This was my first experience with Zoho Show and I'm eager to test it with some students. I found the application to be user friendly and set up much like PowerPoint, which is helpful for those familiar with PowerPoint. I like the fact that you are able to configure to Flickr or Picasa to upload photos. I also found that the grid feature is nice for formatting and making sure things are lined up.
A few other features that I like:
* the ability to export to PowerPoint or PDF
* the ability to save as a PDF
* it seems to automatically save as you are working
* the ability to play the presentation remotely by sending participants the URL
* embed the presentation on your website
I have yet to find something that really frustrates me about Zoho Show. I have not determined how to add video, so perhaps this is not possible. If this is the case, I would like to see this added in the future, as well as voice/audio. Though the application is somewhat limited and does not have the full capabilities of other software such as PowerPoint, Zoho Show will allow users to create polished presentations and will be more than enough for the average user.
Zoho in the Middle School Classroom
Thus far, I have found that Zoho Show will be easily accessible to middle school students, especially if they already have some familiarity with PowerPoint. Many middle school students will easily be able to learn how to use Zoho Show with minimal instruction from a teacher. A short lab session to introduce the application should be enough. Perhaps the biggest challenge would be sharing the presentation with others and learning to modify it in this way. If students have little experience with this type of collaboration, some skill building will be necessary. With the different options for exporting their presentations, students will be able to share their work in a variety of ways. They could share their work in class, remotely, or by e-mailing it to everyone.
This application would work well in a social studies classroom. Students could use Zoho Show to present their research on a given topic, to review class discussions, and even to present a case for debate. In general, it will be able to be used in much the same way that a program such as PowerPoint would be used.
Teachers could create different roles for each person in the group. It is stated in the lecture that certain considerations need to be taken into account with virtual groups. Perhaps both of these will help a teacher assist students in collaboration. As with all collaborative work, teachers will need to determine whether all students are participating in contributing to the presentation. The teacher could also set up some sort of log system where students will track their work.
Zoho Show is a user friendly application that will allow students to easily collaborate on presentations. I plan to select a small group of students to try this with in the near future. This could be a way to have students use technology to assist their learning even though we have limited resources in the classroom.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Blogs in the Classroom
If I think of using blogs in the classroom, I see several opportunities for applying different instructional strategies. Inquiry based would work with the use of blogs. Inquiry based could work in such a way that students are posting their initial thoughts and questions about a problem, then engaging in activities to investigate these. In the end, students could again post to their blog responding to their previous post after completing the activities.
The use of metaphors could also be an instructional strategy that could work with the use of blogs. Whether it be a response to a teacher blog that uses metaphors or having students come up with metaphors to explain a given topic and using their blogs to post these, it seems that blogs could be a good way to collaborate to share many metaphors for an area of study.
Blogs could be difficult to use with simulations. However, it could be used in combination with a simulation used in the classroom. Students could post their reactions to their blogs and then comment on one another. They could also post a summary of their role and students could use this as a reminder of the different roles people played in the simulation.
I think many instructional strategies could be used with blogs, especially if the blogs are used for reflection and assessment. Students could also respond to each other, which would create the potential for them to continue their learning.
The quote about Web 2.0 from Time magazine is critical to considering how effective these technologies can be in the classroom. "The new Web is a very different thing. It's a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter." It reminds me of my first blog post and how I wondered whether blogs will be used for valuable purposes. I do believe they provide the potential for giving students a voice. Doing so has the potential to affect student learning because many young adolescents just want to be heard. They want to feel like they have something valuable to contribute and they desire different ways to express these thoughts and feelings. I wonder if blogs will provide a way for students to take ownership of their learning.
The use of metaphors could also be an instructional strategy that could work with the use of blogs. Whether it be a response to a teacher blog that uses metaphors or having students come up with metaphors to explain a given topic and using their blogs to post these, it seems that blogs could be a good way to collaborate to share many metaphors for an area of study.
Blogs could be difficult to use with simulations. However, it could be used in combination with a simulation used in the classroom. Students could post their reactions to their blogs and then comment on one another. They could also post a summary of their role and students could use this as a reminder of the different roles people played in the simulation.
I think many instructional strategies could be used with blogs, especially if the blogs are used for reflection and assessment. Students could also respond to each other, which would create the potential for them to continue their learning.
The quote about Web 2.0 from Time magazine is critical to considering how effective these technologies can be in the classroom. "The new Web is a very different thing. It's a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter." It reminds me of my first blog post and how I wondered whether blogs will be used for valuable purposes. I do believe they provide the potential for giving students a voice. Doing so has the potential to affect student learning because many young adolescents just want to be heard. They want to feel like they have something valuable to contribute and they desire different ways to express these thoughts and feelings. I wonder if blogs will provide a way for students to take ownership of their learning.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
All Things Wikis
Before this week, my experience with Wikipedia was limited to discussing with students the pros and cons of using such a site for research. My students and I discuss that at this point, most historians will not want to see Wikipedia listed as a source. I wonder if this will change in the future. Many of my students will check the Wikipedia page for a topic and then check the list of references for clues on where they may go to continue with their research.
After working more with Wikipedia this week, I think I prefer being someone who views Wikipedia, but not someone who contributes to it. I did add a page for the school where I teach. I wonder whether it will last because the only source I had available was our website. I tried finding some articles that have been written about the school, but was unable to locate them this week. I added basic information about the school, including where we are located and how the school is structured. Below is a screen shot of the page I created.
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| Ann Arbor Learning Community on Wikipedia |
I do think that I will prefer using my own wiki the most. I began one that I plan to share with my students. I'm hoping maybe we can use it to gather information about certain topics we study this year. I don't have a way to invite them to wikispaces right now, so I'll need to discuss it in class with them and see who is interested in using this. I'm hopeful some of them will like the concept of being able to edit the page. Our class wiki is based on a song and quote used at the beginning of the school year: AALC Welcome to the Future.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Computer-based Instructional Objects
I often find myself wishing that I could use computer-based instructional objects more often. However, with only three working computers in my classroom and limited time, I find it difficult to do so. Though it was mentioned briefly in our notes, I think time is something that should be considered when creating computer-based instructional objects for student use. How long do you want students to spend on completing the WebQuest or StAIR? Is the object to be used as supplement to other activities in the classroom? If so, then perhaps keeping a shorter time frame in mind would be helpful. Will students need to go to a computer lab and all work at the same time, or will individuals and groups need to share limited classroom computers? If the latter is true, it will take longer for students to complete these instructional objects.
Thinking clearly about your audience is also something that was touched on briefly, but I believe critical to creating successful computer-based instructional objects. The make-up of the class and the student dynamics should be considered when choosing or creating these objects. If the object is too difficult for some, perhaps it could be used as enrichment for advanced students. Likewise, a particular object could be created or utilized to give some students additional support.
A few good WebQuests:
Westward Ho! - I like the idea of having students pretend they are on the Oregon Trail. The color scheme works well for the given topic. I also like that there are samples given; students often like to see something like this.
Planning and Budgeting - I like the real-life draw in this one. It is easily applicable to students' lives and could easily be a supplement to other things happening in the classroom.
A Geomystery - I like the fact that this one involves the students also getting something from their teacher. As a teacher, I think this would help me to continually monitor student progress throughout.
Generally, I found many WebQuests that I mostly liked. On many there was at least one thing that I wish were different. It may have been the chosen links for information, the design, or how the task and/or process were worded. I think all of these are crucial for creating an effective WebQuest.
I thought I'd also note this one:
Medieval Times - I wanted to note this one because I feel that the information is good. I like the idea of having students move through the hierarchy of the Medieval Times. However, the design of it makes it difficult to work through easily. The flashing text, long pages that must be scrolled through, among other issues create a WebQuest that may keep people away, which is disappointing considering the content looks to be valuable.
Thinking clearly about your audience is also something that was touched on briefly, but I believe critical to creating successful computer-based instructional objects. The make-up of the class and the student dynamics should be considered when choosing or creating these objects. If the object is too difficult for some, perhaps it could be used as enrichment for advanced students. Likewise, a particular object could be created or utilized to give some students additional support.
A few good WebQuests:
Westward Ho! - I like the idea of having students pretend they are on the Oregon Trail. The color scheme works well for the given topic. I also like that there are samples given; students often like to see something like this.
Planning and Budgeting - I like the real-life draw in this one. It is easily applicable to students' lives and could easily be a supplement to other things happening in the classroom.
A Geomystery - I like the fact that this one involves the students also getting something from their teacher. As a teacher, I think this would help me to continually monitor student progress throughout.
Generally, I found many WebQuests that I mostly liked. On many there was at least one thing that I wish were different. It may have been the chosen links for information, the design, or how the task and/or process were worded. I think all of these are crucial for creating an effective WebQuest.
I thought I'd also note this one:
Medieval Times - I wanted to note this one because I feel that the information is good. I like the idea of having students move through the hierarchy of the Medieval Times. However, the design of it makes it difficult to work through easily. The flashing text, long pages that must be scrolled through, among other issues create a WebQuest that may keep people away, which is disappointing considering the content looks to be valuable.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Blogs vs. Traditional Web pages
Fifteen years ago when I first started using the Internet as a middle school student, I would not have dreamed that I would be sitting here tonight writing about the difference between traditional web pages and blogs. At that point, we only had traditional web pages (well, and chat rooms). "Blog" wasn't even in our vocabulary. What will come next?
So what makes this so different than a traditional web page? In some ways it seems that it's much like the difference between a published book and a diary. Traditional web pages offer a wealth of information, often expository. That is, we have a question, we look for a web page to answer that question, and we move on. Just as published books, particularly nonfiction books, offer the reader with a wealth of information on a given topic, traditional web pages provide a new way for people to obtain necessary information on a given topic. Traditional web pages are often written for a specific cause, institution, government agency, organization, etc. Though periodically updated, the information on these traditional web pages is often rather set. Blogs, on the other hand, are much like diaries. Written for a number of reasons, blogs provide people with a new way to express their thoughts. They are constantly updated and can carry great personal attachments. Anyone can have a blog (diary) rather easily and with little outside resources. It is not so with traditional web pages. It often takes many more resources for these to come to fruition, much like publishing a book.
Blogs have given people a glimpse into the minds of others, and I think the implications of that are yet to be known. Is it helping to connect people around the world? Are we blogging for the sake of blogging? Is it giving everyone an outlet for their thoughts? Does it make people care more about others' thoughts or do we all just feel better because we can send our thoughts out there regardless of whether people read what we have written? It reminds me of a quote from one of my favorite movies, "You've Got Mail":
"Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life - well, valuable, but small - and sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven't been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around? I don't really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So good night, dear void." Are we satisfied with just sending our thoughts out into the "void"? Are we using our blogs for valuable purposes? Only time will tell.
So what makes this so different than a traditional web page? In some ways it seems that it's much like the difference between a published book and a diary. Traditional web pages offer a wealth of information, often expository. That is, we have a question, we look for a web page to answer that question, and we move on. Just as published books, particularly nonfiction books, offer the reader with a wealth of information on a given topic, traditional web pages provide a new way for people to obtain necessary information on a given topic. Traditional web pages are often written for a specific cause, institution, government agency, organization, etc. Though periodically updated, the information on these traditional web pages is often rather set. Blogs, on the other hand, are much like diaries. Written for a number of reasons, blogs provide people with a new way to express their thoughts. They are constantly updated and can carry great personal attachments. Anyone can have a blog (diary) rather easily and with little outside resources. It is not so with traditional web pages. It often takes many more resources for these to come to fruition, much like publishing a book.
Blogs have given people a glimpse into the minds of others, and I think the implications of that are yet to be known. Is it helping to connect people around the world? Are we blogging for the sake of blogging? Is it giving everyone an outlet for their thoughts? Does it make people care more about others' thoughts or do we all just feel better because we can send our thoughts out there regardless of whether people read what we have written? It reminds me of a quote from one of my favorite movies, "You've Got Mail":
"Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life - well, valuable, but small - and sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven't been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around? I don't really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So good night, dear void." Are we satisfied with just sending our thoughts out into the "void"? Are we using our blogs for valuable purposes? Only time will tell.
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