Exploring Web Literacy with Thinglink

Guest post by S. Horton, a K-12 educator in my Winter 2015 Ed Tech class.

Web literacy is important for students to learn, regardless of their age.  Alan November's website has a ton of resources on web literacy.

When tackling this topic in the classroom, my students were falling asleep at the thought of reading another article. They demanded pop, fun, interaction, and creativity. I needed a way to get the information across while engaging them.  What  was I to do? Create it!  My students and I created this user friendly, super fun Thinglink using a joined effort of Easel.ly and Thinglink.  It's interactive. Click on the icons and explore!

How to use the Thinglink 
The tags have the answers to 13 questions on web literacy.  Some of the tags have follow-up activities that the students perform while reading the Thinglink creation. They click on an interactive link and then interact. Thus, the once bored students are no longer bored, but happily participating in web literacy skill improvement.

How I created the Thinglink
First, in Easel.ly, an infographics site, I made the base picture. Then, using the snipping tool on the computer, to take a "picture" of the Easel.ly poster, I saved it as a jpeg file.

Next, I uploaded the picture into Thinglink, a great site for creating interactive images. Then, I used the information on the November's learning website to create tags on the poster.

You too can bring topics such as web literacy alive.  Give it a try! Check out related posts Exploring Social Justice with Thinglink and Ways to Use Thinglink in Education.

A thank you to S. Horton and her students!

National Film Board of Canada Interactives

Looking for a relaxing way to kick back for a few hours?  Get lost in the National Film Board of Canada's Interactive site!

My exploration has just began.  Bla Bla by Vincent Morisset simply puts a smile on my face. The key to the interactivity is uninhibited clicking and sound on.  Flub and Utter by Scott Nihil and Sabrina Saccoccio caught the attention of the linguist in me.  It took me back to my first linguistic course and the study of Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll, which Nihil references.  My favorite may be Flawed by Andrea Dorfman, but it's too early to know for sure.  I'm still exploring.

It turns out this is an ongoing area of interest that I keep stumbling upon.  Here's a related post about one of the earliest 360 interactive documentaries, Out My Window.  Also check out the NFB's films! The Girl Who Hated Books is a good place to get started for elementary teachers.  Quallunaat! Why White People Are Funny reminds me of Narmica and a good lesson I need to reinvent.

Thanks to the fabulous learners in my Ed Tech class this term, and specifically Brian Levine for sharing the National Film Board of Canada's Interactive site.

Happy interactive exploring!

Ed and Tech Play With Web 2.0 Tools Part 3: VoiceThread

VoiceThread is a handy, easy-to-use tool in education with potential for digital storytelling and beyond.  It can be used to hold debates, explain, describe, persuade, etc.  It allows participants to interact on one platform in five different ways: writing, recording audio, doodling, video, or phone.   My online class will soon be experimenting with VoiceThread (VT).  I’ve used it in my College of Ed classes, a middle school classroom, with my adult ESOL classes, and at a personal level for several years now; I continue to see its benefits.

Getting Started and Examples in Education

I presented on VT back in 2007ish and hadn’t returned to the how-to’s since.  I was tickled pink to find that they still have their original (updated) directions. If you don’t get anything else from this post, do yourself a favor today and watch slides 5 and 6! (Use the arrows to access them quickly.) The first avatar still cracks me up.  What a great example of digital storytelling!

Viewable in a lovely world where I never age is my first attempt at a VT. I was surprised when a year after creating it, I returned to it and discovered people from around the world had responded.  It was memorably one of my first “ah ha” moments that this thing called social media, multimedia and digital storytelling had a bright future.  Embedded below is one my kiddo created years ago explaining her learning from a travel experience.

Wondering how to use VT in your content area?  Here are examples from various content areas and age groups aggregated on the VT site.   Search VT within a defined field to see how other educators use them.  For example, in my field I search for ESOL, ESL, EFL, ELL, assessment etc. Michelle Pacansky-Brock is a great resource to follow on Twitter or at Teaching Without Walls as well.

Ways I have used VoiceThread and things that have worked for me

Set-up: A. Use ones already created. (Do a search by browsing on VT.)  B. Make my own that I use either in the classroom or have students respond to.  C.  Guide students in making either a class, group, or individual VTs and in responding to each other.

Instructions/Purpose: It is important to have a clear set of instructions and purpose for the VT assignment. 

Storyboard/Process:  When students create their own VTs, I often have them storyboard their responses first.  This works well in a process oriented assignment.  For ELLs, it gives them the opportunity to use all modes of the language: reading (if they did research on the topic), writing/editing, speaking, and listening.  I provide checklists and grading rubrics with expectations along the way.

Collaboration: I have experimented using VT when working with multiple sections of a class.  I teach two sections of one class, and the students never see each other, but they are able to correspond, discuss questions, etc. via VT.  This also works in online courses when students enter VT from around the world.

Things I have learned as I’ve used VT

Privacy settings: I need to be mindful of students' comfort levels and privacy.  At this point, I do not have any VT that my students have made to share in public because as a class they opted to keep them private for various reasons.

Comfort level: I once had a middle school student who did a phenomenal job on a VT.  He was engaged in a way I hadn’t seen him engaged before.  He put a ton of effort into his VT, from the writing process to recording his voice several times.  When we got ready to share with the class, he hit “delete.” It was beyond his comfort level to share with others.  I think this is important to honor and another great reason if it is a project to be assessing with a rubric and/or checklist along the way.

Recording Issues:  The reality is that the tech doesn’t always work.  With best efforts, particularly in online courses, some students have hardware limitations and experience difficulties recording audio/video.  This is where the writing option comes in handy.

Potential I see in VT beyond what I have done 

Portfolios: VT could be a portfolio for students to showcase their work and reflect. 

Global Collaboration: VT could be exciting to work in a more global way with other classes.

Course Development: It could be fun to add to the same VT with subsequent classes.  This could work great with vocabulary.  Students in Spring term class create VTs for vocabulary on chapter 1 and Fall term create them for chapter 2, etc.

Get started with the free version of VT.  So far with planning, I have been able to use only the free version.  There’s an app for that.  Last year, VT introduced an app.  It’s straightforward to use and allows students yet another way to be mobile with their learning.  

How do you use VT?

Happy VoiceThreading!

Ways to Use Thinglink in Education

Visual literacy is an emphasis in ESOL. The visual aspect helps language learners develop vocabulary and much, much more.  It is also beneficial for many learners.  As an online instructor who wishes to bring more meaningful visuals into the classroom, I’ve gained a deeper appreciation for visuals for adult learners as well.  There are many online options available to us.

When Tech:  Thinglink Education is one option with a lot of potential.  The ThingLink Education site describes it as an “Easy-to-use editor, teachers can create immersive and engaging experiences by adding tags to any image in a few minutes: Create authentic, valuable, and rich interactive stories around historical events using media (video, sound, photos, written words, etc.) found online. Annotate graphs and timelines. Record an instructional message to students inside an image. Embed interactive images into student blogs. Enable students to curate content inside an image to demonstrate understanding of a topic."  

At ISTE, I received a free upgrade to the educator’s account of Thinglink Education, which took me from 50 pictures to 500.  

Met Ed: It may be no surprise that Pinterest is a great starting place to see the potential in education.  Explore the pictures at Thinglink Education on Pinterest. It will take you a few clicks to be able to interact with the picture in its intended way.  (Wave your cursor over the Thinglink and click on the circles.) I found this interesting one there by Mr. Loret’s World History class that demonstrates how students are using it!  Here's another Thinglink jumping place to gather ideas and examples.
 

 

Above is my first try with Thinglink. (Wave your cursor over the words, and click on the circles.) It’s very basic, but it shows me the potential firsthand.  I made this in Tagul and uploaded it to Thinglink.  I’ll use it to introduce a few options of online timelines my students can explore for an upcoming course.  It only took a few minutes to make.  I can imagine linking to videos I upload to You Tube or audio instructions I make on SoundCloud.  There are many possibilities.  With an assignment on theories of SLA, students could link to credible articles, videos, etc. that discuss and describe the theories.  Students could even have a “debate” starting place with the words “yes” and reasons on one picture and “no” and reasons on another.  They could then debate away, either by recording their voices and linking to Vacaroo or SoundCloud or simply by writing reasons on the picture and debating in person.  Thinglink has an option to invite others to work on a picture collaboratively.  There are a ton more possibilities, ways librarians, musicians, and others are using it too.  This Wired article gives an overview of a few.

Happy Thinglinking! 

Popcorn Maker

This TED Talk with Ryan Merkley called, Online Video--Annotated, Remixed, and Popped,  caught my attention. And I'm glad it did!  Watch the short five minute talk to see why. Ryan describes Mozilla's Popcorn Maker.

Watch Popcorn Maker in action as it pulls in information from across the web and augments to another TED Talk that brought a smile to my face today-- Science Is For Everyone with Beau Lotto and Amy O'Toole.

Give Mozilla Popcorn Maker a try.   It's in beta, but looking promising and pretty simple to use.  In a few minutes I pulled in a You Tube video I created and augmented to it with a map, link and annotations.

Met Ed:  The potential applications for tools like this are numerous in education.  What can be done by the average bear like myself leaves me amazed.  Just think what the students can do given some guidance and purpose.

Does the Spine Matter? Book Spine Poetry Part 2

Book Spine Poetry is simple-fun! See my previous post for evidence.  I stumbled upon it, but it was inevitable that I would do so.  Read on for my related lazy summer library days story that prompted me to take the next step and create.

My Lazy Summer Library Days Story

As a kid I recall sultry summer afternoons that lingered on forever.  Solitude and freedom awaited me in the old train depot that had been “renovated” to accommodate a meager number of books available to the public in the rural town I called home.  I found refuge wiping away cobwebs from book spines and gently blowing off the dust as I randomly selected one with a sense of awe.  Seemingly minutes passed before the librarian softly told her only patron that she needed to close to make it to her evening job. 

Considering the amount of time I had spent gazing at the books, I wandered slowly home carrying only a light knapsack with room to spare.  Much of my time had been spent browsing the spines, daydreaming about what story, adventure, or truth of human nature might be encompassed in those brief titles.  I knew exactly where the larger than life dictionary was located and frequently used it to look up the meanings of words in the titles.  Being that I was only in third grade, most of the books were beyond my reading comprehension level, but the titles allowed me to create my own stories.

Now, skip forward a few decades… “Does the title matter?” one of my students asked me.  This question is like asking a chef if an ingredient is of importance.  Rather than tell, I show. Print is both purposely and haphazardly displayed about both my work and home environments.  Book spines give a quick glimpse of topics of importance to members of my home. 

What’s Your Poem or Story?

Book Spine Poetry has a way of bringing out our stories and creativity.  What’s your story?  What new story comes alive when you combine the books that surround you on a daily basis in a Book Spine Poem?  How can this be used in education?  What could you learn about your students or coworkers by creating and/or participating in a school-wide Book Spine Poetry challenge?  Imagine the possibilities in the bilingual or multilingual classroom! 

Where’s the tech here? 

Well… this one’s got two sides.  There’s the platform needed to share the pictures and the photography involved.  It could be made into a multimedia project, combined with audio or an online presentation tool, etc.  But there is also a downside.  As I searched about my home to create my own poems, most of the recent books I have consumed were located on my tablet… 

Happy Book Spine Poetry creating!

Book Spine Poetry Part I

Do a search for “Book Spine Poetry” and a plethora of examples and sites will be at your fingertips.  Try your own version.  It’s simple-fun!  Nina Katchadourian is a reappearing name you will discover in your search.  Her Sorted Books Project is well worth exploring!  Libraries and bloggers run their own Book Spine Poetry challenges that are fun to browse as well.

Here is my first amateur attempt.  My kiddo and I dusted off a few books in our library, discussed possible poems while sharing a few laughs, and then took some quick shots on the iPhone.  I then spent entirely too long playing with my new Mac version of SnagIt, all-the-while admiring the abilities of professional photographers and imaging the possibilities if only I were willing to invest more time.  Life is in the details is a phrase that comes to mind when Book Spine Poetry is attempted.

I know this much is true…
The world is open,
The sun also rises.
Where the sidewalk ends,
Let the great world spin.
 

The Outsiders:

Little women,
The girl who fell from the sky,
Children of the river,
Invisible man.
Utopia?

The Call of the Wild
Two old women
Walkabout
The chocolate war.
Hatchet.

You can’t go home again
Alive!

Can you guess what genre each of these poems relates to?  Stay tuned for an upcoming post that inspired this creation frenzy and discusses application in educational technology.  Happy Book Spine Poetry creating! 

Part 1: Bringing Science and Language Alive with Dance and Art

This term, my College of Ed. class is looking at the importance of using hand on activities, realia, manipulatives, visuals, etc. to make abstract concepts and new vocabulary more tangible.  They are discussing the importance of connecting learning to real life experiences and things that their K-12 students can relate to.   Recent topics have spun around making concepts in math and science accessible to English language learners in ways that build upon language development and differentiate by level.

Below are some related videos for bringing science alive in ways that have the potential of connecting to language and the student's lives.  (Stay tuned for an upcoming post highlighting some in math.)  Watch them with your own learning process and classes in mind if you are a teacher.

Watch John Bohannon: Dance vs. Powerpoint a Modest Proposal (11  min).  This has become one of my favorite TED Talks, which is not an easy feat since I am a big fan.

Here’s one for the young learners and those of us who just like to watch colors combine.  Watch Sesame Street: OK Go-- Three Primary Colors.

Minute Physics has RSA like “Cool physics and other sweet science- all in a minute!”   Weigh a Million Dollars With Your Mind caught my attention with this question:  A million dollars is a ton of money-- but how much does it weigh?

Met Ed (Application Questions):  How can you use some of the concepts in one of these videos to bring science alive, make it accessible to a variety of learners, and build on language development?  What approaches do you take to accomplish these in your classes?

Happy lesson planning TCE students!

For the Love of a Book

Warning.  Once you start reading, you may not be able to stop thinking.  TheFantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is an extraordinary video that I will revisit many, many times.   Like a favorite tattered book, I can see gaining something new from it each time one watches it.  My kiddo and I have watched it several times, pausing and making connections each time we see it.  I can’t wait to connect it to one of my classes!

Can you spot some of my favorites in the video?  My further investigations have turned many of my long held opinions into mush!  The many and varied points of view I have encountered do not confuse, but enrich.  I laugh.  I cry.  I seldom understand things but…  I go round and round the mulberry bush.  Why does the weasel go “pop”?  Does it matter?  If life is enjoyed, does it have to make sense?

And what a gorgeous baby grand piano.  I’m fairly certain it is the same one my grandma plays in her living room!  My grandparents are after all two of the people who encouraged my love for books and writing and embracing the unknowns in life.  If you don’t know what I’m rambling about, begin by watching this video.  And then for the love of a book, pick one up and experience it!  Digital ones do count ;- )  Here’s a link to the app.

How does TheFantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore touch you? Those of us who love literature, writing, flying words that buzz in silence, just can’t stop.  Watch The Joy of Books and then read, share, and read!

This relates to my past post What’s a Book?  Is This a Book? I’m fairly certain it will relate to a future one.

Happy reading and writing!  (Happy birthday Grandpa!)

You Are Your Words, Right?

The American Heritage Dictionary has a fun, simple site called You Are Your Words that allows you to create a self-portrait with your own words. Upload a picture or use your computer's camera to snap one, copy and paste something you write, and then share it by downloading it to your computer or sending it to Facebook or Twitter.  Be forewarned though that your creations may appear in the public gallery on the website.  I didn't see any statement saying this was a possibility, which brings up an important connection to the concept of digital footprints.   We need to have ongoing discussions with our students about this idea.

For fun, I uploaded a picture of my puppy and copy/pasted an upcoming post I wrote.  The picture on the left is the result.

Met Ed (application):  I see multiple benefits of integrating art into writing and the use of typography!

a.  I could have my adult students do this as an optional assignment.  I wouldn't require it due to the sharing feature on the gallery and could offer word clouds as an alternative. (See my earlier post about word clouds.)  It would be fun to have each student write an introduction on my online classes and then use it to create a word self-portrait to share.  

After creating these, powerful discussions could arise about the topic you are our own words.

b. The site seems to work okay with animals as well.  A class could write something about a class pet or animal they study and make a word portrait of it.  The concept of you are our own words could be extended to animal rights and asking questions surrounding giving voices to animals.

How could you use You Are Our Own Words site or the basic concept in your class?  Feel free to share if you have similar sites or apps that work for you.  I also use a similar free app called aTypoPicture-- Amazing Typographic Picture (a wordfoto).  

Happy creating!  (You know you love typography in education, even if you say you don't. Wait, you are your own words, right?)

Update: Aug 2012 A reader notified me that the site was not currently working.  I hope they get it functioning again.  It's a fun site.
 

 

Here are a few related previous posts:

Word Clouds: Tagxedo, Wordle, Tagul, and Wordlings 

Illuminated Text and Kinetic Typography Bringing Reading Alive

Teaching With TED Talks

I love using TED Talks as springboards into discussions or projects with my adult English language learners.  Some of my personal favorites are ones that have visuals, art, or music.  Besides being intrinsically engaging, they make differentiating easier due to the universality of the topics. 

This Ted Talks, Stories Cut from Paper by Betrice Coron, could be fun to use in class.  Watch it, read suggestions for using it, and explore some related Ted Talks links.

TED Talks lend themselves to dogme language teaching opportunities and authentic uses of language.  Another way I might use this in an adult ESOL classroom would go something like this:

1. Watch the video together with subtitles on.  (Possibly have a list of vocabulary pre-selected that teacher pronounces before watching and class discusses what they already know about the words.)
2. Divide the class into small groups or partners and have them separately interpret an assigned section of the video.  There could be some guidelines outlined in a checklist such as: teach us new vocabulary from your section or related to your section, interpret the art in your section, relate the art to something else you have seen, read, or experienced, etc.
3. Small groups present, teach their sections, and facilitate discussion.  Discussion could be extended in writing on a class blog.
4. Watch the complete talk together again as a class.
5. Extended learning with an activity that promotes students telling their own stories in creative ways. (See Rives Tells a Story of Emoticons.) Again, I would use guidelines in a rubric or checklist and have this part of a project.  It could be possible to incorporate all modes of language—reading, writing, listening, and speaking in the process.

Below are some of my other favorite TED Talks on the arts (often integrated with science) that lend themselves to dogme language teaching or projects that allow students to bring in their voice, experiences, and make connections.   Many of them are challenging for intermediate to advanced ELLs, but in my experience if scaffolded, some interesting sometimes unexpected conversation arises.  Others lend themselves perfectly to discussion based upon the visuals or music alone.

• Augmented Reality, Techno Magic Marco Tempest July 2011 (5:45 min)
  
• Art Made of Storms Nathalie Miebach July 2011 (4: 19 min.) 
• How I Became 100 Artists Shea Hembrey  March 2011 (16:48 min.) 
• A Virtual Choir 2000 Voices Strong Eric Whitacre April 2011 (14:35 min.) 
• Ze Frank’s Web Playroom  Oct. 2010 (18 min) 
• Rives Tells a Story of Emoticons Oct 2008 (3:15 min)

Don't miss Huff Post the Best of TED 2011 countdown.  Feel free to explore my past posts on TED Talks.  What are some of your favorite TED Talks for classroom use?  What are some ways you use them in the class?

Quick Byte: Life In A Day

 Life In A Day is the result of uploaded videos shot on July 24th, 2011 contributed from people around the world. It was produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin Macdonald.  Watch it for free below.

This seems like an appropriate post to follow my One Day On Earth 11-11-11 post which we had fun shooting footage for.

Happy viewing!

Quick Byte: One Day on Earth 11-11-11

Participate in this global collaboration by uploading a short video clip on 11-11-11, or just enjoy the One Day on Earth project 11-11-11.  Watch this video trailer to learn more.

Don't miss the 10-10-10 Geo Map!  Click on a country of your choice and zoom in to watch a video or two.  I viewed a few from some places I have traveled, and a flood of memories reminded me of the injustices of the world juxtaposed against indescribable beauty.

Keep your eyes on this site.  I will share it with my Exploring the World class!  It promises to encourage open dialogue on topics of social justice.  How can you use it in your classroom?

Illuminated Text and Kinetic Typography Bring Reading Alive

CLICK HERE ON THIS LINK. (Click here to watch the PowerPoint version.)  You won’t regret it! What you just watched (or should watch) is an illuminated text depiction by Jenny Lee of Ernest Hemingway’s short story, A Cat in the Rain.  Illuminated text is also sometimes referred to as kinetic typography.

There’s more where this came from. Watch THIS illuminated text using one of my favorite poets, e.e. cummins. Now, for the kicker.  Middle and high school students are making illuminated texts such as these.  Think of all the learning involved!  What a great alternative to demonstrate comprehension of a text.

Want to learn more?  The site AwaytoTeach is where to start.  It has examples, lesson plans, forums, and more.  Digital IS NWP National Writing Project has more examples and discussion as well.  Plus, it's a wonderful site to explore.

Every now and then, I find myself taken back to my roots as an English major, drawn to the classics.  The sites AwaytoTeach and Digital IS NWP National Writing Project  took me back, and I’m glad they did in a way that adds a simple twist to the greats!  Illuminated text such as these also connect to the quick and effective word clouds in my previous post.  I can see using this concept in many different content areas.  How could you use it?

Here is one called Language I show in one of my university classes when discussing standard English. Take a look at Typolution; the idea of raining punctuation captivates me-- who wouldn't want to catch an exclamation mark or splash in a comma? Partners could watch and describe it as part of a language development activity.  Below is a a typography based on a classic, Who's on First.  It made me think it would be fun for ELLs to create one of these based on a Jazz Chant.

“This is crazy awesome,” she said. “Go explore more!”

Prezi, Meet Jing. Jing, Meet Prezi.

Prezi is a creative alternative to PowerPoint.  Jing is a screen sharing tool.    In the example below, I first made a Prezi, and then I recorded myself manipulating it with Jing.  I have been using Jing in my online classes for over a year now with some positive results.  Although this was my first attempt at a Prezi presentation, I see huge potential in its educational uses! 

Keep your eyes open for upcoming posts that will individually highlight Prezi and Jing. 

Update: If you want to find out more info on how to use Jing, read my post here where I was a guest blogger on the Teacher Challenge. 

Happy viewing!

Mix It Up With Animoto

Tech: Animoto is a fun video making site that I've experimented with for the past year. I was excited last month when I discovered they now have free accounts for educators! This free unlimited account offers full length videos and student accounts.

You can view some examples of how it can be used in education in this link to case studies.

Here's an Animoto that I created with pictures from one of my adventures in Peru.



Admittedly, it took me longer to figure out how to make my first video than it took my nine year old on her first try. It really is as simple as uploading pictures and/or short videos, adding Animoto's music, and adding text. Animoto also has a selection of pictures and videos that can be used.

Met Ed (applications):  Here are some possible uses for Animoto:

•  Partners complete a scavenger hunt and take pictures related to a theme or content area. (Theme example: pictures of fall) They then turn these pictures into Animoto videos, embed them on the class website, and give mini presentations.
• Students create "book trailers" by highlighting the plot of a book.
• Students take pictures of the steps in a scientific experiment and turn them into an Animoto video.
• Students give presentations about their videos and/or write about them.
• Etc…

Combining Language and Pictures with Pic Lits

Tech:  I never cease to be amazed at the power of a single picture. I am not only referring to aesthetics or ability to evoke strong emotion, but also to its simple, yet effective use in education. In ESOL, we frequently refer to the need to integrate visuals for ELLs. Really, the ways we can do this are unlimited. Pic Lits is one such way that tech is delivering to ed.

Here's an example that I made within a few minutes using the "freestyle" mode.

See the full PicLit at PicLits.com

I created the following using the "drag-n-drop" method. I can imagine using this second approach with a whole class in vocabulary development. As a follow-up activity students could then take the words and use them in sentences. I like that in this mode if you click on the arrow, it offers various word forms.

See the full PicLit at PicLits.com

Met Ed (applications):  Free writing, vocabulary building, parts of speech, dictionary and thesaurus skills, poetry, etc. These are all possible applications for Pic Lits. The site has other suggested uses as well.   It also seems possible to extend this concept by having the teacher or students take pictures related to a unit or a particular lesson. Words could be added to the pictures in any language and even combined in a multimedia project such as animoto.