This weeks Task:


Reflecting 
on... 
Images, Some of my images.       
Audio This is my Podcast on my blog and podcast on my wiki
and 
Videos. This is me talking on my blog 

I really enjoyed this weeks task and my only complaint is that I have such limited hours. I wish I could just lock myself away from the world and play with all these tools. Sadly I can't and as such I am struggling to understand these to a point where I am a confident user of them.
Another problem I am having is selecting which of these three tools to talk in depth about and to discuss in a SAMR...they are all so exciting...and like a little child in a lolly shop with a $100, I had terrible trouble trying to choose just one.


Images:
I have always valued images in the classroom and as an artist these are vitally important in my life. Pictures and paintings can say so much and as I type this I only have to look to my right or left and see examples of mine and my children's art pieces. Painting an image however is very different to 'playing'with an image...or re sizing...uploading etc etc.
 After playing with Flikr and creating an account I was very pleased to see how good my paintings looked on this site.

In a classroom it would be an engaging way to display a class's wall of art pieces. I am sure the students would feel like professional artists if they could see this. I know I need to think outside the art box' a little more and I questioned myself on how else I could use this in a class situation.

Perhaps students could be encouraged to take a selection of photos while on holiday...or in a science class: take photos of various flora and fauna (beetles would be good) and then these photos could be uploaded...re sized if necessary to a number of sites. Creating a class portfolio in an online format would have a lot of potential, especially for visual learners. It could also be a way to engage those learners who do not embrace or use creative attributes.

For myself, I am still learning all about pixels and how to re size them. This is a work in progress and I find it fascinating. I must admit I knew little so ...insert guilty face here.... I went to my old friend wiki to find out more about pixels.

It all makes sense now!!! I always wondered why a seemingly clear photo taken on a phone became fuzzy when enlarged !! 
This is NOT a area of knowledge 'that I can overlook and I must eventually understand this process as I am always taking photos of students work to make theír images into things like Photo Stories, laminated cards for their purse/wallet or posters for the classrooms.

I have learnt so much about images in the last few days...but it is just the tiniest tip of the iceberg!!!

One last word on Flikr. 
It seems to be a public web site and I would be concerned about privacy. I am not sure that I would want to upload any personal photos of family or friends and I would not want to use a public web site for students photos.

In the article, E Learning for smart classrooms it is quoted that "Teachers must act ethically, legally, responsibly using ... safe secure ICT practices, awareness of copy-write, digital rights" (Smart Classrooms bytes, 2008).

When I clicked on the privacy button a large document came up...more reading!
There have been many horror stories about images becoming public after being uploaded to places like Facebook so this would impact on which websites are trustworthy.

Audio:
Sound...music...voices....all of these together make this wonderful thing called Audio. As well as being a visual person I also love sound.

I, like so many children, love listening to an expressive voice reading a story or sing, relaxing with soft lilting music or jumping up and down in time to a 'beaty' song (yes ...that is my interpretation of dancing). Children need to be engaged!!! 

Audio is a tool where students will find something interesting. Whether it is the girl who loves to sing or the boy who would love to hear himself playing the drums, the budding actresses who would enjoy recording a play, the tech head who wants to 'play'with sound or the child that wants to read their own story or poem out loud and record it for others. There are so many accessible, educational and enjoyable uses for this tool.

I have used audio in assignments, where I have embedded a recorded speech onto a weebly on the Creating page and I have often used audio in the classroom.

I like to use background music as children create, read or work quietly to either soothe or inspire them, however that is not what we are really discussing here.

I have also used audio where students record their own voices to make their Vokis speak. (Read a poem that they have written). This helps them improve their speeches as they listen and assess their voices. (Could I read more clearly? ...or with more expression? Can I change my pitch or tone to make it more interesting?...etc..etc).

Just last week I watched as a teacher listened then gave feedback to a student as she practiced her 'I want to be school captain next year speech'. The feedback was relevant and accurate...slow down a little...vary your tone...however while the student did listen carefully, when she re-read the speech she had not really changed anything. Perhaps she would understand this much better with self assessment.

I know when I first recorded my story I noted that I needed to slow it down a little...so I was able to adjust my voice to improve this recording.

I loved the Pod Cast and used Buzzsprout to record myself reading some of my novel.

It was relatively easy to use and I am sure that this would be very inspiring for those children who may otherwise hate speaking/reading out loud. (What a great way to assess work). It would also be valuable for students like my son who has a physical/mental block when it comes to public speaking. (He simply cannot speak without wanting to faint in front of an audience and is able to record his speeches.)

I must add that having a good microphone is essential and it did take me a while to work out how to use Audacity to help me record.

Video:

SAMR

Substitution: (same task, new tech)

Using a mobile phone or iPad or video camera students film their holiday highlights. (Places they visit and themselves talking about these).

Augmentation: (Same task, tech increases functionality)

Each student uploads their holiday documentary to the teacher and then the class shares these video recordings. The student presents their 'movie' with a small introduction and then answers questions about their video after class watches the video.

  

Modification: (Redesign parts of the task)

The class is broken into groups of 3-4 and using the feedback (what looked great...angles, lighting etc from their previous videos) they undertake another larger challenge. 

They plan a documentary on their home town, selecting places of interest to individually film on Ipods (supplied by school if possible). This documentary could be aimed at the target market of children their age perhaps? (What do kids like?). The students then select the best sections of their video clips and using the ipods cut these sections out and upload these to a site such as a wiki which has been designed for the documentary.

Redefinition: (New tasks, once unimaginable)

The documentaries from the individual wiki's could then be uploaded to a class blog or other website to form a class review on their hometown. This could inform visitors of what there is to see in their home town. 

Students could then plan questions and ask...'What do you love best about your home town? (as they video) and interview school teachers and family and friends . These interviews could then be uploaded and added to the Class Blog. 

Images of local places, flora and fauna could also be added to this. (perhaps this could link with science where each group selects one local animal or plant, photographs it and/or videos it (where possible-if this is too hard they could upload an image). One student could talk about it. (A small David Attenbrough element?)

This could be made a little more interesting (and fun) where the teacher asks the students to consider costumes, props etc. (link to drama)

(Don't forget to encourage them to end their blog with a selection of suitable small videos of their bloopers- everyone loves these and using humor in the classroom is a wonderful tool. (Shouldn't learning be fun?!). 

Once the class blog is completed the school could have a movie night to present it. (with popcorn and treats). The students could proudly present this to their audience of VIP's. (family and friends). The teacher assesses as the students complete this project.

Each image I have used has been either my own or taken from free image's sites and I have used the insert photo with the web address in order to see where these have come from. 

It is important to acknowledge the owners of the work and copy-write if they are different identities. 

Uploading images or videos onto the world wide web can be fraught with ethical and legal issues and teachers should never do so without seeking advise. 

Here is a link to a great web page of ideas for audio.
Here is a link to a YouTube on videos.