Week 6 - Electronic Mobile Devices

iPod's, iPhone's, iPad's and other portable electronic devices are an excellent way to use technology in the classroom as they can be passed around and shared easily and information can be accessed quickly on them. I have made a list below of some ways they could be used in my classroom.

- Taken on excursions and school camps to document things seen and done through photos and notes

- Can be used anywhere at anytime

- Can be used for research

- Can be used for reading books

- Playing educational games

- Watching youtube clips and other videos related to what they are learning

- Upload videos, pictures and text to school blogs and wikis

- Deliver presentations through sites such as Prezi (http://prezi.com/)

- Can be used to take class notes that can later be printed and saved for study 

- Can be used as an electronic set of flash cards to study for exams

- Can be used instead of palm cards during oral presentations.

The uses of these mobile devices in the classroom are endless and depends on the context in which you are teaching. 

Week 5 - Using Prezi for Teaching and Learning

This week I chose the group 3 technology of Prezi to explore. I found it to be the most suitable to use in my teaching context of secondary English. I found Prezi to be an excellent tool that gives a new take on the standard powerpoint presentation and brings brainstorming and presenting ideas and information to life. It is a tool that students can use within the classroom as well as taking it beyond the classroom to brainstorm their own ideas for assignments and further on in the workplace.

The site is easy to use with easy to find tabs and information. It is fast and simple to get started with new prezi’s and being able to save them to your computer lets you take them with you and access them quickly and easily.

 The different designs you can choose from allow the creator to personalise their work for their specific presentation needs.

The automatic saving feature is helpful incase the student forgets to save their work, and because it is an online tool, it can be accessed and changed anytime the student or teacher has access to a computer. It is also great that it can be embedded into a blog, as is the example I have made below:

http://prezi.com/szxx5moe3szp/untitled-prezi/?kw=view-szxx5moe3szp&rc=ref-36338975

I did not find any issues with using the site or creating my Prezi. Everything was quick, simple and easy, making it ideal for students. 

Examples of ways Prezi can be used in my teaching context are; 

• To brainstorm ideas with students,
• allow students to express themselves creatively in their work, 
• present new topics to students in a fun and interesting way, 
• allow students to make decisions following a though process, 
• present their progress on an assignment and the steps they took in completing it, 
• give presentations to the class and,
• add effect to oral presentations. 

Week 4 - Digital Technologies 2

Creating Digital Video

I used iMovie to create my digital video. I found the program difficult to use as the instructions were not clear enough on how to use the program. Although the buttons for adding all the different parts such as sound and text were there, I had difficulty putting these different components together to create a smooth-flowing movie. I think my learners may also have these difficulties if they have never used a program like this before. Perhaps spending more time learning how to use the program may help, although this would cut into learning time for students.

Because almost all new computers have a movie making application on them now, the affordability of using digital video as a learning resource is quite good. The availability would also depend on, however, the number of computers accessible for students in classroom time and at home. The program would also require a significant amount of time spend by students creating and editing their videos.

Digital videos could be used in my teaching context of secondary English to create group movies, document projects, perform and record skits, or provide a way of presenting assignments.

(I tried to upload the video I made however unfortunately Blogger would not let me upload it.) 

Resizing Images

I found using MobaPhoto (http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Graphic/Graphic-Editors/MobaPhoto.shtml) to resize and upload images easy and straight forward. I believe my students would use this program with ease as it explains how to download and resize your photographs simply.

As the program is free, it is easily accessible, however this would again depend upon the accessibility of computers to students. 

This tool could be used for secondary english students to resize and upload images onto assignments and interactive whiteboards, and makes it easy for for images to be included on learning materials and hand outs given to students. 

Digital Audio Recordings 

Creating a digital audio recording was simple and easily downloadable to my Wiki. I believe this tool would be easily used by my students. This tool would be easily accessible to students as it can be done from so many different devices such as phones, iPods, mp3's and computers. Digital audio recordings could be used in my teaching context of secondary english to record and deliver assignments, record messages, document research, and give voice messages to students. Please see below the link to my Wiki containing the voice recording I made. 

www.sarahaarnold.wikispaces.com