Create Graffiti Style Text Images

At a recent EdCamp I attended, a student-led session highlighted the idea that the best way to engage learners was for educators to interact with students at their level.  Many ideas and strategies on how to achieve this were exchanged, but the one idea that struck me was that the on-line tools we so proudly use for our classroom activities may not be as engaging as we think!  In order to fully connect with students, it is important to use web tools that fit the interests of the students before us.  In other words, a specific web tool may be engaging to one class but not another.  Clearly, teachers must take this into account and have a Web 2.0 toolkit that includes a diverse set of resources that fits the needs of a wide range of students.  

The De-tech-tive 4 Teachers - Graffiti Style

As a result of this latest revelation, I have begun revisiting some web tools that I had earlier dismissed.  One of these tools is The Graffiti Creator.  The Graffiti Creator allows users to create a graffiti-style name or logo within minutes.  There are many options to choose from including various font styles and artistic features that will add life to your creation.

How to Get Started:

Below is a Graffiti Creator screen-cast tutorial that will assist you in creating your first graffiti-style image:



Sample Activities:

1.  Class Website or Blog - jazz up your classroom on-line space with a graffiti-style message or title.

2.  Student E-portfolios - students can include a graffiti-style name bar to introduce their e-portfolio.

3.  Presentations - insert a graffiti image into any on-line or print based visual.  

NOTE: For on-line insertions, users may need to use 'PrtSc' on their computer keyboard to generate the image.  Once generated, a cropping tool will be needed to crop the excess portions of the image to isolate the graffiti text.  

A special thank you to Dave Guymon (@DaveGuymon) for first introducing me to this web tool.

There is a lot of potential with The Graffiti Creator.  Please feel free to explore the possibilities with your students today!  Click here to get started.

This post originally appeared on The De-tech-tive 4 Teachers.

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom with Prezi

Prezi is a cloud-based presentation and storytelling web tool that allows users to create unique and engaging presentations.  Within the virtual hybrid canvas - a blend of a whiteboard and PowerPoint slides - users can create visually appealing presentations using two distinct Prezi features: the Zooming User Interface and the non-linear presentation design.  To view a sample Prezi presentation, please watch the Hansel & Gretel story below:

Hansel & Gretel on Prezi

Additional Features:

As you can see from the example above, Prezi has many fantastic presentation features to engage your audience.  Some features that were not shown are:

1.  Screen Blackout - With all the great features Prezi offers, audiences may lose focus on the content of the presentation.  To assist with this, presenters can press the 'B" key during a presentation and temporarily black out the screen to re-engage the audience.

2.  Fade-In Animations - PowerPoint has always had the capability to fade in content on command; Prezi can now too.  This feature is useful if posing a question and when ready, revealing the answer.

3.  Off-line Presentations - No need to worry about poor Wi-Fi connections any longer as Prezi allows users to share presentations without needing on-line access.

4.  Create a Prezi presentation with others - Collaborate remotely with others by adjusting the settings found at the bottom of each Prezi.  Once the settings are changed to "Edit Together", copy the URL that is generated and send it to your desired collaborators via email, instant messaging, etc.  


How to Get Started:

Below is a great video tutorial created by Prezi to help you get started with your first presentation.  




Prezi creators have been very diligent in supporting their users.  This support page - http://prezi.com/learn/ - offers various resources users can access for additional assistance.  


Sample Activities:

1.  Student Presentations - Students can create and present the events of an historical event or tell a creative story they have written.

2.  Teaching a Lesson - Several colleagues of mine use Prezi to introduce new content.  In fact, one colleague gives students a ready-made Prezi and has them present it to the class.  Prior to presentation, however, students can edit the Prezi to suit their needs.


Prezi is a great presentation tool that will engage any audience.  To get started on your first presentation, click here!

This post originally appeared on The De-tech-tive 4 Teachers.

Engaging Today's Students with Voki

Student engagement can be an elusive entity for today's educators.  There are many possible causes for learner apathy which range from boredom to socio-economic issues to a lack of ability.  The goal for educators is to find resources that inspire students to actively participate in their learning.  One such resource is Voki - a speaking avatar web tool.  Even the most reluctant learners embrace Voki as it gives them the opportunity to express themselves without the need of standing in front of their peers - a very terrifying experience for some.  From an educational standpoint, Voki provides all students with an equal opportunity to earn the best grade possible!

But who is really best suited to explain the educational benefits of Voki?  The students, of course!  Below are some student testimonials that will further highlight the educational benefits of Voki.

"I liked it because it was an unique and fun way to introduce yourself to your class and your website.  You could also customize your Voki differently than what you look like ... You can have fun!" - Sydney

"It is good for Grade 8 introductions.  Students can find things out about their classmates without the stress of being in front of the class." - Noah

"I think it's a good tool because you can use it to present a project or a speech with it." - Chase

"It's fun to use and it could be helpful in other ways such as sending it to a family member for their birthday, etc." - Keisha

"I like Voki because you get to know more about your classmates.  It's fun, new and a good way to start the year." - Lizzy

"I liked it because we can express our creativity and get to know others." - Shaelyn

"It is good for auditory learners." - Heidi

"If you weren't comfortable with speaking in front of the class, you could use Voki to speak instead." - Sarah


As you can see, Voki is a fun and engaging web tool that motivates students to creatively share their knowledge.  Click here for a detailed explanation on how to get started.  

If you haven't yet, I strongly encourage you to give it a try!


Lynda Hall originally wrote this post for Voki for Education November 2012.

Collaboratively Create Online Videos with WeVideo

WeVideo is a collaborative, online video creation and editing tool that I really encourage educators to try as the educational possibilities and subsequent benefits are endless.  Currently, my students are Skyping with a class from Layton, Utah.  Throughout this process, students have been paired with a partner to create a video in response to a question(s) asked of them about some aspect of Canada.  Students have not only worked together at school on their video project but they have also worked on it from home.  Each time a student accesses their WeVideo project - no matter where they are - they are ready to start from the last video edit.  So far, the project is progressing very well.  My ultimate goal, however, is to expand this collaborative piece by pairing one of my students with a Layton student.  Needless to say, the ability to collaborate with a much larger global learning community will be exciting!  
       

WeVideo has many excellent features but it should be no surprise that my absolute favorite is the ability to extend unlimited invitations to others to collaborate together to create a video.  Once invited, collaborators can co-create or make their own video using the clips shared by others.  As stated above, the educational possibilities are endless with this feature in that students from around the world can work together to create a video masterpiece on any topic.       

Additional Features:

1. Full-feature video editor: Users can drag & drop images, video and sound clips, special effects and graphics into the timeline-based editing interface.  Once entered into the timeline, users can get creative with a wide range of editing options.  A real-time preview feature also allows users to view their edits immediately.

2. Music & Effects: Create an absolutely unique video with WeVideo's animation, transition, special effects and royalty-free music features!  WeVideo also offers color correction and filters that will definitely add life to your raw footage.

3. All File Formats are Supported: WeVideo supports all file formats from common camera devices - smartphone, digital camera, or video camera.

4. Sharing Options: Users can export their video creations directly to YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook and Twitter.  Paid WeVideo accounts allow for video download to your computer.  Exported videos can be either 360p, 480p, 720p or 1080p full HD.

5. WeVideo Apps: In recent months, WeVideo has released two apps - an Android app and a Google Drive app.  The Android app allows users to capture images and videos from their mobile device and instantly add them to their WeVideo project.  The Android app will also trim unwanted portions of a video clip prior to its inclusion to a project.

The Google Drive app not only saves video projects to the cloud for easy access across multiple devices but it also allows users to record from their webcam.  The resulting video file can be split or trimmed for further editing enhancements later on. Improved audio functions are also available with the Google Drive app.  Users are able to fade-in audio, fade-out audio, adjust audio volume so as to create a background or feature sound.    

How To Get Started:

Below are just some of the video tutorials created by WeVideo to get you started creating your first video.  Just click on any of the links below to view.

1. Importing Files 

2. Project Setup

3. Collaboration

4. Basic Editing

5. Exporting

Sample Classroom Activities:

1.  As mentioned earlier, my students are using WeVideo to teach our Skype partners about Canada.  Essentially, students can teach others about where they live - locally or nationally - by creating a WeVideo.

2.  Have your students create a video book trailer for a recent novel your students have read.

3.  Students can create a video biography of a famous historical figure.  

4.  To introduce themselves to their classmates at the beginning of a course, students can create a video autobiography.

5.  Teachers can use WeVideo to create a flipped classroom instructional video for a particular lesson.

WeVideo is a very good visual web tool.  My students absolutely love using it and I am sure yours will too!  Click here to get started.

This post originally appeared on The De-tech-tive 4 Teachers.

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hmns/4184560257/">Houston Museum of Natural Science</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>

Create a Symbaloo Homepage for your Often Used Websites

As of late, I have received a lot of positive feedback from students, parents and colleagues about my use of Symbaloo.  Oddly, it is only in the last month, I started using Symbaloo as I am a former iGoogle user.  I am very glad that I made the switch though, as Symbaloo accomplishes my goal of organizing my often used online content in one easy to use homepage that I can access with all my devices - smartphone, tablet and laptop(s).

Symbaloo is a visual, online bookmarking service that allows users to create 'webmixes' or tile-like collections of website links.  Symbaloo allows users to create multiple webmixes with each being available for private use or for sharing with others.  Another Symbaloo feature users can access is the ready-made webmixes on a wide range of topics from the Symbaloo Gallery.  Also, there is an educational version of Symbaloo but it is only free for individual users.  At this point, educators are best to stay with the regular version as there is no added features that warrant a purchase.  Lastly, another Symbaloo service users can utilize are the iPhone/iPad apps or the companion Android app.      

How to Get Started:

View the quick Symbaloo video tutorial below to learn how to get started within minutes.





Possible Educational Uses:

Below is just a sampling of the possible uses of Symbaloo:

1.  As I already mentioned, create a Symbaloo homepage for your often used websites - personal and professional.  E.g. I have a webmix for the technology based websites I like to visit on a regular basis - Free Technology for Teachers, Classroom 2.0, etc.

2.  Create a Symbaloo webmix of related educational content that you would like to share with parents, students or colleagues.  E.g. a webmix of the online resources you use to teach your students fractions in math class.

3.  Have your students create a Symbaloo webmix to share with their classmates, the online resources they found for a specific subject area research project.


I really think you will find Symbaloo a great tool to use for not only organizing online content but also sharing that wealth of information with others.  To try it out, click here!


This post originally appeared on The De-tech-tive 4 Teachers.

Maximize Your Productivity with IFTTT

Staying connected with the global teaching community can be a very challenging, and at times, very frustrating undertaking for today's busy educators.  The trick is to spend less time with administrative tasks such as tweeting out your new blog posts and more time connecting with members of your Professional Learning Network (PLN).  Amazingly, there is a web tool educators can use to automate repetitive tasks - it is called IFTTT (If This, Then That).  

How It Works:

Before we get started, there are some terms you must be familiar with first:

1.  Channels - are on-line services such as Twitter, Dropbox, Gmail, Foursquare, etc. that when linked, allow IFTTT to perform automated tasks.  Currently, there are over 50 on-line services that can be linked to IFTTT.

2.  Triggers - constitutes the 'this' part of a recipe.  They are messages that IFTTT looks for to start an action.  A trigger can be a Twitter message, a voicemail, an email, etc.

3.  Actions - constitutes the 'that' part of a recipe.  They are the tasks to be performed when a trigger is received.  For example, if a trigger is the receipt of an email, then the action could be to send the email to your Dropbox account. 

4.  Ingredients - are specific pieces of data from a trigger.  E.g. the ingredient of a Twitter trigger could be a tweet from a specific person (@MsLHall) or a hashtag (#edtech).

5.  Recipes - are a combination of a trigger and an action generated from your active channels.

A sample IFTTT (if this, then that) recipe could be:

IF  (your profile changes)

THEN   (update profile)

To best explain how to get started with IFTTT and to learn how to create recipes, view the two short video tutorials below:

As you can see, IFTTT is a great tool to automate repetitive on-line tasks.  By doing so, educators will free up precious time for tasks that require more skill or engagement.  I highly recommend giving it a try.  Click here to get started!

This post originally appeared on The De-tech-tive 4 Teachers.

5 Fun & Interactive Grammar Websites for Students

Teaching grammar and vocabulary can be challenging at times for Language Arts teachers as the content is not as exciting as learning about other topics like the combustible chemical reaction of napthalene.  Below are five websites that will provide a more fun and interactive methodology to teaching grammar and improving vocabulary.

Irregular Verb Wheel - This fun and engaging website created by Macmillan Dictionary allows students to practice identifying various verb conjugations.  The goal of the game is to earn as many points as possible by identifying the correct past, present and future tenses of a selected verb from the wheel within the allotted time.  The learning focus for this game is commonly used irregular verbs that are often incorrectly applied in our daily oral and written expression.   

Free Rice - is a free, online game that allows users to help with world hunger while improving one's grammar and vocabulary skills.  For each correct answer from the multiple choice format, 10 grains of rice are donated to the United Nations World Food Program.  Also, students are further challenged to expand their vocabulary because with each correct response, the next question is chosen from the next upper level of terms.  Recently, Free Rice has expanded its gaming repertoire to include other subject areas such as art, chemistry, foreign languages, math and geography.

Grammar Bytes! - is another free website that enables students to practice a wide range of grammar skills including sentence structure, usage and punctuation.  The website includes a glossary of terms, interactive activities, printable handouts, presentations including YouTube videos, and a quick summary of tips and rules.  The best aspect of the Grammar Bytes website is that students must demonstrate their working knowledge by correcting sentence errors, not just memorizing the rules of grammar.

Grammar Ninja - is a fun and engaging game that students can use to practice the identification of the various parts of speech.  There are three levels of difficulty: Beginner Ninja, Skilled Ninja and Master Ninja.  Instant feedback is a key feature of this website because if a student answers incorrectly, the words explode.  

Interactives: Spelling Bee - is a great website for students to practice their spelling.  Students are read either a story or a sentence and then are to spell the missing words.  Words can be repeated or a definition can be supplied if a student is having trouble.  At the end of the activity, results are calculated to determine a student's mastery of the vocabulary.  All grade levels are available as well.   


This post originally appeared on The De-tech-tive 4 Teachers.