I have made some additional progress in my GAME plan this week. Working with the district’s technology department, I set up an account on My Big Campus, the new software I mentioned last week. Our district has joined this program, which the technology department says will let me set up wikis and blogs for my students. It also provides e-mail accounts within the school, so there will be lots of ways to share information. I am truly excited about trying it out during summer school.
The responses to last week’s post have some good ideas about how to use a web page in class. I especially appreciated the suggestion to make the web page a regular part of my students’ classroom work. It provides them with a chance to show their responsibility and to review the essentials of the day’s lesson, and it provides me with an up-to-date page without my constant input. Thank you, Katie.
I also investigated more about using video. While I want to learn more about video conferencing, I also want to improve my proficiency with video editing because that technology is so engaging for the students. Our district formerly had Windows Movie Maker software on many computers, but it had been removed because it took a lot of memory and not many teachers were using it. However, the tech department has told me that Movie Maker can be reinstalled whenever I need it, so my students should be able to access that program in the fall. This is an area where I will probably need to fine tune my GAME plan because I can foresee many uses for short videos created by students. As Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2009) explain, a GAME plan needs to be monitored and possibly modified. At present, the only video editing software in our middle school is on a single computer in the IMC. That obviously won’t provide enough access if more than two or three students want to use it.
I still need to try out actually using Skype. Using the web cam on my laptop is very simple, so this is just a matter of setting up a time to talk.
In the coming week, I hope to start setting up my class pages on My Big Campus so it is ready for summer school.
References:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: a standards-based approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont , CA : Wadsworth
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You will truly love utilizing Movie Maker. Many of your students are so tech efficient that if they haven't used it before, it will not take them long to figure it out. It is easy to splice scenes and add some transitions. Another program that is really good for making movies and is much more advanced is Avid Liquid. This program really makes students in charge of editing, and it is like they have their own studio. It has many more capabilities than Movie Maker and students' work will look entirely different. Sometimes with Movie Maker it all looks alike and one dimensional, and it loses its novelty and variety. This is just a thought, and once you become familiar with Movie Maker you should check out Avid Liquid.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
We don't use Movie Maker since we have macs at our school but I agree with you that the students creating and editing their movies is extremely engaging. They complain about those types of projects initially but then quickly see how fun they are and always so proud to show off the final product.
ReplyDeleteHave you thought about using web portfolios for your students to have a place to store and share their creations? It could be integrated into their web pages as a place to show what work they are doing and how it meets the curriculum objectives.
Tracey Waid
HS French
I hadn't thought of that, Tracey. Can you recommend a site for creating and storing web portfolios?
ReplyDeleteBecky
I think it is great that you have made amazing progress on your GAME plan. Your students will continually look forward to coming to your class because of the technology you are incorporating. Are all or most of your colleagues using the software My Big Campus? If so , I think this is a wonderful way for students to interact within the district.
ReplyDeleteGood Luck!
MovieMaker is a good choice if you desire to start off your students using videos in your class. It has the potential also to allow you to do audio slideshows which in turn will make digital storytelling quite possible.
ReplyDeleteMy students introduced it to me when I allowed them to do an audio slideshow for descriptive writing. I instructed them to use Power Point, but I was kindly informed by them that it facilitated audio recordings much better than the powerpoint and that it transitioned the slides much more smoothly. It is also good to use in persuasive writing, especially if you wish them to create a video that is advertising a product or a concept.
Even though it is easy to manipulate, it may still be challenging for some of your students who lack the confidence to handle anything technological. Scaffolding will be necessary for these students. You could invite the expert students to record the steps they followed to use the software and share this with the less confident ones. Hopefully, the experience will be an enjoyable one for all of your students.
All the best with your progress with your GAME Plan.