Adventures in Teaching and Learning

I’ve been showing my sister some of my favourite websites. She asked me to send her links, so I thought maybe I could just make one post with them all here and then just send her the link to this post! So here they are.

Animations

Xtranormal – If you can type, you can make an animation.
GoAnimate! – Make cartoon animations.

Flashcards

Quizlet – Make simple flashcards and learn your keywords
StudyStack – Make flashcards, and StudyStack will automatically make games out of them, eg hangman, catch the bug, unscramble words
FlashCardFlash – Search for flashcards on a number of different sites

Video

Fliggo – Host your own video site. Hopefully the school might not block this …

Visuals

CompFight – Click on “Creative Commons ONLY” to find images to use in school
SimplyBox – Choose your favourite images or videos then simply box them for use later.

And remember … I also have links to a wide range of Web 2.0 tools here. Have fun!

It’s always nice to share ideas and get ideas from others. I came across Box of Tricks when I began using Wordle; today I thought I would revisit and discovered that the blogger has been using Voki in his classroom, with Year 9 boys. Having listened to some of them on his school blog, I have been very impressed (and reminded of my years living in Nottingham!) Then I discovered Senor Picardo’s Animoto challenge – and an entry produced by a student. These are certainly very good ways of using ICT in the classroom, and I have found them quite inspiring. I hope you do too!

Get a Voki now!

The new TTP group meet on Tuesday; I have the privilege of hosting a session on Web 2.0, involving pedagogy and practical application. So today I have been trying to think of uses for a variety of Web 2.0 applications, hence the large number of posts! I think it’s about time to pull some of those ideas together.

Voki
I enjoy adding vokis onto my blogs to liven them up a bit and add sound. It’s a humorous way of engaging the students as well, and for students who find reading a bit more difficult, then Voki instructions may be a bit easier to follow. If students have access to computers, then I think Vokis work well especially in MFL, where students can record short paragraphs in the target language: this could then be used for peer and self assessment purposes. The main difficulty I have with Voki is that they are not downloadable, so they can only be shown when hosted on a browser somewhere and cannot be inserted into powerpoint presentations. (If they can, and I’m missing something, please let me know!) Of course, CrazyTalk can be used to similar effect, but with a little more effort.

If you have used Voki successfully as a teaching and learning tool, please drop me a line to let me know!

VoiceThread
This seems like a good way to encourage students to listen to one another and to respond to one another. A VoiceThread can be used to gather a variety of opinions and ideas, which can be shared or kept private (In this case, you would need to make accounts for all students, and add them all as your friends on the VoiceThread that you wanted them to watch/listen/comment on. They can also be moderated.) I have seen some good examples, eg “This picture makes me think …”, Students reading out poems that they have written in response to a visual stimulus, students using the doodle tool to demonstrate what they think will happen next in an experiment (actually, I haven’t seen that, but I think it could be a good idea … if you moderate the comments, then keep them all hidden until you have received everyone’s comments) … I’m sure there are many more.

What ideas do you have for how you could use VoiceThread in your subject? If you have already used it, could you add a link in the comments box so we can see it and be inspired?

Slideshare
An easy way to share presentations. I have made a very basic one with the most basic key points for my GCSE students to support their last minute revision, and another one with pictures to illustrate Pentecost, which I will use in my lessons next week. The other side, of course, is that there are many interesting presentations out there, that can either inform us as educators, or can be used by us in the classroom.

Have you a favourite presentation that you found on SlideShare? Or have you uploaded a presentation made by your students that could inspire us?

YouTube, TeacherTube, GodTube, TED, GoogleVideo, Teachers’ TV
I am sure there are other video sharing websites out there, these are just some of the most common, or ones that I have found recently. Videos can be a great starter for lessons, and there are some great educational clips out there, as well as lots of funny clips that can begin discussion. Just be careful though – I showed a clip of Mel Brookes as Moses, dropping one of the tablets on which were written the Fifteen – well, now Ten – Commandments in order to start thinking about the Decalogue with my class, and quite a few of them assumed that there really were originally fifteen … ! I have also used the Honda Cogs clip to illustrate the concept of causation. Of course, the next stage is then making your own videos to upload and share with others. For a trial, I made a video using OneTrueMedia, and uploaded that to YouTube. It’s not great, but at least it shows it can be done! I am also a member of the RE Group on YouTube.

How have you used YouTube or another video site during a lesson? Why do you think showing short video clips can be such a good learning tool?

Well, there are hundreds of other sites, and it’s getting late and I have other things to do, so that will have to do for now. I do hope that some of you who read this will leave a comment suggesting ways in which these, and other Web 2.0 applications, can be used effectively in the classroom to enhance teaching and learning.

So, all this Web 2.0 stuff – but is it useful in the classroom? And if so, why? And how? This VoiceThread suggests that Web 2.0 can support a variety of activities: “design, create, share, interact, collaborate”. All of which are skills that we want to foster in our students.

Today I am sharing with you my podbean account. I have recorded a few episodes that my GCSE auditory learners can download and listen to, rather than reading the Revision Guide. I’ve linked the podbean site to my GCSE blog, so the episodes do not use up lots of room on my blog.

It will be interesting to see how many of my students decide to take advantage of these audible revision aids. I might include one as a voki on my site to encourage them to see what’s available as well … If anyone else is teaching Edexcel Catholic Christianity, feel free to use them too.

NOTE: I’ve since discovered Amy’s GeographyRocks podbean account, which has some great student interviews about migration! An excellent example of how podcasting can be used with students to share ideas.

Emm … I’ve just seen it on TV and wow, it was great! Yes, I’m obviously talking about that Scottish victory last night against France. I’ve been trying to find it on YouTube, but with no success so far – fortunately I turned to the TV at just the right moment to see the ball sail from McFadden’s foot to the back of the net over quite a distance. The Independent’s report is here.

While we’re talking about Scotland, I think that’s a good time to remind any readers about the Scottish Learning Festival 2007 which takes place from 19-20 September at the SECC in Glasgow. There will be lots of info – including blogs and podcasts – on their websites, and there will be updates on Facebook as well. Wish I could be there! I expect it will be really inspirational. And I am sure that, as always, Ewan McIntosh will add pithy comments on his enjoyable blog.

Now, let me get back to finding that goal …

This is a reminder for me as well as for letting any readers know – the Scottish Learning Festival is on from 19-20 September at the SECC in Glasgow. Should be interesting – there is a blog and there will be podcasts too, so those of us who can’t make it in person can still be inspired by what is going on. If you are on Facebook, then there is an event that you can sign up to, which will help you find out what is going on. And if you are not on Facebook, why not?! I am completely converted. We also have the HTTP group there as well – it would be great to have more members!

I was just browsing, catching up on the latest on Ewan McIntosh’s blog, when I came across this link to the Wolverhampton LA Mobile Learning project.

On the TTP literature we got, EDAs/PDAs were mentioned … I didn’t really know what they were, but having read through this summary, I want one! Or, rather, I want all my pupils to have one! (I think …)

It’s okay, I know I have loads of things to try out already – and I was using my DigiMemo to useful effect again today in my A Level revision classes – but it is so exciting to read about all the exciting new technologies that there are, that we may be able to use at some point in the future in our schools.

Which reminds me, I had a good chat with some friends about the educational use of technology. They are using new technologies in order to educate people about global justice issues, and are finding that lots of people don’t really understand the pedagogy behind the technologies. That’s definitely something that we need to consider, perhaps more explicitly as we continue on our journey with new technologies – I think I’m still a bit at the “look at all the exciting things I can do with my computer!” stage, still on the way to “this is my learning aim … can any of the new technologies I have access to help me achieve this aim more effectively than what I do at present?” stage.