Pixie 2 for Learning in D97

Pixie 2 software is available on our lab machines. Over the past month I've seen some creative teachers use the software to help students learn. The results have been terrific, and teachers and students are enjoying using this Cool Tool for learning.

Pixie 2 is software made simple. A user can open the program, experiment with familiar drawing/painting tools and create! Stamps right within the program provide opportunities for those of us with limited drawing ability to create and express ourselves visually in spite of it. This opens the door for a world of writing possibilities. The ease of publishing Pixie 2 creations with Google Docs and a blog helps create a 21st Century Learning environment that extends the walls of the classroom and encourages higher quality work that is published for an audience.

The best way to take a peek is to take a look at a VoiceThread created with samples of the work and comments. You can also view some of the project featured by clicking on the links below.

Pixie2 for Learning VoiceThread

A closer look at projects

• Alliteration  - Debbie Creticos and Lucy Divis - Longfellow - Grade 2
• Catastrophic Events - Phyllis Frick - Grade 6
• Fall Fun and Festivals Janet Barnstable - Julian - Virtual Classroom Global Dreamers - Grades 7-8
• City Wildlife - Stella Turi - Holmes - Grade 3 

Read more

Catostrophic Events: Pixie 2 and Google Presentation

Phyllis Frick's 6th grade science students used Pixie 2 to create slides about catastrophic events. After completing some research, each student created original artwork depicting the event and wrote a one sentence summary about it.

This was the first time Phyllis and her students used these Cool Tools in the lab, but they were able to create powerful slides in just about one lab session.

Please view and enjoy the Catastrophic Events SlideShow

Read more

Alliteration in a 21st Century Learning Environment

The students in Debbie Creticos's and Lucy Divis's 2nd grade class learned about alliteration through painting and writing on the computer. Their work is impressive and delightful.

They used Pixie 2 to create the work, then uploaded the images to Google Presentation for publishing on the class blog.

Please enjoy the Alliteration Slide Show created by Longfellow 2nd graders.

Read more

Google Presentation for Guided Student Learning

Google Presentation is a versatile tool. Since a presentation can be published online and linked to a blog or website, perhaps a good use of this tool is for guided student learning. After all, this Cool Tool is really only a blank page.

I'd like to share an example of a Google Presentation that integrates many of the Cool Tools discussed on this blog. This is a series of guided learning opportunities for students that focuses on Internet safety and introduces students to some of the Web 2.0 tools they might be using to create and share their learning.

Please take a moment to view Design Your Digital Self, by Veena Rajashekar, Beye School.

Read more

Prezi: Online Presentations with a Twist

Prezi is an online presentation tool that's quite exciting, and certainly a welcome change of pace to the traditional slideshow. Prezi abandons the concept of using slide after slide to display bulleted text, and instead uses one giant canvas to hold all of the content. Viewers follow a path set by the author to explore chunks of information, and zoom in to take a closer look. You can embed videos and images, create links, and have a lot of fun creating and viewing Prezi presentations.

This nontraditional presentation is a Cool Tool for changing the way students and teachers disseminate information and ideas. Perhaps Prezi could be used to help students do something with all that information that's out there, and it could be used to encourage them to remix and create rather than regurgitate. Prezi seems very well-suited for the 21st Century Classroom.

If you want to try Prezi yourself, it's fairly easy to use, especially if you take the time to view the tutorial before getting started. You can sign up for a free account to get your feet wet and decide for yourself whether or not Prezi is for you.

Please take a look at an example of a Prezi presentation with a powerful message. The experience is better when you view it in fullscreen. (Choose More at the bottom of the screen.)

View Prezi: Web 2.0 in the Classroom, by Ryan McCallum

Sign up at Prezi.com

Read more

Google Presentation for Student Portfolios

Compatibility with PowerPoint combined with the ability to easily publish slideshows online makes Google Presentation a Cool Tool for creating and maintaining student portfolios. I know of two innovative teachers in D97 who are building these portfolios, and they are definitely worth taking a look at. What a great way to celebrate the learning, progress and talents of your students, and what a fabulous way to share with relatives and friends across the world! I'll bet these students love having their work published and it certainly does encourage people to check your blog.

• Erica Childress' Kindergarteners at Work (See Class List in the sidebar)
• Sheila Vietzen's Kindergarten Class Work Blog (See Student Portfolios in the sidebar)

Sheila and Erica are two of the teachers you might be working with if you decide to attend a D97 GoogleDocs training session, coming to a location near you. Sign Up for Google Training 


Please comment to share your thoughts about these kindergarten portfolios of student work. Just click the link below and type a message into the box.

Read more

How's Your Web Presence?

Blogger Flicker Twitter Facebook Picassa Glogster SecondLife WikiSpaces GoogleSites GoogleDocs Del.icio.us VoiceThread YouTube Diigo GlobalSchoolNet... the list goes on...

If you are using Web 2.0 tools, then you do have a web presence. Have you googled yourself lately? Unfortunately, the Internet does not allow us to categorize ourselves to make a distinction between our personal and professional selves. This is true for everyone.

Do you think students, parents, and even prospective employers use Google to check you out? You bet. Do you think universities offering scholarship use Google to check out prospective students? Yes. Do you think students think about their own web presence and how it relates to their future. They should.

After you've googled yourself, remember this. Check the settings in all the Web. 2.0 tools you use to see how to set the privacy and lock things down. If a tool offers no control over what others see, is it a Cool Tool?

Read more

Drawing & Painting: Kerpoof Studio

Kerpoof Studio is another tool for drawing and creating on the computer. It's kid-friendly, and again, no sign in is needed to use the tool in it's most basic form. But, Kerpoof does offer free teacher accounts which are certainly worth the trouble of creating.  Teachers can create student accounts and also limit the features accessible to students using  Kerpoof. As an added bonus, there is an entire Kerpoof for Teachers  page with lesson plans, standards, a useful newsletter, and more.

There are many options available within Kerpoof studio, and some are more educationally appropriate  than others.  It's important that students using this tool have a clearly identified learning goal when using Kerpoof in an educational setting or they will just play.

A word of caution...
Kerpoof Studio is owned by Disney and this company has very clear terms of use. Please do spend some time looking at the terms you've agreed to, before using the tool. If you are going to publish work that has been created with Kerpoof, it is extremely important that you label the work according to the terms, each and every time. Notice the sample above.

Read more

Drawing & Painting: ArtPad

Drawing and painting can create a bridge between the ideas in a child's head and the blank piece of paper. Students are generally pretty movitivated and engaged when drawing and painting on the computer, and many are very good at it. In an effort to encourage content based writing and promote tech literacy, I'd like to introduce you to a very good, easy to use, online painting tool.

ArtPad.com

This simple tool is designed to bring out the artist in us all. It records the process used to paint, then makes it available for viewing. There is no login required and students can easily use this tool. Teach students to take a snapshot of their finished painting, then insert the picture into a document for writing.

View the artpad gallery glog to see what some of our teachers have created and please consider submitting a painting of your own for display. Student paintings are appreciated too!

Read more

Using Avatars to Teach Internet Safety

 Using educationally appropriate online tools with students opens up a world of possibilities, but it's important to communicate a clear and consistent message about Internet safety every time you introduce a new tool. If students hear about Internet safety often enough, hopefully they will start thinking about it themselves.

Creating an avatar is a really great way to teach students to protect their identities on the Internet. Avatars provide students with a safe way of representing themselves while also providing opportunities for creative writing experiences. So why not start out the school year with this simple but powerful learning opportunity?

A good idea for a lesson is to start by asking students to create an avatar of their own, complete with a pen name. After that, students can be challenged to write a narrative from the avatar's point of view, without giving out any personal information. The final student products can be published or turned into a podcast and the avatars and pen names can be  used when students contribute to wikis, blogs, glogs and more.

Suggested tools to choose from:

BuildYourWildSelf.com
This kid-friendly cool tool was certainly the most popular choice among innovative D97 teachers this summer. Users can release their creative spirits and go wild as the title suggests. As an added bonus, no login is required . Find out what some of our very own teachers had to say about this tool, see examples of avatar stories created by some teachers and a student, and also take a peek at the avatars themselves by viewing a VoiceThread they created.

ReasonablyClever.com
If your students are Lego fans, this tool is a good choice. This block-head iconizer is as simple as can be and it is appropriate for the youngest students.

DoppelMe.com
This popular tool provides users with plenty of choices to create a unique and attractive avatar; however, teachers this summer were a bit weary about the use of fig leaves as clothing on the generic model. This is bound to cause students to giggle and also spark some conversation, so please do check out DoppelMe for yourself before you decide to use it.

View VoiceThread: Using Avatars to Teach Internet Safety

Updated: 3/2011 - Get a complete lesson plan. Go to my Cool Tools wiki.

Read more

Back To School: Cool Tools Preview

It's time to get back to school, which means it's time for me to start blogging regularly about Cool Tools again. I spent a good chunk of my summer using cool tools with fabulous teachers who were eager to use the tools in innovative ways. We discovered that the tools are indeed easy to use, but perhaps the most difficult part of using them is to identify the safest and most effective way to use them with students. It's all about management and there is a lot to consider when choosing appropriate online tools for education.

Before I start blogging about each of these tools, I'd like to point out that I have created a home for information about Cool Tools with management tips on my website, just to keep things organized. I've named this section Online Tools.

Since I haven't wordled even once this summer, I've decided to create a Wordle to kick off the new school year with a sneak peak of the Cool Tools I will be blogging about early this fall.












Go to the Online Tools section of my website.

Read more

VoiceThread - Online Conversations Around Media

VoiceThread is an online tool for having conversations around media. The possibilities for use in the Classroom are tremendous. This powerful tool is not free, but you can sign up for a trial account to get your feet wet.

Internet safety is a very important issue to address when using this tool for learning. A good way to protect students' identities is to have them create Avatars to use in place of actual photos. Also, please remind them not to give out any personal information about themselves.

You can check out this tool by contributing to the amazing VoiceThread below. All you have to do is click on comment, then register by providing your name and email address when prompted. You can record your comments, then upload your photo, an avatar or symbol. When you're done, take a look at all of the other VoiceThreads out there and let your imagination run wild!

View Examples Published on WallWisher


Access VoiceThread at http://www.voicethread.com

Read more