This week ,I must admit, I did not get through all the creative commons copyright reading- just Part I and II, and I’m sure my sample presentation will reflect this- and I promise, teacher, that I will make amends this weekend when I have more time- and fix any wrongs on the presentation. I did enjoy the common craft approach to storytelling. Actually, what I learned too- which is a BIG enlightenment, is that when sites refer to storytelling, that can mean presentations- I always thought it meant story-telling as in writing a story in English class. Anyway, the common craft approach could really be appeal to the artists in the class and is a great way to ensure students understand a concept!
I did my sample presentation using Sliderocket- I have started converting all my old powerpoint lecture slides into either Prezi or Sliderocket - using more graphics and photos, with less text. I started doing this because Slideshare has some really good tutorials on effective presentations and I tried to apply some of their principles. However, I will post my old powerpoints, or the notes part of them on my wiki for my classes, so that if they missed some of the content, they have it in written form on those slides. I also like to use Prezi, and some of my students have started using both Sliderocket and Prezi for their presentations. The nice thing about these tools is that students working in a group can work on the same presentation at the same time in different locations. The down side to these tools is they are web based, and so, at least in our school, the computers are soooo slow, that a lot of time is wasted waiting for the sites to come up.
I also put “kick youtube” in my favorites section- Sliderocket embeds you tube directly, but Prezi has to have a swf file ( last time I checked). From my PLN, I just found out that Google labs has a new program or site called Google Swiffy which changes swf (flash) files to HTML code which, as I understand it, is what ipad use- now this could be a breakthrough for me. Here is a photo I made from Jing ( so you see, I have been working, just not reading as much)
O.K. how do I make this picture bigger?
Mary, I agree to your comment about the downside of web-based tools and SLOW computers! It never fails that when I sign up for the computer lab to do work on the web with students we run into some trouble. And in 6th grade, students aren't savvy enough with keyboarding, patience not to keep clicking on everything, etc. so it's a game of frustration at times!
ReplyDeleteAs I was creating my collage in Picasa to upload, I had to spend time figuring out how it works... and this is a time factor for limited access, slow computers and limited time! I do really like the 5 in 5 concept for video storytelling because it limits students to a short video. I have worked with students on videoing and editing...they love it! Flip video cameras work well and our science department shares them between 6-8 grades.
I am impressed (and jealous of your ambition) for starting to convert your powerpoints following the tips in this weeks readings (less text and one/two revelant pics). I'm starting to see Prezi's @ conferences, but have not tried it...looks nice!
Mary,
ReplyDeleteI, too, can relate to the problem of slow computers. And sometimes I will have reserved the computer lab and the network ends up down. I am getting better at always having a “plan B” whenever I am using technology of any type…projectors, videos, scope-cams, or computers!
The concept of digital storytelling was new to me as well. I am really excited about trying this with my classes. I have a colleague who had students create videos last year. The videos her students designed were quite impressive. I find that youth catch on to web tools much faster than we do because they are not afraid of doing something wrong. At least that is my impression from watching my own children and my students. I need to get some of their fearlessness!
I like your idea of keeping your PowerPoint presentations that include all the text on them as a means for absent students to catch up. That’s a great idea. For teachers only using the pared down presentations (mostly images), I suppose they could make screencasts of their lectures with the audio included for absent students to view. Of course, what would be even better would be to videotape the lectures as they are happening!
I have never used Sliderocket or Prezi. I plan on looking into them.
As for making your picture bigger, if you look at the long embed code you should see height and width numbers…just make those numbers larger – right in the code.
Thanks Linda!
ReplyDelete