Blog Post #8--Educational Tools Exploration

In order to get a better idea of the educational tools that are out there, I chose two and explored them.  There are so many internet tools for teachers and knowing the advantages and disadvantages of each can go a long way in creating a more e-friendly classroom.

Bubbl.Us

The first tool that I explored was Bubbl.Us.  I ended up using this tool in my final project lesson because I found it to be very easy to use and effective for the purposes I needed.  Bubbl.Us is an internet concept mapping tool that is free to use.   Upon visiting the site, users are faced with the following screen:

(Image from homescreen of Bubbl.Us.)

When you click, "Start Brainstorming" a new concept map screen immediately opens with a cursor waiting in the center bubble for you to fill in.  It is very self-explanatory and easy to use.  When I used this tool in my lesson, the children picked it up after very little instruction from me, and even noticed options and functions that I didn't know about.  At one point, I said, "To create a new child bubble, you just click on the little bubble icon at the bottom of your parent bubble." One of my students said back, "Or, you can also click command and enter and it will do the same thing."  He was absolutely right!  I loved seeing this tool in use by children and knowing that it was intuitive enough that they very quickly could use it on their own.  In the classroom, Bubbl.Us is perfect for allowing students to show what they've learned from a lesson in a creative and unique way.  I used it in my lesson for the children to demonstrate their understanding of a video we watched on ten natural disasters.

Check out this YouTube video on the ins and outs of Bubbl.Us:

Smilebox

The second internet tool I chose to explore was Smilebox.  On their website, Smilebox claims to give users "a new way to bring your photos and videos to life".  After a very fast, free download of the software, a Smilebox application screen opened on my computer.  In it, I could easily access a catalog of designs to choose from in order to create a new slide show of my own personal photographs.  There was also a place to create my own designs.

To practice using the application, I chose to use one of their designs.  I decided to make a slideshow of a recent camping trip I went on with my boyfriend so I picked a travel template.  As I was walking through the application, I was really impressed with how easy it was to use and how well-designed it is.  Everything is attractive and appealing.  The layout makes sense, the images are lovely, and the navigation makes sense.  I picked the "Vintage Roadtrip" design for my slideshow and after that, it was only a matter of filling in information and choosing the images from my personal library.  In about 20 minutes, I had a customized, high-quality slideshow with my own pics in it.  There is the option to share the finished product via Facebook, Blogger, email, or even to burn it to a DVD.  Here is my embedded slideshow:

Customize your own digital slideshow

I found this tool to be extremely enjoyable to use.  In the classroom, children would love to use Smilebox to create their own slideshows.  If they were presenting on countries of the world or animals of the rainforest, for example, they could find web images of their topic, upload images, write their own captions, and layout their own slideshows to present their findings.  Or, after taking a class fieldtrip somewhere, students could create a memories slideshow to share with parents and other classes.  The possibilities are endless and the software is so fun and easy to use, that I would absolutely consider using this tool in the classroom.  Definitely check it out if you are interested in photo presentation software.

Blog Post #7--Two Google Tools

With the list of available Google Tools always growing, I wasn't really surprised to see how many there were to choose from.  I was surprised to learn how many of them were useful for teachers.  I explored two Google Tools closely to determine just how useful they would be in the classroom.

The first Google Tool I explored was Google Groups.  Google Groups is a tool designed to help people create, manage, and communicate among various internet groups.  From the homepage, users with a Google account can easily search new groups, click into their existing groups, and see updates on groups they are in.  Groups are searchable based on common interests of group members.  Virtually everything you can think of has a group, so whether you are into model airplanes, backpacking, or cooking, there is a Google Group (or many!) full of people who are also interested.  To find a group, you can search by subject.  Once you find one you like, you can ask permission to join by group managers.  If you don't find one you like, you can create your own.  Once in a group, you can post to an existing discussion forum, send emails both publicly and privately, or create your own new topic of discussion.  It's a great way to connect with other people who share common interests.  In the classroom, Google Groups can be used as a discussion board where the teacher can post questions and invite students to answer.  Likewise, different groups could be set up in a class to connect students with common interests.  There can be a science group, a graphic novel group, even a reading club group.  The good thing about Google Groups is that you can make groups private for only invited members.  This takes the risk out of creating a public forum that can connect children to those we'd rather not connect them to.  Though I think that there are some much better LMS programs in existence that can do all that Google Groups does and more, I think that a class that already operates through Google accounts could definitely find use for Google Groups.

The second Google Tool I took a look at was Picnik.  Picnik is a photo editing program that allows users to add creative effects, crop and resize, and organize their personal photographs in one easy-to-use program.  I've never used Picnik before and, being that it is one of the newest members of the Google Tools family, I thought I would dive right in and create my own account.  Like all of the Google Tools, Picnik is free to use, though it does have a premium upgrade that you must pay for.  Using the free application, I quickly set up a free account (no gmail address necessary) and within 2 minutes uploaded my first photos from my own computer.  You can also grab photos from various web locations, including Facebook, Picasa, and   I was able to upload only 5 photos at a time (premium membership allows up to 100) and it took about a minute for them to be fully uploaded.  Once there, I clicked "manage uploads" and was able to see my five pictures to edit.  I chose one and it opened in a new frame.  This allowed me the basic editing functions--crop, red eye, level adjustments, etc.  After this, I went to the "Create" tab.  This is where the fun stuff is.  Here you can add stickers, themes, textures, backgrounds, and even perform airbrush touch-ups.  Many of the best functions are only available on the premium--a rather annoying fact that I encountered quite often--but in the end of my playing I was able to create this lovely sepia-toned, framed image of my boyfriend and I on our latest outdoor hike:

All in all, Picnik is easy to use and fun.  In the classroom, I could see it being used for creating class photo albums, for students to edit photos for homemade books or for presentations, or even for organizing a collection of images after a class field trip to be posted on a class blog or website.  Photo editing is something that children are inherently interested in and many of them are able to pick it up relatively quickly.  Picnik, though full of reminders to upgrade to a better version, is a program that many kids would find fun and simple. If you're interested, you should check out this video tutorial from YouTube: