Module 4

Vodcasts,  Podcasts,  Animoto, YouTube...

With such a choice, just where do you start?

It's strange that while I use a lot of these sorts of things in the classroom, it never dawned on me that we could be creating them ourselves.

We all use YouTube in just about every subject - probably all subjects at some stage, but I must say I have never thought to upload something there. I have a whole load of clips stored in my YouTube, Classm8 account, all neatly grouped by subject type. Bible stories are a particular favourite as they really come to life for younger children. I recently discovered the Storynory site through my Principal (a great inclusion at reading time for adding variety - and it's free!!!). We all tend to try and share good finds with each other.

Podcasts could actually be used to record children reading books or their own stories, in a radio play style. They can add  music and sound effects from sites that offer them for free. Reading for an audience would give reading more purpose and encourage rehearsing, expression, listening and seeking of ways to become a more engaging reader. It also allows the reader to hear themselves as others do. By making reading more entertaining, you are bound to attract even reluctant readers.

Teachers could also encourage children to make Podcasts of favourite books to create a class library of student owned Class Podcast books.

Pod/Vodcasts could also be a successful new presentation media for reports and projects. I suppose it isn't beyond the realms of possibility that teachers could even Podcast instructions for activities in groups - but that could be going a little too far...

Animoto was a real find! I had never even heard of it and can't wait to use it with my class. It was really easy to use and a lot of fun. I could see it being very popular as a new way to express ideas in a highly visual and efficient way. PowerPoint, Keynote and the like have a place in presentations, but this is very dynamic. Children could be encouraged to write captions for their uploaded photos. They can insert written slides in between uploaded video and photo sections.By using their own music and voice recordings, Animoto could become even more personal. The programme is so accessible and requires equipment that most (if not all) classrooms now have.

This was a first time Animoto creation based on a whole load of school photos. I tried to capture a sense of my school and also have a go at working through the programme. It would be a lot of fun to use for end of year celebrations, recording events on an excursion, special occasions.... The sky really is the limit.

I was also pretty impressed that it only took me a few failed attempts to work out how to add it to this blog. The learning curve continues!