WebQuest: Cell Phones in Schools

For my WebQuest, I chose to modify a WebQuest designed by Robert Mahoney called "iPods in Schools."  I decided to look at the issue of cell phones in schools for two reasons: (1) The issue of cell phones is timely and relevant to Columbia Falls High School because the administration is currently reviewing and considering changes to the cell phone policy, and (2) I can use this in my classroom next week!  As I design projects, I try very hard to make them relevant to what I am doing in my classroom rather than looking at them as a philosophical activity.  By choosing this topic, I have two weeks of lessons for my junior English students already completed.  I am excited to see how my students fair in this assignment.

I used a trial membership in QuestGarden to create this WebQuest, and I found the program to be very straight forward and easy to use.  My only complaint is that when you copy and paste, the background color cannot be easily changed.  As a result, the background of the standards does not match the page. Another thing I found it that it was essential to save frequently!

Here is a screen shot of the home page of my WebQuest:

To get to my WebQuest, use the following link:

Cell Phones in Schools

Prezi...

This week, I decided to play around with Prezi for my presentation software assignment. I have a number of colleagues who have used Prezi in their websites, and my principal actually reccommended to me as a great way to get information across. I wanted to see what all the hype was about and decide for myself if I thought that Prezi was a useful tool.

As I just received a new iPad from my husband, I decided to make the subject of my Prezi "iPads in the Classroom." However, there are a number of ideas presented that with slight modification can be used on desktop computers or with iPods or iPhones, so please don't dismiss my presentation out of hand if you don't have an iPad.

As per the actual process of creating my Prezi: At first, I just began playing around with Prezi, but after a while I actually used a number of the tutorials. I found them to be straight-forward and quite helpful. Once I figured out how the program worked, it was straight forward to create my presentation.

In all, I liked using Prezi, and I liked the unique, multi-media presentation that I created in the end. I think that it is simple enough for high school students to use. It would be an interesting project that I may very well use in my classroom this May. I think the unique digital aspect will keep their attention, and they will have fun creating it. I like that it is web-based, that way I don't have to download another program on a number of computers. In all, I thought figuring out Prezi was a valuable learning experience that will transfer directly to my classroom.

Enjoy it!

iPad in Education on Prezi

Digital Story 2

The first three months of my son Charlie's life is the subject of my second digital story.  To make this video, I recorded my sound in Garage Band and then exported that to Final Cut Pro.  Once in Final Cut Pro, I imported all the videos and photos from my iPhone using Photostream and arranged them according to my preference.  After I had my images dialed in, I exported my whole project back to Garageband and added the background music.  Once I had the music situated, I deleted the images out of Garageband, and exported just the sound (with voice and music!) back into Final Cut Pro.  There, I added my new sound track and exported it as a MOV file.   Here is the final product.  I hope you enjoy!

Digital Story Rubric

Here is a screenshot of the rubric that I created for Digital Stories:

For a copy of the document that you can download and modify, use this link: 

AHanson Digital Story Rubric

Resources:

Digital storytelling rubric. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://its.ksbe.edu/dst/PDFs/Rubrics/digitalstory.pdf 

Little, J. (2012). Rubric for digital personal tales. Retrieved from     https://umonline.mrooms3.net/mod/hsuforum/discuss.php?d=70842

Matthews-DeNatale, G. (2008). Digital storytelling tips and resources.  Retrieved from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI08167B.pdf

Public Service Announcement

For my public service announcement, I chose to discuss something near and dear to my heart - blinkers!  I used Garageband to create my recording, and added music and sound effects that were already built into the program.  After creating my soundtrack, I went to Flickr's Creative Commons and found photographs that fit my subject; then, I inserted the photos into to my recording.  Finally, I published my podcast and posted it here. 

I found that once I published the podcast to my blog, the pictures were off by just a bit.  This resulted in a little empty video space at the end which was not originally part of my design.  No matter how I tweaked my original recording and the timing of the pictures, I could quite get it "just so."  My husband (who knows much more about these kinds of things than I do) suspects this is because the file sizes of the pictures are different and the final video is influenced by picture size.  I'm not sure, but that sounds plausible to me.  Anyway, enjoy!

SMARTboard Lesson

SMART Exchange
For my lesson, I used a resource called SMART Exchange.  This free site allows registered users to share lessons for their SMARTboards.  I found a template for a lesson that looked interactive and fun for students: SMARTboard Kooshball.  This template allows teachers to add their own questions to a series of pages.  Students "select" their question by throwing a soft ball (like a kooshball) at buttons on the screen. I thought this template had vast possibilities.  Teachers could use it for review, math equations, vocabulary, literature or science questions... the possibilities seemed endless!

Not quite what I expected...
So I prepared my lesson and went into school to film. And then what sometimes happens with technology happened: the lesson didn't work!  The balls didn't trigger the board to switch screens.  Kooshballs, beanie babies, soft sport balls - nothing worked!  Sure the buttons functioned when you clicked on them with the pen, but not with the balls.  Needless to say, this really takes the fun out of the lesson for the students.

I was caught in a tough spot for my project: after contacting a friend with a SMARTboard, and setting a time to meet him and use his classroom, this was my one opportunity to film!  So I went ahead and filmed the lesson as if the template had actually worked.  But here is my official disclaimer: SMARTboard kooshball didn't really work at all.  In the end, it is a good lesson for us all to remember - actually try out new technology outside of class before you get up in front of your eager students.

Google Earth Tour - San Francisco

For my Google Earth Tour, I would like to share my ultimate day in San Francisco.  This tour will take you through some of my personal highlights of the city - places I go every time I visit including museums, parks, good food, and finishing up with a SF Giants baseball game.  If you like Indian food, pay special attention to the location of Naan 'N' Curry... this restaurant is fabulous!

On a tech note - I found that Google Earth crashed whenever I tried to record audio to go with my tour, so it is a silent tour (unfortunately).