Reflection4 Wk5 grp3 tools

This week we have explored the plethora of options available online that support the collection and collation of multimedia resources for presentation purposes. We focused on PowerPoint, Prezi and Glogster.

• The animations and simulations that can be used in presentations offer substantial advantages over print through complex interactions and illustration of abstract concepts.
• They offer a virtual experience where the "real thing" may not be feasible.
• They are web-based (PowerPoint can be uploaded) and accessible anytime.
• These tools can be embedded easily into a larger learning context.
• Glogster is an "online scrapbooking tool" that offers so many enhancements to learning in a fun way. Teachers can set up a class account and be emailed passwords for each student's private account within it http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/columnists/dyck/dyck037.shtml.
• Prezi is a brilliant tool for "global learners" as it uses frames rather than the linear slides of PowerPoint (see blog entry below).

I have chosen to focus my exploration and reflection this week on PowerPoint.
My only experience with PowerPoint up until now has been limited to viewing presentations and offering "assistance" to my 10yr old daughter on a couple of assignments for school.
My basic presentation is the beginnings of a learning tool for recognizing time on a clock face aimed at early primary (prep) aged children. In the first slide I have listed the times of the school day that events occur. The second slide is a clock face with the first time. I have added a question with answer buttons 'yes' or 'no'. The buttons contain hyperlinks to an animated page for a right or wrong answer.
Questions can be added to each page following, varying the way children look at the time and apply it to their real life situation. We could ask "What happens at this time of the day?" and progress to, "How long is the lunch break?". Children could also click on and rotate the hands of the clock to different times.
PowerPoint can be used to

• analyse a process through sequence of events
• make interactive storybooks or quizzes
• group and ungroup illustrations to make start/stop animations
• create 'virtual museums' http://christykeeler.com/EducationalVirtualMuseums.html

PowerPoint presents a linear learning experience, good for sequential learners. This can be frustrating for the global learners though who look for the bigger picture first.

This is the link to my wikispace, where I have uploaded the "Tell the Time" PowerPoint presentation:

https://alliselearningwiki.wikispaces.com/Tell+the+time+Powerpoint

Exploring Prezi

http://prezi.com/d4wbdw9ysriv/present/?auth_key=q9o7t9i&follow=sd8q4qrpyadl
 This is the link to my first foray with Prezi. It seems a really attractive way of presentation. For early primary learners I can see the potential it holds to encourage logical problem solving steps when presented with a "big picture".

Reflection 3 Wk4 Images, Podcasts and Digital Video

This week we have continued our exploration of digital technologies and their potential in learning environments with images, podcasts and digital video. I have chosen to focus this reflection on digital video, purely because I enjoyed this one the most whilst exploring the tools. The four posts below provide examples of my exploration of Mobaphoto to resize images, Audioboo (podcast), YouTube (video) and finally a Voki.
Visual, tactile and kinaesthetic senses are particularly important for young learners (http://www.acu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/195676/Chapter_3_Multimodal_Literacy_M_Walsh.pdf). Engaging young learners in activities involving digital movie making provides opportunity to cater to the many different learning styles of lower primary aged children. Also the additional sensory input from learning in this way creates linked memories enhancing retrieval (http://www.eschoolnews.com/2008/03/26/analysis-how-multimedia-can-improve-learning/%20).

As well as traditional literacy, children need to learn skills of visual and aural literacy. These skills help their understanding and abilities to think and communicate (http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/page/view.php?id=145984).

Below I have embedded my first foray with the Voki application. As a digital video tool that is very easy to navigate, lower primary children could be engaged easily in their learning. Mobile devices such as iPods make individual contributions to group activities so accessible. Such participation provides learning outcomes like :

• higher order thinking skills
• communication skills
• presentation skills
• literacy
• organizational and teamwork skills

IPods allow direct upload to sites such as YouTube and Flickr, both of which are very secure and accessible to all participants.

The example I used with my Voki was a small history research assignment. Children could be divided into pairs or groups with an aspect or a few questions to research. Research could be using the internet or library books, or watching a suitable documentary. The Voki can be dressed and customized by the children. They could write their own script and record their own voices or select a voice from the Voki menu with an accent as I did. This required typing a script into the app (a literacy skill). The Voki provides a fun, engaging method of presentation after uploading to YouTube or a class Blog page.

Voki intro

 

YouTube

Audioboo

listen to ‘Where is that mower?’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Audioboo intro’ on Audioboo

Resizing an image with Mobaphoto

This photo is my own.

Before resizing this image was 342KB. After resizing to "optimize internet upload" it is now 9156bytes.