Anyway, if you're still here, you are either the most pathetic person in the world, you are my mother (hi, Mom!), or you are in my Ed. Tech class and have to read it. Either way, welcome! I'm glad you're here. Now, on to the good stuff!
Here are my tech reviews for week 5. It's late, I know. But, I just had to shell out $1500 for a new computer after drenching my beloved MacBookPro. Being without a computer was the most awful experience, and it just added to a year that has been classified as the worst of my life. Thankfully, all systems are finally a go, and I am ready to work hard to make up for lost time. Now, who wants to bring me Starbucks?
Without further ado, here are my reviews!
Prezi
My students love Prezi. It’s a great way to incorporate content and graphics in a way that engages them. Prezi is similar to a PowerPoint presentation, but it is formatted similar to Dropbox (the slides are hosted on the website instead of having to email the presentation or save it to a USB drive). One of the things that I like most about a Prezi compared to a PowerPoint is that the Prezi engages you by pulling you into the presentation. The difference is comparable to seeing a movie in 2-D vs 3-D. While making a Prezi, you can actually make certain portions of your background act as an independent slide. By clicking on the “next” arrow, the page zooms in to the assigned area and presents the next slide. One of the best presentations I’ve seen from my students was by a boy who was presenting his book project on Eragon. He made the slide with the “boring” details part of the dragon’s nostril. The entire class jumped back and made 7th grade noises when it zoomed to that part. One of the things I like the most about Prezi is that it is free and accessible to everyone with an internet connection. Unlike PowerPoint, you don’t have to buy any expensive software in order to gain access. One of the downfalls is that it isn’t very fast if you have a lot of images (the load time is lengthy for a 7th grade class; they get terribly impatient, and when they get impatient, they get loud). I think that it is great as long as you keep in mind that you need to have it pulled up and ready to go (which isn’t always possible for students doing back-to-back presentations). I think that every age group would benefit from Prezi in moderation (as with anything).
Spicy Nodes
I had never heard of Spicy Nodes until I looked at it for this class. I think it would be a great way to review material or ensure that students gained the material you want them to for a specific skill or objective. The website was very user friendly, and I quickly made a (free) Nodemap for the short story Three Skeleton Key. It was very simple to create, but it wasn’t very user friendly beyond that. I am not sure if it was due to my browser (Safari), or if I just had something off in the settings. But, when I clicked on one of the nodes, it opened them beyond the edge of the window and cut off the arrow links to get to them. I could navigate the window to the new nodes, but it wasn’t very easy. I think I will try the website again on my computer at school; it would be much easier to move on the ActivBoard than it is on my iMac at home. I think that this would be great to use in any classroom for a teacher-centered lesson, but I don’t know how well primary students would be able to navigate through it. Older kids would love it. I am going to share it with my students. It reminds me of Prezi a lot, but I personally like Prezi more. I will give it a chance, though!
Edmodo
I loved the woman in the demonstration. She made excellent points about how using social media websites like Edmodo gave her credibility and made her seem relevant to her students. I think the concept of Edmodo is wonderful, and I can’t wait to use it in my own classroom. I created a free profile, and played around a bit with the features. I can set up classrooms and alert students via email when I have posted new assignments, quizzes, or polls. Students can upload assignments, take quizzes and polls, post questions, and interact with their peers. The layout of the website is similar to Facebook (several updates ago), so I think the students would buy in to the site. One of the things I like most about this site is that it is available anywhere that has internet. I have so many awful experiences with students who either forget their flash drive or save it as a file which can’t be opened. It is very frustrating to try to do technologically advanced lessons when there are constant problems. However, with Edmodo, students are able to upload things from Google Drive (which eliminates the file exchange problems). I can edit papers and post feedback similarly to how we receive feedback on Blackboard, only this is free. As I’ve said before, I long for a flipped classroom. This is a great website to incorporate in that model. I will definitely be setting up my classroom for 3rd quarter! I think that every upper primary class and beyond could benefit from this website! It would also be a great tool for schools to use for their staff. I could see administrators and curriculum coordinators utilizing this site.
Maths Charts
Maths Charts is a great resource for the math classroom. There are tons of interactive charts and diagrams to explain basic concepts. I learned a lot from looking at the website! I am sure that a math teacher could use this resource in his or her classroom. The concepts included range from number identification (lower primary) to geometry, notation, and economics (middle/high). The website is colorful, and it reminds me of the popular website, www.coolmath.com. I know that my students love playing on Cool Math, so I am sure that they would love this!
Glogster
I have a love-hate relationship with Glogster. I love the presentations (which are similar to PowerPoint or Prezi). But, I love them when they work. My Activ computer is outdated, and it doesn’t matter what web browser I use, they just won’t load correctly. I have several students who poured hours into creating very technically advanced Glogsters only to find that they had to present them in “edit” mode because the images wouldn’t load. Glogster is free to individual users, and districts can purchase licenses for their entire staff to set up classrooms for each student. For 10 teachers and 250 students, it is $390 a year. I am guessing that, if my district were to have access to Glogster, we would have had better success with loading presentations created in my classroom. I am sure it was a fluke, but I clicked on the “Tour” tab under the edu.glogster.com link provided on Blackboard, and it opened a website covered in inappropriate images and opportunities to meet “local” singles. I can guarantee you that not a single naked photo on the site was local; We eat a whole lot of meat and potatoes where I live! All kidding aside, I am using a brand new iMac (I just purchased it today after my MacBookPro crashed last week), and the only websites I have visited are Blackboard and the links given in the content section. There is no chance that the browser history would have caused that link to open unless J.Crew sold my information (trust me; these girls don’t shop at J.Crew!). My point is that, if I were to open this website in a classroom and students saw those images, I would have to answer to a lot of people. I think that is why so many are hesitant to try and be technologically advanced in the classroom; there are too many uncontrollable things, all of which could go wrong. While I am sure it is a fluke, it did make me leery to use it in the classroom.
Jing
Jing is another site that is totally new to me. I watched the video, and I am very intrigued by it. However, I don’t know how frequently I would use it in my classroom. I am going to share it with the STLP/yearbook sponsor. I think she would be able to use it a lot. I could picture her creating a step-by-step video of how to edit the videos the students produce for the school YouTube channel. In a regular classroom, teachers could provide specific tutorials of how to use certain programs. The students could access the videos from the class website (or Emodo!) I think Jing would be useful in a lot of situations. I just don’t think I would use it very often. The video talks about using the “print screen” to share/store and how it doesn’t actually store anything. I just send whatever I am wanting to Dropbox or I add a bookmark. It’s free, and seems very easy to use, so I may give it a try!
YouTube, SchoolTube, and TeacherTube
We use SchoolTube all the time in my school. The STLP students created a channel and produce bi-weekly news shows which are published on the channel. Several teachers use TeacherTube to post classroom lessons for students who have missed (especially in math and science). They can watch the videos during the bellringers or before school if they don’t have internet access at home. There are also lots of great videos that have been posted by teachers. I have used TeacherTube in my classroom before, though I have never created my own video. I think that there is something from these channels for every classroom, regardless of the student population. And, it’s free! In the teacher world, free equals fabulous!
I learned so many things that were new to me this week! I can see me using Spicy Nodes and Edmondo in my classroom immediately. I plan to revisit Prezis. I think the students would really enjoy seeing those more frequently in the classroom. Anything that aids in instruction is a great resource to use, so I will be using them to incorporate key concepts and strategies. Hopefully, you learned a lot from reading this post!
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