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ES Computer Lab Online! |
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Mini-NESA Nov. 09 Welcome! Motivation Plus -- Blogs, Mixbook, Wikis,
and other Electronic "Wows" for kids. For those of you who attended the presentation on Friday, I owe you an explanation as to why I did not provide a CD, as mentioned in the Mini-NESA program. I thought that since everything I presented required online access, having the links provided via the website would actually be more convenient. I have the information in a Word document and pdf format; those documents can easily be made into a CD. If you would like a CD, please just drop me a line; my email address is at the bottom of this page.
Yesterday, a few hours after Mini-NESA, I found some new ideas to share. I am considering maintaining this page, with additions from time to time. What do you think?
Web 2.0 is fantastic! Here are just a few of the sites we use at ACS to teach with and encourage students. Writers need a venue for publishing. Blogging, in a controlled environment is a safe and creative way for the students to express themselves. Classes from around the world connect with one another. The blog also provides the teachers with an easy way to provide links to various websites, displays of photos, and an environment for teaching online safety issues. It also reinforces our Character Education program. Blogger’s Contract Another tool for sharing writing is using Mixbook. Students in our 2008-2009 grade 5 classes compiled their favorite pieces into their Mixbook. They manipulated font styles and sizes, backgrounds, stickers, uploaded images, etc. Mixbook is a wonderfully creative expression of student work. Students’ permissions were obtained before sharing, as the student books are not visible to the public. We also compiled a collection of ES class submissions into one book. The possibilities for teacher use are almost endless. This book is visible to the public. Need to make a list of names, vocabulary words, thoughts, or almost anything? Try making that list and then beautifying it by making a Wordle. Actually, any written word can be used – try copying this paragraph below and see what you will end up with. What’s a Wordle? “Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.” An avatar is a computer user's representation of himself/herself. It can be a 3-D model or a 2-D icon (picture). Basically, it’s an object representing the user. The students learn to capture an online image, save as a jpg and then upload the image to their blog. And they love the whole process! Voki is a free service that allows you to create personalized speaking avatars and use them on your blog, profile, and in email messages. We reinforce no first or last names and no photos – if under the age of 13. The students also learn some simple digital audio recording skills, in addition to uploading to a website.
An interactive site where one can read and create myths and legends. Any student submissions are held for approval, unless the school is registered. Student stories can be found by searching for a particular school. Try creating environmentally friendly projects. No poster board, paper, or printing required. Just online fun! Another environmentally friendly display venue; a little more complicated, but quite impressive. And this I just mess around with for fun! Grade 5A Always NEW IDEAS to Share! New ideas will be posted here, as they come along.
 What about your ideas!
Drop me an email to share some of your ideas.
Hope you enjoy having fun engaging the students with online tools. Need any help with anything? |
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