Archive for the ‘Web 2.0’ Category
Electronic Post-it Notes as an Instructional Tool
June 1st, 2010 | 
Author: Have you visited http://www.wallwisher.com yet? It is a Web 2.0 site that is fairly new. Wallwisher allows anyone to create a Wall. Each wall may contain digital post-its. A post-it may contain up to 160 characters of text and links to images, audio or video. The post-its may be organized on the wall anyway the user wishes.
A wall creator may share his or her wall by providing participants with a link. You may also adjust settings to approve all postings before they are published on the wall. Wallwisher does require an account to get started. An account is not required to post to a wall.
There are many uses for Wallwisher in the classroom. Here are a few of my favorite:
1. Students may post what they already know about a topic or what they would like to know. (KWL)
2. Use one to post project links or resources.
3. Provide students with a question and allow them to answer it on a wall.
4. Create a wall to gather feedback regarding an event, reading, project, or trip.
5. Post student book reviews.
6. Add the names and details of veterans that students know for veterans day wall.
7. Create a wall to post “going green” pledges.
8. Use as a suggestion box
Posted in Literacy and Writing, Web 2.0, What's Cool on the Web | 
Tags: post-its, wallwisher | 
1 Comment »
Create music tracks and learn about copyright – Digital Story Resource
MYBYTES is an interactive website sponsored by Microsoft. It contains a free and easy to use Music mixer that allows for the creation of your own music track. The finished track can be downloaded as an MP3 to be used in a digital story. Completed tracks can also be shared on the site for others to listen to or re-mix. The creator of the track must determine the usage rights that her or she will assign to their work.
Click on the images to enlarge
The software is very easy to use. In order to save and share your work you must create an account. An email address is not required for account creation. That makes it very student friendly. Students can select and mix together various instruments to create their own track. The music can be composed for a digital story project or podcast. By adjusting the instrument choices and tempo students can create a specific mood for their story.
Upon completion on the music track the student is presented with a number of publishing options. He or she must decide on the usage rights that will be applied to the work. This offers an opportunity for a discussion on copyright, digital content and file sharing. The site offers a full curriculum on these topics as well as interviews from subject experts.
The shared tracks can be downloaded or saved as a ring tone. If published for others to download, share or remix, the website will track the number of requests. This provides a very authentic experience for students to learn about file sharing and usage rights.
The use of student created music in digital stories simplifies the publishing options for student stories. We do not have to worry about the presence of copyright protected music. Students enjoy the process of developing music to fit their stories. This adds a level of excitement as well as depth to the final product.
Enjoy!
Posted in Digital Storytelling, Interactive Sites, Web 2.0 |
Tags: audio, copyright, digital Storytelling, music, mybytes, podcasting |
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Glogster – Create 21st Century Posters
Have you ever heard of a Glog? Would you like to learn how to take a traditional project like a poster and create a 21st century, online version of one? Do you think your students would be interested in learning how to create an online poster with text, images, video clips, sound, graphics and design features? Would this type of assessment foster creativity, engage students in the learning process, and develop technology literacy skills?
If this sounds interesting to you then you should take a look at Glogster Edu. A glog is a 21st century poster. A Glog is an online poster that can contain photographs, images, graphics, video files, sound files and text. Glogs allow you to add hyperlinks to other websites.
Glogster EDU allows teachers to setup a virtual classroom for creating Glogs. A teacher can create and manage accounts for each of his or her students. Student Glogs are kept private and are viewable by the teacher. Other students in the class can leave comments about another students Glog and the teacher can exchange messages with his or students as well. Once a student has a managed account they can access Glogster and start making a Glog. The teacher can monitor and manage their progress.
Glogster is an exciting and engaging tool for students. Glogster takes the traditional process of creating posters and makes it more interactive, dynamic, creative, and in tune with 21st century expectations.
I will be offering a workshop on a web 2.0 tool that provides the opportunities listed above. To learn more about it and to register please follow the link below.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0Aaa0uxFLu14JZGZzd2JrM21fMTZnYm53M2dnNw&hl=en
If you want to jump right in and start exploring then please visit the Glogster EDU home page at http://edu.glogster.com.
IMPORTANT: Currently a teacher who registers with Glogster EDU can create up to 200 student accounts. This will be changing to 100 starting March 1. Register now to lock in 200 accounts before March 1.
Stay tuned for how to documents and instructional screencasts.
Enjoy!
