Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Interactive Spreadsheet
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Inspiration
No, literally, that's the name of the program.
The idea of the program is to show relationships between ideas (almost like a brainstorming tool really, it can be useful). It can be used in the classroom if you have the access and the money to have the program on all computers available to students.
What's great about it is it's easy drag-and-drop interface. All images you will see on the screenshot of mine were merely dragged and placed on there from the desktop once I altered them. You can add images and create new linking ideas to keep the project growing.
Students can easily work with one another to get an assignment done for the program and present it easily to class. There are even buttons that allow the program to re-position everything in a computer-precise tree at the user's will.
All in all, it's a nice little tool that can be good to have if you don't have people that are fluent enough in Illustrator or InDesign.
The idea of the program is to show relationships between ideas (almost like a brainstorming tool really, it can be useful). It can be used in the classroom if you have the access and the money to have the program on all computers available to students.
What's great about it is it's easy drag-and-drop interface. All images you will see on the screenshot of mine were merely dragged and placed on there from the desktop once I altered them. You can add images and create new linking ideas to keep the project growing.
Students can easily work with one another to get an assignment done for the program and present it easily to class. There are even buttons that allow the program to re-position everything in a computer-precise tree at the user's will.
All in all, it's a nice little tool that can be good to have if you don't have people that are fluent enough in Illustrator or InDesign.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Picasa/Scavenger Hunt
So in order for us to get better acquainted with resizing images/learning how to properly use Web 2.0 tools, this blog is an assignment that shows off our savviness with the tool.
So here is my slideshow from my scavenger hunt, with the theme being opposites.
The list is as follows:
Something thin
Something fat
Something wet
Something dry
Something clean
Something dirty
Something slow
Something fast
Something short
Something tall
Something warm
Something cold
Something old
Something new
So here is my slideshow from my scavenger hunt, with the theme being opposites.
The list is as follows:
Something thin
Something fat
Something wet
Something dry
Something clean
Something dirty
Something slow
Something fast
Something short
Something tall
Something warm
Something cold
Something old
Something new
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Picasa
So we had to create an album on Picasa, which works in conjunction with Google (everything works with Google. Go figure. Google will rule the world one day.)
So here's an embedded link to a slideshow I made from images we had to use for a small project in TPTE.
What's great about Picasa is the ability of having to present something in class, that you have the ability of editing the slideshow from any computer, so long as you have access to your gmail account.
What this does is allow students to work seamlessly with the powerpoint or the album from anywhere, giving great accessibility and convenience for everyone. Should they have to go out of town and they have a lap top with internet access, they can work on said slideshow.
It's easy to maintain, easy to edit, and extremely user friendly. A short tutorial may be needed to work out minor bugs, but all-in-all it's a great tool that can be used for educational purposes to ensure that a visual learning environment can be used to present information.
So here's an embedded link to a slideshow I made from images we had to use for a small project in TPTE.
What's great about Picasa is the ability of having to present something in class, that you have the ability of editing the slideshow from any computer, so long as you have access to your gmail account.
What this does is allow students to work seamlessly with the powerpoint or the album from anywhere, giving great accessibility and convenience for everyone. Should they have to go out of town and they have a lap top with internet access, they can work on said slideshow.
It's easy to maintain, easy to edit, and extremely user friendly. A short tutorial may be needed to work out minor bugs, but all-in-all it's a great tool that can be used for educational purposes to ensure that a visual learning environment can be used to present information.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Web 2.0 Tools
As promised, I'll be discussing Web 2.0 tools.
I wasn't sure myself what Web 2.0 tools were until we discussed them in class. For those of you that are also confused, I will explain to the best of my knowledge from I am learning.
Web 2.0 tools are internet tools that can be used for free. Some examples of Web 2.0 tools are twitter, picnik, animoto, glogster, etc. These are tools that everyone can have access to and are free to use (some of these allow membership for better options, but for the most part, they remain free and are well enough to use without the cost of membership).
While I find that some of tools are okay for use, I take a bit of a personal issue with use of some these tools, such as picnik. They give the illusion that anyone can become an instant artist based on the simple use of tools for photos they may or may not have taken. It can offer some basic insight to photo editing though, so it's not entirely bad in that regard.
Aside from that, the others tools can seem to have an effect that allows you teach these items either very quickly, or just give a brief introduction to these tools, and let the students learn by exploring the tools for themselves, which could have positive and negative effects (obviously, it'd be hard to get support for the use of twitter in the classroom, but it has been done).
That's all I really have to say on the use of Web 2.0 tools, and if you're interested, I encourage you to do some research and play time with the tools yourself.
I wasn't sure myself what Web 2.0 tools were until we discussed them in class. For those of you that are also confused, I will explain to the best of my knowledge from I am learning.
Web 2.0 tools are internet tools that can be used for free. Some examples of Web 2.0 tools are twitter, picnik, animoto, glogster, etc. These are tools that everyone can have access to and are free to use (some of these allow membership for better options, but for the most part, they remain free and are well enough to use without the cost of membership).
While I find that some of tools are okay for use, I take a bit of a personal issue with use of some these tools, such as picnik. They give the illusion that anyone can become an instant artist based on the simple use of tools for photos they may or may not have taken. It can offer some basic insight to photo editing though, so it's not entirely bad in that regard.
Aside from that, the others tools can seem to have an effect that allows you teach these items either very quickly, or just give a brief introduction to these tools, and let the students learn by exploring the tools for themselves, which could have positive and negative effects (obviously, it'd be hard to get support for the use of twitter in the classroom, but it has been done).
That's all I really have to say on the use of Web 2.0 tools, and if you're interested, I encourage you to do some research and play time with the tools yourself.
Friday, June 17, 2011
WebQuests
WebQuests.
We learned about these yesterday in class and they can be pretty nifty tools in a pinch if you need help with an idea for a lesson plan or an activity. The whole point of WebQuests are to allow learning for students and teachers a like, but they end with a product of something as a result.
For example, I had to post on my Wiki (http://486sum11music.pbworks.com/w/page/41082008/Home , under the "WebQuest" tab at the bottom) about a WebQuest, and I happened to choose one on about Art as a social commentary.
I chose it because it allows students in the high level to research an artist that is listed on that particular WebQuest, make a piece in likeness to the artist that they were given, and then present to the class why that artist should be featured in a gallery.
What's great about it is the fact that is makes students do research on art and artist, it allows students to create art, and it allows students to talk about by the end of the assignment. So it's not just one thing that they are learning, but several different things at once. I find WebQuests could possibly be more useful than Wikis in a classroom environment, but as I stated in the earlier blog about Wikis, I will hold my judgment on Wikis for now, as I'm still trying to see how well this work out with a large group of college students working on it.
Stay tuned for my blog on Web 2.0 tools, coming in the next day or so.
We learned about these yesterday in class and they can be pretty nifty tools in a pinch if you need help with an idea for a lesson plan or an activity. The whole point of WebQuests are to allow learning for students and teachers a like, but they end with a product of something as a result.
For example, I had to post on my Wiki (http://486sum11music.pbworks.com/w/page/41082008/Home , under the "WebQuest" tab at the bottom) about a WebQuest, and I happened to choose one on about Art as a social commentary.
I chose it because it allows students in the high level to research an artist that is listed on that particular WebQuest, make a piece in likeness to the artist that they were given, and then present to the class why that artist should be featured in a gallery.
What's great about it is the fact that is makes students do research on art and artist, it allows students to create art, and it allows students to talk about by the end of the assignment. So it's not just one thing that they are learning, but several different things at once. I find WebQuests could possibly be more useful than Wikis in a classroom environment, but as I stated in the earlier blog about Wikis, I will hold my judgment on Wikis for now, as I'm still trying to see how well this work out with a large group of college students working on it.
Stay tuned for my blog on Web 2.0 tools, coming in the next day or so.
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