Reflection

This is the first course I completed within this program and I really liked having a chance to explore different multimedia tools as it can feel overwhelming to have many options. The structure of the course allowed me to dive in and explore tools in depth. 

The fact that we had a range of grade levels and experiences also helped me envision how I could utilize different tools with different subjects and students.

 

677-Multimedia Tools

Hello

As this course comes to an end I am reflecting on all l I have learned about "creative tools" that can help me engage with my students, pre-assess their knowledge, conduct quick formative assessments, and share information with not just my students, but with staff and parents.

I shared four tools I have used over the last 8 weeks. Adobe Spark has become one of my favorite tools to create graphic flyers, short videos for book talks and trailers, and webpages.  WeVideo is another tool I use frequently to create book trailers and/or digital stories.  Flipgrid was new to me but I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to use and how much fun students had using it. It allowed me to pre-assess their knowledge and even put a face to their names since it was my first time meeting this class.  A second Flipgrid allowed me to check on their understanding of the content away in a quick and fun way.

I shared Scrible a software we started using last year to annotate webpages and PDFs, create bibliographies, annotated citations, outline papers and much more.  It is relatively new software and while there are some aspects we would like to see improved the developers are super responsive to our feedback and continue to make the product better and better.

Check my "Creative Tools" page to see samples of these different tools.

Inma

Graphic Design- Discussion

We live in a visual world and learning to communicate and to learn by using images & visuals is a skill we all need.  Our students consume visual media daily, they communicate with each other via images (Snapchat, Insta, TikTok) and when given a chance to draw or doodle students tend to remember more information.  

I have collaborated with several teachers to create projects that combine research + visual literacy, for example, with social studies students selected a pre-colonial civilization and had to create a flyer with 3 unique elements from that culture. See a bad sample and a good sample.  With this activity students not only needed to complete research on 3 unique elements they had to figure out how to be selective with the information they were sharing since they had limited space. They had to find images that were appropriate and connected with their topics.  They had to use visual literacy and make sure they used fonts/colors that complemented each other. I have also used a combination of images & text to create book reviews. See Sample.  We have also done a quick lesson on using mindmaps to take notes. See How to Mindmap. See sample. 

Lately, I have been using Adobe Spark to create flyers using their templates because I’m normally not that creative but having something to react to is a great way to help me get started. 

Welcome

Welcome to my blog for all things library, teaching, and technology.

My goal is to share book reviews and recommendations, lesson ideas, and tech tools.