I am feeling a little bit overwhelmed by all the new sites, tools and trends that exist within the world of the Internet! Whew! I broke down the list of items that Amy posted on the Virtual PLC and looked at a few each day. I am disappointed that some charge a fee and that some, like Animoto, give a trial period for six months and only allow subscriptions for 50 students. This presents a bit of a problem for me because I have approximately 80 sixth graders and as many 5th graders. Nonetheless, I think that I will figure out a creative way to make this work. Perhaps I can have sixth graders work in pairs to create book trailers.
I like the idea of edmodo, a "social networking site" for students and teachers. I thought it might be a great way for my students and I to connect -- create a wall where students can feel free to post comments about books they've read, questions about research projects, etc. I signed up for an account but then read the terms of agreement and I would have to get parental permission for my students to sign up for an account. Makes me wonder if I can have the district's technology team create some sort of library social networking site exclusive to our district where I would approve all comments before they were posted.
I am thinking of doing a research project with my fifth graders this year where they have to investigate their names. Find out the origins, interview their parents to find out why they were given their chosen name, find out how popular it is in the US, etc. I was thinking Glogster might be the perfect site for them to create a poster containing all the information that they learned. In addition, students could create a Wordle using words that describe themselves.
Despite being a little overwhelmed, I think that I will go back and look at most again. I will play around and try to make a connection between some of the sites and lessons that I am preparing. Regardless, it is important for me as a librarian to be aware of these sites so that I am knowledgeable and perhaps make recommendations to staff and students for use in specific applications.
Katrina,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you tried lots of new tools! Technology is often frustrating, but you're getting there!
Animoto gives educator accounts for 6 months at a time, but they will renew, and are pretty good about it. I set up dummy accounts for all of my accounts, by setting up one account stillwaterstudent@gmail.com (I think), then setting each account using consecutive numbers (i.e. stillwaterstudent+1@gmail.com) and one password for all. I assign each student an account (which may be shared with others) and tell them to ignore any work that doesn't belong to them. All accounts' information will go to the one email address, which only I have access to. Animoto provides directions here: http://help.animoto.com/entries/104077-how-do-i-set-up-accounts-for-my-students
I love your idea for using Glogster! You could even include the Wordle they create in the Glogster, if the students save it using print screen. Super cool!