Sparkol/Video Scribe (2015 student post)

While the title of the site is Sparkol the actual application name is VideoScribe.  

http://www.sparkol.com/   which links to   http://www.videoscribe.co/home?utm_expid=32326862-6.v6po904TQjGqE1B9uwJHDA.1

I was attracted to this application because I've seen Robert Reich use something like this in his many videos on the economy and social justice.  (Since "his hand" is not animated I can't be sure of this.)  

VideoScribe allows users to have animations of images being draw, text and voice to all become synthesized onscreen in a narrative form.  

I registered for the seven day trial version and it was a quick to download to my laptop.   

A tutorial flashes on the screen at first run of the application.   It can be shown at every launch of the program.   It moves very quickly but not to worry, there are basically only three main icons to click on at the start page.   The icons on this page and the actual construction page are all very simple and readily identifiable.   The program froze on my screen a few times, quite possibly because the library of images needed to become accessible to me.

In the course of a minute or two after some initial freezing of the screen I easily added three elements to my first presentation.    I could see the draft in progress with a handy playback feature that loaded very quickly. 

It was fun to use and the playback feature as it made it clear exactly how the presentation would be and therefore it clued me into how I would want to adjust layout or voice timing.  

I wanted to make a presentation on the nature of the fruit in the Garden of Eden, usually misnamed an apple.  Or is it misnamed?   The fruit referenced in Genesis was likely an etrog, a type of citrus.  The etrog's name in certain countries is the Persian Apple.  I thought I could use more terms than just an apple but could not find many complex terms after finding the apple.  I looked for Middle East, Mesopotamia, Tigris River, and got no results.   "Iraq" gave me a map of all of Asia or pretty much all of the Eastern Hemisphere to choose from.  When I searched for Adam I got a two Michaelangelo stick figure images but they were premium images I would need to upgrade to use.   

Removing items, such as voice-over was as easy inserting it into the project.   

In light of what I've shared I give it at least an 8/10 for ease of use. 

As for affordance, I think it could fit in well with David Lazear's lesson plan format that always begins with an awakening activity that creates a sense of wonder or interest in a student's mind.  I also speculate that it could also be used by students to identify their own learning preferences and styles by the way they might construct a short presentation on their own.  I think the tool has the has the capacity to adapt to the concrete-sequential, abstract sequential, concrete random and abstract random learning students exhibit.   After viewing a number of their colleagues work they could be guided to see these styles at work and help them to play to their own strengths and to develop learning styles that are underutilized or undeveloped.      I'd have to revisit the prices on the version page to discern if I'd like to invest in this tool.

Smore (Stacey)

So for this assignment, I chose to research Smore.  I chose to research this website because it had to do with newsletter which is something that I would like to implement this year in my classroom.  I found the website was helpful but not necessarily everything I was looking for. 

www.smore.com

When you enter this website, it is pretty self explanatory.  It gives you tutorials right there on the main page.  There are three tutorials (just slides on what is going on but no voice)

-Designing a Flyer

-Sharing your work

-Analytic tour

I went through each of these tutorials before I got started on my "flyer".  It seemed to me to be pretty well spelled out for the user when you looked at each of these tutorials so I felt like I was ready to play and so I did. 

So here is my "flyer" I created and here is how the process I went through in order to do it. 

• When you click on the "Start a New Flyer" button, it brings you a window that gives you 6 choices---event, business, for sale, news bulletin, class and other.
• I clicked on News Bulletin because I figured that one would be the closest to what I am looking to use it for.
• Once I was there, it was pretty easy to navigate around what was on the page.  I did a rough draft of one and it was easy to implement the pictures and text. 
• At the bottom of the page, there are things that you could add to the page as well---video, more pictures, more text boxes, links to websites, etc
• When I was done, I hit save and it brought me to a page where I could share my page via google docs, Facebook, Twitter, website, etc.  I did not share it to anything but was able to copy the URL for the page and it saved it in my folder on the website.

Overall, this website tool was easy to navigate and could be used for many different reasons.  I am not 100% sure that this is what I am looking for my task of classroom newsletters but it did have the capability to print the newsletter as well so that my students' parents without access to internet could get one but that struck many questions in my head.  I was also unsure of the whole sharing via Facebook, Twitter, etc but I guess that is the world in which we live.  I could definitely see businesses using this website to advertise for themselves.  I did find it interesting that there was a page (analytic page) which tracks your visitors to the page, RSVPs etc.  which could be a good thing but for me would be unnecessary.  Another thing that is something to take it into account is that it does cost money--$59 per year----which to me ???

So overall I would give the website tool a 7 out of 10.

Hope you found this to be helpful!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYylNev403E

Poll Everywhere (Karen)

I decided to try Poll Everywhere because I work with pre-k children and want to start asking them a question of the day in order to identify names and letters and count and read a graph.  I also thought it would be easier for me to implement it on a daily basis. So I signed up for Poll Everywhere.

1. Upon getting to the website, I went to the upper right hand corner and signed up.  
2. It was necessary to enter personal information but I used my school's address and phone number.
3. After signing up, there was a quick and very helpful tutorial that walked me through each step of creating a question and providing answers.
4. There are choices in the types of questions: multiple choice, open ended, etc.

EXCEPT:

• I don't see how I can have pre-k children use the same computer because it asks for participants to text or log into a website for the poll.  I thought I could have them all respond on the same computer.
• I am not able or can't find how to attach visuals unless they are on my computer which are necessary for this age group of pre-k children.

Sample

We believe learning happens when....

Welcome to Media Literacy 2016!

Welcome to CURR 501: Media Literacy, Popular Culture and Education!  

Today in class, you will set up your own blog to use this week and next for all of your written assignments, and to keep track of your thoughts about any of the issues we cover. You can also maintain this blog after this class is over for personal or professional purposes.
  

A blog is your very own, personal online journal. It is public, in that I and your classmates can read it and comment on it, but it is your space and you can control most everything about it. (If you want to make it private so that *only* members of this class can read it, click here for instructions).  



In the context of this course, your blog has two purposes:  

1) Your blog will provide a space for you to keep all of your writing assignments over the course of our eight days together. You will not hand in any written assignments; rather you will post them on your blog. In this sense, your blog is merely your assignment notebook that you will use as you read and prepare for class each day. You will also be posting any additional thoughts you have: responses to class discussion, after thoughts, things you forgot to say in class, relevant experiences you have, etc. But importantly, your blog is a public space, and as you post (and comment on others'), you will gain a much richer understanding of everything we read and discuss in class. I want you to think of it as interactive and intertextual in that way. In this sense, your blog is much more than just a Microsoft Word document that happens to be online. It is a hypertextual space that allows you to link to images, webpages, video and other online tools and toys.

 2) Creating your own blog will also introduce you to the blogisphere if you don't know this place already. Why blog? I am trying to encourage you to practice the digital literacies we are learning about. Further, I think you will enjoy it, and I hope that you will discover creative educational uses for this online medium. You will see how easy it is to use blogger.com, and perhaps it will inspire you to be a blogger in other areas of your life.  

To start your own blog, you will go to: www.blogger.com
  

If you do not already have a Google account, you will need to create one.  If you do have a Google account, sign in in the box at the right.  This will allow you to create your own blog on a site called blogger.com.   

Click the button that says NEW BLOG (you will see this even if you have blogged before) and follow the instructions to get started.   

Don't forget your Username and Password!!  You will need them to login every time. Please write them down on the top of your syllabus so you don't forget!  

As you fill in the info, you will be asked to give your blog a TITLE. This title will appear at the top of your blog. (Mine is called "CURR 501: Summer 2016")  

Then, you need to choose an address: http://_______.blogspot.com. This will be the web address associated with your site. You can call it anything you like. Be clever or simple (or both) -- it is up to you. Write it down so you don't forget it! (You can also find it later on in your Dashboard where all of your future blogs will be listed.)  

You will also need to choose a design template for your blog. Look through the options listed and see what appeals to you. You can change this later so don't worry too much about it initially... Once you have the account set up, you can start posting. 

A “posting” is an entry on your blog. (For clarification, you have one blog, but many postings). Give the post a title and then compose as you would any journal entry. When you are finished, hit the button at the bottom that says Publish. It will not appear on your blog until you publish it. You can always go back and edit old posts and create new ones.

 Your First Po

 Your first post should be a short introduction to you: who are you, how your summer is going so far, what do you do when you are not in class, etc. (Just a short paragraph — no big deal). You will post the rest of the entries as they are due (see syllabus for dates), or whenever you have something to say! 

When you are done creating your site and posting your first entry, please come back to this blog and post a comment at the end of my first posting (scroll down) that includes your name and blog address so that I can post it in the link list to the right. For the rest of your time this morning, I want you to return to your blog, put up a second post and play with your blog a bit...
 

Your Second Post

Do you think of yourself as a digital native? If not, what kind of “immigrant” are you? Include 5 links and a youtube video in your post. If you can't figure out how to do this, click on the links above, google it for other advice, or ask me and I can help.  

Some Tips and Helpful Hints:

• Once you are in your blog, look at the top right corner of the screen. If you click on the word DESIGN, you will be able to make design changes, create new posts, edit old posts, etc. (You can only do this if you are logged in to your blog.)
• Once you are in the DESIGN screen, you can do all kinds of things to make your blog a bit more interesting. Change your fonts and colors, edit a post, change your settings. See the tabs at the top of the screen for all kinds of options.
• Poke around online and make a list of websites related to education, media literacy, social justice or anything else relevant and post them on your blog. You can add all kinds of things by ADDING A GADGET from your LAYOUT screen.
• Just do the best you can with this. If you get stuck, don't fret... I am happy to help you anytime as you work on getting this started. And remember: you can't break it. It is just a blog. Everything can be changed if need be!

Good luck!!  

LB :)