Week 5

This week focused on looking at visual literacy. I have to admit at first I wasn’t quite sure what that meant. I knew visual meant relating to seeing or sight and literacy is to read, write, and understand written word, but how do they tie in together. My definition of visual literacy was being able to understand and critically think about what we see in images and video. We know people think and understand differently from each other, but how do they see something in an image that I don’t and vice versus. This boils down to peoples different perceptions on what they see in images. Truth is there are many factors that play into that from our chemical makeup to our environment. No two people will see something the exact same way.

Watching the Martin Scorese Video helped me to understand visual literacy a little bit more. He put it so plainly, basically telling a story with images. He was raised in a family where reading wasn't emphasized, but he had the opportunity to go to the movies. He goes to tell this is how he fell in love with being a director or a story teller. I remember in my gifted and talented class, our teachers would present to use pictures and tell us to make a story from what we see. You would be surprised how 10 different kids would come up with 10 different stories from a picture of an owl on a tree in the night.

This definitely ties into 21st century skills and technological resources, since we are individuals are bombarded daily with images from books, presentations, videos, etc. We present videos to our students and images to help learn content. As teachers we have to make sure these are appropriate for the age and engaging in the classroom. Scorese said it right that our kids are exposed to visual language sooner than verbal and if visual isn't used correctly can leave a lasting effect. We can't protect our students from the real world, but educate them about it as best as possible. As I am not yet teaching, I want to make sure I pay better attention to the videos and images I present and scrutinize them well, before I present them to the classroom. I was want to have a discussion session afterwards to get the students perspective on what they watched and learned.

We looked at four different technology explorations Prezi and SpicyNodes, Edmondo and a math dictionary, Glogster and Jing, and YouTube Education, School Tube, and Teacher Tube.

Prezi and SpicyNodes

You could definitely call Prezi the alternative to the traditional PP. I think PP gets overused quite a bit and becomes boring and unengaging if utilized daily. There is nothing worse than reading tons of words on a slideshow as the presenter reads them word for word for you. Prezi is changing all that. This technology is even used by TED. This allows teachers to present information with interactivity and engage students in active learning. Instead of breaking apart information on numerous slides to make a point, Prezi has a zoom feature that allows you to show the big picture and then zoom in on the details. This is also a useful tool for interactive classroom sessions or group projects. Collaborate with up to 10 others, whether in the classroom or at home, to brainstorm and create your presentation on a shared whiteboard. You can also help the students’ resumes and portfolios. This resource has a lot to offer the classroom. You can create, edit, and present from any computer and if your presentation is already PP, they have a feature where you can upload and convert to Prezi. Of course there is an app available for Apple products and you can share on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

SpicyNodes is a pretty cool name and actually a pretty helpful resource. It uses a tree structure which organizes information in a logical way. It gives individuals the ability to look at large amounts of information and how each piece relates to others. It’s nonlinear and is useful in organizing information that can be presented that makes sense and in a layout. It can also be used in multiple languages. With the education version students can integrate media such as images, YouTube videos, and music, while also providing text and headlines which then can be shared with others. Students can use their creativity to make it their own by learning breadth and depth of knowledge.

I am not currently a teacher, but this is something that is definitely beneficial to all my students. Where do I begin on the usage of Prezi? Instead of making your students watch the same boring unmotivating PP lectures, you can upload them and make them fun and interesting with interactivity. Any classroom and subject could use this. You could also use the Prezi meeting part to have student collaborate on projects, post information for students to read in case there is bad weather that keeps students from attending, and even use it make resumes or portfolios for class.

These SpicyNode maps would be useful in the science classroom to help organize the information from taxonomy groups to weather to physics. Here students could physically see the relationship between ideas instead of knowing they occur. This could also be used to help organize research for a report, showing the big picture and how all the little pictures relate back to it.

I would recommend Prezi for educators to use in the classroom. It seems very easy to use if you have ever constructed a PP presentation. You can get this for free with private presentations, the use of your own logo, and 500 MB of storage of your presentations. You can go Pro Edu which is $59 a year, which allows you the utilization of the Prezi desktop where you can work securely offline, premium support and 2 GB of storage. I have already bookmarked this site for myself to use in my classroom. 

SpicyNodes seems easy to use, if you have every used a brainstorming map before. I would recommend for the education world, but I am not sure if it is something I would use enough to purchase it. Individual memberships are free but the premium service offers an organization package for $24 where the maps are more customizable with the ability to share them with people. For something like a business you would use the enterprise since it is meant for heavy internet traffic which is $149 a month.

Edmonds and Math Dictionary

Edmonds is pretty much the equivalent to how LinkedIn & Google+ work, but it pulls together teachers, students, administrators, parents, and published all to help out the students. The layout is very Facebook like. This allows students to work in a familiar environment. You can make posts, add to your wall feed, communicate with your students, and their parents. Teachers can continue discussions online, check for student understanding, and even reward their achievements. Edmonds brings the classroom to life with the best resources and tools. We can get the feel of how students are learning through the students’ reaction to quizzed, assignments, and discussions. This also allows tracking of students’ progress. You can even personalize with apps to increase motivation in your lesson. This can be used to bring together schools and districts as well for collaboration.

A math dictionary for kids is exactly what it states. The list the alphabet over to the left and you click on the letter you need which displays a list of words in which you click on the word and it shows you the definition. They also added 200 printable math charts with definitions and examples. You can resize and print off any definitions as well. 

I am not currently a teacher, but this is something that is definitely beneficial to all my students. Edmonds really allows for the collaboration outside of the classroom. Students could post to discussion questions posted by me in regards to the content that we studied for the week for more in depth discussion since we know as teachers there is never enough time in the classroom. Here students could work on projects with other students in other classes and be able to use the resources of other teachers and publishers online for questions and advice.

The math dictionary would be useful in the classroom and at home. This could be used alongside your lesson plan so students can have definitions to words they may not understand. This would also be a good resource to complete homework. 

I would recommend Edmonds for educators to use in the classroom. It seems very easy to use if you have played around with Facebook. It seems like signing up is free, but to add applications cost money. The math dictionary would be a good resource for teachers. It is easy to use and free so it’s a win/win for everybody. 

Glogster and Jing

I have to admit in this class, I learn new things everyday like Glogster. At first the name completely through me for a loop. After I got to the site, I realized it a form of a blog, but instead of words you use media. A Glog is an interactive visual stage where students and teachers create a poster or webpage containing text, audio, video, images, graphics, drawings, and data. It uses a drag and drop interface that workable for students of all ages and learning styles. According to their website “Glogster EDU enables public or private schools, districts, states, and education institutions of all kinds, to meet and exceed educational technology and content area standards for creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, research and information fluency, critical thinking, problem solving and decision making, and digital citizenship”. It helps a teacher with differentiated instruction, promote independent problem solving, and express creative thought and learning. This is a private and safe learning environment. Once these are created they can shared with whomever you think should see it.

Now Jing allows you to capture what you see on your computer as well as record videos and share them with anyone. Basically it will take a screenshot of what you are looking at and save it for later use whether to put it on a blog or upload to Facebook. You can also take a screencast of what you see which is just like a screenshot, but instead of taking a picture you are recording what you see. You can narrate what you see, share it with others, or embed where needed. 

I am not currently a teacher, but this is something that is definitely beneficial to all my students. With Glogster, you could use this to make posters for projects, illustrates to a book report, presentations, help student creativity in the classroom, distance learning, exploration etc. The possibilities are really endless. Not only are you teaching your students how to be creativity, but also to use this as a technological resource while learning about their topic of study. 

When it comes to Jing, you could use this to record online lessons and then shared with your students. You students could record themselves giving a presentation or project and then share it where it is an appropriate. You could use this feature if you wanted to upload certain images and videos for students to watch outside the classroom. 

I would recommend Glogster for educators to use in the classroom. It seems very easy to use if you have ever constructed a PP presentation. You can get this for free but it only offers 10 students and very limited extras. For the educator light which is $30 a year, you get 50 student accounts, but the ability to student manage and use the glogpedia. For the educator premium which is $100 a year, you get 200 student accounts and the ability to project/class manage. They also offer more licenses for schools and districts.

Jing seems very easy to use if you have taken a screenshot or recorded a video. It is a free service so it would be a good tool to play with to see if it will work for your classroom. 

YouTube Education and SchoolTube and TeacherTube

I don’t know anybody who hasn’t heard of YouTube or watched a video someone posted there for fun. Here you have YouTube Education which weeds out all the questionable videos and focuses on lectures, speeches, and anything you can image. Here you can create, learn, and teach your students. There is even a break down for called YouTube for schools where you can access thousands of videos with your school account.

Every time I tried to look at School tube it was down for maintenance, but after the third try I was lucky to have it finally be back online. School Tube is just like the YouTube Education except with this, it is more school related. It’s produced by students and teachers with everything from sports videos to projects and lessons as well as community service projects. This site is directly moderated by teachers so no funny business can show up. Students can create their own videos and share them with teachers and students, while teachers can use this as another technological resource in the classroom since it is approved for access in schools.

Teachertube is along the same lines of YouTube Education. Here you can also upload educational videos for teachers and students to see. The site also allows you to upload documents, audio, and photos and create groups and classrooms for others to join in on the fun. It is a good resource for other teachers, students, and home school learners. You can make constructive comments and even rate the videos so that others will watch them as well.

I am not currently a teacher, but this is something that is definitely beneficial to all my students. How can you not think of a good reason to use YouTube Education? The teacher I current observes uses all the time in her lesson plans to add dimension and interesting information for her classes. Here you could also record your own videos to upload to share such as in giving presentations or preforming experiments.

Teachertube and SchoolTube can both be used the same way as YouTube Education. I have not seen anybody use this before, but it could be incorporated into lessons, projects, and presentations.

I would recommend this for educators to use in the classroom. The YouTube education, SchoolTube, and TeacherTube are easy to use and free. If you have ever uploaded anything to Facebook, this will be nothing to figure out quick.