Looking Back at the Semester

It seems like a good time to begin review the course...with technology (of course!) So let's take a look back....

What do you remember? What did you miss?

First, I created a Powerpoint presentation and uploaded it to SlideShare. Slideshare let me add some YouTube videos I thought fit nicely! Cool! When finished, I embedded it in a wiki page.

What else can I do with this review presentation? Once it's in Powerpoint, I have lots of options. I saved the presentation as jpg images. That turns each slide into a separate image.

• The slideshow above is in Smilebox.
• I also created a VoiceThread. Click on the link and you can comment on any slide or memory by typing, using a microphone or webcam, or even calling a toll-free number! (Comments are moderated, so they may not appear immediately.)
  
• I used the slides to create a video in Animoto, one of my favorite tools:

• I saved it as a movie and uploaded it to YouTube:



• I created a new presentation in Prezi. (Watch out! Prezi may make you dizzy! But it is a cool presentation system!)

These are just a few of the many multimedia alternatives to Powerpoint or for delivering a presentation in a different way. For more presentation tools, check out this page in the WebTools4U2Use wiki.

I hope it serves as a good visual review of where we've been and what we've accomplished in a short time!

Which is your favorite way to view the review? Leave a comment to let me know!

Podcasting and Wiki Assignments

This caught my eye this morning:

Podcasting Yields Higher Scores than Attending the Lecture

Although the research was conducted with university students, the finding are interesting to K-12 teachers, too. From the article: "...when students can pause, rewind, and rewatch a lecture they learn the material better. Podcasting lecture material has the added benefit of changing what can be accomplished during class time."

Since this week's assignment is on podcasting, I wanted to share that with you.

There was a second article, too. In two weeks, Project 3 is due. You'll be creating a Teacher Wiki, the beginning of a way you can connect with students and their parents. The author, Tony Vincent, says,"Many teachers have a class homepage because it is a place where they can share information, assignments, and web links." That's what you'll be doing in the Teacher Wiki. This blog article takes it a step beyond--to an ipod touch!

You can take your Teacher Wiki a couple steps beyond, too, by adding your Powerpoint (or a Powerpoint you design for your page) and/or your podcast (or a podcast you design for your page).

If you uploaded your Powerpoint assignment to Slideshare you're on your way. If not, you can do it or create a new one and upload it. See the directions here.

If you created a podcast using gCast for your assignment, you can use that. If not, you can create one using the directions in the podcast assignment.

Once you have your wiki page created, you can find directions for adding (embedding) your presentation and/or podcast using the directions I created for you. You might also be able to create and embed some media for your final project, so keep these in mind!

Extra Credit

This week you're creating a short Powerpoint presentation. If you'd like to earn 10 extra credit points, try uploading your presentation to SlideShare. Make it private (not that it isn't fascinating!) and send me the URL. When you choose to make it visible only to yourself, you'll be given a choice to get a "secret" URL that you can share with me (or anyone else). Send me that URL. Later you'll have a chance to earn another 10 points by embedding it in your wiki, so check "embeddable outside SlideShare" as well.


SlideShare is a way to view thousands of presentations created by others...and you can use them, too! See some of its powerful features here.