http://www.tubechop.com/watch/217624
Robert Full - how animals move
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Friday, 14 October 2011
Week #10 Ebooks and Audiobooks - Part 2
My 6yr old son and I have been playing with Kerpoof and he thinks it is fun. I did as well but it was a little limited.
You can find our first work at
http://www.kerpoof.com/#view?s=2gs11b3eigo3cgi15M00-d-f6d8a4
And here is mine - or was supposed to be. I have had to email it to you because it wouldn't give me a link like it did for the other one. It is made by Robot6 and is called The Fairytale. It is also very lame!!!
If I have time, I'll have a play with a few other sites over the weekend. Otherwise, you can rest assured that I will investigate further because, as I said in my last blog, I have to do this with a Reception class this term - nothing like staying one step ahead!!
If I don't get back to this - hence preparing for school Monday or being a Mum and wife - thank you Felicity for this great program. I knew that if I didn't have to do and investigate some of these things, I'd never get around to it. Very helpful tips, activities and encouragement. Much appreciated.
Good luck with future courses.
Cheers.
S
You can find our first work at
http://www.kerpoof.com/#view?s=2gs11b3eigo3cgi15M00-d-f6d8a4
And here is mine - or was supposed to be. I have had to email it to you because it wouldn't give me a link like it did for the other one. It is made by Robot6 and is called The Fairytale. It is also very lame!!!
If I have time, I'll have a play with a few other sites over the weekend. Otherwise, you can rest assured that I will investigate further because, as I said in my last blog, I have to do this with a Reception class this term - nothing like staying one step ahead!!
If I don't get back to this - hence preparing for school Monday or being a Mum and wife - thank you Felicity for this great program. I knew that if I didn't have to do and investigate some of these things, I'd never get around to it. Very helpful tips, activities and encouragement. Much appreciated.
Good luck with future courses.
Cheers.
S
Thursday, 13 October 2011
Week #10 Ebooks and Audiobooks
At last, something that I am already familiar with - ebooks and audiobooks. I have spent many hours looking into this - particularly free ones - to use at school. I also have Kindle for PC on my computer and this has allowed me to buy, download and trial many books - particularly beading pattern books and books for professional reading. I admit, I haven't fully gotten into personal reading of ebooks - mainly because I am trying to save money and not buy them and borrow them from the public library. I love the fact that you get ebooks/magazines so quickly. I also enjoy not having to find places to store them, the fact they're not going to get tatty etc. Also, of course, they are generally cheaper - a definite bonus!! I am about to get a tablet and so I think I'm going to enjoy them even more. I thought I would find reading off a screen annoying, but didn't find it a problem at all.
I have also puchased digital versions of many non-fiction books this year for school. How could you not in terms of access - we have interactive whiteboards around the school as well as laptop and desktop computers - I have copied them (yes I legally can) onto the server and so now everyone has access all the time, rather than the one person who has the physical book. I also love the extra ways you can use the pdfs to model and demonstrate etc in terms with adding sticky notes, underlining, etc. An excellent teaching tool and much easier than how I have tried to do this before.
I also create pdf books to use in my teaching - eg. scanned parts of a book and found information from lots of sources on the topic and other links to sites and information resources so that they are all in the same place. I do this to increase access. I usually create these in a Word, Publisher, PowerPoint - depending what it is - before saving as a PDF. These sit as resources for other teachers/students as well. I now need to work on creating the link from the library cataloguing system but that is my job next week.
I have looked at subscribing to a range of sites but have found that some of them work too slowly on our current computer network - the cabling or something - this is something that I think the school will be looking at next year.
As for Audiobooks, I personally subscribe to Audible and so am able to get books from there. One difficulty I have had is getting these to work on some of the school MP3 players. I think I need to convert to a different format. I haven't got around to doing this yet as I have worked around the problem. I originally started to get them to assist some students in the higher grades with lower reading abilities in accessing some of the books they wanted to read. I also like listening to the stories myself. I've also got some through ITunes.
I really like this side of the new technologies. I'm going to have a play with the digital storytelling now - good practice as I am planning to use this with a class this term.
I have also puchased digital versions of many non-fiction books this year for school. How could you not in terms of access - we have interactive whiteboards around the school as well as laptop and desktop computers - I have copied them (yes I legally can) onto the server and so now everyone has access all the time, rather than the one person who has the physical book. I also love the extra ways you can use the pdfs to model and demonstrate etc in terms with adding sticky notes, underlining, etc. An excellent teaching tool and much easier than how I have tried to do this before.
I also create pdf books to use in my teaching - eg. scanned parts of a book and found information from lots of sources on the topic and other links to sites and information resources so that they are all in the same place. I do this to increase access. I usually create these in a Word, Publisher, PowerPoint - depending what it is - before saving as a PDF. These sit as resources for other teachers/students as well. I now need to work on creating the link from the library cataloguing system but that is my job next week.
I have looked at subscribing to a range of sites but have found that some of them work too slowly on our current computer network - the cabling or something - this is something that I think the school will be looking at next year.
As for Audiobooks, I personally subscribe to Audible and so am able to get books from there. One difficulty I have had is getting these to work on some of the school MP3 players. I think I need to convert to a different format. I haven't got around to doing this yet as I have worked around the problem. I originally started to get them to assist some students in the higher grades with lower reading abilities in accessing some of the books they wanted to read. I also like listening to the stories myself. I've also got some through ITunes.
I really like this side of the new technologies. I'm going to have a play with the digital storytelling now - good practice as I am planning to use this with a class this term.
Week #9 Videos Online - part 2
For some reason when I embedded my tubechop video, my other video from youtube disappeared. I thought I'd just start another post.
Below is a video that I will be using with a Reception class this coming term. We will be looking at the shapes, skeletons of animals and how they related to how they move.
I have also found another YouTube video that I think I'll use.
It's funny, when I was looking for videos to use with this class, I came across the TED site with Robert Full talking about animal movement and the foot. I just want to use the video that he showed - not his talk.
The video is here. http://www.ted.com/talks/robert_full_on_engineering_and_evolution.html
If you can advise me as to how I can cut this video in the same way as I did with TubeChop, it would be much appreciated.
Below is a video that I will be using with a Reception class this coming term. We will be looking at the shapes, skeletons of animals and how they related to how they move.
I have also found another YouTube video that I think I'll use.
It's funny, when I was looking for videos to use with this class, I came across the TED site with Robert Full talking about animal movement and the foot. I just want to use the video that he showed - not his talk.
The video is here. http://www.ted.com/talks/robert_full_on_engineering_and_evolution.html
If you can advise me as to how I can cut this video in the same way as I did with TubeChop, it would be much appreciated.
Week #9 Videos Online
I like to find video to use when I'm teaching but as we are blocked from Youtube at school (we could until recently override but DECS has changed something and we can't at the moment), I'll often grab and save it as a WMV through Media Converter. I use the free version and can only do 5 in one day. Also, sometimes it doesn't work. However, this is one way I can guarantee access when I need it. Also, you don't have to wait for the buffering and so it is quicker. The other thing is that you can also ensure that there is nothing inappropriate - as you said, you can't filter the comments and sometimes people make the foulest comments.
I am familiar vimeo but haven't found this to be as useful in getting video to show kids so far. Also, as I have been using Media Converter, it easier to use download Youtube videos.
I wish I had known about TubeChop earlier for The Perth Mint Youtube video I used with a Year 2/3 and Year 1/2 class about how coins are made. I had to show from the beginning to get to the bit I wanted. Luckily I didn't have to show it all though because it goes for 9 minutes I think. I have embedded the chopped version below.
Here is my attempt at cutting a video.
I am familiar vimeo but haven't found this to be as useful in getting video to show kids so far. Also, as I have been using Media Converter, it easier to use download Youtube videos.
I wish I had known about TubeChop earlier for The Perth Mint Youtube video I used with a Year 2/3 and Year 1/2 class about how coins are made. I had to show from the beginning to get to the bit I wanted. Luckily I didn't have to show it all though because it goes for 9 minutes I think. I have embedded the chopped version below.
Here is my attempt at cutting a video.
Week #8 Syndicated Search
I must admit it was a surprise for me to hear in the Joyce Valenza conference that Google keeps a profile of my regular searches and so the order of what is listed is based on that. Naive of me! I did however assume that the companies etc that pay more, get listed more easily.
Anyway, I've started having a look at the different search engines. I began with DeweyDigger.com because it was such a unique way of searching. I thought it could be useful as another way of finding resources to use with classes. Interesting idea but it really wasn't that helpful for me and I don't think it is one that I'll use. Something interesting to note is that I looked up Australia - what with the history in the Australian Curriculum - and was very surprised to see South Australia not there as an option - when I looked more closely, neither were a few of the other states/territories - Vic, NSW, QLD were. I don't think I'd bother with this site, interesting as it is, I would do a direct search in one of the other search engines.
I have then had play with the other search engines. I used the term "Australian animals" - a typical primary school search - to see what each found. Interestingly, Quiki found nothing as it didn't have a quiki of that name. I then tried "Adelaide" as the search term, with greater success. I thought it was ok and unique with the multimedia but a little bit limited. One to watch I think.
With blekko, Twurdy and Kngine, they all listed similar results. I found blekko a bit confusing and when I tried the slashtags suggested, didn't get anything remotely like what I wanted - my own did though. I really quite like Twurdy and can certainly see me using this as it often takes time to find text appropriate for primary aged kids through Google. I often do a search like "Australian animals information for kids" to get similar information in Google.
I also tried using "Searchypants" - a search engine that Joyce Valenza mentioned. This is very simple to use and would be useful for kids I think, particularly JP. Similar results were found. You can also pretty it up a bit in the same way as you can with igoogle. It is also good in that you are more guaranteed to hit only safe sites for kids.
It has been good to spend the time looking at different search engines as it is very easy to only use Google.
Anyway, I've started having a look at the different search engines. I began with DeweyDigger.com because it was such a unique way of searching. I thought it could be useful as another way of finding resources to use with classes. Interesting idea but it really wasn't that helpful for me and I don't think it is one that I'll use. Something interesting to note is that I looked up Australia - what with the history in the Australian Curriculum - and was very surprised to see South Australia not there as an option - when I looked more closely, neither were a few of the other states/territories - Vic, NSW, QLD were. I don't think I'd bother with this site, interesting as it is, I would do a direct search in one of the other search engines.
I have then had play with the other search engines. I used the term "Australian animals" - a typical primary school search - to see what each found. Interestingly, Quiki found nothing as it didn't have a quiki of that name. I then tried "Adelaide" as the search term, with greater success. I thought it was ok and unique with the multimedia but a little bit limited. One to watch I think.
With blekko, Twurdy and Kngine, they all listed similar results. I found blekko a bit confusing and when I tried the slashtags suggested, didn't get anything remotely like what I wanted - my own did though. I really quite like Twurdy and can certainly see me using this as it often takes time to find text appropriate for primary aged kids through Google. I often do a search like "Australian animals information for kids" to get similar information in Google.
I also tried using "Searchypants" - a search engine that Joyce Valenza mentioned. This is very simple to use and would be useful for kids I think, particularly JP. Similar results were found. You can also pretty it up a bit in the same way as you can with igoogle. It is also good in that you are more guaranteed to hit only safe sites for kids.
It has been good to spend the time looking at different search engines as it is very easy to only use Google.
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Week #7 Literally Social Twitter
I'm afraid that my reluctance to set up a Twitter account is part of what has slowed me down with achieving the tasks for Week 7. I have finally got around to it and had a go - found people and things to follow and even tweeted, but not sure if I can really be bothered doing more. I can see it could be useful, particularly with sharing sites etc with colleagues - but currently do that through slasanet.
It took me a while but I finally found some colleagues - a bit like Facebook in that it was through others. I also had a go shortening a website through Bit.ly and shared it.
In doing this though I was once again hit with the feeling that I don't really have anything particular to share or whether things I find would be useful to others. I'll keep giving it more of a go over the next few weeks and see how I go.
I am already familiar with librarything and shelfari and use them often to find resource lists and get book reviews/suggestions, but I don't have an account. I must admit that Shelfari is one site I would like to investigate further.
Well, better get onto the next week's activity as time is ticking by!!
It took me a while but I finally found some colleagues - a bit like Facebook in that it was through others. I also had a go shortening a website through Bit.ly and shared it.
In doing this though I was once again hit with the feeling that I don't really have anything particular to share or whether things I find would be useful to others. I'll keep giving it more of a go over the next few weeks and see how I go.
I am already familiar with librarything and shelfari and use them often to find resource lists and get book reviews/suggestions, but I don't have an account. I must admit that Shelfari is one site I would like to investigate further.
Well, better get onto the next week's activity as time is ticking by!!
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