Here we will put together different entries which have relation with ICT resources. Those kind of tools have an increasing importance for our professional life, are motivating for children and allow you to promote collaboration within the group as many of those tools are 2.0. However, I honestly think that far too often we feel like we had some kind of rule that makes us use some of those tools for everything and anything. This is, can be, very counter-productive as far too often we design gadgets to catch the attention of the public that happen to focus the attention on the gadget itself rather than in the information.
The class blog
A class blog might be a very useful resource as it allows the teacher to provide many different materials to his or her students, communicate with the parents and allow students to create and upload texts, videos, pictures etc. One of the things you can use it for is to host the students book reviews in case you want to use them, which I believ is very recommendable. On this link you will find a useful form you might like to use
On the right column of the blog you will find a selection of excellent educational blogs, each one form a different perspective. Another good resource to work together is to create a wiki. Wikispaces offers a good platform but right now you have to pay a dollar a year in order to make it universally accesible, that's why you won't be able to see any of what we have uploaded in our class wiki (on the right too).
On the right column of the blog you will find a selection of excellent educational blogs, each one form a different perspective. Another good resource to work together is to create a wiki. Wikispaces offers a good platform but right now you have to pay a dollar a year in order to make it universally accesible, that's why you won't be able to see any of what we have uploaded in our class wiki (on the right too).
Poplet is another interesting resource that allows us to create mind-maps easily. It allows different people working together. Seems to be a bit difficult at first, but once you catch it is very easy to use. As we have seen previously, we have used this tool to create the following map.
Prezy is a new tool which allows you to create more complex slide presentations than other software, and it allows you to collaborate with other people. I think that it can be a very useful tool. However, if we do not use it carefully it can be both helpful or harmful. Why? You might ask. Well, the following tips apply to most slideshow software:
-Do not put a lot of text together. Our mind can manage 7 +-2 elements at the time, so try not to use more than 7 lines and 7 words per line.
-Do not use pictures that do not provide any relevant information, as you are focusing attention somewhere else. As an example, in one of the recent presentations we had, most slides were full of pictures, gif's etc. which were as funny as irrelevant (even two ladybirds having sex on top of a road sign). Use images that provide information related to the matter (sometimes they give you much more than several slides of text) or, within a reading promotion context, use images that work as scaffolding, providing information that your pupils might not be receiving through verbal communication (and therefore helping them to understand).
-Try to use black letters over white background. I know it doesn't look cool, but it makes it accessible to everyone. If you are using a rainbow of colours, be ready to adapt it whenever is necessary.
-When using prezy, try not to do sudden camera moves. It distracts people and makes the whole thing more difficult to follow. Some people have even reported cases of people feeling dizzy after watching a slideshow with this characteristics.
-Download a PDF version. Not everybody uses Microsoft software, and your internet connexion might fail. If you download a PDF version you will be sure you will have your resources available.
As an example I'm going to show you two different presentations. The one that is in English is, in my opinion, the best (although I'm not entirely happy either) as the way the camera moves between rings helps to understand the relations between them (although like I say it has to be improved).
The second one pretends to look somehow like a river that flows (it is a presentation about the quality of Burgo's main river water), but that makes the camera move constantly from one place to another.
Storybird
I'm having some problems to upload the story that we created in class, I'll try to solve it ASAP.
Finally, here you have a blog entry by Sabrina Carrión in which she gives a few tips on using this resource.
This is a resource that allows us to create picture based stories.We can create our own stories, ask children to create their own, and even manage classroom groups and give them homework. This feqatures make it a valuable and useful resource. However, I find it a bit limited regarding the amount and variety of pictures available. Nevertheless, it still works as an excellent resource to use as a post-activity after a storytelling session.
Here you have our story.
Padlet is a tool that allows us to create walls containg different works of our students such as poems, pictures, Halloween spells, etc. As most of the ICT resources we have seen it allows real time collaboration, so the whole class or a whole group can be working together with it.
If you'd like to see how does it look do not hesitate to visit our blog entry on special dates, where you'll see a couple of walls full of acrostic poems.
I've tried to use this page to create Bingo cards related to animals, but unfortunately it is asking me for money from the very beginning. Instead of using this kind of software you can create your own simply using a word processor such as MSWord or a free alternative such as openoffice or libreoffice writers. If the software allows me I'll upload one of the bingos I've already created.
Write comics is a really simple tool that allows you to create comics by choosing a background, some characters, speech bubbles and their text. It is a bit limited, but it's easy to use and doesn't require registration. Among other things we can use it as a tool for creating alternative endings.
Speaking characters apps
As you can imagine this is a sock puppets app. It allows you to choose from a range of backgrounds and characters and then record dialogues by touching the character who is speaking. The pitch of the voices can be set in advance and the result can be exported to youtube. It is a great help with shy students that won't feel confident to talk in English. The fact that is the puppet who is talking makes the situation easier to bear with for them. Its main disadvantage: only available for ipad, iphone, etc.
This app is very similar to the previous one, although puppet pals allows you to create new characters as well as make them move. Its main disadvantage: only available for ipad, iphone, etc.
Again very similar to the previous ones, this app allows you to make pictures speak (southpark-like). Once again its main disadvantage: only available for ipad, iphone, etc. Here you can read a review from Teachers with apps.
You can create a scene, write a dialogue and animate it. Its main disadvantage: it only allows a maximum length of 30''. Its main advantage: this one is available for android too.
This one is my personal choice, essentially because it is available for many OS and can be used in a regular computer. It consists, just like the previous one, in creating an avatar and make it speak by entering written texts. It seems to me that it is an excellent tool to make kids realize how do words really sound like.
Official Voki Tutorial
Official Voki Tutorial
Shows for kids
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