25 Free Tools

25 Tools

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JogLab

Here's a great site to improve memory: 

http://www.joglab.com/

South Pole Race

Here's a collaborative lesson idea: The Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race will feature 10 international teams of men and women who will compete in a 30 to 45 day journey to the South Pole on skis.  Beginning in January, it will be possible to follow teams on their web sites and through GPS systems. Math and science curriculum connections could be set up where students graph team progress and calculate the amounts of food and supplies that each team member will need to carry on their pulkin (sled).

FlowGram

Just discovered Flowgram thanks to a post on TechLearning.com. This looks like a great tool which allows the user to combine web information into a multimedia presentation. "A flowgram combines the advantages of slide presentations and screencasts with an interactive user experience that fully exploits the fact that almost all the information we might ever need is already on the web."  I'll check it out for possible classroom use.

Tools for digital storytelling

Here's a great site from Alan Levine's blog CogDogRoo: 50 tools for digital storytelling

Presentation Zen

What do judo and PowerPoint have in common? You must read Garr Reynolds’ masterpiece Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery to find out. If you have ever experienced death by PowerPoint, then you must read this book. It is the most useful of my summer readings and a book that I will re-read many times. Reynolds teaches at a university in Japan. His knowledge of Zen Buddhism allows him to incorporate its culture and philosophy into a simple method of design and delivery using multimedia software, such as PowerPoint. He manages to draw connections between Zen simplicity and a professional quality PowerPoint, and then he shows the reader how to do it. This book should be required reading for every school administrator and teacher.

Voice Thread

Voice Thread continues to be one of my favorite tools for Web 2.0 in the classroom. Check out this excellent project by elementary students. I will definitely use this tool in my lesson planning for next year:

Redesigned National Archives Website

The National Archives has recently redesigned its website. The site is very easy to use with excellent multimedia effects. Students will have the opportunity to explore digital vaults, where they can build their own personalized collection. Pages are interactive. Students can create their own projects, such as a poster. This site is worth exploring this summer for lesson plan ideas.

Learning facts vs. creativity

Here is an interesting professional development tip from TechLearning.com: "In fact, the world is changing even faster than schools. Instead of requiring workers who've memorized facts, the workplace needs knowledge workers who can think on their own and who are innovative and creative. This shift will require that teachers adapt their teaching methods. The difference between knowledge and information is that information is what you know and knowledge is what you do with that information." Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader?

I agree and disagree with this statement. An educated person needs a strong informaton base in order to function in the professional world. Memorization is an important part of building this base: In fact, Dr. Yoshiro NakaMats (arguably the most creative individual on the planet) argues for the Japanese education method of memorization up to the age of 20 in order to develop the human brain. See What a Great Idea by Charles "Chic" Thompson. I still find memorization to be an excellent thinking exercise.

In elementary school, I see young students struggle with the creative process, when they lack sufficient factual knowledge of a subject. For example, how can you make a digital story about the Civil War, if you lack an information base. I recall one student came across General John Pope while studying the Second Battle of Bull Run. Naturally, when he did a search on him, he got the Pope. His research project had all kinds of information about the Roman Catholic Pope's role in the battle.

At the same time, I agree with the TechLearning statement that innovation and creativity are the necessary tools for today's workplace. The challenge as an educator is to provide students with sufficient factual knowledge with which to face a world of innovation and creativity.

Another photo site

Here is a great site mentioned in Walt Mossberg's blog from the Wall Street Journal: It's called shwup (www.shwup.com), and it's a free way to share photos in a common album. The problem with most photo sites, such as Flickr, is they aren't child safe. Just about anything shows up on them. This is a site worth checking out for safety.

Re-blogged: World Without Oil Game

This post on Education For Well-being is worth checking out: World Without Oil Game June 4, 2008 WWO Site - WWO Lesson plans for teachers
I've checked the site out, and it would provide a great lesson opportunity in the upper grades. The site is a little confusing at first. A good place to start is the archive page.

New child safety tool

"Kids' Net Access Gets Close Scrutiny From Symantec" by Jeremy Kirk, in the May 23 issuse of PC World describes the new service by Semantec that allows parental control of net access for their children. It will be released in March, 2009. I could not locate anything on their web site; however, it will be worth watching for their beta versions.

I am whelmed.

Here's a concept for digital storytelling that I really like: It's called whelming. Check out the page below from Jake Jacobs' Discovery Channel Page. It is the concept of finding excitement and curiosity in simple messages. Too often we begin our creative process with concepts and ideas that are too complicated; then when we build a web site or lesson plan, it crashes and we blame the "technology." Thanks to Joe Brennan's post in his blog Digital Storytelling for making me aware of this concept.

The Cognitive Age

David Brooks in a NY Times editorial speaks of "The Cognitive Age" as an alternative view of globalization. The fact that technological change is what drives the world, not globalization, is an interesting concept and one that again falls in line with James Burke's connections theory. Each new invention is a trigger that sets in motion a series of changes in the world. The ability to recognize that becomes the cognitive age. Thanks to Mike Eisenberg's post on the Big6 Blog for calling this editorial to my attention.

Timeline Creator

Here's a great timeline creator from Steve Dembo's Digital Passports: "Dipity.com can serve as a traditional timeliner, and it will work well, but it can also become your FriendFeed with benefits."

I checked it out and it looks great. What a great wat to tell a digital story. I plan to use it with a World War II study I'm doing with students this week.

Google Earth

Mixing Google Earth & Media
Today, May 22, 2008, 4 hours ago Power to Learn
Here's a resource that shows you how to mix the goodies of Google Earth with media. It's a pdf of a PowerPoint presentation written by Hall Davidson of Discovery Education. In Finally, Staggeringly Good Things Mixing Google Earth and Media,...

Wondering About Web 2.0

Here is an excellent voice thread.

Google's Literacy Project Page

From Matthew Needleman's blog, here is an excellent reference to the Google Literacy Project Page http://www.google.com/literacy/. "A resource for teachers, literacy organizations and anyone interested in reading and education, created in collaboration with LitCam, Google, and UNESCO's Institute for Lifelong Learning."

How NOT to use Power Point

Here is a great video from Teacher tube on how not to use Power Point:


This should be seen by all administrators.

Using stories to cope with bullying

Clay Burrell of Beyond School uses the digital story method in an effective way to deal with bullying in school. His post "Meaningful Meme: Your “Bullied Then, Successful Now Stories" provides his own story of being bullied in high school.

Yet another new tool: Blabber

Blabber.com is yet another new tool for adding multimedia effects to a wiki or a blog:

Internet Smarts

Power to Learn has an excellent set of resources for educating students on Internet safety:
Interactive Case Studies provides information on important topics in Internet use at school or at home. These guided, multimedia activities allow you to examine issues affecting schoolwork, class papers, entertainment activities and online safety.

Add Snapshots

Add SnapShots to the multimedia sites that can be incorporated into wikis and blogs. this is another pop up java site.

Another tool: Apture

Thanks to Will Richardson (Weblogg-ed) for another tool post: Amazing Add-on for Blogs: Apture. I checked out Apture which is a multimedia tool that allows you to easily add video, audio, text and almost anything else from Web sources or even local files as a pop-up to whatever word or phrase you designate in your post. I plan to try it on our school wikis this week.

21st Century Classroom

Note the "project based thinking" of this post from Power to Learn's Teachnology blog. this is the direction our thinking should take when we design a classroom.

Do You Have an Intelligent Classroom?
Sign up for Model Intelligent Classroom News or visit the Model Intelligent Classroom site to keep up with ideas and news about how to bring 21st Century Skills into your classroom. Find out what technologies can make a difference and how you can best integrate them into your teaching. Investigate Tips like Top Whiteboard Use, Digital Story Telling, Multidisciplinary Digital Photography, Launching a Laptop Program, Professional Development, and Building an Online Community. Model Intelligent Classroom is hosted by Technology & Learning and features Dell and Intel in partnership with school districts throughout the United States.

Ideas worth considering

Idea worth considering: GPS systems and Information Science connections. Information Science the old way involves search for information and retrieval. Information Science the new way involves search for informaton within a co-ordinate system similar to the way a GPS system works. You need to know your location within the system. GPS uses three satellite co-ordinates. Information Science needs awareness of co-ordinates, leading to idea below for teaching Information Science:

Idea worth considering: Information Science Curriculum needs to take into account the history of Information Techology. This could be taught on the elementary level as an "information family." The modern computer dates to IBM research during World War II-- Computer is age of grandfather. The Internet dates to military research of the 1970's-- Internet is the age of parents. The web dates to invention by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990-- Web is age of older brother/sister in college. Mosaic browser invention in 1993 made web accessible-- Browser is age of older brother/sister in high school. Ward Cunningham invented wikis in 1995--- Age of middle school student. Blogs became popular in 1999-- still in elementary school.

Web 2.0 Tools

VoiceThread

Just tried Adobe's Photoshop Express What a tremendous tool! Another discovery is Voice Thread.
VoiceThread is a tremendous new resource for Web 2.0 instructors. It is an online, interactive album that can hold various types of media (images, documents and videos) and allows people to make comments in 5 different ways - voice (microphone or telephone), text, audio file, or video (webcam). A VoiceThread allows group conversations,digital stories, oral histories, commentary, etc. to be collected and instantly shared in one place, from anywhere in the world. There is also an educator's version which charges a nominal fee for additional content protection and control. Here is an example:

Kodac Educational Page and Firefox

The Kodac Educational Page has plenty of information and resources. there is a Fun for Kids section with flipbooks, memory boxes, masks, photo puppets, placemats, sports trading cards, and other ideas. Thanks to the Digital Smarts Blog for the post.

Another great resource is The Baccalaureate School for Global Education (BSGE) in Astoria, NY. This school has a two-year technology curriculum that has students doing global, multimedia projects. One of their projects involvel ilearn. Thanks to Teachers Teaching Teachers blog.

Teachers teaching teachers

Just came across another great source: Teachers Teaching Teachers. This site is full of creative ideas and interesting discussions, such as "Has Digital Storytelling Changed Writing?" Thanks again to Clay Burrell (Beyond School) for alerting me to this source.

Another great idea comes from Dean Shareski (Ideas and Thoughts from and Ed Tech): He talks about the pecha kucha of presentation. 20 slides in 6 minutes.The pure model is the 20×20 format. 20 slides for 20 seconds for a total of 6 minutes and 40 seconds. I have to check this out and try it.

Finally you must watch this:

Discovery Education Resources

Joe Brennan recently blogged a set of Discovery Education streaming Resources for Digital Storytelling. Simply go to the Professional Development area in the Trainer’s Toolkit. Log in to access links for tutorials on the use of iMovie , MovieMaker , PhotoStory , Adobe Premiere Elements . I currently have students who are attempting a ThinkQuest project involving special effects. These tools will be useful.

Ask the Expert

James Tubbs misterteacher.com has just posted one of the best ideas I've seen in a long time. It's called the Wyoming Ask An Expert Blog. He uses it to connect students with a professor at the University of Cincinnati Clermont. Students post their questions and it gets answered by an expert. What a great idea! When you check out the blog page it gets even better.

Scratch

Just picked up this reference from the CIC Power to Learn blog site. It's a learning game called Scratch, developed at MIT. Students are supposed to be able to program their own interactive games and stories, and design art and music projects.

I've downloaded the program and intend to test it.

Internet Safety: Facts and Fiction

This post by Dean Shareski on Ideas and Thoughts from a Web Tech is worth passing on:
Feb 24 2008 I’m telling you for the last time.

His post is based on a research article from the American Psychological Journal. The researchers in the article from the University of New Hampshire challenge the common misconceptions that simply allowing children's photographs or comments to be published on Internet increased a child's risk from on-line preditors. While there are important issues of rights to privacy that must always be safe-guarded, it is important to separate fact from fiction regarding the Internet.

Flat Classroom Project

I have just become aware of a fantastic resource for collaboration from a teacher in South Korea named Clay Burell. His projects include the flatclassroom, liferoundhere, A Broken World and 1000tales. His blog is http://beyond-school.org/ . I will definitely make use of his ideas. Thanks to Dean Shareski for posting the information on Ideas and Thoughts from an Ed Tech.

Spanish-language interactive game

Los X's Sin Perdon

http://www.nickelodeon.es/nick.es/juegos/article.jhtml?id=105134056

Nickelodeon Spanish-language interactive game tests users' ability to memorize and match patterns of pictures and sounds.

Web Cams

Ever wonder what it's like to fly like a bird? Now you can see from a miniature camera on the back of an eagle. Check out this Animal Planet Site:
Spy on the Wild: Bird Technology
http://animal.discovery.com/convergence/spyonthewild/birdtech/birdtech.html?ct=1329.15073148073

Digital Storytelling Final Reflection

Susan Koppel
Digital Storytelling
Mike Frerichs
February 8, 2008

Digital Storytelling Final Reflection Paper

When I signed up to take this class I thought we were going to be learning how to use Video on Demand. Video on Demand is a program where picture books and other educational stories are available to educators to show to their classes. I thought, “Wow, I already use this program everyday!” I was somewhat correct with my assumption. We didn’t use Video on Demand but we did create digital stories very similar to the ones on that program.
I was excited to learn a new program as well. This program was Windows Movie Maker. I love exploring the computer and expanding my knowledge of the different programs that are out there. I use technology everyday in my class. So learning this program was very exciting to me because now I have another one to use during my daily lessons. I have also found that some of the first graders in my class ask me what programs I use for certain things and that during computer lab time I see them trying to teach themselves these programs. These children in my class would have the “right brain” qualities that Daniel Pink discussed in his book. These children are seeing the big picture and are going beyond what’s right in front of them to explore different things and to try things without any fear. They use their creativity to try things and are not afraid to take this challenge.
Digital storytelling fits into this as well. Digital storytelling is a creative way to change normal daily lessons into these great productions that motivate children to learn. By seeing normal lessons in a whole new aspect gives these children the creativity to try something new.
I used digital storytelling to create a sequencing lesson with my children. I made it very kid friendly and used them in the digital story. When you use the children in the activity they are more excited about doing it and about learning. We can use digital storytelling to help motivate our children and to make them become these “right brain” thinkers who later in life we be creating these great things as well.

Power Point in wikis and blogs

This idea comes from a post by Steve Dembo who authors Digital Passports on Discovery Education: AuthorStream is another tool for incorporating power point presentations into a wiki. The advantage of Authorstream is that it will imbed animation and you can convert to flash. I've checked it out and it is great.

Digital Storytelling Rationale

Jaime Erickson
Digital Storytelling
Digital Storytelling Rationale
Christopher Columbus, as well as many other European explorers, greatly influenced the way in which we live. His voyages led to the idea that land other than Europe did exist. He believed that those other lands were possibly rich in resources that appealed to the Europeans. Christopher Columbus is known to have endured successful journeys to discover new land.
Fourth grade students study European explorers in social studies. It is important for the students to become familiar with the time periods they explored, the country they sailed for, lifestyles of the explorer, goals, and discoveries. In order to expose the students to these points, teachers attempt to bring history to life by role-playing, conducting interviews, going on field trips, and showing movies that capture the overall feeling of their voyages.
The members of our group created a lesson plan that requires the students to put themselves in the shoes of Christopher Columbus. The students are first asked to listen to a short passage that describes the words Columbus used to describe his various actions while on his journey. “I, Columbus, decided to write down everything I do, see, and experience on this voyage from day to day, and very carefully.” Student will then jot down several ideas pertaining to the things they think Columbus did, saw, and experienced while on his voyages. The goal of this activity is for the students to become engaged in the lesson and to give them insight into the upcoming tasks.
The students will then view the movie “Christopher Columbus Begins a Journey”. As the students are watching the movie, they will be asked to use sensory words to describe the voyage of Christopher Columbus. Students will complete a graphic organizer describing what they think Columbus smelled, heard, saw, tasted, and touched while on his voyage. Next, the students will write a journal entry from the point of view of Christopher Columbus. The students will use the sensory descriptions from their graphic organizer.
There are many student and teacher advantages to watching the movie. The movie, created and run on Windows Movie Maker allows the students to feel as though they are on the dangerous expedition with Columbus and his crew. The audio that is heard throughout matches to the images that the students see as the movie is being shown. The narrator is describing the photographs and pictures in detail and therefore the students are able to create a more vivid picture of the hardships and accomplishments Columbus made on his journey. Showing the movie also has its advantages for the teacher. Having saved this movie, it is able to be played repeatedly, reinforcing the concepts taught during the lesson. It can also be used by the teacher to familiarize the students with additional concepts about Columbus, not necessarily taught in this lesson. Finally, a movie or video can be used as a reference or review of ideas at the end of a unit.
Daniel Pink and Thomas Friedman’s books can and do relate to digital storytelling. Overall I feel that their ideas of creativity driving technology and the future are accurate. Creative and motivated people analyze notions of “things” in everyday life and take them to another level. They are able to see what can be, rather than what is, and actually make it happen. Digital storytelling takes what is, perhaps information about Christopher Columbus, and upgrades that “boring” information to real life experiences that the students can learn from. With the adequate instruction and guidance students can import images, videos, and audio snippets to create a learning experience that can be extremely effective. The children can use their creative ideas and put them into action to impact their learning as well as other students learning.

Even the CIA has a Wiki

Even the CIA has a wiki to share information among agencies. Intellipedia is not open to the public, but it uses the same software and technologies.

Nancy Forman
Digital Storytelling
Mike Frerichs
February 6, 2008



Digital Storytelling - Final Reflection

Before taking this class on digital storytelling, I thought I was going to create some kind of text using the computer. I also had concerns whether I understood enough about computers to navigate my way through. I quickly learned that digital storytelling was so much more. What I learned was that digital storytelling uses multiple media tools to tell a story. The technology provides images and sound to tell a story in a new and exciting way, using cameras, computers, music, and narration. Its content should engage its audience both intellectually and emotionally.
Digital storytelling requires the right brain abilities considered essential in preparing our kids for the future. It includes abilities such as inventiveness, empathy, and meaning. In the book, The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman views the world as “flat”, a world where the playing field for opportunity has been leveled. Technology plays an important role in this flattening. Having a computer and access to the Internet gives people world- wide the ability to share, compete and work with each other. He recommends that education should be building right brain skills in order to be prepared to compete in a global market. He sees right brain skills as those that cannot be duplicated by a computer, with an emphasis on self directed learning and problem –solving. Daniel Pink, in his book A Whole New Mind, points to six important skills that necessary as we enter what he terms as the “Conceptual Age”. These skills are: Design, which encompasses creativity and inventiveness; Story, having something important to tell; Symphony, being able to see the big picture; Empathy, being able to standing someone else’s shoes; Play; having a sense of joyfulness; and Meaning, the pursuit of meaning. Digital storytelling reflects these skills. It is a creative process that engages the senses and emotions to tell a story that is meaningful. It provides opportunities to integrate curriculum across disciplines, helping students see the bigger picture,
During the process of making our short film on Columbus, we learned as we went along. There was a lot of exploring and trying different resources. At times it was frustrating trying to make things work. Finally it came together. I am sure when I share what I have learned with my students, they will be able to take it further then I got, and have an easier time with it as well. As a special education teacher, my diverse learners often need more than one way to learn. Digital storytelling can provide a multi-sensory approach to learning and an alternative way to demonstrate what they have learned. These stories can be created across curriculum. Computers are very much a part of the lives of the children we teach. They are using the computer to research, play games, and e-mail their friends. As teacher we need to expand our teaching tools to include a wide range of technologies.

Digital Storytelling Reflection

Maureen McInerney
Digital Storytelling
Mike Ferichs
February 5, 2008

How Digital Storytelling impacts the “Big Picture”

A story is something you’re telling with a purpose. It is designed to inform, persuade, or entertain. According to Leslie Rule from the Digital Storytelling foundation, Digital Storytelling is the modern expression of the ancient art of storytelling. Digital stories derive their power by weaving images, music, narrative and voice together, thereby giving deep dimension and vivid color to characters, situations, experiences, and insights. Everyone, everywhere has their own story to tell. These stories can be ones that inform, entertain and persuade their audience. With digital storytelling not longer do generations have to try to keep the oral stories that are passed down alive, we can now make these stories digital.
According to Daniel Pink’s book, A Whole New Mind, “The Future belongs to a very different kind of person with a different kind of mind-creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers and meaning makers.” These “right brain” qualities help make digital storytelling come alive. Their creativeness will bring the world into a whole new age of creativity and it will take the internet to a completely different level than what we have today. Stories no longer have to be told orally or left to interpretation when one looks at a picture. We will be able to make our stories digital. These stories can be save and passed from one generation to the next. One hundred years from now people will be able to watch a digital movie that was made by their great grand parent. This is great way to keep people from all over in communication with one another. Using the computer to tell a story will be easier than writing, because computers mostly use one language.
I have definitely learned a lot during the four weeks of taking Digital Storytelling in the classroom. It gave me an opportunity to use a program that I only heard of and make a two minute movie! My group made a movie about Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the new world by using Microsoft Movie Maker. We thought it would be a good idea since we teach Explorers in the New World in 4th Grade Social Studies. Looking for the audio, and pictures we wanted to use was a very interesting experience. Then we wanted to make sure that the pictures went along with the audio and that the timing was correct. It is amazing to me how long it took for us to make a two minute movie. Using this tool in the classroom is a great way to teach students in a multi-sensory way and cater to children’s different learning styles. Eventually everything that the students use will all be done digitally and there will be no more text book or worksheet used in schools.

Titanic - C. Waters & K. Koppel

CYNTHIA WATERS AND KERRIANN KOPPEL

New York State Learning Standards:

• ELA Standard 1: Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding.
• ELA Standard 2: Students will read and listen to oral, written, and electronically produced texts and performances from American and world literature.
• MST Standard 5: Students will apply technological knowledge and skills to design, construct, use, and evaluate products and systems to satisfy human and environmental needs.

Objectives: Students will be able to

• Use non-fiction texts to research factual information and details related to the Titanic (the background, building of the ship, passengers and crew, differences between classes, and sinking of the Titanic).
• Narrate a video montage using the program Windows Movie Maker.

Procedure / Activity:

• Teacher will gather pictures related to the Titanic (the background, building of the ship, passengers and crew, differences between classes, and sinking of the Titanic) and create a video montage using the program Windows Movie Maker.
• Students will read the non-fiction text Magic Tree House Research Guide: Titanic while completing an SQ3R guide. They will gather factual information about the topic and record details on the chart.
• After reading the text, students will individually be assigned a few pictures from the video montage to record a description of the picture(s). They will then narrate their writing using Windows Movie Maker.

Assessment:

• The teacher will assess the students' knowledge of the Titanic for accuracy based on their descriptions of the pictures.
• Students will also write a 3-entry journal using the information they learned from the text and the class movie. The journal will be a first-person telling of what it was like to sail on the Titanic.

The Life Cycle of a Blog Post

Ever wonder what happens when you post a blog? Wonder no more, check out this site.

Titanic Movie

I worked with small groups of my students to create their own Titanic movie using the site Cynthia and I had found. They loved being able to determine the mood of their movie and how to use the music to enhance it.

Projects

All the projects that were shared tonight were great! Everyone put a lot of time and effort into them. I was able to get the microphone for mine tonight. Looking forward to seeing the rest tomorrow!

My Video - S,. Sweeney

Steve's Video

Very interesting topic. You look like you put a lot of work into your project. It was great that you got your family involved with the production. I'm sure they had a good time helping you complete the class. Congratulation!!
Eileen

Issues of Liability for Teachers

There are several issues of liability that we need to be aware of. Take a look at two recent cases:

1. The Julie Amero Case: In 2006, a substitute teacher in Norwich, Connecticut, was convicted of impairing the morals of a child and risking injury to a minor after students saw pop-up to porn sites on a computer in her classroom. She was unaware that the classroom computer had no firewall and outdated antivirus protection, nevertheless she was found guilty. Her conviction was vacated in June 2007 after a string of protests around the country. At the moment she is awaiting the possibility of a retrial.

2. The Florida School Campus Officer Investigation: At this moment a Florida school campus officer is under criminal investigation over a MySpace account in which one of several hundred friends on the page had a link to a porn site. Even though the officer had no knowledge of the site, it would have been possible for a student to access the porn site from the officer's page in three clicks. This case is bizare and it will be interesting to see how it turns out.

Steve's Project

Jamie and I really learned a lot from Steve's project today. We thought it was great that he could take such a tough concept and make it so easy to understand!! We loved the movie clips of the bridge. They were amazing!! The voice clips and cool music were also a great addition to the project! Great Job Steve!
Alice and Jamie

Project Reflection- My students are sponges

Today our students worked with Mr. Frerichs on our class recess blog. We was so amazed by the way they were able to log on, write a post, and publish them in minutes. They knew exactly how to successfully input the information and in the right places! We were very impressed with the responses of the blogs. We are excited to continue the blog and are awaiting other students to join us!

Jamie and Alice

Video - Chatroom Internet Safety

ChatRoom Internet Safety for Parents

WEDDING CELEBRATIONS ACROSS DIFFERENT SHORES

Lesson Plan: Exploring Heritage Through Digital Storytelling was previously posted.

Eileen

Tacoma Bridge Presentation

I was quite impressed with the Tacoma Bridge presentation created by Steve. I really enjoyed the music in the background, the home demonstration by his daughters, and the narration throughout. I am amazed how all the video clips and home movie filming fit together so smoothly. Great work Steve!!!

Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan
Physics-Waves
Multimedia Presentation
Stephen Sweeney
Introduction

This lesson is a collaborative project between the Physics teacher, the school library media specialist and the computer lab teacher. It is designed in conjunction with the Regents Physics curriculum and the study of waves.
The purpose of this lesson is to provide students with an opportunity to research, and develop a presentation on one of the content areas in the unit on waves. Students will create their own movie clip. They will be assigned to a team that will explore one topic relevant to waves. Each student will research the background information and will explore concepts, applications, and examples relative to their subject.
The curriculum objective is for students to become experts in a particular area, and present their work to the class.
Learners
This unit is designed for High School students who are already have experience in Internet research and in the use of a basic multimedia technology such as Power Point. Students should be divided into teams that will allow students with greater needs to collaborate with teammates with more experience and ability.

Curriculum Standards
Math, Science and Technology, Commencement, Info. Systems-Performance Indicators Information
Information Systems

1. Information technology is used to retrieve, process, and communicate information and as a tool to enhance learning.

-Understand and use the more advanced features of word processing, spreadsheets, and database software.
-Prepare multimedia presentations demonstrating a clear sense of audience and purpose.
-Access, select, collate, and analyze information obtained from a wide range of sources such as research data bases, foundations, organizations, national libraries, and electronic communication networks, including the Internet.
-Utilize electronic networks to share information.
-Model solutions to a range of problems in mathematics, science, and technology using computer simulation software.

The Process
Click on each step below to find out more about it.

Resources Needed
Each student should have access to a computer that allows on-line access to the Internet.
The Internet resources available in the links section of the science page of the district’s website: http://nanunet.lhric.org/NanuetSeniorHighSchool/sciencedept/NPhysicslinks.htm
along with the links on the curriculum map:
http://nufsd.rubiconatlas.org/login/options.asp?UserID=0
will provide students with a foundation to begin their searches, and formulating their topic. They will incorporate these resources into their own digital story, providing their own unique insights and interpretations of the material.
The web quest format can be used on the classroom web page, allowing the students to proceed with the project as an independent learning experience.

Materials Used:Students can produce their digital story using a variety of available multimedia software. By High School, students are usually familiar with PowerPoint presentations, and should be challenged other digital editing programs such as Movie Maker, iMovie, and Photo Story. Digital stories can also be created using web page editors such as Front Page and Dreamweaver.
It is possible to create a digital story without the use of peripherals such as scanners, digital video recorders and digital cameras. Students can simple download images available sources (subject to acceptable use and copyright restrictions). Digital video recorders and digital cameras, however, allow students to incorporate more of their own creative interpretations into their project.

Evaluation
This project offers an excellent opportunity to assess a student's critical thinking skills based on Bloom’s Taxonomy. A successful work product (12 points) would include the following.
1. The student team demonstrates knowledge and comprehension level understanding of their topic by stating the basic facts of who, what, when, and where, as well as the conflicts and issues involved. (4 points)
2. The student team demonstrates the creative ability to apply, analyze, and synthesize the research information by using it in the digital story. (4 points)
3. The student team demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate the research information through conclusions regarding the significance of their content to the overall topic --- waves. (4 points)
4. Extra credit will be offered if the student team demonstrates improved proficiency with software and technologies that are new to them. (2 points)


Conclusion

It is important for students become critical thinkers, who can extract pertinent information from the vast resources at their disposal. This project adds the component of providing students with an opportunity to present their content in a multimedia format that benefits their classmates; and provides the students with exposure to, and immersion in, the technological tools available. This real-world experience can reap benefits in their future endeavors.

Digital Storytelling Lesson Plan

Eileen Calcaterra

LESSON PLAN
EXPLORING HERITAGE
THROUGH STORYTELLING

AUDIENCE: Grade 3--5
DURATION: 3-4 lessons

OBJECTIVE:
1. Students will present information clearly in a variety of written,oral and visual forms.
2. Students will be able to explain the lifestyles and customs of people in their family sequentially.
3. Students will access, generate, process, and transfer information using appropriate technologies.

STANDARDS:
1. Speaking and writing (NYS Standard ELA 1)
2. Social/cultural needs and wants of people. (NYS Social Studies Standard 2)
3. Information systems (NYS Technology Standard 2)

MATERIALS:
1. Computer with internet access and Moviemaker software.
2. Various photos, music, printed material, audio tapes and memorabilia related to each student and their family.

ACTIVITIES:
1. Discuss what culture and heritage is.
2. As a group, brainstorm the elements of life that define culture/heritage. The list will probably include: place, language, beliefs, foods, stories etc.
3. Identify and discuss the details that illustrate unique families.
4. Have students write a list of personal information which can include: their birthplace, their home, birthplaces of their parents, the names of family members etc.
5. Explain to the students what sequential order is.
6. After collecting material about their family have the students put their information in a chronological storyline format.
7. Explain to the students how Moviemaker works.
8. Students will then use Moviemaker to put their work together. Their presentation must include photos and either music or narrative.

ASSESSMENT:
1. Did the students demonstrate an understanding of the assignment?
2. Did the students complete the presentation to the best of their ability?

Presentation

Mike,
On the night of the presentation are we going to use a DVD player or use the computer? Over the weekend I plan to format my work and I wanted to see what was best.
Eileen

Jamie Wein and Alice O'Hara's Recess Blog


Plan

- Read Recess at 20 Below by Cindy Lou Aillaud
- Discuss similarities and differences of recess activities between students in Bardonia, NY and students in Alaska
- Create a blog for students to post comments discussing the different recess activities
- Students will also be able to post pictures of their recess creative play




Do

- Students from Bardonia and Alaska will participate in a blog discussing recess games, free play, sports and activities they enjoy at recess
- Students from Bardonia will develop friendships and acquire knowledge directly from students in Alaska
- Students will recognize how weather effects the daily routines, attire, and school life of children living in different climates




Review

- Students will read, analyze and discuss the postings of the blog
- Students will create a venn diagram comparing and contrasting recess leisure activities in Bardonia, NY and Alaska
- Students will write a creative essay comparing and contrasting their lives to children living in Alaska

Standard 2: Students will access, generate, process, and transfer information using appropriate technologies.

Susan Koppel
Sequencing Lesson Plan

New York State Learning Standards:
· ELA Standard 1: Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding.
· ELA Standard 2: Students will read and listen to oral, written, and electronically produced texts and performances from American and world literature.

Objectives:
· Students will be able to define what sequencing means.
· Students will be able to sequence pictures using first, second, third, fourth, and last.
· Students will be able to sequence pictures using first, next, then, and finally.
· Students will be able to write a story using sequencing.

Procedure:
· Define sequencing.
· Discuss how you can put things in order using the terms first, second, third, fourth, and last.
· Discuss how you can put things in order using the terms first, next, then, and finally.
· Discuss how you can write a story using pictures and the terms that were taught.
· Show children Windows Movie Maker show on sequencing.

Activity:
The teacher will discuss the term sequencing with the children. She will then talk about how when you sequence things you are putting them in order. The teacher will show the children that you can use different terms to sequence things. They are first, second, third, fourth, and last, or first, next, then, and finally. The teacher will then model how to write a story using first, next, then, and finally. The teacher will put on the Windows Movie Maker show on sequencing for the children to watch. They will then have to use the pictures at the end of the show to write a story.

Assessment:
The teacher will know that the children understood the lesson by questioning them throughout the activity and by the finished stories they write.

Columbus Lesson Plan

Kristine Wagner
Maureen McInerney
Nancy Forman
Jaime Erickson
Formal Lesson Plan

Essential Question: How do our senses help us understand the journey of Christopher Columbus?

NYS Standards:
Standard 1: Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and New York.

Standard 2: Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in world history and examine the broad sweep of history from a variety of perspectives.

Standard 3: Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of geography of the interdependent world in which we live-local, national, and global-including the distribution of people, places, and environments over the Earth’s surface.

Motivation: The teacher will ask students to think about a time when they visited a place or people they had never seen before. The teacher will ask the following questions: In what ways did the visit turn out like you expected? In what ways did it turn out differently?

Mini-Lesson: Gather the students on the carpet. Read aloud the following passage to the class: In 1492, an Italian ship captain set off on a voyage across an unknown ocean. “I, Columbus, decided to write down everything I do, see, and experience on this voyage from day to day, and very carefully.” But Columbus did not know the actual size of the Earth. He did not know that North, Central, and South America lay between Europe and Asia. Even though he misjudged the Earth’s size, his voyage still changed the lives of people all over the world.

Students will return to their desks. Students will view the movie “Christopher Columbus Begins a Journey”. As the students are watching the movie, they will be asked to use sensory words to describe the voyage of Christopher Columbus. Students will complete a graphic organizer describing what they think Columbus smelled, heard, saw, tasted, and touched while on his voyage.

The students will write a journal entry from the point of view of Christopher Columbus. The students will use the sensory descriptions from their graphic organizer.

Closure: The students will be called to the carpet. The students will share and discuss their journal entries.

Movie Maker Project

My project is almost completed. It is about five and a half minutes in length right now. I still have to find a way to record my voice and my student's voices for the show. We are in the process of trying to locate a microphone for this so hopefully I will have one tomorrow so I can finish up the project. I think it is going to be a cute movie to use with my first graders.

Final Project

My team and I are making progress trying to create our movie about Columbus' journey. We discovered how to match the audio to the imported pictures. The last two days of class seemed to be productive. I'm excited to see it all come together. The one thing that is frusturating is that our computer keeps freezing. Hopefully, we will be able to tie things up during the next session.

Movie Maker

Our group has been working on making a movie about Christopher Columbus' journey to the New World. We started out not knowing anything about movie maker and now we have about a two minute movie about Columbus' journey to the New World. It has been quite an experience for us. It took some time to decide on the audio that we wanted to work on , then we wanted to find pictures to go along with the audio, finally we placed the pictures on the story board and now we are working on the timing of the pictures to the audio. Making a movie is definately very tedious work. I can definately say that I have learned alot from this experience and I plan to use it in the classroom.

Project

Our project is beginning to take shape. We have taken the pictures and matched it to the video. Using the storyboard we have learned to regulate the the timing so that the video matches the audio. The transitions, title page and credits have been added. We are very excited to see it all come together. The program froze so we are at standstill right now. However, I feel more confident each time and I think I will be able to take what I have learned and use it with my students.

Columbus & MovieMaker

Nancy, Maureen, Kristine and I have been making steady progress on our Columbus Movie. It has been an interesting experience to learn the program and to figure out how to syncronize the photos and audios we imported. Now that we have leared how, we are in the process of working out the timing, transitions, captions, etc. Overall, it is coming together with the help of all our group members.

Alice and I have been creating a blog for our classrooms. It has been an interesting experience to try to figure out how to actually create one! After trouble shooting we have now changed the theme, pictures and comments on the page. It is now starting to look interesting. We have a long way to go but it really looks cool!
Jamie and Alice

Blog Project w/ Digital Storytelling

Jamie and I have been working on our recess blog. I think it will be fun once we start blogging with kids from Alaska. I showed the blog to some of our students today and they really seem to be into it!! They love the topic-- RECESS!! They also like the idea that they get to use the computer and actually talk to other kids about recess. This project will be on going and we are excited to see what it will look like in the months to come.

Alice and Jamie

Putting in music

I seem to have the length of the film the way I want it. However, I am having a problem in putting in the music. I have the songs chosen but I can't seem to drag it into the film. I guess I will have to play around a little with that.
Eileen

Blog Slideshow

After a frustrating evenining, I went home an searched for some advice for adding a flickr slideshow to a blog. I found a javascript that can be included in any new post or new element at http://paulstamatiou.com/2005/11/19/how-to-quickie-embedded-flickr-slideshows

One obsticale glitch is that it turns out that my flicker code is not thae same as my log-in name. It is : 23019905@N0. I found it at the site above using the link this idgettr.

Another issue is that it doesn't seem to be working on the computers here at Bardonia Elem.

Adding Voice

The movie I'm making on MovieMaker is coming along nicely as far as the pictures, transitions, and titles are concerned. However, tomorrow I'm planning on adding voice work and I'm unsure how to incorporate that into MovieMaker. How can I do that as easily as adding the pictures?

Movie Maker Project

My project is coming along nicely. I tried to change all of the slides to be the same length in time. You need to drag each slide to the amount of time you want. If anyone knows if there is an easier way to do that, please let me know.

Movie maker

I have found that this project is coming out better then I first thought. The storyboard took time and detail but I think I have it where I want it.
Eileen

Ken Burns - Make Your Own Movie

Liked the Ken Burns digital storytelling using movie maker. So I was research it and came cross another site the your can create a movie
http://www.pbs.org/civilwar/cwimages/tellingStory/flash.html
Once you get to this site look for Make Your Movie and click on it.

Jing Project

I have just come across another open source project called the Jing Project. This appears to be an interesting way to capture video or pictures for use in the classroom. Iaven't downloaded or tested it.

Conncection issues

I plan on using a laptop, so that I can keep the video files and moviemaker in the same place...thus avoiding the 'red X' issue. However, I'm having difficulty getting my computer to recognize my video camera to download clips. I'm going to try again tonight. If I still have issues, maybe someone can give me some advice at tomorrow's session.

Open Source

I just came across and open source. http://fullmeasure.co.uk/PowerTalk/
Power Talk is a free program that automatically speaks any presentation or slide show running in Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows. It works pretty good. I am going to use it for digital stories using powerpoint in a couple of my classes. This site also explains open source.

Movie Maker Tutorials

I found a series of Movie Maker Tutorials on You Tube. I have only caught a glimpse so far, but what I saw seemed useful, if not for our beginner project, for our more advanced future project.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=aI-dhd_eHXs


http://youtube.com/watch?v=sBAxkFFW4zw&feature=related


http://youtube.com/watch?v=mbWEAVxe-k4&feature=related

Although it does not have the visual aspect, podcasts in the classroom are becoming very popular and can be used in the same realm as digital storytelling. If you search online for podcasts you will find tons. The apple company site has good links to making podcasts, but here is a good link to start, http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/sites/sites074.shtml. Also if anyone need a microphone during class, let me know.

Remaining Classes

At this point we have four remaining classes. I am aware that most of you need time on the computer to complete your projects. I will adjust the class schedules accordingly. We'll try to be in the computer lab by 5 p.m. on Wednesday. On Thursday we will go right to the computer lab.

In the meantime, take a look at Joe Brennan's Digital Storytelling Blog on Discovery Education. It is outstanding.

We will finish with The World is Flat on Wednesday. I will also provide a brief summary of Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Mike

Presentation

I think I have all the pictures and music I need for my presentation. Now the focus is on limiting the selection I have chosen. This has turned out to be a very exciting venture. I plan on working this morning in putting my resources together in a storyline.
Eileen

Titanic moviemaker

Thanks for the Titanic Moviemaker site. I have a movie maker class that starts Jan 28th and am planning on starting the students out using this site. Great Find!

Wyoming Dust Storm

You have probably never experienced these. In Wyoming and Western Nebraska, where I grew up, dust storms are very common any time of year. This is a dust storm that hit this week near my sister's home in Lingle, Wyoming. How's this for a digital story?

Using Movie Maker

My group has been using movie maker for our digital story telling project. We are working on a video of the explorer, Christopher Columbus. We have imported our pictures and now we are trying to organize our movie! We are working on how to sequence the pictures to go along with the audio we have chosen. I saw on Power Media Plus a great video on Christopher Columbus. Will we be able to import parts of the 24 minute video into our movie?

MovieMaker

Today my group was able to take the time to import large amounts of images. We also played around with MovieMaker and figured out how to play a video and place photographs on the storyboard. We are now attempting to set the video and images to a specific timer so that the correct photo pops up when the video is describing that image. Is this even possible? We also wondered if we could import only a few minutes or clip from a 20 min. video-can this be done?

Movie Maker

I have been using Windows Movie Maker for my project. I have imported all of my pictures and slides that I will be using. I would still like to add my voice or the voice of the child that I used in the pictures. Is there a way to do this without using a video camera? How would I be able to record both of our voices to import them into the movie? If anyone knows, I would love any help! Thanks!

Titanic moviemaker from the Koppel sisters

Susan and Kerrian made me aware of a great site to learn moviemaker. Titanic moviemaker. I just love it. Check it out.

MovieMaker

I'm trying to figure out if there is any way to add graphics (like arrows or text) to the video clips. I think I can do it with still pictures, and import them into moviemaker as stills later...but if anyone knows how to overlay the videos, I would appreciate the help.

Movie Maker

Class tonight was very interesting. I definately learned alot about copyrighting, which I really did not know much about, now I am definately much more aware of copyright laws. I am slowly learning on how to navigate my way through windows movie maker and tonight I was introduced to power media plus. I feel that I am becoming a "Free and Independent Learner"! This is definately something that I can use in my classroom.

Movie Maker

As we explore using movie maker for our project, I am trying to be independent and fearless, though at times I just want someone to show me how to do it. I have had some success as I have been able to import pictures to movie maker. Tonight I learned to use Power Media Plus and I imported the saved audio to movie maker. I can see that this will be helpful to the special learners I work with.

Movie Maker

My team plans on using Movie Maker for our final project. It's taking a lot time and patience to understand the program. I'm slowly learning how to incorporate images, sound, and clippings. Power Media Plus is a great source and I plan on investigating this site more. I need to become comfortable with the process before I work on the final product.

Downloading

Today I feel like my group made some discoveries in the technology world. Together we were able to locate audio files, movies, and images that we may use in our digital story. After playing around with powermediaplus we were also able to save and import these files to MovieMaker. My experience today was a positive one and I think our final project will turn out better than I first thought.

Movie Maker

Using Movie Maker

I am really excited to use movie maker to showcase some of the work that my students do during our research about the Titanic. The students are already excited to learn about the topic and can't wait to dress up and be videotaped. I hope to have them discuss what they learned about the different classes of passengers and what it was like to be a passenger on the ship. They will hopefully act out the parts of different passengers as if they were actually on the Titanic's first voyage.

The Titanic

My class does an in-depth research project on the Titanic. The students read various fiction and non-fiction books on the subject and set their own purposes for reading. I'm going to attempt to use Movie Maker to pull together photos and video footage of the students during this project to create a digital story for future classes.

Project

I am using Windows Movie Maker for my project. My project is going to be on sequencing. I took pictures of a student in my class getting ready to go outside. He put on his jacket, pretend boots, scarf, hat, and gloves. I am going to use these pictures to discuss sequencing. I will put the pictures in no particular order and then show the correct order. I can use this in my class and have the children use the pictures to write a story using first, next, then, and finally.

History and copyright rules

I decided that I would sign up with FLICKR. It seems easy enough to upload pictures. I am finding that there is soooo much out there to learn. The class tonight was very interesting. The history of the internet and copyright rules are important to know and keep up with.
See you tomorrow?!?!?!
Eileen

Outsourcing

I am shocked by how much outsourcing goes on today. It's crazy that when people are trying to make a plane reservation the woman on the other line is a stay at home mom from who knows where! It's also scary that India has so many MIT's and are so ahead of us. They also work for much less money which means they will be taking all of our jobs for accountants, scientists, and whatever else!

Copy Right

I thought the information you provided on Copy Right was very informative.
How the different types of copy rights was interesting. I will research more about
the Technology Education & Copy Right - Tech Act. I am also going to check to see if
Rockland BOCES has one. I am sure the Anthony has made sure we do.

Jamie and Alice Project:
Our students are going to be comparing their lives to the lives of children in Alaska. We will be focusing mostly on outside the classroom and how weather effects our daily activities. We will be creating a movie of our children playing various games and recreational sports at recess. We will also be using the book Recess at 20 Below by Cindy Lou Aillaud to help the students see what the children in Alaska experience each day!

Movie Maker

I started playing around with movie maker and am finding that it is not as hard as I thought. I think I have a good topic to do my story on. I have come across some snags so I am looking forward to getting my questions answered in class tomorrow.
Eileen

I thought the history of the Internet was very interesting. I was definitely in the dark about many of the topics that were discussed.
I am looking forward to learning about movie maker and I am still trying to think of a topic for my project.

Movie Maker

I am looking forward to learning how to use Movie Maker. I take pictures of my students all year and upload them into a program called Photo Jam. In that program you can arrange the pictures in any order you want, set the pictures to music, and add text and other graphics. At the end of the year I burn a copy of the pictures for each child and give it to them as a gift. I am really interested in seeing how Movie Maker is similar and different to the other programs I have already been using.

Digital Storytelling and Teaching

Tonight's session was very interesting especially learning about the internet vs. the web. I learned a lot of facts that I wasn't aware of prior to tonight. Now that I know some facts about the history of the internet and web, I plan on teaching them to my students.
I'm looking forward to implementing many of the techniques we learn in this class. Technology makes learning come alive and teachers need to always be on their toes ready to motivate their students.

Digital Storytelling and Teaching

I have learned many new and interesting information about the Web and the Internet. As teachers for our students, we know the importance of developing background knowledge, though as adult learners sometimes we overlook it. I know I have much to learn about technology and I am looking forward to bringing something new and exciting to my teaching.

Digital Storytelling in the Middle School

I enjoyed tonight's discussion about the history of the internet and the web. I feel that many students don't really have that background knowledge of the history of the internet and the web and this is something that students are using every single day!!!
I am looking forward to learning about Digital Storytelling and implementing it in the classroom. Technology has really become a big part of education today. I feel that it may motivate many reluctant learners to look at a different aspect of reading and writing.

Digital Storytelling

At first I was unsure of what this course was going to be about. I originally thought it was going to teach us how to scan photographs into a format that would show and tell a story. Although I was not too far off, I have already learned that it is much more-and that I have a lot more to learn than I thought!
I am looking forward to getting into the creative portion of the project. I think it will be interesting to hear how each project was created, the programs that were used, and how digital storytelling will be used in the classroom.

Adobe Macromedia Flash

Learning Macromedia Flash Here is a good link to use if you are trying to learn how to use Macromedia Flash. Start with this and we can work from there.

Domain Name

When we were talking about the domain name in class tonight I wanted to mention that domain names are required to be purchased and renewed. That's how the white house got to be a porn site. Someone didn't know or forgot to renew the domain name.

There are people out there waiting for your domain name to expire. Then they buy it. Change it to something you would not want people to go to like porn. When you realize what has happened they are willing to sell you back that site at a high price. The white house would not give in to this and that is why www.whitehouse.com became a porn site.

Tonights class

I enjoyed learning the background information on how the internet evolved. I think we sometimes take for granted the use of technology.
As teachers we should be aware of the safety issues connected to the use of computers.

Flash

I would like to become more acquainted with Flash so I can spruce up my lessons and projects.When I first started teaching 10 years ago, my students were excited that I had sounds on my PowerPoint slideshows. As they have become more sophisticated, I need to step up my knowledge to enhance the quality of my technology and presentation of assignments.

Internet Safety

Internet safety as well as the history of the internet and world wide web is important to teach our students. As we discussed in class "how do we expect our students to know about these things if we do not know them". Rockland County has a computer task force that you can contact to come to your school to talk about internet safety. This is a nice introduction into internet safety. There are many web sites that make students aware of internet safety.
This is a great site http://www.netsmartz.org/ for elementary students. They also have a section for teenagers.

Got my account

Hi Mike,
Just before I read my e-mail from you I set up my own account. It was easier than I anticipated. See you in class tonight. Eileen

What is Web 2.0?

Let's begin our discussion of the importance of digital storytelling with a clear understanding of Web 2.0. To understand this concept, take a few minutes to read the article What is Web 2.0 Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software.

How is this significant to you in your profession?