Sunday, November 15, 2009
BP15_2009113_Peer Review of Web 2.0 Tools
@Christine
FACE IN THE HOLE.COM
Face in Hole.com
http://www.faceinhole.com/us/
This application was so much fun! I just wish I could use a live feed to position my profile to fit the image better. I spent way too much time playing with this application. I also realized my students would have an absolute blast. They love to role-play and manipulate their pictures. With Face in the Hole, they put their photos into the proper spot and they can become a superhero, or a cartoon character. I remember my brother sent my mom a photo of Indianna Jones, just like the photo they have on this application. His face implanted where Harrison Fords was supposed to go. We did not see it at first because the image was seamless but once we did, it was hysterical! Again, to be able to position your image live would work best so you could actually get the correct facial expression for the shot. As far as educational purposes, students can take on the persona of a character in a story. There is a feature for you to download your own character and/or scene, so they could make their own. Especially for their history class, they could become George Washington or Abraham Lincoln. We could also get the art classes involved to work on some graphics that the kids can use for their Language Arts projects. Some of the teachers have the students rewrite fairytales and they could create their own scene and then super impose their face in the image or use the ones already on the website. For instance, I have always wanted to be a Jedi!
Christine,
Okay like you I (we) had way too much fun with FaceintheHole. My son walked in the room as I opened up the program and started to explore, we roared with laughter as we played with the animation tools and took turns making silly pictures of each other.
With my little ones it would be cute for creating a holiday card for parents, or as you suggested downloading your own scenarios maybe of different things we do throughout the school year.
Either way educational or just for fun my son and I had a blast.
DO YOU THINK HE'S READY FOR CHRISTMAS??????
FACE IN THE HOLE.COM
Face in Hole.com
http://www.faceinhole.com/us/
This application was so much fun! I just wish I could use a live feed to position my profile to fit the image better. I spent way too much time playing with this application. I also realized my students would have an absolute blast. They love to role-play and manipulate their pictures. With Face in the Hole, they put their photos into the proper spot and they can become a superhero, or a cartoon character. I remember my brother sent my mom a photo of Indianna Jones, just like the photo they have on this application. His face implanted where Harrison Fords was supposed to go. We did not see it at first because the image was seamless but once we did, it was hysterical! Again, to be able to position your image live would work best so you could actually get the correct facial expression for the shot. As far as educational purposes, students can take on the persona of a character in a story. There is a feature for you to download your own character and/or scene, so they could make their own. Especially for their history class, they could become George Washington or Abraham Lincoln. We could also get the art classes involved to work on some graphics that the kids can use for their Language Arts projects. Some of the teachers have the students rewrite fairytales and they could create their own scene and then super impose their face in the image or use the ones already on the website. For instance, I have always wanted to be a Jedi!
Christine,
Okay like you I (we) had way too much fun with FaceintheHole. My son walked in the room as I opened up the program and started to explore, we roared with laughter as we played with the animation tools and took turns making silly pictures of each other.
With my little ones it would be cute for creating a holiday card for parents, or as you suggested downloading your own scenarios maybe of different things we do throughout the school year.
Either way educational or just for fun my son and I had a blast.
DO YOU THINK HE'S READY FOR CHRISTMAS??????
BP14_2009113_Peer Review of Web 2.0 Tools
@Kim – Peer Review of Ekoloko
Ekoloko is a Web 2.0 tools that I found during my research. It is a virtual community where kids are able to explore and discover the world both virtual and real. We as students at Full Sail have already had the opportunity to explore Second Life through one of our classes, but I think we agree that not all areas of Second Life are acceptable for kids. Ekoloko gives students a way to explore a virtual world.
Ekoloko give kids an opportunity to acquire values, knowledge and skills to be responsible and involved individuals.
After registering for the website, you are give an opportunity to create and personalize your own character. I chose the sex of my character, hairstyle and clothing and shoes before I began my adventures.
As a member of this community kids are able to chat and hang out with their friends.
Games can be played one on one or community style. There are several different areas where members can go on adventures and explore their surroundings. Characters can be advance levels by game play, which will appeal to many kids.
Kids become part of the ekolokian community, where they can hang out, play games, explore or just have fun. Being part of the community brings with it an awareness and responsibility to the environment they reside in.
Given the environmental awareness these days, this is great site to help students become more aware of environment issues that face the world today. It can help them become more knowledgeable about how our choices affect the world around us.
Kim,
After our last class with Dr. Deason and the project my team developed I couldn't agree with you more about the need for more ways to teach environmental awareness issues to our younger students. This morning I join, signed on and played Ekoloko, with the exception that I never scored a single basket in the basketball game, I was engaged and had a good time.
My only concern would be to question why they would approve someone of my age for an account? When I registered I entered my birthday information, which clearly indicates I'm an adult yet I was given an account. I guess to see how the site is monitored for safety you would have to actually break a security rule and see what happens, but I wasn't brave enough to try it.
BP13_2009113_Peer Review of Web 2.0 Tools
@ Carrie - Pikikids
Sometimes it feels as though my curriculum gets monotonous, and at those moments I need an activity or a lesson that can spice up the day. Being able to turn to a Web 2.0 tool at this moment is invaluable. Knowing that I have these days, I took time to ensure I found at least one Web 2.0 tool which would give my students and I break, but at the same time, still have educational benefits. What I found was Pikikids.
Pikikids allows the user to create comics online. It is similar to ComicLife, except its target audience is kids and it is free. After you have registered for the site (all you need is a user name, password, and email address) you can begin creating a comic. There are several layouts you can choose from for the comic. Once you choose the layout, you begin to add pictures and thought bubbles to the comic. Pikikids allows you to search for pictures from Flickr directly from its site. When you are pleased with your comic, you can save and publish.
Obviously comics can be a fun, laid-back activity for the students, but what are the educational benefits of a comic? A comic can be used to get the students to synthesize information. After students have read a passage from any book, either a novel or a textbook, they can show they understood the material by turning it into a comic. Students could also use the comic format to create a storyboard for a paper they are writing.
Sometime you just have to step back and allow the students to breath.
Carrie -
I have a second grade ESE student who will absolutely love this tool. Up until a year ago getting him to put two words of any kind on a paper was near impossible. His teacher inadvertently introduced comic strips and he took the concept and ran with it. Getting him to not only write, but complete any and all of his assignments is now tied to the contingent that he gets to complete a comic strip at the end of his work sessions. This fantastic tool will provide him with increased resources for artwork/ideas. I was so excited after I checked it out I emailed his teacher and forwarded her the tool information so she could check it out and have it ready for him on Monday. Roberto, his teacher, and I all thank you for finding and sharing this great tool.
Joanne
Sometimes it feels as though my curriculum gets monotonous, and at those moments I need an activity or a lesson that can spice up the day. Being able to turn to a Web 2.0 tool at this moment is invaluable. Knowing that I have these days, I took time to ensure I found at least one Web 2.0 tool which would give my students and I break, but at the same time, still have educational benefits. What I found was Pikikids.
Pikikids allows the user to create comics online. It is similar to ComicLife, except its target audience is kids and it is free. After you have registered for the site (all you need is a user name, password, and email address) you can begin creating a comic. There are several layouts you can choose from for the comic. Once you choose the layout, you begin to add pictures and thought bubbles to the comic. Pikikids allows you to search for pictures from Flickr directly from its site. When you are pleased with your comic, you can save and publish.
Obviously comics can be a fun, laid-back activity for the students, but what are the educational benefits of a comic? A comic can be used to get the students to synthesize information. After students have read a passage from any book, either a novel or a textbook, they can show they understood the material by turning it into a comic. Students could also use the comic format to create a storyboard for a paper they are writing.
Sometime you just have to step back and allow the students to breath.
Carrie -
I have a second grade ESE student who will absolutely love this tool. Up until a year ago getting him to put two words of any kind on a paper was near impossible. His teacher inadvertently introduced comic strips and he took the concept and ran with it. Getting him to not only write, but complete any and all of his assignments is now tied to the contingent that he gets to complete a comic strip at the end of his work sessions. This fantastic tool will provide him with increased resources for artwork/ideas. I was so excited after I checked it out I emailed his teacher and forwarded her the tool information so she could check it out and have it ready for him on Monday. Roberto, his teacher, and I all thank you for finding and sharing this great tool.
Joanne
BP12_2009113_Web 2.0 Tools Reviewed
I like monkeys, even the survey kind! I haven’t heard of anyone reviewing and talking about creating online surveys so thought it would be a good topic to explore for this week’s Web 2.0 tool. I have heard other members of my school team mention Survey Monkey so it seemed like a good place to start. There are three categories within Survey Monkey basic, monthly pro, and annual pro, each with it’s own pricing category. My favorite the basic of course, it’s free!
So what can Survey Monkey basic do? You can design, selecting from one of the 15 pre-set designs, a survey of up to 10 questions choosing from 12 question types. There are easy to follow and use step-by-step directions to assist you in setting up your survey. Setup includes everything from typing in your questions, selecting your security settings, to printing a final survey results. Security settings include establishing cutoff dates, maximum number of responses cutoff, password protection, and the means of sending out your survey. All for free, yes these features are all part of the basic “free” use of the program.
Think you need more survey features? Well for $19.99 per month or an annual fee of $200.00 you can add unlimited questions, the ability to design your own presentation style, add your logo, support other languages, create a PSF of your survey and many more features. Personally for my uses I don’t foresee spending a dime, but I do plan on “monkeying around” and putting Survey Monkey to good use.
So what can Survey Monkey basic do? You can design, selecting from one of the 15 pre-set designs, a survey of up to 10 questions choosing from 12 question types. There are easy to follow and use step-by-step directions to assist you in setting up your survey. Setup includes everything from typing in your questions, selecting your security settings, to printing a final survey results. Security settings include establishing cutoff dates, maximum number of responses cutoff, password protection, and the means of sending out your survey. All for free, yes these features are all part of the basic “free” use of the program.
Think you need more survey features? Well for $19.99 per month or an annual fee of $200.00 you can add unlimited questions, the ability to design your own presentation style, add your logo, support other languages, create a PSF of your survey and many more features. Personally for my uses I don’t foresee spending a dime, but I do plan on “monkeying around” and putting Survey Monkey to good use.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
BP10.2009112.Social Bookmarking
In December 2006, Roger Riddell, online editor for eSchool News, wrote an article entitled “Social bookmarking makes its mark in education.” Throughout the article he speaks of the advantages of social bookmarking and its practical use in education. He even goes so far as to say, “these applications offer an exciting change for teachers, researchers and pupil” (p. 1). The only problem is somebody forgot to tell educators. I took a small survey in my building on Friday to see who knew and understood the concept of social bookmarking, the results of which astonished even me. Of the 36 staff members who responded to my email question only 8 had heard of social bookmarking and only 4 had actually used the application. It should interest you to know that of our technologically savvy staff one was our IT, one a graduate of the Full Sail EMDT program, one a current student in the EMDT, and finally one currently taking graduate classes in Educational Leadership at Nova University. Several others currently taking graduate level classes had never heard of Delicious or the concept of social bookmarking. The results needless to say were disappointing; the technology is there yet we fail to educator our educators in its existence and how to use it. Perhaps the results were what they were because I work in an elementary school and would be different in a middle or high school, but somehow I have my doubts. We spend countless hours attending weekly workshops on how to improve our role as teacher, yet something as simple as collecting, tagging, and sharing resources through social bookmarking we fail to educate teachers on.
So how can social bookmarking be successfully implemented into the school environment? (Darby & Gilmour, 2009) provide readers with the idea of incorporating Delicious bookmarks onto websites as a means of compiling and sharing information on specific topics. The article provides specific information on extracting data from a users account and how to display this data for others to easily access. My school website offers a section related to Positive Behavior Support and I’m going to see if the PBS resources I’m finding for my action research project can somehow be linked to the parent article in our website.
Gordon-Murnane (2009) also talks specifically about the use of Delicious and the benefits it offers not only in the workplace, but personally as well. The article spoke directly about the sometimes-overwhelming amount of information available through the Internet and the cumbersome task of keeping that information organized and useful. The article spoke of the advantages of using social bookmarks to “keep things found (individual collection), sharing collaboration (folksonomy), vertical searches, and portability/mobility (multiple access points)” (p. 1). The concept of folksonomy or sharing of bookmarked information to create specific groups offers a great advantage to both the teacher and the student. Rather than performing a web search and sorting through endless resources, both the good and the bad, the user can search and select from the resources that others have used and found useful, saving countless hours of research time. Not to mention that each time the group uses and saves information related to the specific topic the better the service becomes.
I can’t tell you the number of times I have sat in a meeting using my laptop only to realize the bookmark I was hoping to use was located on my desktop computer, frustrating and occasionally even embarrassing when I have left a meeting to go and retrieve what I needed from the other computer. So the thought of putting this tool to use for me personally is exciting. My only concern, as is often a concern within the school system, is whether or not our districts IT police band the Delicious tool.
References
Darby, A., & Gilmour, R. (2009). Tutorial: Adding Delicious Data to Your Library Website. Information Technology & Libraries, 28(2), 100-103. Retrieved November 5, 2009 from http://ital-ica.blogspot.com/2009/06/adding-delicious-data-to-your-library.html
Gordon-Murnane, L. (2009). Social Bookmarking, Folksonomies, and Web 2.0 Tools. Searcher, 14(6), 26-38. Retrieved November 7, 2009 from http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/ gi_0199-5609708/Social-bookmarking-folksonomies-and-Web.html
Riddell, R. (2006). Social bookmarking makes its mark in education. eSchool News, Technology news for today’s K-20 Educator. Retrieved November 5, 2009 from http://www.eschoolnews.com/
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