ImageChef

I love word clouds, WordItOut (which allows you to link tags/words), Tagxedo(which also generates shape clouds) and Wordle(which lets you design colour schemes) to name a few, but I had forgotten about ImageChef until today when I stumbled upon it again. ImageChef allows users to create word clouds in various shapes including their own initials, using different colours and backgrounds, much like other applications. While it limits users to only two colours, one for words and one for the background, the initials options struck me as interesting. I could see it being used in Life Skills for example with students brainstorming words that describe themselves or a friend and creating a cloud in the form of their initials to match.

The beauty of the system is that once the cloud is created it can be embeded! I love embed code and plan on using ImageChef this coming school year with students when working on their digital portfolios, having them embed their personal word clouds in their wikis or Google Sites.

Here is one I did on my reflexions from ISTE 2011.

Storymaker

I am always on the lookout for new digital storytelling resources. There are so many different options out there. Two web applications that we use are Kerpoof with our younger students to create storybooks and ToonDoo with the older students to create cartoon strips. Today I came across StoryMaker while perusing my Diigo notifications. It may not be new but it is one I have not seen before. It is certainly fun to use, with its predetermined drag and drop characters, scenes and props. Dialogue as well as a written story are both possible. The final product can be printed off or downloaded as a pdf. Unfortunately I couldn't find embed code for the storybook, which would have made it a real contender for the work we do with the younger students. One way around this would be to upload it to Google docs or scribd to generate the appropriate code.  On a positive note, an account is not required to use the application and download books, making it an easy tool to use with any class.

Here are a couple of pages from my first book.

Braindump #2

Away from ISTE even one day later, I worry quite a bit about forgetting things that caught my attention at the conference. This list is a follow up to the previous post with those things that I thought important to investigate further. It is a do list of sorts.

 *Reminder to self about the number of cards from people I met, who expressed an interest in partnering up our students. These need be organised and followed up on, but not until August.


Interesting Ideas
I have used Voicethread a few times with students and have known about it for ages, but felt I needed a bit of a refresher and some inspiration. The session I attended was fine, not terribly challenging, but it gave me a few more ideas for uses I had not thought of. Certainly book talks are high on our lists of priorities this year and Voicethread is a  good vehicle for this as it allows for image/video uploads as well as collaboration and discussion. It can be used for debates as well, between members of a class, different classes or even different schools. A follow me story could be created with each person or team adding their image/s and chapters to it. There are plenty more uses for it, but these are some that stood out for me.


Things I Missed
One issue with an event  as big as ISTE is that you can't get to every presentation you'd like to. I remember sitting in perfectly good presentations, while TweetDeck spurted tweet after tweet at a rate of 2 per second, praising the joy and conversation of other presentations. This leads me to another job for the list, to browse through ISTE Unplugged.

High Impact
I almost missed Alan November's session  on Empathy: The 21st Century Skill.  It reminded me of things I knew and had pushed to one side, things I should be doing, and it put me to shame. This was a good thing however, as Alan talked to us about searching using site: and country codes as well as using twitter hashtags to search with in order to ensure kids are getting the full picture, understand issues from many perspectives ... I began kicking myself. I hadn't done this with my 7th grades during the Egyptian crisis project we did.  Our work seems so superficial in comparison, and it would have been a perfect unit in which to incorporate such important skills. I haven't gotten over it and that's a good thing. It means I will do better next time.

This lead me to a very important realisation.  I have used Twitter a lot for years and even taught kids to use it to record their own research in tweet format, but I have never had the kids use it to search empathetically, to pop that search bubble  that we have become encased in and find out what is really going on from all sides. Wasn't Twitter instrumental in getting ideas, experiences and news out during the Egyptian crisis...yet that wealth of information remained untapped for my students....Kick, kick, kick.,..Twitter is one of the best research tools around for getting all sides of the stories straight from those who are affected, directly involved and on the front line and at the very least for accessing media sources from around the world. When combined with smart searching using country codes and specific domains you can't go wrong, you will get the full picture.


Next Steps but Not Yet
Finally, one last thing that I can't let slip by is all the talk and excitement about iPads. They have certainly emerged as a must have for schools, There is so much that can be done with such a portable yet complete device. Hundreds of apps aside,  I saw people using their ipads in the most sensible and interesting of ways, capturing images, creating animations and other digital stories, sharing ideas, communicating with each other  and much, much more. There is one dark side however, that I was made aware of. Google Docs doesn't work properly on the iPad yet. No worries however, we have a whole school year to see if they sort out the issue or not.

ISTE Inspiration and Possibilities so Far- List 1

What I love about ISTE
I love interacting and sharing ideas with people at sessions and the playgrounds!!!! I could do that all day long!

I love the inspiration I receive, the renewing of faith in what we are all trying to do and that little push that takes me into my zpd once again.

I am fascinated by the sheer enormity of such and event. The number of choices in sessions that are available to participate in and attend.

Two days into the conference and what have I taken away? I have a long list of  todos at this point which I am sure to add to....


My List of Todos so Far
I Must:
-Use screen-o-matic.com instead of jing for student produced tutorials on small snapshot skills and make it a regular activity in and out of class. No account is needed, it is immediate and why not have their watermark on our vids...they provided the service and for free!

-Create student friendly rubrics for all units of study and instead of hitting them with the whole rubric, give them access to the whole thing and then take it in small steps, one row or so at a time depending on the week's learning objectives.

-Try a "get to know you" activity where kids share who they are with a mashup of video and photos. Note to self: think very carefully about the parking for this.

-Share Google Patents and Google Product searches with the Business and Economics teachers.

-Figure out how to make flubaroo work with Google forms and spreadsheets.

-Collect as much as possible on iPads in schools, App collections and follow the blogs of teachers implementing them. We should really be going down this road next school year once some of the bugs are fixed with Google Docs and I mean in both Primary and Secondary.

-Discuss using Amazon reviews with Languages to encourage student book review writing.

Things that Really Caught My Eye and have Added to Diigo( need further investigation)

From the Iste Google session by Howie DiBlasi

There was a lot more than this in the session, but those applications I was more familiar with. These are the ones that stood out for me:

Google transliteration:

Use google's transliteration instead of google translate,

set language preferences under Advanced Search

Wordlens of ripped and iphone, point at sign and it will translate it to your language. 

Google App Creator

http://appinventor.googlelabs.com/about/

Shapeways 

sell 3d models in sketchup online(bookmark this one)

factbites.com  encyclopedias and information

quintura generates a word cloud of results based on search criteria.

Clusty groups or clusters information that is related.

duck duck go

Flying through the crusades-google earth  wiki lessons.

http://kthorne.pbworks.com/w/page/6848602/Flying-Through-the-Crusades

5o things to do with google maps mashup

http://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/2006/12/50-things-to-do-with-google-maps.html

google patents

google products product comparisons

http://www.google.com/prdhp

ocarina App

play flute with ipod and iphone

School Year 2010/11

SY10/11 has been one of great success and forward momentum for the LRC and as a result, the ABC.

School year 10/11 was the first in which the LRC was able to link up teaching and learning on a larger scale with teachers and students in other schools and move forward with some exciting collaborative digital projects. There are plans for this to continue as well as to broaden the scope during the upcoming school year.

It was a year of consolidation in many ways. Students and some staff members who for several years had been working towards a comfort level with certain digital tools attained their goals this past year and are ready for next steps, building upon these skills and making further connections. It is safe to say that most students in KS3 are very comfortable with the great array of digital learning tools that they have been taught with or taught to use over the last 3 years. The current 6th grade after just one year in Secondary, is about to move up to 7th grade with the strongest of foundations of any year group, with a comfort level superior to even that of some 8th grade students, in web fluency and the use of digital media tools.

Staff members also demonstrated a greater willingness and confidence in seeking out and taking on digital projects as well as using the tools themselves. As a result there have been less requests for support than in prior years. Projects which were new to departments in the last two years have become an expected component of the curriculum and are now planned for on a yearly basis. Students and staff are also more comfortable with the ways of working in the LRC. Teachers regularly bringing classes down to read as well as work on various projects and students frequently book the resources at breaks and after school for their school work.

The ABC is now very much on the world map of forward thinking schools working with digital media. Not only are our student projects promoted through the various web presences that are managed by the LRC, in some cases they are the result of work with teachers and students in other countries. Some of the most successful work has been and will continue to be shared with educators from around the world through the various communication tools as well as through conference presentations. This too can be said of the Library specific work at the LRC and the promotion of special events, which are carefully documented and shared with the world through the same channels as well as local and international Library conferences, the blogs and other social networks of the LRC Staff members.

Cross curricular work in the LRC with departments (which is is outlined on the Vertical Schemes Site)has been further consolidated and enhanced
this year through the fine tuning of existing projects and the addition of new ones. These projects not only support and extend teaching and learning in other subjects and teach students new digital skills, but also serve to strengthen the relevance of these experiences and new skills building on those already acquired, which can be applied across a range of learning situations.

The LRC strives to enrich student life in many ways. This year it has played an even greater role in events and theme weeks, offering additional tours, interactive displays and workshops. Teachers and students from both Secondary and Primary made good use of these displays and workshops. LRC staff members also worked in unison with the Music department in organising and running Lunch on the Lawn.

The addition of the Digital Media Artist this school year proved to be very successful. Students and staff alike have gained so much from the support, new ideas and training they have received. The digital media resources and equipment collection has grown substantially this year and been well used throughout the school year. Perhaps one of the most exciting additions to the collection is the new green screen, which has been used by many students across the school to create interesting digital video projects. It is vital that the school continue to support learning by providing innovative experiences and support as well as appropriate and cutting edge equipment and resources.

The LRC book and magazine collection is well used by students and staff for reading both in and out of lessons. This past school year, more teachers have begun bringing their classes down for independent reading activities. One priority this school year was to build up the collection of Spanish language fiction books while at the same time updating English language fiction. This was possible in part due to the Scholastic book fair and book orders, as well as a substantial Spanish fiction book order. Spanish remains the focus for next year along with French and the addition of the newest titles in print and audio for the English fiction collection.

In summation, the year has been one of consolidation in some respects but also one of expansion in project work, themes, digital skills and resources. For the reasons mentioned in this report it has been the most successful year so far, not one immune to issues and obstacles, but one in which it was possible to further learning and move forward. None of this would have been possible without the constant support of school leaders, the enthusiasm of its students and teachers and the dedication, creativity and purpose of the LRC members of staff.

Blackberries and School-Good things Come to Those Who Wait!

A year ago I tried to get my then 8th grade students to use mobile phones to record video for their trailers. It never took off for various reasons and I chalked it up as a failed initiative. A few months back I tried to bring BlackBerry Smartphones into my teaching and learning again, by creating little quizzes and surveys online and posting QR codes on my sites and within my online lessons. It worked but it was a bit time consuming and when I weighed the impact against the effort, while factoring in the number of students with access to data plans, I desisted and decided it would need further thought. It was a bit cowardly to put it off rather than persevere and rethink it at the time, but the race to the end of the school year had begun and I was being swept away in the current by more pressing matters.

About a month ago I suggested the use of BlackBerries again to one of the English staff members and a few of the kids in the 9th grade began using them for some video work...but where was that tidal wave of excitement that should have come with permission to whip out one's phone in lessons and use it with the teacher's permission?

Needless to say it can be advantageous to place things on the back burner. Good things can come to those who wait (whatever the motivation). This past week I have been overwhelmed by students wanting to download voice-notes, pictures and video that they have taken on their blackberries for class assignments. At first it didn't hit me, the excitement I should have felt wasn't there. I was in the midst of preparing for our Digital Oscars and every second counted...but the kids come first and we managed to find a few ways of getting their content onto a computer.

Those with data plans simply emailed them, others downloaded to my Mac's Blackberry desktop, while later in the week we found we were able to open the BlackBerry files directly from the disk icon on the desktop....and then it hit me! This is exactly what I had been trying to do and it was happening, change had occurred and kids were using the tool, which 95% of them now have, for all sorts of multimedia tasks in lessons. Not only that, these were the little ones, the 6th graders, with whom I had never attempted to use mobile phones with in lessons. They had seen the potential for themselves, the value of those amazing little devices which seem to be an extra appendage permanently attached to the hands of most preteens and teens, okay let's face it most adults too.

It was a Eureka moment (once I stopped long enough to take it all in). The waves of change are certainly rising it was the students who triggered them in the end!

ABC Digital Oscars

We held our very first ABC Digital Oscars Award Show this week. A great deal of extra effort and hard work went into this on the part of students and staff, organising and producing and rendering videos, and it paid off. Ticket supplies were exhausted hours before the event, and the Performing Arts Centre looked spectacularly glamourous, bearing little resemblance to the exam room it had been just hours before. Parents and students began arriving quite early to vie for one of the special candlelit tables, while excitement and anticipation swelled.

During the event student work from 5th to 12th grade was spotlighted and rewarded, to screams of delight and hardy applause, while superb artistic interludes took place between categories.

It was a great evening which we hope to build on for school year 2011/12, a year for which we have new and exciting plans for further student digital video work.

I have included a video of our nominee interviews, the Best Movie of the Year award and the grand finale.
Enjoy!