The school year is quickly coming to an end, which also means that several deadlines and assignments are also coming due very quickly. I took a much needed break today to go to Beechwood doughnuts. For those who aren't familiar with St. Catharines, this is definitely a staple if you're heading downtown! Now that I'm feeling full and refreshed, I can reflect on the tools used this week in ADED 1P32.
This week, we explored a creative knowledge tool called Animoto. This tool allows the user to create videos using photos, or video clips and is cloud based. I enjoyed learning how to use this tool as it was one of my original goals to add more tools to the "create" section of my PLE diagram. Although Animoto was simple to use, it does require users to pay to have the watermark removed from the videos created. I will explore this tool further and will add it to my PLE, but will definitely need to gain some more experience on it before I would consider paying for a subscription. Check out the Animoto page on my blog to see the slideshow video I created about copyright and creative commons.
Slideshow tools are a unique way of presenting information. In terms of getting immediate audience attention, these tools allow for the information to be displayed in a clear and creative way that will keep the viewers engaged. Information presented in the form of an Animoto slideshow, or Prezi, is often organized in a concise way. Being a visual learner, these methods of displaying and presenting information are ideal.
This week, we we also had the opportunity to learn more about creative commons, copyright laws and how they relate to becoming a digital citizen. This website about the basics of copyright had clear and easy to understand answers to common questions regarding copyright in Canada. In terms of being a digital citizen, it is important to remember to always give credit where credit is due when using information or content from another author.
This Week's Feedly Reader Article
This week, it was interesting to see that in the Edudemic blog called The 10 Skills Modern Teachers Must Have that # 2 and 4 on the list were "understand how to use technology", and "participate in social media". This list demonstrates that becoming a digital citizen is becoming more important as technology advances, both in the teaching profession, and in several other professions as well. It would be interesting to compare job requirements now to those 30-40 years ago. I can almost guarantee that several jobs now require the employee to be fluent with some sort of technology, online tool, or computer program in order to be a successful applicant.
Until next time,
Megan
Megan,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed using animoto, however I will not be adding it to my PLE. I personally prefer google docs as it allows me to do more for free. To get all the benefits of animoto you must purchase the full version and I do not think it is worth it. Since there are other digital tools out there that allow you to do more for less.
Take care,
Rexella
Hi Megan,
ReplyDeleteI too had the goal of adding more 'create' tools to my PLE! I agree with your thoughts about including Animoto in this section… I found it easy to use but would have to do a bit more with it to see if it is worth it to pay to remove the watermark. Personally, I did not like word limitation. For school presentations, it's definitely better to stick to Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Docs, in my opinion.
Thanks!
Carolyne