Glogster

ASSIGNMENT TITLE:
Glogster

USES IN THE CLASSROOM:
A Glogster would be a great way to do a book report, presentation, or anything you would want to show graphically. To be able to write, illustrate, even create audio or video to demonstrate understanding of a subject/topic.  This would also be a great group assignment where students collaborate, not only on the information gathering process but the design of the final project. This is definitely not for lower elementary but could be used in the upper elementary up to high-school.

ISSUES TO CONSIDER:
Age level. There would need to be access to a computer and Internet. Students would need an e-mail that is edu based for the EDU-Glogster or use personal e-mail for just Glogster. It seems to help to have an edu e-mail address to use, it feels that EDU-Glogster is better than the regular Glogster. Students would need a lot of patience with this program, if it has the same errors that I encountered. Students would need to be able to find tools under the creative commons license and be able to cite and reference correctly.

COPYRIGHT:
Creator, Designer, Video Author
Elizabeth Selepack, 2013

Clark, R. (2002). Six Principles of Effective e-Learning: What Works and Why. The e-Learning Developers' Journal, September 10, 2002, 4.

Cotten, S.R., & Shank, D.B. (2014). Does technology empower urban youth? The relationship of technology use to self-efficacy. Computers & Education, 70, (2014), 184-193. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2013.08.018.


Link to my glogster:
http://www.glogster.com/selepack/flypaper-glog-by-selepack/g-6kag0u8bruj08b63g1ugi4r

Image of my Glogster:

Gliffy / Mind Mapping

ASSIGNMENT TITLE:
Gliffy / Mind Mapping

USES IN THE CLASSROOM:
This is a great visual for students. Lower elementary classrooms would have better use of mind mapping made by the teacher. Upper level elementary and secondary students would be able to design mind maps to prepare them for writing papers, demonstrating connections between concepts, and sort through information.

ISSUES TO CONSIDER:
There would need to be access to a computer with internet to be able to go to the Gliffy website. Gliffy has a 15 day trial and afterwards would need to be paid for. There are different levels of Gliffy to be purchased. Students would need to have a good understanding of how to use the software and also be able to spell. There are a lot of tools to use and students would need time to explore the software before being required to make a Gliffy for a grade. This would be more for middle school and high school use.

COPYRIGHT:
Munoz Ryan, P. (2002). When Marian Sang. New York: Scholastic Press.

Bauman, T. (2010). Anderson, Marian. In The World Book Encyclopedia. (Vol. 1, pp. 451-452). Chicago, IL: World Book, Inc.

Marian Anderson. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 04:50, Dec 09, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/marian-anderson-9184422.

University Musical Society. (photograph). (2013). Marian Anderson: Miscellaneous Pre-KCF Era. [Photograph]. Retreived from http://ums.aadl.org/ums_photos_01277.

U.S. Information Agency. (1939). Anderson in her 1939 concert at the Lincoln Memorial. [Photograph]. Retreived December 9, 2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Anderson.

Videos of Marian Anderson:
From Marian Anderson: The Lincoln Memorial Concert 1939
Marian Anderson, 1950

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Please enjoy my Gliffy on Marian Anderson

Photo Editing

ASSIGNMENT TITLE:
Photo Editing

USES IN THE CLASSROOM:
When editing photos there are lots of things that can be done. A teacher could edit a photo and replace a color with another to see if students notice the what is wrong in the picture. For example, trees may be changed from green to purple and one would hope students would notice something like that.
Photoshop has lots of great tools for students to explore and use to manipulate pictures. For the lower elementary level, teachers would be more likely to edit pictures for their students but upper elementary into high school would be able to understand Photoshop with practice and be able to manipulate photos on their own.
In the lower elementary creating a gif could be helpful to draw a students eye to what is most important on the screen. Teachers could create a pattern of colors with the gif and see if students could discover the pattern. A teacher could display a gif of the alphabet that they created for kindergarten students to recite on the daily. A gif may also be used to show math equations or formulas that would be useful to remember.

ISSUES TO CONSIDER:
There would need to be access to a computer and Photoshop software. Students would need to be able to locate photos under Creative Commons with an Attribution license. Photoshop is expensive but there is a 30-day trail offered. Teachers would have to base what students need to do and understand about Photoshop in that 30 days if the school is unable to afford the software. There would also need to be time to explore Photoshop. The software looks very confusing at first with all the tools and buttons that can be used or students would have to have really good screencasts to assist in their learning and use of the software. I do not believe that this tool would be helpful with younger students but the older students would be able to understand and pick up the ability to photo edit very quickly.

COPYRIGHT:

Manning, L. (photograph). (2005). Have a holly jolly christmas. [Digital Image]. Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurenmanning/1263256439/in/photostream/

Original Image

 Changed to black and white with my name inserted over top.

 Replaced the green with blue.

Cropped photo just a little then changed the brightness and contrast of the photo.

Infographic Assignment

ASSIGNMENT TITLE:
Infographic Assignment

USES IN THE CLASSROOM:
This is a great tool to show information visually. I would not have the students use this in the lower elementary but a teacher could easily was infographics to show the class visual information. It would be fun to do class favorites and create an inforgraphic for the students to see.

For students that have a good understanding of collecting data and using the computer, inforgraphics would be a great way to show understanding of a topic through designing an infographic by analyzing the data to compare and organize the topic at hand. Students would be able to demonstrate their findings by displaying an infographic.

ISSUES TO CONSIDER:
Students must be able to collect data and understand how to put the data into a graphic. They must also have access to a computer with Internet, the correct software, any other software/hardware needed and general knowledge on how to navigate around the software. Easel.ly is not the easiest program to use. There were several times that frustration got the best of me and had to walk away. I do not believe young students would enjoy this program and even some older students. The program was very touchy and had to reformat often even after simply zooming in or out. Students will need to understand how to locate materials under the creative commons licensing or be able to get permission to use any copyrighted materials. Students should be able to site any materials used in the creating of the infographic. 


COPYRIGHT:
Creator
Elizabeth Selepack, 2013

Photo Reference
ccho. (photographer). (2011). Thanksgiving feast. [Digital Image]. Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/ccho/6397578893/

Software Used
SurveyMonkey
Easel.ly
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This infographic was not easy to do on Easel.ly but I would use infographics when gathering information from lower elementary students and present it to them in this fun and graphic way! Enjoy!

Instructional Video Assignment

ASSIGNMENT TITLE:
Instructional Video - 2D Shapes

USES IN THE CLASSROOM:
Instructional Videos have a wide variety of uses in the classroom. If there was a short instructional video that accompanied every classroom lesson, students would have a great reference to go to when they did not quite get everything the first time it was explained. It would give the teachers the ability to reteach without having to do it with the whole class.
Students could use instructional videos to also explain subjects and topics in their own words. This would be helpful to other students to hear a lesson in someone else's words. It could also be used by a teacher for a grade to see if the student actually understood the subject at hand. Most likely if a child can correctly explain/instruct a topic then the have a good understanding of the topic at hand.

ISSUES TO CONSIDER:
Students must have access to a computer with Internet, correct software, a microphone (or computer that has a microphone), camera (and a way to upload the pictures), any other software/hardware needed and general knowledge on how to navigate around the software. Students will need to understand how to locate materials under the creative commons licensing or be able to get permission to use any copyrighted materials. Students should be able to site any materials used in the creating of the instructional video.


COPYRIGHT:
Creator and Narrator
Elizabeth Selepack, 2013

Audio Reference
Bare Knuckles
provided by Camtasia Library, 6/19/2012

Software Used
Microsoft PowerPoint
Camtasia Studio
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This Instructional Video can be used to introduce basic two-dimensional shapes to students. It discusses the shape's edges, corners, and lengths of the edges. Enjoy!

Digital Storytelling

ASSIGNMENT TITLE:
Digital Storytelling

USES IN THE CLASSROOM:
Digital Storytelling can be used in many different ways to tell stories about any topic. For this assignment we were asked to create a digital story that tells a story about something we may teach.
Students would use digital storytelling to design, produce, and publish their own personal digital story. Examples of assignments may be: tell a story about your summer vacation, your favorite book, family member, etc. If a teacher thinks it could be made into a story, a student should be able to create a digital story and be published and viewed by many.

ISSUES TO CONSIDER:
Students must have access to a computer with internet, the digital storytelling software, a microphone (or computer that has a microphone), camera (and a way to upload the pictures), and general knowledge on how to navigate around the software. Students will need to understand how to locate materials under the creative commons licensing or be able to get permission to use any copyrighted materials. Students should be able to site any materials used in the creating of the digital story.


COPYRIGHT:
Writer, Photographer and Narrator
Elizabeth Selepack, 2013

Photographed on Location
Lakeside Beach, Port Huron, MI

Special Thanks to
Tova (narrators daughter)
Matthew (husband)

Audio Reference
Jahzzar, "The Lake", November 10, 2013, via FreeMusicArchive.org, Creative Commons - Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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This Digital Storytelling could be used as an introduction to earth's materials, such as rocks, in Science or used for discussing sorting in Mathematics. Enjoy!

Screencast Assignment

ASSIGNMENT TITLE: Screencast

USES IN THE CLASSROOM: A screencast is a great way for teachers to introduce hardware or software to the classroom that students may be using within the class setting. This can be viewed in the classroom and even outside the classroom to demonstrate how to manipulate the hardware/software.
Screencasts can be created by students to demonstrate mastery of a hardware/software. Students could be asked to create a screencast on how they work with certain hardware/software and then used later to compare how students complete their work the same or differently using the hardware/software.

ISSUES TO CONSIDER: Students would need access to a computer that contains the screencast software, also any hardware/software being used to show the assignment, the internet, and a microphone. There would need to be a good understanding of how to navigate around a computer and also a well planned screencast. This would probably not be a good assignment for lower elementary students, but upper elementary, middle and definitely high school students would be able to create a screencast.

COPYRIGHT: This screencast was created with Camtasia Studio by Elizabeth Selepack, the owner of this blog, on November 10, 2013, and features Microsoft Word 2010.

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This screencast is a basic introduction to using Microsoft Word. The tutorial demonstrates how to open Microsoft Word, enlarge the page to 100% and also down size to view only one page, changing font style and font size and also printing. Please remember this is for the little ones that are just getting introduced to using Microsoft Word and a keyboard.