This week's tech task was to share our favorite idea from each of the three speakers in class on March 20th. As you can see, it is March 26th. I've been listening to the recording in bits and pieces, as I make supper, wash dishes, fold laundry, etc! That's the beauty of the flipped classroom- multitasking at its best!
Top Tip: Radio Programming- Heather Durnin
Heather was able to link her class with a free radio station called 105 The Hive. Her students produced shows featuring reader's theatre, speeches, and holiday programming. People from all over the world, including friends and relatives, were able to tune in. Radio is especially good for students whose oral expression is stronger than written expression.
I am not sure how to go about looking for free radio time/stations. A quick google search shows radio stations that you can listen to for free, but not produce for free. Anyone know of any?
Top Tip: Standing Stations- Royan Lee
Partly as a joke, Royan brought bar-height counters into his classroom to use as gathering places. To his surprise, students worked far more efficiently when they were standing as opposed to sitting.
I know that schools can order adjustable desks so that students can stand instead of sit. I believe that the more movement there is throughout the day, the better the students will learn. I am going to keep my eyes open on kijiji and at garage sales for furniture I can buy for my classroom!
Top Tip: Stalking in English- Clarence Fisher
Clarence chose three well-known educators and challenged his students to "stalk" them to try to find out as much as possible about these individuals (he asked permission beforehand). Students had two 90-minute periods to try to dig up as much information as possible. This exercise resulted in valuable observations about what kind of information responsible adults post online.
I am definitely going to try this if I have middle years or high school students. There can be a lot of anxiety around posting student information online. This activity shows students that it is possible to have a significant digital presence and still be safe.
Showing posts with label tech task. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tech task. Show all posts
Tuesday, 26 March 2013
Thursday, 7 March 2013
Tech Task #8: QR Codes
My imagination is going crazy with QR code ideas!
My first impulse was to tease my friends with it. Here's what that looks like:
The QR codes are links to a song and an online talk that I thought my friend would enjoy.
After sniffing around online, I found that some conventional uses for QR codes in the classroom are...
-promoting a blog or website
-doing a scavenger hunt
-scanning a qr code on a book to link to a website with trailers, extras, learning activities, etc
-including qr codes in newsletters for parents to scan
-providing a link to a google form or a trivia question
I have a few ideas of my own to add (I am probably not the first to think of them, but I came up with them myself):
Classroom Use:
-create a qr code and then replicate it using another medium (paint, pastel, found items, photo collage) for visual art
-use qr codes as a jumping-off point for a discussion about probablility. Explore if there is a limit to the number of qr codes that can be created. How does the number of characters in a qr code affect the way that it looks?
-create a qr code and then write one word in each black space to transform it into a poem
Other Random Ideas:
-paint a qr code on the back of a t-shirt. Wear the t-shirt to work or school and track how many times it was scanned throughout the day (www.trakqr.com)
-include a qr code on your business card with a link to your digital profile
-in a perfect world, all clothing companies would be linked with computer software so that customers could download their size and preferences in to an app, and then scan a clothes tag which would instatntly tell you whether the clothes would fit you! (read: no more fitting rooms!)
-revolutionize online dating: singles could create an online portfolio and tattoo the qr code to their forehead. People could unobtrusively scan the foreheads of people they see around town and then get information about them without having to actually start up a conversation. This last one is to see who's still reading :)
My first impulse was to tease my friends with it. Here's what that looks like:
The QR codes are links to a song and an online talk that I thought my friend would enjoy.
After sniffing around online, I found that some conventional uses for QR codes in the classroom are...
-promoting a blog or website
-doing a scavenger hunt
-scanning a qr code on a book to link to a website with trailers, extras, learning activities, etc
-including qr codes in newsletters for parents to scan
-providing a link to a google form or a trivia question
I have a few ideas of my own to add (I am probably not the first to think of them, but I came up with them myself):
Classroom Use:
-create a qr code and then replicate it using another medium (paint, pastel, found items, photo collage) for visual art
-use qr codes as a jumping-off point for a discussion about probablility. Explore if there is a limit to the number of qr codes that can be created. How does the number of characters in a qr code affect the way that it looks?
-create a qr code and then write one word in each black space to transform it into a poem
Other Random Ideas:
-paint a qr code on the back of a t-shirt. Wear the t-shirt to work or school and track how many times it was scanned throughout the day (www.trakqr.com)
-include a qr code on your business card with a link to your digital profile
-in a perfect world, all clothing companies would be linked with computer software so that customers could download their size and preferences in to an app, and then scan a clothes tag which would instatntly tell you whether the clothes would fit you! (read: no more fitting rooms!)
-revolutionize online dating: singles could create an online portfolio and tattoo the qr code to their forehead. People could unobtrusively scan the foreheads of people they see around town and then get information about them without having to actually start up a conversation. This last one is to see who's still reading :)
Saturday, 9 February 2013
Tech Task #5 Storytelling and Creation
For this tech task, I decided to take the classic "Annual Letter" to a whole new level. I found 12 pictures, one from each month from 2012. Then I came up with delightful captions for each. My vision was to be able to share my stories from this year via a storytelling tool.
First, I picked the storytelling tools. This was a more challenging job than I anticipated...
Mixbook.com would have been great, if I wanted to pay for publishing.
OurStory.com would have been great, if I could get the photos to upload.
Glogster.com would have been great, if I could have figured out how to use their template.
Imageloop.com would have been great, if I had an iPhone
Two hours later, I began a Slideroll.com project. I was able to finish my project, but I was sorely dissapointed with the tool. It was impossible to delete or rearrange slides, edit the text, or add more than the most basic effects. If I were going to make a slideshow, I would use PowerPoint, save it as a PDF, and email it to my friends.
Here is my finished project from Slideroll.
By this point I was getting a little fed up with storytelling tools. However. I gave Wayfaring.com a go and I fared way better.
Take a look at a map of my journeys in 2012.
Wayfaring allows you to plot points on maps and tag the point with an address and a description. You can connect points together with "routes" (altho' the routes are "as the crow flies", not following roads). I was glad to experiment with this website, because it's a good way to bookmark places on a map for later reference. I'm planning a road trip to the sourthern States this summer, and Wayfaring is one option for how to plan for the trip. However, I wish that it was linked with google maps so that I could easily search for places.
I don't if I would use either of these storytelling tools in the classroom. They are both very limited in function in comparison with he time they would take to teach. I need to check out the other slideshow tools as well as Google maps, however, to see if there is a better alternative.
Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/88955553@N00/4423387852/">nettsu</a> via <a href="http://compfight.com">Compfight</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>
First, I picked the storytelling tools. This was a more challenging job than I anticipated...
Mixbook.com would have been great, if I wanted to pay for publishing.
OurStory.com would have been great, if I could get the photos to upload.
Glogster.com would have been great, if I could have figured out how to use their template.
Imageloop.com would have been great, if I had an iPhone
 |
| This is how I felt |
Two hours later, I began a Slideroll.com project. I was able to finish my project, but I was sorely dissapointed with the tool. It was impossible to delete or rearrange slides, edit the text, or add more than the most basic effects. If I were going to make a slideshow, I would use PowerPoint, save it as a PDF, and email it to my friends.
Here is my finished project from Slideroll.
By this point I was getting a little fed up with storytelling tools. However. I gave Wayfaring.com a go and I fared way better.
Take a look at a map of my journeys in 2012.
Wayfaring allows you to plot points on maps and tag the point with an address and a description. You can connect points together with "routes" (altho' the routes are "as the crow flies", not following roads). I was glad to experiment with this website, because it's a good way to bookmark places on a map for later reference. I'm planning a road trip to the sourthern States this summer, and Wayfaring is one option for how to plan for the trip. However, I wish that it was linked with google maps so that I could easily search for places.
I don't if I would use either of these storytelling tools in the classroom. They are both very limited in function in comparison with he time they would take to teach. I need to check out the other slideshow tools as well as Google maps, however, to see if there is a better alternative.
Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/88955553@N00/4423387852/">nettsu</a> via <a href="http://compfight.com">Compfight</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>
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