BP15_2009123_One MinuteMessage2

BP13_200912_PeerReviewMcGrew

Can't talk about the big brother without sharing little sister, a big addition to the soda constructor family.

This Web 2.0 is more my style because it incorporates freehand drawing and animation. Obviously geared for the young, which is what I am at heart. Moovl gets high marks for giving the mind something creative to do. Sometimes kids just need to play and explore. Even the grown ones. Enough said.

POSTED BY DEIRDRE HUGER MCGREW AT 7:08 AM


1 COMMENTS:

Joan Marie Western said...
Moovl, sounds like I need to talk to little sister about her soda constructor family and how they can help my elementary art students develop new concepts and interact with animation technology. Thank you Deirdre, This would be a wonderful Web 2.0 Tool to experience at the elementary level art classroom. Bye, I have the need to construct and converse with little sister about Moovl. Talk to you soon after my exploration of Moovl.
DECEMBER 13, 2009 12:03 PM

BP12A_2009123_Tool#4 Globster.com

http://jmwestern.edu.glogster.com/traditionalglobster-poster/

Globster is a web 2.0 platform that easily allows users to upload photos, videos, text, audio and more to create a unique online, interactive poster. Educators can register at http://www.edu.glogster.com/register.

Globster is a new and creative digital outlet for educators to help keep students engaged and to make learning more fun! Globster has a simple and easy interface designed to introduce basic concepts to students allowing them to publish and share their creations and to collaborate with other users on joint efforts. Globster’s web 2.0 platforms is a valuable learning tool that can be integrated with several core subjects including math, science, history, technology, art, photography, music and more. This web 2.0 tool fosters advancement of skills as students progress through grade levels. A virtual, digital, educational platform that transcends age, gender, background, subject matter, grade level, school type, location, etc.

Globster has a secure, private, safe platform that can be monitored directly by teachers. Teachers can rate Glogs by clicking the stars on a five-star scale underneath every Glog. Educator Resource Library with links upon request to a vast Diigo resource area. Educators have complete control of all student activities within your account's profiles and dashboards. This includes being able to manage adding/deleting students, changing/lost passwords, student profile information, student settings, and all messaging and comments. 

Finally, everyone can view your class Glogs by regulating the progress status of Glogs with the following settings: Unfinished, Finished and Public for All. Globster new and creative digital outlet has enabled me to place lessons to our classroom on Globster and be able to compare the old traditional art techniques of design a poster to the new digital methods in Globster for my action research project. This is shown above in my poster lesson I designed in Globster. My students enjoy all the amazing improvements in their own artwork as well as with the other students within my visual art Globster classroom.

BP12B_2009123_Tool #5 Tikatok StorySparks

I found an easy and inspirational bookmaking Web 2.0 tool, Tikatok StorySparks, for differential with my students in art for the elementary level, which I feel would be a great motivational tool as well as cognitive. Student creates his or her own stories. And watch them develop into actual book with hard copies.

In art class we can intergrade this with a study about illustrator and what make up a story? We can intergrade Language arts into the arts and technology realm. Student can collaborate with one another by choosing their art pieces and editing their storybook. This Web 2.0 tool can help learners of all multiple intelligences, as well as enhance the right and left-brain learners during collaboration. Students create ideas for the story, draw and name their characters, apply their artwork into their storybook.

I like this Web 2.0 tool because it is fast and easy and it is cost efficient. Tikatok StorySparks allows the art teacher to teach book making and illustration through language arts and enhance critical thinking skills. Tikatok StorySparks allows the learner to view storybooks and writing from different perspective and utilize different learning strategies as well as collaborate with the publisher for a real life finished product. In visual art class we teach art as a visual communication technique in solving communication problems. Tikatok StorySparks enhances these teaching methods by allowing the student to come up with many different creative solutions, while working in groups or individually.

Tikatok StorySparks, can be used as a summative assessment in art by developing an end of year portfolio for the elementary levels. Art teacher just need to make sure they take photos of the students work and save them to the web sites photo file under my photos and create individual hardcover books for presents to their parents to take with them for the years work. People still like something to that is tangible and keepsake, when it comes to their children.

BP12C_2009123_Tool #6 Masher

Masher is an effective web 2.0 tool, that educator can use extremely fast to create new innovative videos to prime their students before a lesson. I’m using Masher as a tool for implementing technology slowly into my visual arts curriculum, by using Masher as video “Hooks”. I am enhancing my student’s motivation for new material knowledge on introducing new units and lessons through Mashers videos and photos. Student become more interested in the new material using videos that are creative and different for each lesson, therefore they visual see different perspectives in the visual arts and communication at the same time acquire new knowledge. Masher’s video and photos have a large selection of library video clips like BBC Motion Gallery, Rip Curl and more.

In my visual arts class students can put together videos and photos of their work and present them to their peers with words and special effect in no time at all. My students can then share their work with friends and family at the end of the year. Masher is a great resource to add to an e-portfolio with a new media asset developed by my students.

Educators can use Masher as a new platform for teaching new material and enhance learning strategies and strengthen knowledge to the learners of multiple intelligences, as well as Jensen’s theory of the right brain left brain methods. I believe that Masher is a great way to different teaching strategies to those students that need accommodations. It can bring forth critical thinking skills into my gifted visual arts classroom. Masher will enhance collaboration and peer evaluations as well as assessments both summative and formative by designing a collaborative collection of art work from a particular class and critiquing with a set performance based rubric. Masher can also give direct feedback to students immediately after viewing their videos. This can only enhance or improve my student’s artwork, along with motivate them to create their best.

BP10_2009122_PeerReviewWest

I surfed high and low for a tool that I thought my students could and would use. Here is an animation program that does not require you to understand code or be a great artist to use it. They can work by themselves or as a team to develop a stage performance using their own personalized avatars (actors). It not only would be engaging but can be collaborative as well. The students could very easily use this as a delivery system for homework or a summery of some kind. I believe that the students would get a great deal of enjoyment and inadvertent learning from using this application. I know I will by using it myself! Another application along the same lines is Dvolver but is only supported by windows and not mac. Dvolver could be a little more versatile than Stage'd but I will have to play with Stage'd a little bit more to make that determination

BP14_2009123_PeerReviewMcCurdy

MICHAEL MCCURDY - EMDT

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2009

BP12_2009123_Tool#4(GameClassroom.com)

http://www.gameclassroom.com/


For this blog entry, I am researching the Web 2.0 tool, GameClassroom.com. “Game Classroom is a one-stop web destination for accessing high-quality educational games, and homework help for K-6 students” (GameClassroom.com)


I have taught music at the elementary school level for 10 years as of this post. Because my initial undergraduate major was electric engineering, I have always stressed the importance of learning core subjects to my students. There would be many times where I would integrate my music curriculum with the subject material being taught in the homerooms. So GameClassroom.com seemed like a resource I would like to research in order to share with the core subject teachers.


GameClassroom.com is not directly collaborative as many other Web 2.0 tools, such as Flickr, Blogger, Wikia, etc. It is, however, very INTERACTIVE. Students who go to GameClassroom.com are not passive participants in their learning. Because the content is based on educational games, GameClassroom.com students are active participants in their learning.


GameClassroom.com allows students to select from two main categories: Language Arts and Math (as of this posting there is not a section for Science. Each category is separate skills for each grade. And each skill has a specific topic. Suggested games in the GameClassroom.com can be found in each skill level. The games give instantaneous feedback to the student. Games for lower grades have excellent demonstrations and are designed for the beginner learner. Games for older students have visual instructions and are designed for the older learner. The game engines do not frustrate the learner, so he or she is able to focus on answering the questions by whatever means the games use. Interestingly enough, I found it rather insightful to practice my skills on games for all ages. I realized that my teaching skills would benefit from occasionally playing these games. I found it interesting to compare how I present content to how the games found on GameClassroom.com present content.

There is so much good content on GameClassroom.com (except for the lack of a science section) that this is a highly recommended Web 2.0 tool for all elementary school teachers.

References:
GameClassroom.com (2009) Retrieved December 13, 2009, from http://www.gameclassroom.com/

Images:

All images are user-generated screenshots from http://www.gameclassroom.com/

POSTED BY MICHAEL MCCURDY-EMDT AT 5:21 PM
LABELS: EDUCATIONAL GAMES, ELEMENTARY, GAMECLASSROOM.COM, K-6, LANGUAGE ARTS, SCIENCE
2 COMMENTS:

Vandy said...
Games - you got my attention right away. I love games and especially in the classroom. Your bright images relay the light that games can bring to the classroom. Kids love 'em - even adult kids like me. I am bookmarking this site and might be 'flying the coop' of graduate studies to explore more games. Thanks Michael.

A fan of games galore,
Vandy

DECEMBER 13, 2009 6:29 PM
Joan Marie Western said...
I too like games! I love this site even if it does not much for art classes, but I know I can use them for fillers when we have half days or when the other elementary teachers need me to help out with math or reading. I checked out the kindergarten level and I think it would a blast to share with the teachers and their student to play with them. I too book marked this site. Thank you Michael.

Ti Play the game of life