This weekend was a great time and it was so good to see friends such as @timchase @techninjatodd and many more in the wonderful Brenham, TX. The morning started with Kyle Pace and his keynote about the way things are changing in the world of technology and in the voice of the students. I was inspired by this Rube Goldberg video he shared.
Then I headed over to a session by Monica Martinez from EdTech Google Team. She did an amazing job translating the best of Google Apps and Extensions. Check her Google Site out here... GOOGLE 101
Then I got into an awesome Google Hangout Session with Todd Nesloney. He is such an inspiration to the edtech community and I hope everyone gets a chance to see him present at one point in time. Also, start using Google Hangouts for collaboration, skype type classroom activities and even homebound services.
Then we ate a great BBQ lunch... and then ended the day with the Multiple Personality "Order" of the always inspirations Tim Chase from Oregon. I suggest you check out his site www.edtech2020.com and see his Google Slide for more info. This session dealt with the problem of how do we manage our Digital Dossier of the online world.
I thank the wonderful words of iPadsammy, when he said "you know these apps might not be exactly related to education, but I think they are powerful." This was at the TCEA Region 7 event two weeks ago.
What I found was how much fun and interactive Vine and Soundtracking are. If you have not experimented or played with either app. Go ahead and download them now and just check them out,
Vine - is basically like Instagram but it allows you to film 6 seconds and it is a stop motion video. It is best to think of short conceptual videos that are fun, arty, silly or just straight up real. This app can be great for catching in the moment events and help bring the social networking platform to a more interactive experience.
Soundtracking - is basically like Instagram but it allows you to play one song from your playlist or online account to any cloud service. It is pretty cool, because you can share music quickly and see what others are trending on. I like this because this becomes a more visual and quick response version of Soundcloud.
It has been interesting to watch mobile apps evolve, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Pinterest all serve a purpose and are very helpful in various ways.
But now when you think of short videos - Vine should pop into your head.
Then when you think of quick ways to share songs - Soundtracking should tickle your ears.
My Class did an awesome job practicing the Smule Guitar App. We performed "Stand by Me" by Ben E. King this week at the McClendon Elementary Talent Show.
iMovie is easy to use and is revolutionizing the classroom with Flipped instruction and in class projects that can sythesize lessons quick and easy. Plus the teachers and students feel confident and ecstatic to share their creations.
Here are 13 ways to use iMovie in a School
thanks to Eddapps.ca for the info.
Documentation: Use the camera and microphone to record student work and performances. You might record students reading, to track progress, video record a student playing a short riff in band class, or record a performance in Phys.Ed, or pretty much any other course.
Peer Feedback: Use video as a great medium to get students to begin to provide each other with feedback. Watching in pairs or small groups can become a catalyst for powerful conversations.
Self Reflection: Students learning to be self aware and provide self-feedback is one of the most effective things we can teach our students. They can watch themselves doing some sort of performance (as described in Documentation above), and give them some structure or checklist to follow.
Creating Movies: Youtube is the most popular and powerful search engine for kids, it is how they communicate. Students also should be learning how to create movies so that they can be active participants in the media. iMovie makes it easy to include elements such as text, transitions, visuals and music; all elements that make the medium a powerful one.
Create Pecha-Kucha Presentations: Pecha-Kucha presentations are becoming more popular due to their time efficiency and engaging characteristics. The 20×20 (20 slides/images for 20 seconds each, with oral descriptions) presentation is made easily in iMovie
Story Telling: have students tell personal stories and turn them into digital stories using pictures and images from their classroom and their lives.
Photo Essay: Photo-essays are powerful ways to convey messages through visuals and text. Students can easily add text-based-slides to iMovie using another app called iMovie Extras.
Microscopy: The camera in the iPad works perfectly for recording through the optical piece of a light microscope. You can easily take video of live specimens under a low powered microscope.
Field Trips: Field trips / Field studies are great, and students can use the iPads video recoding/editing capabilities to document the experience so that they can bring it back to the classroom.
Creating Instructional Videos: We learn best when we teach something: students can quickly make instructional videos using iMovie and the iPad, by recording them selves and their peers, and cutting the moving into a logical sequence of instructions.
Slow Motion Analysis: In imovie, you can easily scrub through video clips in slow motion at an appropriate speed, frame by frame. During a physics experiment, science demo, or Phys.Ed. class, students can record and then slow down footage to find out exactly what is going on.
Create Animated Films: By using iMovie in conjunction with other apps such as Animation HD or iMotion HD, students can create beautiful stop motion or animated films, stringing together various short clips, adding voice overs, sound effects, and music.
Professional Growth: Even as teachers, we can be using iMovie to learn. Record yourself teaching lessons, and create short edits from your recordings to document how you teach, reflect on your work, and share with other professionals what you are doing and how you are doing it.
