SlideShare and Scribd

SlideShare is a remarkable piece of technology that allows us to play around with our PowerPoint presentations in a number of significant ways. A slide show can be very effective in engaging a class, but a series of pictures on their own will quickly become dull to learners who are used to multiple digital content on the one medium.

The editing facilities of SlideShare mean that we can add music and speech to further add interest to learners. Individual slides can have narration and music put to them, rather than an ongoing running commentary throughout the entire slide show, so that, if slides are paused to communicate with the class during a presentation and allow interaction between peers and learners to teacher, the narration of the slide show will begin again at the appropriate juncture when starting play again.

I spent several hours playing around with the programs that convert MP4 files to MP3 so that it could be placed into SlideShare and I could add a narrative to my Acne PowerPoint presentation. I recorded into Audacity, then was told I had to download a program to allow me to export this file into another. I went onto Paretologic and LAME and several others I can no longer recall, but had great difficulty finding a way of moving my narration into SlideShare

I will concentrate my efforts next time into finding an Internet program to record my narration onto, so that instead of having to upload the file from my computer to SlideShare, I can just cut and paste the URL of my online file into SlideShare. I know that this will work, and I believe it will not take me so many hours for that first exploration of trialing new programs. I realise that the way I tried previously will work if I muddle around a bit longer. I think the key point to remember when you are experimenting with new technologies is 1: be patient, 2: persevere 3: record your successes so that you don't have to repeat the experimental process again the next time you need to apply the new technology 4: don't slam your computer into the wall, causing serious structural damage to the house and irreparable damage to the computer.

Scribd is a website that gives us a forum to share our files, images and slideshows with the general public, or a selected audience. Within a week of posting my PowerPoint on Scribd, I had over 60 views. This immediate feedback from people around the world would certainly capture the imagination of young learners and motivate them to present the best work they can. What a fantastic outlet to share creations and comment on the work of others. I will definitely be employing this technology to engage my learners and give them that sense of authenticity, which is so important to retaining motivation throughout the learning journey.

Here is the PowerPoint presentation that I embedded in an earlier posting through Scribd. I have embedded it this time throughm SlideShare, just to make sure I am confident using that part of the new technology.

Acne Slide Show

View more presentations from alicecatherine.

Photoshop

Photoshop gives us another avenue of editing our photos and pictures, instead of relying completetly on Picnik. I haven't delved into either program in enough depth to say what the major contrasts and comparisons are, but when I ever have free time I will be watching this series of video tutorials on Photoshop and applying them on personal projects that have been on the shelf for a long time already.

Mahara

Hello,

I have been reading every one's ideas on the forum about whether Mahara could be useful in a Primary School setting. I hadn't really thought that much about it. I only put a shallow, not-very-well thought out response on my previous Blog and so went back on to Mahara to have a look around.

I wonder if the main problem in us having had difficulty in seeing this as a learning tool for younger children is because we were introduced to Mahara with the idea that it would be difficult. During the Residential School, people would whisper to each other - "Did you go to the Mahara session?" "Yes, but I still don't know how to use it.""I'm so bad with technology, I'll never learn this one." The uncertainty made Mahara seem like some dark, looming cloud, threatening to overwhelm us when we got to that part of the course.

If you have a good look around, you realise that it actually isn't particularly complicated at all. And it's a lot more than a storage device for resumes (another misconception because Scot said how perfect it was for that, and so many of us didn't take the time to think of further applications for it, because we always have so much to do with all the rest of the coursework anyway.)

Just a brief examination of Mahara, but with a mind open to the possibilities, showed me, at least, that it will be a wonderful tool even for the very young year levels.

There is, for example, categories for My Skills and My Goals. What a great way to get students thinking meta-cognitively about their learning. Get them to set their own outcomes for the curriculum. They can back up whether they feel they have succeeded along the way with examples (of their own choosing) highlighting the areas where they feel they show a mastery or an application of a particular skill. They can upload documents, scan pictures and worksheets and write their thoughts on the linked Blog.

You can't tell me that even six and seven year old chldren are not capable of deciding which of their works they are most proud of. We can explicitly teach habits of mind regarding where they want to be and what strategies they can use to get there. Young children: "We are going to think today about how we might keep going with something that we want to give up on. What do you do when you feel that something is too hard. What could you do to feel better about the task?" Put it on their Mahara goal list - 'persevere when things get tough' (young ones 'keep going when things get hard') and come up with a problem-solving task that will involve using the strategies we came up with. When they have succeeded they upload it as an example.

Personalised outcomes and class tasks that learners feel a sense of success in, will raise their estimations of what they can achieve. 'Look at my goal last month. I couldn't do that then, and now I can. When I put my next goal down, there's no reason why I can't reach that too.'

Mahara could also be used to put together every class member's individual Blogs and wikis, so that they are all easy to access from one location. Late primary students could write out resumes, including examples of work that exemplify certain skills, or show their capability at persisting at a piece of work.

It will be a valuable portfolio for both teacher and learner. The end result can be assessed, easily passed to the parent/guardian to communicate their child's results, and the student has complete power over what is being assessed. They can show off their skills and abilities. Things that they do at home, like classical ballet in their bedroom, can be recorded by Mum and they can put it on to show how they have interpreted the days topic of 'sadness' for instance, while another might upload a narrative, another a painting. All these can be done for any age level in primary school.

Google Earth

Google Earth, and the applications within the classroom is linked inextricably with Learning Engagement Theory (Kearsley and Schneiderman, 1999).

I love the idea of using Google Earth to engage learners in current events. Actually seeing what the streets and houses look like in Kabul will make them empathise with people in war-torn countries far more than imagining some distant wind-swept village that may be how they perceive places in the Middle East. Showing them cities that look so similar to our own from a birds eye view, complete with schools, ovals, hospitals and shopping districts will make them realise that these people are not so different from us after all.

There are also wonderful tools that will help in SOSE. You can click in for information about the area you are visiting online. You can find out geographical features. For maths we have access to the latitudes and longitudes and from Google Earth students will be able better to grasp these concepts from a whole-planet perspective.

We can click on the 'History' button to be shown what the geography of the land looked like either a hundred, or a thousand or a million years ago! Every student will study dinosaurs at some stage of their schooling - they will actually be able to see images of what the earth looked like in the time of the dinosaurs.

If you want to teach learners about China, we could do a 'chalk and talk' lecture, asking them to write notes, then regurgitate the information back to us for assessment, or we could group learners in teams to construct virtual tours of the region, including information, photos (perhaps uploaded from Flickr) and take the class on a journey through China with close-ups of landmarks and other places of interest. How much more meaningful a task! And one that can be saved and stored on a site like Scribd', so that they can receive feedback from the world about their tour. Thus an authentic task, with assessment not based on the number of ticks they get in a test, but on a highly interactive task, that has involved collaboration, experimentation and analysis and evaluation of the information they go through.

Students can create a tour of their own neighbourhood. They can include their own photos of the street and people and places that live near them.

They can wander around the country and choose an area that looks like a good place to live and then research what the infrastructure is like and whether they still think it would be a good place to live (is there a public swimming pool, how many schools etc).

Google Earth will engage the learners on many levels; the use of ICTs, student-centred learning, authentic projects and an outside focus. These exemplify all the attributes so valued in Learning Engagement Theory and will be sure to keep learners engaged, focused and excited about their learning journey.


REFERENCES

Kearsley, G. & Schneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au

TeacherTube

http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=560&title=Writers_on_Writing&ref=Aliceantics


TeacherTube provides a means to tap into the skills and knowledge of teachers from around the globe. This technology grants us access into a myriad of teaching ideas, pedagogies and classroom activities. Before the emergence of the Internet, a teacher would have to be extremely proactive, and have a lot of spare time, and possibly money, to communicate their ideas so readily into a form that could be carried around the world. Text books and articles in education journals will still only be read (and written) by the most eager, but with new ICTs so readily available and easy to use, information can be passed on at a whim. Essentially, this means that new perspectives and an enormous range of pedagogies become accessible to everyone, both to transmit knowledge, and to receive it.

Not only can we directly use what is on TeacherTube, for structuring lessons or showing the class, but it can also be used to generate new ideas for lessons. I might use a little from Mrs James' clip on a Science Rap, and combine that with Miss Smith's explanation of scientific principles in relation to literacy to come up with a lesson plan that neither Mrs James nor Miss Smith could ever have envisioned.

TeacherTube is an ultimate way of pooling knowledge with other professionals in the same field. We check it out because we care about the learning outcomes of our students and we contribute to give back to the forum which has helped us.

I looked through TeacherTube and analysed many of the different formats presented, as well as information offered. The particular video that I have embedded in this Post I chose because I have a strong interest in developing literacy skills and engaging learners in the reading and writing process.

I think the music, combined with the subtle background where the quotes are therefore emphasised, creates an emotional response in the viewer. Emotional memory is strong - we are much more likely to remember something that had an emotional impact on us, than just recalling some declarative knowledge about a topic that wasn't particularly engaging. This video would be wonderful to show the students before asking them to write a creative text, hopefully motivating those (too many) students who are unwilling to create their own texts.

Watch and make up your own decision, but I certainly felt that time-stopping feeling of inspiration that wanted me to pick up a pen and paper (or at least tap on a keyboard) and get to it.

Enjoy...

Picnik and Flickr

Flickr is an ICT program that allows us to store files and images on the Internet and share them with a chosen audience. There is an enormous number of images that are not copyrighted, and therefore can be downloaded and used for presentations, class handouts and a multitude of other applications. The advantages to having so many images immediately available to us, for no cost and with no legal ramifications, means that we can much more easily find images that relate to the topic being studied, and result in further engagement of learners.

The applications within a learning environment are of showing students how to edit their photos and create their own scrapbook. Obviously there are many more. In fact, one of the best ways to engage with them will be to show them the technology and get the learners themselves to come up with an idea of how to use it (in the context of the curriculum).

Images are so important in a learning context; they provide interest, humour, colour and joy to a subject. The topic at hand becomes more to the learners than a jumble of words - they can see images of how the knowledge is applied, or how others have perceived the issue. Visual learners will not be left in the lurch as linguistic learners plough on ahead.

Students can search Flickr themselves to add images to their own work. Wouldn't it be interesting to give the students a theme, such as 'bullying' and give them time on Flickr to find three images that they think best exemplify bullying? Then we can put all the images together on a poster and as a group, write up a definition of bullying, and class rules to combat it. Seeing a face full of fear or sadness can speak volumes more than giving a lecture about how bullying can affect people. The small photo to the left under the large pictures, is one I found on Flickr when I did a search for 'bully'.

Learners can use editing techniques on Picnik, then download their own photos (appropriate to the public, global domain) onto Flickr to receive feedback from the wider community. Children will really engage with being able to manipulate their own photos using this technology. Perhaps we could create a really zany class photo! They would love that.

I found Picnik a very useful application when putting our two houses on the real estate market recently. The top photo of each house is the untouched version, then underneath shows how a few alterations with tone, saturation and brightness made the grass look greener, and the trees brighter. Definitely more sellable!

The small photo at the right of this posting is of my daughters with Santa Claus in 2008. I edited this photo using Picnik, then uploaded it onto Flickr, where I clicked on SHARE to put it into my Blog.


In conclusion, Picnik is a wonderful tool to modify images. In the twenty-first century, mastering digital mediums is becoming more and more essential in the business world, but also in everyday life. Introducing our learners to this technology will assist them in making that first baby step in taking risks in ICTs. By manipulating their own images, they will discover that sense of thrill that comes with experimentation, creativity and innovation - skills that are valued so highly in Learning Engagement Theory (Kearsley and Shneiderman, 1999).

Flickr will engage the learners by catering for different and multiple styles of learning, by incorporating images in presentations to engage learners on a level beyond merely 'chalk and talk'.


REFERENCES

Kearsley, G. & Schneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTS for learning design, http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au

PowerPoint Presentation - 'The Causes Of Acne'

Hello, all.

I (finally) finished my PowerPoint presentation, which I have titled, 'The Causes Of Acne'. These slideshows certainly do take a lot of time to prepare - and I haven't even ventured to add video or sound yet!

I hope you enjoy it.

Just click on the FULLSCREEN icon, then click on the right hand arrow to move through slides (I did put in automatic timings but they don't seem to have been copied into my Blog). At the end, click ESCAPE to exit the fullscreen.


Acne Slide Show