Catchment Detox This online game doesn't really fit into any of my categories but is worth a mention. Found at www.catchmentdetox.net.au , it is a game from which a major government push was made to inform people as to the effect people are having on water quality. At the time major prizes could be won. Although now over the game is still available and an excellent resource. It is a free online game which, similar to the Sims has players making big decisions and also seeing the consequences. It would be too complicated for the younger ages but the Grade 5/6's could really enjoy it. It is engaging, interactive and fun. It may take a little time to get used to it so I wouldn't introduce it unless I was intending to use it across a number of weeks. Perhaps as an earlier finish activity. Its links are clear, to sustainability and the environment, as well as civics and citizenship as the player makes decisions which effect everyone.
Another great resource is the learning federation website. See image left. It has a large database of resourcesavailable that you can search through for the topic of your choice. The resources available mainly consist of browser run interactive teaching tools. It is what you would use if you had a smart board in the classroom.
I wasn't so lucky but still managed to hook up a digital projector and it worked a treat. See the brief of the percentage resource I used (left). It provides excellent engagement to children and is a welcome change from a boring verbal introduction.
Along with the Math 300 website it provided the greatest resource during my latest practicum experience.
If you are serious about 21st century education in the classroom there are a number of resources out there. These include the Intel Teach Program where they have been 'helping K–12 teachers around the world understand how, when, and where to bring technology tools and resources into their classrooms'. Alternatively you could register to the ICT in Education Victoria Professional Teachers' Association which runs publications, events and professional developments.
Before I started this subject Technology across the Curriculum I never knew how much software and resources were out there. Not only that, but the amount that is both free and easy to use. It is incredible. I have always been taken to liking the use of technology but now I feel a lot more prepared and inspired. It will undoubtedly become a feature of my teaching.
Students select all different aspects of their 'wild self'. They can choose between having a variety of human or other parts.
My creation is fast as a lion, with strong arms of a Gorilla and wings to fly. Yet I also kept bit of myself, as I still need glasses.
This software links to studies of the environment and animals and even a word study.
Your character is given an scientific name and you are also given facts about the animals which you have drawn from. In this case I was told facts of the African lion, Western low land Gorilla and the Californian Condor. Given this information, students could do a study of each of these animals. The teacher could specify that they want to know about each animals habitat, food, threats etc. It could be a engagement to a writing piece, a research assignment, an art presentation, a lead upexercise to a zoo or aquarium excursion or just a way for students to creatively respond.
On this website is a lot of content, but to be safe, there is a 'classic kid safe mini-mizer' page. Just click the link from the top.
In this is a similar concept except instead of creating your wild self you create your own Lego man. You should remember to use real Lego as well as there is no replacement for the benefit of tactile /kinesthetic learning.
Lessons coming out of this could be building lessons, a warm up to a space/volume/capacity class involving Lego. At the beginning of the year when you are trying to implement a set of classroom values this activity could be used and it could link to a discussion about community. In the same way it could link to lessons on civics and citizenship.
Sketch and Swap This can be found at www.sketchswap.com It is a online drawing website that through the use of a mouse you can draw a sketch. The interesting thing about this website is that after you are done you get someone elses sketch drawn on your screen, evidently the 'swap' part.
Unfortunately this uncertainty means that you don't know if unsuitable images are going to be returned back. As such I wouldn't use it in the classroom without specific permission. It would be used to develop students artistic ability, namely line and shape. Specifically as you see the 'swap' sketched virtually on your screen in real time.
As you can see from the images on the left my sketching skills of a boat pale in comparison to the mountain scene I got in return.
Rebus stories
Making story using pictures in place of some words is an activity that is easy to do. Using word, students can write their own story, you could specify what type of story or what it should include. Students then can easily insert images from clip art or elsewhere. Stories can be printed off or viewed on the computers. To make animated gif's to work the student will need to publish the word doc to web.
It is a different way to do writing and some student may really flourish, where they haven't in the past. See above a rebus story I put together in a 3 or so minutes.
As an extension is creates interesting word activity, where different meanings could be used to change the story. It leads into strategies that successful readers use such as predicting, inferring using prior knowledge connections etc.
This is my favorite topic by far, due to my pre-existing love for creating videos. Please note that there are three embedded videos on this page, which may make loading slow. Please refresh or change browsers if they don't appear and/or play correctly.
In the classroom movies/video/ online stories can be created, used and incorporated in a wide variety of different ways. It falls under the banner of ICT for creating. Students can use these online tools to create a persuasive text, to inform and explain, to respond etc. Importantly students will be engaged as the quality of outputs and ease of use is astounding. Some students who are well suited to these activities may experience success where following traditional means of paper and pen they have not.
There is a wide variety of free web based software available. I will now give a brief overview of a few and comment on their strengths and weaknesses.
First cab of the rank is www.dfilm .com or otherwise known as 'Dvolver'.
This is easy to use, smooth looking web based software. You work on one scene at a time and select the background, characters, music, scene type and dialogue. It then gives generates a cartoon type video very quickly. See above video which I made in only 5-10 minutes.
Strengths: Free, ease of use (see image left), graphics, can embed and email straight away.
Weaknesses: Lack of flexibility and wait for it... Adult content!
Unfortunately the adult content is a real deal breaker to an otherwise impressive movie maker. Therefore all it can be used for is to prepare a movie yourself. Hopefully they come out with a children friendly version.
Next is the Zimmer Twins where, among other things, you can make your own movies. The URL is www.zimmertwins.com
This online software allows you to quickly and easily make an animated movie. It focused on three characters, the twins Edgar and Eva and their cat, "13". A story board is displayed along the bottom allowing quick review your piece. It works by allowing the user to select from a group of talking, action or other scenes. When you select a scene on your story board a list of variables are shown. These include the character, background and some objects.
Dialogue is made through speech bubbles in any of the talking scenes. Once selected, the text is simply typed in. Animation automatically occurs and you need to change the scene to have a different animation type. It is high quality and appears like a modern cartoon.
My criticisms of the website are that I couldn't save a draft. Once I saved the file I could no longer access it. This means it needs to be completed in one go, and any mistakes need to be corrected before you save. It would be nice if the video could be embedded elsewhere as is common these days however this feature was not available. Although understandable the limit to three characters is constricting.
Strengths: Free, graphics, ease of use, age appropriate content, excellent link to different emotions Weaknesses: Cannot save draft, cannot embed, limited character flexibility.
Myths and legends
http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/ This online story telling software is focused on a theme of old time knights, castles, princesses etc. It is fairly easy to use with a lot of images and items to bring to your story. A useful feature is the copy function where the previous page is copied and you can simply make the small changes as necessary, not remake the whole scene. Unfortunately to the creators of this site the graphics pale in comparison to some of the others now available, this is 90's quality to the others 2000's. Animation is only minor, it is more a story book.
Strengths: Free, ability to save, ease of use, age appropriate content Weaknesses: Comparatively poor graphics and animation
Microsoft Photo Story 3 This software from Microsoft is free but is not web based and requires installation locally on each computer. As its name suggests it designed to incorporate photos and allow the user to tell a story through the input of text or sound files. Photos can be edited and tweaked, music can be added to the background, transitions can be changed. It is easy to use and primary aged students equipped with photos they have taken could prepare a high quality video. The video can be saved and shown locally or if appropriate, uploaded to a hosting website such as Vimeo or YouTube. One interesting feature, especially if the intention is to upload it to the Internet is the create music feature. This avoids copyright issues and allows students to make music appropriate to the video they have produced. I normally make videos using Sony Vegas Movie Studio. It is a more professional piece of software allowing amazing control of almost every detail. Below is a video I made using this software for the WebQuest.
In comparison Photo Story is very constricting, but the trade off would be price and ease of use.
Photo Story in a flash. Strengths: Free, users can save, isn't dependant on Internet connection, easy to use, students can use their own photos. Weaknesses: Output file limited to .wmv, limited control
Xtra Normal The next video making software is found at www.xtranormal.com . The video below left shows you the quality of animation you could be making. The image to the left shows the user friendly way in which you create.
This exceptional piece of software enable you to create a lifelike video animation. It is prepared very much like a script. Switching between a few characters you can add dialogue. Then you can go through and like a movie producer add animations, expressions, looks, sounds and most impressively change the camera angle. It works through dragging and dropping the above changes into the script. They can be later double clicked to change.
I find this truly an amazing piece of web based software. Out of all the reviews in this blog it is the only software to do lipsyncing, lifelike characters as an option and generate voice from text.
Strengths: Amazing quality graphics, generates animation automatically, generates spoken dialogue from text, great degree of flexibility, ability to save, ability to publish and embed, ease of use and generally free to use. Weaknesses: Not all characters are free and require unlocking via a points system, voice from text can mispronounce some words (for example 'talk' in the video)
In essence all these websites make very complex tasks appear very simple. It takes away a lot of the control professionals and more serious video makers want but the flip side is it makes it easy. Now videos can be made in the classroom by primary aged students. They could create their own story, they could respond to a text etc. They can create videos that would impress everyone.
Catchment Detox
Another great resource is the learning federation website. See image left.
It has a large database of resources available that you can search through for the topic of your choice. The resources available mainly consist of browser run interactive teaching tools. It is what you would use if you had a smart board in the classroom.
