Ipod update #1

I downloaded the free version of puppetpals last night and then found this limiting so paid $2.59 for the full version.

Puppetpals is a digital storytelling app where you can use the existing characters and backgrounds to take photos or use your own photos as characters.

I showed Toby this app before school this morning and he "went for gold"!  He was so excited he came and found me in the staffroom just before 9am to show me his very first try.

From the morning onwards he used every free opportunity he had to keep playing. By the end of the day he was taking photos of this peers, cutting them out (by tracing with his finger on the screen of the ipod), adding backgrounds and voice recordings.

I can see this app, Puppetpals, being used to retell stories in reading and writing, creating short narratives and more.

You can upload your finshed as a movie to a blog and share.

I'll upload his finished product when it's done. ;)

Ipods in the classroom update #2

Earlier on this week Victoria took our ipod out to circuits on the courts and took photos of the syndicate doing these circuits.
I then showed her the splice app which I had downlodaded for free on the ipod. It's not the easiest app to use for the first time but I can see children getting the hang of it when they use it more often.
Victoria then made a video of the photos she took, added music and then we plugged it into my laptop and I modelled to the class how to add this video straight from the ipod to our class blog.

Now I have a child each day asking to take the ipod out to circuits!!!( I can't say I haven't motivated them!)

So... the purpose and "worthwhileness" of this??
Well, the actions of taking photos, making the short movie and then uploading all on one device is easy and simple.
Also, children can create short movies of their day-to-day "school life" and share them instantly with an audience.
They are also becoming more and more familiar with mobile devices.

I can't wait to get more ipods for our school and start sharing this knowledge with our techsperx club and then watching this filter through into classrooms. ;)

Below is Victoria's post copied from our class blog.

Victoria used the ipod today to take photos of us doing circuits. She then created a video using the splice app on the ipod. This is our first time using the splice app.

Circuits are a fun fitness activity. We are doing circuits to get fit and ready for our cross country. 

Education Skype

I can really see the potential of joining Skype in the classroom. My class have skyped one of our quad blog classes in the UK so I can the potential of further utilising what skype has to offer.

From my quick look into it we can skype experts around the word and learn from them. I can see learning about the Olympics and our big idea of "performance" becoming more real-life to chn, especially if they are talking to an athlete at the games!

Hmmm,  I wonder if this we can do that?

My challenge - sign up using my existing skype account and... go from there. I could ask the class who they would like to skype and why to get them thinking?

Beeclip - An online scrapbook

An online scrapbook creator....
So now I have glogster, smore and beeclip to trial and compare. ;)

Great website... ideas to 'technify' your teaching

http://www.teachgennow.com.au/

The first great idea I found on this site was Smore. http://www.smore.com/app/ It is an online poster creator, similar to Glogster. You can upload poster to blogs, twitter, facebook and share with others. It would be great to use for our school events. I created a glog last term for the ICT parents evening but had to take a snapshot of it and upload as a picture to share on twitter. from what I have seen on Smore you can upload straight away to twitter.

Where to from here?

• trial making a poster on Smore and upload to class blog
• model and teach to an expert in my class to then teach others
• reflect on the use of this tool; What are the benefits of uing this tool?

Brain Breaks

Minds-in-blooms is a wonderful website I happened to come across with ideas on what to do for a "Brain Break".

I am going to try this next term becasue these ideas sound like a fun way to give chn a break between sessions, especially the middle block of the day; a few of my chn regularly ask "When's lunchtime?" These brain breaks may be what they need to re-energise?  Let's see....

This website is full of ideas... so there's another item added to my to-do-list!