Final Project

For the final assignment I chose to use the online tool called Wordle. I had two students use Wordle for three weeks to practice typing their spelling words. After typing they then were able to rearrange the words, change the color, and the font. Wordle made it fun for the kids to practice reading, spelling, and typing their weekly spelling words. When they were finished creating their personal collage I had them print two copies. One copy was for classroom display and the other was to take home.

Diigo

This assignment was the most challenging for me. It took some time to figure out all of the different steps. After creating a Diigo account I then had to 'join the group'. Once all that was through I searched the web for websites on Web 2.0 and 21st century skills. It was hard to find good material to post to the site. The process of posting a bookmark was easy, it was just hard to find anything good to post. I could see this type of site being useful for high school and college students working on research papers or group projects.

VoiceThread

I enjoyed browsing the different voicethreads. I found interesting threads on special education. Some I viewed were on assistive technology, case studies, and methods. The thread I really enjoyed was a case study on a boy with reading disabilities at an alternative school. My voicethread was on AASWD. I could use VoiceThread to collaborate with other teachers on alternate assessments and special education trends. My students could use voice thread to help them with science and social studies.

podcast

I first viewed/listened to the podcasts on http://webcast.mariemontschools.org/tBrowse.asp?varPath=\DP\POD_CAST. I found several examples of podcasts. One thing I did notice that the sound on some was better than others. I assume this is due to the mic postion and student/teacher voice quality. So I kept that in mind when creating my own. I found it relatively easy to create the podcast. My podcast was voice only. I didn't explore and make it elaborate.

Bloom's Digital Taxonomy

I encourage students to use higher order thinking skills (HOTS) by editing work, use advanced searches, collaborating with others, designing and publishing. A way I can encourage students to focus less on lower order thinking skills (LOTS) is to avoid simple google searching. This would involve a better focus on implementing advanced searches. Also, a way to use HOTS in the classroom is to have student buddies around the world the students communicate with via Skyping vs. email.

Digital Storytelling

I used Movie Maker to create my movie.

To create my movie I used pictures that were on my computer at school. The step-by-step process was easy to follow. I added credits, sound, and visual effects to create some interest to the movie. (It is not a great movie, but I did familiarize myself with the program.)
Some of my students have used Movie Maker during science class. They were able to select what method to display their presentations and several chose Movie Maker. They enjoyed creating the movies and showing them to their classmates.

Digital Storytelling: Link to Movie

http://webcast.mariemontschools.org/tPlay.asp?varPath=\ME\21st century assignment\Movie_0001.wmv
The movie is also posted to the Public Drive: WEBCAST, ME