Discovering New Technologies

   
    I have to admit that one of my favorite things to do now is to discover new technologies that I can use within my classroom.  Even though this can be frustrating at times (we know how technology can be), it usually pays off in the long run.  You just have to be prepared to accept that fact that things are not always going to go exactly the way that you planned.  I have found quite a few pieces of technology through the text book for the Instructional Apps of the Internet grad class this summer and am excited to use them in my classroom next school year.  I have also discovered some programs through exploring and researching for my summer grad courses.  Two of my favorite programs that I've found this summer are Padlet and BiteSlide (as I've mentioned in previous blog entries).  I have recently discovered that you can embed the BiteSlide slidebooks that are created (if you enable this feature).  Here's a sample slidebook that I created about Dolphins.  

     I'd also like to share a program that I found at the beginning of last school year and have been using since then.  Animoto is a great program that makes it super easy to turn a collection of photographs and short video clips into a professional-looking video to share.  It's a great way to share photographs and videos online!  I used it last school year to help parents see what we were doing in class.  I would simply take pictures of the activities with my camera, upload them to my computer, upload them to the Animoto website, quickly produce a video with music, captions, and effects, and then post the link to the video on our class website for the families to view.  I received a lot of positive feedback from the students and families!  The students were excited to show off what they were doing in school, and families were excited to actually see what their children were doing at school.  I feel like it brought the two environments (home and school) closer together. 

     Here's an example of an Animoto video I made about a family reunion (I didn't want to post one of the videoes that I created of/with my students for privacy reasons).  It's so quick and easy!  If you are interested, there is a free account available but it is limited.  However, if you are an educator, you can register for a free "Animoto for Education" account which is not as limited - that's what I use.