I cropped, added the border, embellished the color, added the text, and faded the edges. I really loved the simplicity of Ribbet and will definitely have my students use it ... I'm just not sure how yet!
Monday, December 30, 2013
Thing 13: Media Skills
Did I mention how much fun this lesson was? I had a great time exploring some sites that I had previously not used including Ribbet.com. It was super easy and I can see that my students would be easily able to use it to modify their own photos. One drawback is the ton of ads on the site, but honestly, I didn't even create an account. I just uploaded a photo and worked away and could save it easily to my computer. It took me about 5 minutes to fix up this lovely picture of my best friend Bella.
I cropped, added the border, embellished the color, added the text, and faded the edges. I really loved the simplicity of Ribbet and will definitely have my students use it ... I'm just not sure how yet!
I cropped, added the border, embellished the color, added the text, and faded the edges. I really loved the simplicity of Ribbet and will definitely have my students use it ... I'm just not sure how yet!
Thing 12: Social Learning & Learning Management Systems
At TAE we have used a variety of LMS including Collaborize the Classroom, Edmodo, and ToolBoxPro (a system developed by our local BOCES), and Quizlet. I have teachers using all of these in one form or another.
Our 12th grade social studies teacher really loves Collaborize and uses it weekly with his students for them to respond to a social, government, or DBQ type of question. The kids love it and since they can access it from their phones it makes it even more fun for them. Needing an email to sign up was not an issue for the older students, HOWEVER, it certainly was for our Freshmen. In fact, the 9th grade social studies teacher switched to Edmodo this year because he had such a struggle getting students signed up through Collaborize. He really likes the interface that Edmodo provides and finds that the younger crowd at least seem to utilize it more because it's more "Facebook-like" feel.
Many of our teachers have switched from using CastleLearning (which can be WAY expensive) to Quizlet for assessments and practice. Quizlet is a great and FREE way to create learning modules like flashcards, matching, memory games, etc. You can even upload Regents exams and many teachers have a lot of good stuff already out there. My language, science, and social studies teachers use this with great frequency and it does allow the teacher to access individual student progress and assessment grades. ToolBoxPro has been developed by our local GST BOCES and includes many of the features of Quizlet and Collaborize and allows the teacher to upload documents, create assessments, get grades and communicate. ToolBox also has an interface with the teachers' websites and since we are required to use this to create our websites in the District some teachers find that beneficial. My high school students and teachers really don't love ToolBox at all. It's another sign in which often puts them off (although they have no trouble signing in twice to get to Facebook!) and more geared toward the lower grades. It's been upgraded lately and I'm still exploring some of the new features. It does have the added advantage that if we want something added or changed we can simply email the programmer and poof, it's fixed!
I explored Schoology and will be asking a couple of my peers to test it out. We aren't heavy into the world of Apple products at TAE so the iPad interface is really not an issue. Being able to add the video and rubric are awesome features for sure! I am a product of the online learning age. My Masters was earned online so things like Angel/Blackboard for second nature for me. I love that my students can mimic that experience with the new (FREE) and very good tools out there. I think that many students could benefit from a blended learning environment where they get the basics in class and then go online to explore and learn more on their own bringing back all those ideas into the classroom through both electronic discussion threads and in-person communication.
I will post more as our exploration of Schoology and other learning management systems continues!
Our 12th grade social studies teacher really loves Collaborize and uses it weekly with his students for them to respond to a social, government, or DBQ type of question. The kids love it and since they can access it from their phones it makes it even more fun for them. Needing an email to sign up was not an issue for the older students, HOWEVER, it certainly was for our Freshmen. In fact, the 9th grade social studies teacher switched to Edmodo this year because he had such a struggle getting students signed up through Collaborize. He really likes the interface that Edmodo provides and finds that the younger crowd at least seem to utilize it more because it's more "Facebook-like" feel.
Many of our teachers have switched from using CastleLearning (which can be WAY expensive) to Quizlet for assessments and practice. Quizlet is a great and FREE way to create learning modules like flashcards, matching, memory games, etc. You can even upload Regents exams and many teachers have a lot of good stuff already out there. My language, science, and social studies teachers use this with great frequency and it does allow the teacher to access individual student progress and assessment grades. ToolBoxPro has been developed by our local GST BOCES and includes many of the features of Quizlet and Collaborize and allows the teacher to upload documents, create assessments, get grades and communicate. ToolBox also has an interface with the teachers' websites and since we are required to use this to create our websites in the District some teachers find that beneficial. My high school students and teachers really don't love ToolBox at all. It's another sign in which often puts them off (although they have no trouble signing in twice to get to Facebook!) and more geared toward the lower grades. It's been upgraded lately and I'm still exploring some of the new features. It does have the added advantage that if we want something added or changed we can simply email the programmer and poof, it's fixed!
I explored Schoology and will be asking a couple of my peers to test it out. We aren't heavy into the world of Apple products at TAE so the iPad interface is really not an issue. Being able to add the video and rubric are awesome features for sure! I am a product of the online learning age. My Masters was earned online so things like Angel/Blackboard for second nature for me. I love that my students can mimic that experience with the new (FREE) and very good tools out there. I think that many students could benefit from a blended learning environment where they get the basics in class and then go online to explore and learn more on their own bringing back all those ideas into the classroom through both electronic discussion threads and in-person communication.
I will post more as our exploration of Schoology and other learning management systems continues!
Thing 3: Photo Sharing
Ok - I admit that I'm a Flickr junkie (love the art aspect of the photos) but thought I'd try my hand at a new experience with Historypin.com. VERY COOL I have to say. All kinds of ideas are spinning in my head including doing a pin tour of the historical markers in our area. Now wouldn't that be a great learning experience for the students - take a pic of the marker, do a little historical research, visit the historical society and get an old pic beside a new pic and create a nifty little tour. I also thought it could be a great tool to map something like the Sullivan-Clinton campaign which had a great local impact.
I also explored a bit under Google (I know - the 'g' word) for photos. I used the Advanced Search features and found out how to show my students how they can search for pics that are available for reuse, find pictures based on a color scheme, and drop and drag a photo into Google so they can search to find where the original photo came from.
Students (and teachers) all love great pics ... I am considering having my students do a little project where we give a book talk but instead of the traditional PowerPoint or poster type of presentation they have to explain the characters and main ideas/themes, etc., of their books in three photos or less! No words, no music, no flying text!! Just how the photo represents the meaning of their text. Now there's something they won't be able to use SparkNotes to do!
Great exploration of some fun and beautiful images. I loved this lesson!
I also explored a bit under Google (I know - the 'g' word) for photos. I used the Advanced Search features and found out how to show my students how they can search for pics that are available for reuse, find pictures based on a color scheme, and drop and drag a photo into Google so they can search to find where the original photo came from.
Students (and teachers) all love great pics ... I am considering having my students do a little project where we give a book talk but instead of the traditional PowerPoint or poster type of presentation they have to explain the characters and main ideas/themes, etc., of their books in three photos or less! No words, no music, no flying text!! Just how the photo represents the meaning of their text. Now there's something they won't be able to use SparkNotes to do!
Great exploration of some fun and beautiful images. I loved this lesson!
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