Projects: Photos Editing on the iPad

As students look more and more to report creation on mobile devices, a photo-editing tool has become a must. SnapSeed is a photo editing app that comes highly rated and at the right price—free. It has a simple interface and options such as crop, size, rotate, fill and stroke, text, wrap, gradient, fade, lens flare, and camera fill. Although, it is not a full-featured photo-editing tool, it’s said to be able to create wonderful images. SnapSeed was named the best mobile photo app of 2012 and the iPad App of the Year. If you are looking for photo-editing apps that have more options, take a look at Photogene ($2.99) and Adobe Photoshop Touch ($9.99). These and other photo apps were recommended by John Paul Titlow at Readwrite.com.

 

For additional recommendations for photo-editing apps, search the App Store for Fun with Filters.

Educator Roles in 21st Century

“23 Roles of the 21^st Century Educator” offers a nice graphic, by Stephen Downes, showing how the roles of those of us in education have changed. Downes’ mind map of what an educator must be today includes the following: Learner, Tech Support, Convener, Lecturer, Salesperson, Coach, Theorizer, Bureaucrat, Designer, Demonstrator, Coordinator, Sharer, Programmer, Collector, Facilitator, Alchemist, Agitator, Curator, Evaluator, Mentor, Critic, Moderator, and Connector.  What other roles do you think educators must take on today?  How about writer, developer, curriculum designer, guide, counselor, protector, . . . ?

Doodlecast Pro – Creativity

Doodlecast Pro ($2.99) is a fun iPad digital tool for teachers and students. With it, you can create learning media, such as this lesson genetics assignment by Grades 7 and 9 science teacher Jenn Corron. With the program, you and your students can share ideas, review curricular content, and create reports and projects. The app records automatically what you draw and what you say. It comes with a variety of backgrounds, but you can add your own photos and illustrations and put them where you want on your screen. Your Keynote files can be added to your Doodlecast videos, and Doodle pages can be saved within the program and/or shared in email, on YouTube or through your Dropbox. Watch the video to learn more about this easy-to-use tool.

Creating Presentations Through Sites and Apps

As we look beyond PowerPoint for tools and software to help our students and us create the best presentations, it’s difficult to tell which way to turn. That’s because so many digital resources are available. To the rescue comes Tech & Learning’s David Kapuler, who after an extensive search through the expanding universe of sites and apps offering presentation and slideshow creators, has compiled a list of his 40 favorite tools.

Transforming Education with Digital Resources

Grade 6 teacher Jody Cohen says that the use of digital media makes her feel like a brand new teacher. It’s given her the opportunity to move away from textbooks and worksheets and enter a world her students understand. According to Cohen, the technological resources available to teachers today give them an abundance of ways to help their students learn. Cohen is especially pleased that her students have the ability to review content, as needed, and to find content that fits their needs. “We are very fortunate,” this veteran teacher says, to have digital media available to us. When asked whether she would like to return to textbooks and worksheets, Cohen gives an emphatic “no”, saying that they can be very boring.

Digital Storytelling in the Classroom

Check out Samantha Morra’s “8 Steps to Great Digital Stories” in order to get ideas for integration of oral storytelling into your classroom. The author believes that digital storytelling is the “21^st Century version of the age-old art of storytelling.” The difference is that today students can share their stories via video and the Internet worldwide.  Students, however, need a plan of action to help them tell their stories. Morra provides one as she suggests you lead your students through a series of steps that includes thinking of ideas, developing storyboards, gathering input, creating products, and getting feedback. She also notes that great digital stories are usually personal and concise, follow a script, use available materials, involve collaboration, and are based on universal story elements.

Summer Reading for Teachers and Administrators

Teacher and Educational Journalist Mark Phillips, in his Edutopia article, Summer Reading for Educators: My Favorites, has some excellent suggestions for us.  These include a book that tackles the problems of bullying, one that keeps you informed about what your students are reading, and others that address creative thinking, learning settings, student engagement, media literacy, engaged teaching, and sensitivity.

So, what is the next Hunger Games for our students? Most likely, it will be The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey. Phillips’ summer film recommendation for you is: A Year at Mission Hill.

Tellagami: Fun with Short Stories

What fun! Tellegami for iPads and iPhones is a free app, which lets you and your students create stories called Gamis. With the app, you can customize characters and personalize them using your voice and your photos. There is absolutely no learning curve. In fact, it’s so easy to use that a kindergarten student sent a Gami to me. Backgrounds (see below the background with my Corgi) can be changed, characters can be resized, and Gamis can be share on Facebook, Twitter, through eMail, and SMS. Think of putting Tellegami to work in student projects, invitations, journals, and content review.

A Look at Ed-Tech Tools of the Past

It hasn’t been that long since we used filmstrip projectors, overhead projectors, 16 mm projectors, and cassette recorders in our classrooms.  Some of us may even remember the old mimeograph machines we used for making copies of worksheets. eSchool News offers us a backward glance to the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s to see how far we’ve come with ed-tech resources in just over 40 years. 

Take yourself back to the days of Lemonade Stand and Oregon Trail to see the forerunners of today’s digital games, and to floppy disks, Nano Pets, and the search engines, “Ask Jeeves” and “Ask Jeeves for Kids.”  Younger teachers may not have heard of the popular devices and software of the past, but as we enjoy our interactive whiteboards, educational apps, and mobile technologies, it’s good to remember that not that many years ago, we were working with games that were animated with little squares put together to resemble pictures.  Maybe we don’t have all the educational tech tools we want, but at least we don’t have to struggle with broken film when showing a 16 mm movie, fighting mimeograph machines in an effort to print out decent copies, or breathing in the dust from chalkboards and dry erase boards.

iCreate to Educate with myCreate

With myCreate ($4.99), your students can get started designing their own video stories on their iPads. They’ll put their iPad camera to use and play back pictures in stop-motion animation.  After adding audio to go with their story, they can send their completed product to Facebook, YouTube, or Vimeo.  myCreate is a perfect hands-on tool to enhance curricular content for just about any subject. Watch myCreate on YouTube; it will make you want to download it right away.