getting back on google.com to try to remember some of the key words to find the site again. I do admit that I am a very ‘gold’ teacher (very organized and detailed), so I am excited about the bookmarking so that I can organize all of my favorite sites! I am also even more tickled that I can now collaborate better with colleagues and share sites through bookmarking.
For another great resource, one of my UFL colleagues sent us a link for a video on Social Bookmarking. It's a good way to spell out what bookmarking is, and it's also very entertaining!
http://www.commoncraft.com/bookmarking-plain-english
Until next time,
Annette
Saturday, February 2, 2008
A Model of Effective Classroom Management
I am a teacher of almost 4 years now, and I can always use good ideas for classroom management. I found this video on YouTube that is an excellent example of things that a teacher can do in the classroom to be effective and help kids focus and learn.
Learning about Blogs 101
I have had the opportunity to begin my very first blog! I've never had a blog before, so please forgive my extreme excitement! For my very first post, I have decided to give you an article about web blogs and also a couple of teacher resource blogs that you might want to RSS to. So, until next time...happy blogging!
Annette
Web 2.0 Article:
Catalano, Frank (December 2005). “Why Blog?” T.H.E. Journal, http://www.thejournal.com/articles/17616
This article would be interesting to an educator because it offered some excellent reasons why blogging is such a powerful classroom tool. It discussed how blogging could benefit student-teacher interactions and academic interests. The article had excerpts from classroom blog topics where students wanted more interaction outside of the classroom. The teacher extended the blogs so they could use them at home and even over the summer. The article could also be of interest to educators because it offers suggestions to improve parent-teacher communication. It gave ideas for the blog to become a school to home link with frequent updates and calendar items. Lastly, the article also gave some blog rules that educators need to consider before beginning a blog. Overall, this article offered some valuable ideas to consider when deciding whether or not to blog as an educator.
3 Blogs:
Always Learning Blog: http://mscofino.edublogs.org/
This blog is by a girl named Kim. She is the Literacy Specialist in Bangkok, Thailand. She is such an innovative technology guru! Her blog discusses many topics that interest the elementary technology-geared teacher. She offers up many ideas about how she helps plan non-intimidating technology activities with teachers to make sure the curriculum is the focus and the technology compliments it. Her blog offers lots of ideas and tools that an ordinary teacher could read and put into action immediately. Her passion for technology is infectious!
Teacher’s Bag of Tricks (Tips for the Classroom): http://teachersbag.edublogs.org/
This blog is useful to an educator because it offers a lot of good website suggestions for students as well as tools that the teacher can utilize in the classroom. She gives resources for hands-on activities, interventions for lower learners, and even other things such as subject-based ideas, classroom management tools, and technology plans. This site has a lot to offer to an educator with its many resources.
...Totally off the teacher tech tips record:
Scrappy World: http://judithmara.wordpress.com/
Since I already had 2 professional blogs, I chose one of my favorite hobbies for a blog. This blog is all about scrapbooking! Judith’s site attracted my attention because it gave a lot of neat ideas for scrapbooking for the different holidays, seasons, and monthly events. She offered neat phrases you could use to design a scrapbook page. She also listed many holidays for each month to get ideas. One of the last things I enjoyed about her page was her picture ideas for creating pages.
Thanks for reading,
Annette
Annette
Web 2.0 Article:
Catalano, Frank (December 2005). “Why Blog?” T.H.E. Journal, http://www.thejournal.com/articles/17616
This article would be interesting to an educator because it offered some excellent reasons why blogging is such a powerful classroom tool. It discussed how blogging could benefit student-teacher interactions and academic interests. The article had excerpts from classroom blog topics where students wanted more interaction outside of the classroom. The teacher extended the blogs so they could use them at home and even over the summer. The article could also be of interest to educators because it offers suggestions to improve parent-teacher communication. It gave ideas for the blog to become a school to home link with frequent updates and calendar items. Lastly, the article also gave some blog rules that educators need to consider before beginning a blog. Overall, this article offered some valuable ideas to consider when deciding whether or not to blog as an educator.
3 Blogs:
Always Learning Blog: http://mscofino.edublogs.org/
This blog is by a girl named Kim. She is the Literacy Specialist in Bangkok, Thailand. She is such an innovative technology guru! Her blog discusses many topics that interest the elementary technology-geared teacher. She offers up many ideas about how she helps plan non-intimidating technology activities with teachers to make sure the curriculum is the focus and the technology compliments it. Her blog offers lots of ideas and tools that an ordinary teacher could read and put into action immediately. Her passion for technology is infectious!
Teacher’s Bag of Tricks (Tips for the Classroom): http://teachersbag.edublogs.org/
This blog is useful to an educator because it offers a lot of good website suggestions for students as well as tools that the teacher can utilize in the classroom. She gives resources for hands-on activities, interventions for lower learners, and even other things such as subject-based ideas, classroom management tools, and technology plans. This site has a lot to offer to an educator with its many resources.
...Totally off the teacher tech tips record:
Scrappy World: http://judithmara.wordpress.com/
Since I already had 2 professional blogs, I chose one of my favorite hobbies for a blog. This blog is all about scrapbooking! Judith’s site attracted my attention because it gave a lot of neat ideas for scrapbooking for the different holidays, seasons, and monthly events. She offered neat phrases you could use to design a scrapbook page. She also listed many holidays for each month to get ideas. One of the last things I enjoyed about her page was her picture ideas for creating pages.
Thanks for reading,
Annette
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