Friday, June 30, 2017
Monday, June 19, 2017
So I am reviving my old blog, which began as a result of a graduate course. It still has some useful information, but it's time to add more ideas.
I attended the AETC 2017 June 14 and 15 in Hoover, Alabama. There were, of course, too many sessions that I wanted to attend, so I had to make good use of my time. The keynote speaker was Jeff Utecht, and he was quite interesting. I attended a couple of his sessions. He encouraged us all to use social media to connect with stakeholders, and he showed us how to use social media to encourage students to write, make wise connections, and prepare for their professional futures. He also showed us how to become Wikipedia editors, and encouraged us to have our students participate!
Instead of lamenting how digital communication is wrecking our youth, he showed us how we can use it to improve student communication. This school year, I am looking forward to employing some of his suggestions.
You can follow him on Twitter at@jutecht
I attended the AETC 2017 June 14 and 15 in Hoover, Alabama. There were, of course, too many sessions that I wanted to attend, so I had to make good use of my time. The keynote speaker was Jeff Utecht, and he was quite interesting. I attended a couple of his sessions. He encouraged us all to use social media to connect with stakeholders, and he showed us how to use social media to encourage students to write, make wise connections, and prepare for their professional futures. He also showed us how to become Wikipedia editors, and encouraged us to have our students participate!
Instead of lamenting how digital communication is wrecking our youth, he showed us how we can use it to improve student communication. This school year, I am looking forward to employing some of his suggestions.
You can follow him on Twitter at
Sunday, April 12, 2015
When I Grow Up, I Wanna Write Like Pixar!
Who doesn't love Pixar? They have created not only some of the most visually pleasing movies in the past few years, but also some of the most compelling stories. People of all ages love Pixar. When I saw this entry on Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=digital%20writing), I had to investigate further.
Pinterest is a feast for the eyes, an amazing accumulation of visually interesting posts that lead the viewer to more information. With the ubiquity of technology, visual stimulation has become a must for anyone wanting to grab an audience's attention. We all, for instance, can identify websites, tech tools, and apps with merely an icon. Something catches my eye. I investigate, applying, whether I realize it or not, Hicks' MAPS hueristic (p. 154). I size up whether the post could be useful for me, my purposes, my situation. Then I launch my exploration and begin to read.
As regards Hicks' MAPS heuristic, my search on Pinterest yielded up a nonfiction collection of websites and images that provided me with many possibilities for digital writing. The medium, the Pinterest website, is a very popular site for research for many interests, both personal and professional. A search on Google, for instance, invariably yields a host of Pinterest pins for further inquiry. The purpose of Pinterest is to allow users to collect "pins" that allow bookmarking on specific topics. Users can also access the boards of others' whose pins may then be shared.
In Hicks' text, I found page 180 VERY helpful. There Hicks provides more information to consider when assigning digital writing, including "who might encounter this piece of digital writing?" Students need to consider the audience. For this point, I found another great entry on Pinterest that I think might resonate with students:
 |
PBS has a collection of short videos that teach viewers to use digital tools, including social media, for learning, sharing, and teaching. The video on the use of hashtags provides technical details and guides viewers in the best use of hashtags to enhance a message.The video can be found at PBS Learning Media.
Hashtags on social media kind of do what Pins do on Pinterest--link people not otherwise linked via their shared interests. On Twitter I use #tlap to connect with other educators who are interested in Dave Burgess' "pirate" mentality. (The PBS website offers a plethora of other helpful videos. I recommend that my colleagues visit and bookmark--PIN even!--this page.)
I do not participate in social media very often. Most of my media usage is directed toward finding ways to enhance my lesson plans. I do not see how the items I have detailed above can be enhanced. Pinterest and PBS both have excellent resources, visually appealing platforms, and easy-to-use search engines. I use these sites BECAUSE they are awesome, and I would not change a thing, not even the barrage of images on Pinterest!
Hicks, T. (2013). Creating Digital Writing: Composing Texts Across Media and Genres. Portsmouth,
N.H.: Heineman. Print.Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Hey, Ma! Watch this!
O.K., crafting videos are not my forte. I just don't have time to create videos for classroom instruction. That's why I use videos from websites such as Schooltube and Youtube. People who are great at video production can produce videos with pertinent information and dazzle at the same time! However, since I agree with Hicks on p.104--"Video texts--of live events with real people; of scripted well-produced television shows or films; of hand-drawn, computer or stop-motion animation; and many other forms--may be the form of digital writing many of us need to learn to convey information in the twenty-first century"--I decided it was time to get on the video train and ride.
After reading Hicks' chapters on audio and video presentations, I decided that I could find a way to create a video without using a video camera. Since I really like Crash Course and Sparknotes videos, I wanted to create a presentation that would have animation, images, and videos embedded. I used PowerPoint as my basis and turned it into a movie with narration added. I figure that I am more likely to use PowerPoint or Google Slides than iMovie. I can turn a slide show into a video and upload it to Slideshare and connect it to Edmodo for my students to watch.
My video can be seen on the Facebook
page and here:
My intro video is not a smooth production, but that is because I am attempting to use as many tools as I think will be useful in a class presentation. I have used images, but I also have added animation, embedded videos, and captured screenshots for images.Another issue is that I am using PowerPoint2008, and it does not embed videos or narration. If I were using my presentation for my classes, this would not be an issue as I would be using my own computer and the videos and narration would work flawlessly on my own device. However, because I have had to upload it here and on Facebook, I had to use Quicktime to record my voice over the slides and create a movie. It's gawky, but serves the purpose of this assignment. I assure you, my slide/movie when played on my computer runs and sounds much better!
As I was working on the PowerPoint, I was thinking of this comment from flipped-learning.com: "Taking the time and effort to create your content for your students shows and makes the process more authentic. One of the most important things about making your own videos is that you ensure that the lesson is taught the way you want it to be." (This website is filled with many great suggestions. I highly recommend it.) While I like to direct students to videos on the web, Edutopia's Chris O'Neal makes a very good point to consider when using online videos: "One critical issue to keep in mind when sharing and discussing these videos with your students is media literacy, including general Internet reliability. Are the videos truly what they say they are?"
Of course, my ultimate goal is to guide students in creating their own videos. Most students really enjoy crafting videos. The process always starts with writing the script. Students like the visual aspects of crafting presentations, but the foundation is the script! The "story" is the story, especially when crafting presentations about literature and history.
I could have submitted my original iMovie for this assignment. iMovie just looks more professional; however, I know that my own lessons are more likely going to be slideshows, and now I know how to turn them into a movie. This experience has been fun. I imagine that I will use slideshows with videos, narration, etc., more often in the future. But more importantly, I can now help students create their own videos, and they are eager to create!
References:
Fox, J. (2015). Making Quality Flipped Class Videos. Web. 23 March 2015.
http://flippedclass.com/making-quality-flipped-class-videos/
O'Neal, C. (2006). Online Interactivity for Educators: A Teacher's Tour of YouTube. Web. 20
March 2015. http://www.edutopia.org/teachers-tour-you-tube
O.K., crafting videos are not my forte. I just don't have time to create videos for classroom instruction. That's why I use videos from websites such as Schooltube and Youtube. People who are great at video production can produce videos with pertinent information and dazzle at the same time! However, since I agree with Hicks on p.104--"Video texts--of live events with real people; of scripted well-produced television shows or films; of hand-drawn, computer or stop-motion animation; and many other forms--may be the form of digital writing many of us need to learn to convey information in the twenty-first century"--I decided it was time to get on the video train and ride.
After reading Hicks' chapters on audio and video presentations, I decided that I could find a way to create a video without using a video camera. Since I really like Crash Course and Sparknotes videos, I wanted to create a presentation that would have animation, images, and videos embedded. I used PowerPoint as my basis and turned it into a movie with narration added. I figure that I am more likely to use PowerPoint or Google Slides than iMovie. I can turn a slide show into a video and upload it to Slideshare and connect it to Edmodo for my students to watch.
My video can be seen on the Facebook
page and here:
My intro video is not a smooth production, but that is because I am attempting to use as many tools as I think will be useful in a class presentation. I have used images, but I also have added animation, embedded videos, and captured screenshots for images.Another issue is that I am using PowerPoint2008, and it does not embed videos or narration. If I were using my presentation for my classes, this would not be an issue as I would be using my own computer and the videos and narration would work flawlessly on my own device. However, because I have had to upload it here and on Facebook, I had to use Quicktime to record my voice over the slides and create a movie. It's gawky, but serves the purpose of this assignment. I assure you, my slide/movie when played on my computer runs and sounds much better!
As I was working on the PowerPoint, I was thinking of this comment from flipped-learning.com: "Taking the time and effort to create your content for your students shows and makes the process more authentic. One of the most important things about making your own videos is that you ensure that the lesson is taught the way you want it to be." (This website is filled with many great suggestions. I highly recommend it.) While I like to direct students to videos on the web, Edutopia's Chris O'Neal makes a very good point to consider when using online videos: "One critical issue to keep in mind when sharing and discussing these videos with your students is media literacy, including general Internet reliability. Are the videos truly what they say they are?"
Of course, my ultimate goal is to guide students in creating their own videos. Most students really enjoy crafting videos. The process always starts with writing the script. Students like the visual aspects of crafting presentations, but the foundation is the script! The "story" is the story, especially when crafting presentations about literature and history.
I could have submitted my original iMovie for this assignment. iMovie just looks more professional; however, I know that my own lessons are more likely going to be slideshows, and now I know how to turn them into a movie. This experience has been fun. I imagine that I will use slideshows with videos, narration, etc., more often in the future. But more importantly, I can now help students create their own videos, and they are eager to create!
References:
Fox, J. (2015). Making Quality Flipped Class Videos. Web. 23 March 2015.
http://flippedclass.com/making-quality-flipped-class-videos/
Hicks, T. (2013). Creating Digital Writing: Composing Texts Across Media and Genres. Portsmouth,
N.H.: Heineman. Print.O'Neal, C. (2006). Online Interactivity for Educators: A Teacher's Tour of YouTube. Web. 20
March 2015. http://www.edutopia.org/teachers-tour-you-tube
Monday, February 16, 2015
Presenting . . . Shakespeare!
As soon as I started chapter 4 in Hicks' (2013) text, I began nodding in agreement. I, too, went through the PowerPoint assignment phase. For me, it was short-lived. Students let the slides do all the talking, no matter how stringent my limits might have been. They put so much time and effort into creating the slides that they did not "own" the material for themselves. I did not have the same issues with Glogster, however. With that application, students did the research first and simply created a visual collage that represented the ideas in their oral presentations. What was the difference? I think that Glogster does not lend itself to text as much as images, and it seems more like a poster than an informative presentation.
I myself am guilty of using slide presentations to do my talking. I do so because I can put the presentations on Edmodo for students to access without me. That way, they can review the information on their own. After reading chapter 4, however, I wanted to employ the technique of the Ted Talks format and use my slideshow to offer reinforcement and visual stimulation to enhance my presentation. Reynolds' (2007) summary of Heath's (2007) ideas became my guide in this regard. First, keeping it simple (p. 65)--I used a video to start my presentation on the life of Shakespeare. My sophomores are about to embark on a study of Julius Caesar, and I want to pique their interest. They have probably heard about Shakespeare in previous classes, so I decided to simply review his life, not beat it to death. After the video, I used images on successive slides to reinforce the information that I want them to remember. I am using bullet points along with images, but these are just jumping off points for my own contributions to the information--my own storytelling. I employed Johnson's (2010) suggestions to use quality photography, keep it simple, and create clear focal points (p. 66) Each of my slides focuses on a certain aspect of Shakespeare's biography--life, playwright, businessman, legacy--to help students organize the information in their own minds.
I know way too much about Shakespeare, and I could talk for days about his life, his work, and his influence. These slides will do as much to keep me on topic as they will to guide the students in acquiring the information.
For my presentation, I employed an application that I have never heard of before: Zoho. It is an online version of PowerPoint, but it has a great feature that is akin to the Tools/Research option on Google Docs. I was able to effortlessly incorporate video and images using the built-in search. OMG! It was so easy! Zoho does not have a vast array of templates, themes, etc., so it kept me focused on content. (I can get lost in choices when it comes to tweaking the visual aspects of a slideshow.) I used a suggestion from Duarte (2008) about movement and eye flow (p. 71). Some of my images "push" each other from slide to slide to catch the attention of the audience during the presentation. Finally, from table 4.2 on p. 73 of Hicks' text, I created a handout of the points from the visual presentation so students could take notes to accompany the slideshow. I will post a link on Edmodo so they can revisit the Zoho slides if necessary. (You can view my Zoho show here... BUT I don't recommend it. Since visiting Zoho and creating the slideshow, my Macbook has been infected by a virus. Coincidence? Maybe, but I have since created a Google Slides show that is safer.)
Google Slide Show: Conspiracy in Julius Caesar
Back to Zoho. It was easy to create the presentation and as it is web-based, I can access it via the Internet on any device; however, the app for Zoho is not recommended. When I tried to play the video within the app for iPad, it never loaded, and the images took much too long to load, but it all works fine when accessed via the Zoho website. Now Zoho seems to be creating problems for my Macbook, not just my iPad. Bottom line: Do not use Zoho, or use it, but at your own discretion.
Valerie Higgins shared with me an assignment that she has used for student-created presentations. She gives them a research "puzzle" and has them work in teams to coordinate their findings and create a presentation. I like her idea and plan to use it in my own classes soon. However, I will find a service other than Zoho, probably Google Slides so students can share easily with me.
I like using web-based visual presentations, but I am NOT a PowerPoint/Keynote fan. I much prefer creating websites for students to explore content that I want them to know. I also prefer to use expert presentations like those on Ted Ed, Annenberg Learner, TeacherTube, Khan Academy, and YouTube. Students listen to me everyday. It's nice to go outside the walls of the classroom to access complementary presentations that let the students hear it from someone else. With Zoho and similar applications, I can at least incorporate the best of both worlds--other expert voices and me!
References:
As soon as I started chapter 4 in Hicks' (2013) text, I began nodding in agreement. I, too, went through the PowerPoint assignment phase. For me, it was short-lived. Students let the slides do all the talking, no matter how stringent my limits might have been. They put so much time and effort into creating the slides that they did not "own" the material for themselves. I did not have the same issues with Glogster, however. With that application, students did the research first and simply created a visual collage that represented the ideas in their oral presentations. What was the difference? I think that Glogster does not lend itself to text as much as images, and it seems more like a poster than an informative presentation.
I myself am guilty of using slide presentations to do my talking. I do so because I can put the presentations on Edmodo for students to access without me. That way, they can review the information on their own. After reading chapter 4, however, I wanted to employ the technique of the Ted Talks format and use my slideshow to offer reinforcement and visual stimulation to enhance my presentation. Reynolds' (2007) summary of Heath's (2007) ideas became my guide in this regard. First, keeping it simple (p. 65)--I used a video to start my presentation on the life of Shakespeare. My sophomores are about to embark on a study of Julius Caesar, and I want to pique their interest. They have probably heard about Shakespeare in previous classes, so I decided to simply review his life, not beat it to death. After the video, I used images on successive slides to reinforce the information that I want them to remember. I am using bullet points along with images, but these are just jumping off points for my own contributions to the information--my own storytelling. I employed Johnson's (2010) suggestions to use quality photography, keep it simple, and create clear focal points (p. 66) Each of my slides focuses on a certain aspect of Shakespeare's biography--life, playwright, businessman, legacy--to help students organize the information in their own minds.
I know way too much about Shakespeare, and I could talk for days about his life, his work, and his influence. These slides will do as much to keep me on topic as they will to guide the students in acquiring the information.
For my presentation, I employed an application that I have never heard of before: Zoho. It is an online version of PowerPoint, but it has a great feature that is akin to the Tools/Research option on Google Docs. I was able to effortlessly incorporate video and images using the built-in search. OMG! It was so easy! Zoho does not have a vast array of templates, themes, etc., so it kept me focused on content. (I can get lost in choices when it comes to tweaking the visual aspects of a slideshow.) I used a suggestion from Duarte (2008) about movement and eye flow (p. 71). Some of my images "push" each other from slide to slide to catch the attention of the audience during the presentation. Finally, from table 4.2 on p. 73 of Hicks' text, I created a handout of the points from the visual presentation so students could take notes to accompany the slideshow. I will post a link on Edmodo so they can revisit the Zoho slides if necessary. (You can view my Zoho show here... BUT I don't recommend it. Since visiting Zoho and creating the slideshow, my Macbook has been infected by a virus. Coincidence? Maybe, but I have since created a Google Slides show that is safer.)
Google Slide Show: Conspiracy in Julius Caesar
Back to Zoho. It was easy to create the presentation and as it is web-based, I can access it via the Internet on any device; however, the app for Zoho is not recommended. When I tried to play the video within the app for iPad, it never loaded, and the images took much too long to load, but it all works fine when accessed via the Zoho website. Now Zoho seems to be creating problems for my Macbook, not just my iPad. Bottom line: Do not use Zoho, or use it, but at your own discretion.
Valerie Higgins shared with me an assignment that she has used for student-created presentations. She gives them a research "puzzle" and has them work in teams to coordinate their findings and create a presentation. I like her idea and plan to use it in my own classes soon. However, I will find a service other than Zoho, probably Google Slides so students can share easily with me.
I like using web-based visual presentations, but I am NOT a PowerPoint/Keynote fan. I much prefer creating websites for students to explore content that I want them to know. I also prefer to use expert presentations like those on Ted Ed, Annenberg Learner, TeacherTube, Khan Academy, and YouTube. Students listen to me everyday. It's nice to go outside the walls of the classroom to access complementary presentations that let the students hear it from someone else. With Zoho and similar applications, I can at least incorporate the best of both worlds--other expert voices and me!
References:
Hicks, T. (2013). Creating Digital Writing: Composing Texts Across Media and Genres. Portsmouth,
N.H.: Heineman.Saturday, January 31, 2015
The Story Remains the Same . . .
I was there, at the start of the digital age. Computers came to the Harbert Writing Center at UM, where I was a tutor. I couldn't imagine that those glowing screens could replace my pen, paper, and electric typewriter. But soon, students were coming with floppy disks, composing, saving, printing on the dot-matrix printers. They appeared mesmerized by the blinking cursor. We never went back to the old way after that.
Digital writing opens up a world of possibilities in regards to text and format, no doubt. However, the craft of writing remains the same: think, write, rewrite, revise, etc. Whether on paper or on a computer screen, writing still comes from within us. Digital writing is the "means" in the MAPS of Hicks's model on p. 21 of the text. All the other elements of the MAPS are ours. Elyse Eidman-Aadahl puts the connection between craft and digital writing beautifully in this video:
I like what Hicks says about digital tools: "These additional elements help us focus the conversation on what a writer can do to make a message effective" (2013, 21). He and Eidman-Aadahl both make the point that "intention is the beginning of any well-crafted, creative piece of writing" (Hicks 2013, 23).
Writing's process begins with ideas. Those ideas still need to be molded into a form that can convey a message. I tell my students that just because they can write something on their social media posts doesn't mean they should. What we write opens us up to the judgment of others. Digital writing may make publication easier, but it does not make the message better. That onus is on the writer.
Writing's process begins with ideas, but digital tools can spark the imagination and foster creativity. Last semester, after teaching a unit on short stories and at the beginning of a unit on writing, I had my sophomores write a short story of their own using Storyboardthat. Their story was to follow a plot line and use five panels. After some initial struggles with the website, my students figured it out and they were off! Two days later, they had stories to share--stories that reflected their interests and personalities--stories of romance, princesses, adventures, superheroes, fishing, and hunting. They were proud to share their creations on the Smart Board; I was proud to see them use technology to accomplish what people have been doing for ages--with and without technical tools--telling stories.
Storyboardthat is just one of the many tools available to teachers and students. In a June 22, 2014, post in EdTechReview, Saomya Saxena calls this web tool a format that allows students to "reinforce what they have learned and further their learning." I guess that is what digital tools do best: allow us to use what we have learned and apply those lessons in creative ways.
What an amazing time to be an educator! The world is literally at our students' fingertips. They can explore the world in a variety of ways: they can communicate with the world beyond their small towns without leaving the classroom; they can access information in a moment that took me hours to find combing through library resources. Teaching them to effectively harness the power of digital tools is the newest teaching objective. And it belongs to all of us--regardless of the subjects we teach. "We need to teach craft in a variety of ways, and most likely a number of times, to the whole class, to small groups, and to individuals. Only then will students truly understand and own the technique" (Hicks 2013, 20).
We are living in a Gutenberg moment. Everything we ever knew about communicating is changed. More people have access to information; more people have opportunity to publish. To be relevant, I know that I must gain expertise in this new age if I am to give my students the skills that will translate into success in their own endeavors.
I was there, at the start of the digital age. Computers came to the Harbert Writing Center at UM, where I was a tutor. I couldn't imagine that those glowing screens could replace my pen, paper, and electric typewriter. But soon, students were coming with floppy disks, composing, saving, printing on the dot-matrix printers. They appeared mesmerized by the blinking cursor. We never went back to the old way after that.
Digital writing opens up a world of possibilities in regards to text and format, no doubt. However, the craft of writing remains the same: think, write, rewrite, revise, etc. Whether on paper or on a computer screen, writing still comes from within us. Digital writing is the "means" in the MAPS of Hicks's model on p. 21 of the text. All the other elements of the MAPS are ours. Elyse Eidman-Aadahl puts the connection between craft and digital writing beautifully in this video:
I like what Hicks says about digital tools: "These additional elements help us focus the conversation on what a writer can do to make a message effective" (2013, 21). He and Eidman-Aadahl both make the point that "intention is the beginning of any well-crafted, creative piece of writing" (Hicks 2013, 23).
Writing's process begins with ideas. Those ideas still need to be molded into a form that can convey a message. I tell my students that just because they can write something on their social media posts doesn't mean they should. What we write opens us up to the judgment of others. Digital writing may make publication easier, but it does not make the message better. That onus is on the writer.
Writing's process begins with ideas, but digital tools can spark the imagination and foster creativity. Last semester, after teaching a unit on short stories and at the beginning of a unit on writing, I had my sophomores write a short story of their own using Storyboardthat. Their story was to follow a plot line and use five panels. After some initial struggles with the website, my students figured it out and they were off! Two days later, they had stories to share--stories that reflected their interests and personalities--stories of romance, princesses, adventures, superheroes, fishing, and hunting. They were proud to share their creations on the Smart Board; I was proud to see them use technology to accomplish what people have been doing for ages--with and without technical tools--telling stories.
Storyboardthat is just one of the many tools available to teachers and students. In a June 22, 2014, post in EdTechReview, Saomya Saxena calls this web tool a format that allows students to "reinforce what they have learned and further their learning." I guess that is what digital tools do best: allow us to use what we have learned and apply those lessons in creative ways.
What an amazing time to be an educator! The world is literally at our students' fingertips. They can explore the world in a variety of ways: they can communicate with the world beyond their small towns without leaving the classroom; they can access information in a moment that took me hours to find combing through library resources. Teaching them to effectively harness the power of digital tools is the newest teaching objective. And it belongs to all of us--regardless of the subjects we teach. "We need to teach craft in a variety of ways, and most likely a number of times, to the whole class, to small groups, and to individuals. Only then will students truly understand and own the technique" (Hicks 2013, 20).
We are living in a Gutenberg moment. Everything we ever knew about communicating is changed. More people have access to information; more people have opportunity to publish. To be relevant, I know that I must gain expertise in this new age if I am to give my students the skills that will translate into success in their own endeavors.
References
Hicks, T. (2013). Creating Digital Writing: Composing Texts Across Media and Genres. Portsmouth,
N.H.: Heineman.
Eidman-Aadahl, E. (24 September 2013). Elyse Eidman-Aadahl on Writing in the Digital Age (Bit
Thinkers SeriesI. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUlrzkpIgq8.
Saxena, S. (2014, June). Storyboard that: Online storyborad creator. EdTechReview, Retrieved from
http://edtechreview.in/reviews/1291-storyboard-that-online-storyboard-creator
Eidman-Aadahl, E. (24 September 2013). Elyse Eidman-Aadahl on Writing in the Digital Age (Bit
Thinkers SeriesI. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUlrzkpIgq8.
Saxena, S. (2014, June). Storyboard that: Online storyborad creator. EdTechReview, Retrieved from
http://edtechreview.in/reviews/1291-storyboard-that-online-storyboard-creator
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)