Due March 11.
Reflect upon what an activity in your classroom might look like using one or more of these Web 2.0 tools. Think about:
- what the experience looks like for students.
- types of outcomes students might have.
- how the outcome is tied to curriculum objectives.
- what Web 2.0 tools are aligned to the outcomes and lead to higher order thinking skills.
- kinds of directions or guidelines you will provide in order to ensure success.
Write a post that briefly describes the activity you would create and how you might minimize possible challenges students and the teacher might have to address. Make sure that your activity is aligned to a learning objective and uses verbs from the top three levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. In a later module, this activity may be one component of a larger unit you create.
Web 2.0 Tools and Student Use: (Revised Post - One tool only)
My first post was not specific enough, therefore I'll add this information regarding using Web 2.0 tools for adult learners. I can only choose one tool, so I'll choose a relatively new one to me: BrainShark. When I first learned about BrainShark, I was looking at it as a tool for classroom teachers to use to their current teaching materials (in PowerPoint) and 'convert them' into a narrated presentation for learners. Most classroom teachers use PowerPoint to help deliver content to their students in one form or another. However, in my experience, many of them do not use PowerPoint to its fullest potential (i.e. use of slide notes to guide a learner to understand the content beyond the simple bullets or images on a slide; narrating the presentation with a voice lecture in addition to the bullets and/or images on the slide; basically, they used the simpliest form of presentation tools). In addition, teachers did not post them to a class web site or within a learning management system so students could access the materials at any time.
To help teachers seeking to learn more about blended/online teaching, BrainShark was explored as a way for teachers to not only 'repurpose' materials they had created, but to also engage their adult learners to use the tool as well. In a nutshell, the 'freemium' version of BrainShark allows a user to create an account, upload a PowerPoint presentation and narrate it via the web using a microphone, or via a cell phone. In either case, BrainShark proved to be an easy and effective tool for teachers to create a voice-narrated presentation, embed the presentation within their courses and/or web sites, and track the number of views of that presentation.
To use with learners, teachers quickly learned the value from several angles: Career Tech Education, English Language learners and adult basic education teachers, all found ways to include BrainShark in not only their teaching of materials, but also in helping their students gain necessary skills. An example from ELL:
English Language Learners:
Language learners need a lot of experience speaking, listening and reading English. Using PowerPoint along with BrainShark allows students to compose a short introduction to themselves and their families and create a 3 or 4 slide presentation (with all necessary technology skills included such as writing, uploading images, revising and editing their content). The lesson would include a written "script" of what the student would say in relation to each slide and the information it contained.
Once the presentation was complete, the script written and revised, learners would then learn how to upload the file to BrainShark, and using either their computer with a microphone, or their own mobile phones, they would narrate each slide using the script they wrote. Learners could re-record their audio, upload their own audio file (such as music). In addition, learners can share their presentations via social media, embedded into a learning management system or other web site.
Teachers can further the lesson by requiring students to view and summarize other learner presentations including posting comments online, or creating an in-class activity to seek out other students and have a conversation about their presentations. In all, the use of BrainShark and PowerPoint can provide powerful learning experiences beyond language learning - it requires technology skills, (navigating the web, creating and managing accounts, file management, editing, ) reading and writing skills, conversation, review and analysis of materials presented by other learners. Additional value for teachers include the ability to view and comment on learner presentations, or if used for teaching, they can track how many views their presentation received.
Although BrainShark is a tool designed for business use, it can be a useful tool for teachers and learners. To see a sample presentation from BrainShark (uploaded music, recorded audio and uploaded PowerPoint) this presentation was created in a very short time.
My first post was not specific enough, therefore I'll add this information regarding using Web 2.0 tools for adult learners. I can only choose one tool, so I'll choose a relatively new one to me: BrainShark. When I first learned about BrainShark, I was looking at it as a tool for classroom teachers to use to their current teaching materials (in PowerPoint) and 'convert them' into a narrated presentation for learners. Most classroom teachers use PowerPoint to help deliver content to their students in one form or another. However, in my experience, many of them do not use PowerPoint to its fullest potential (i.e. use of slide notes to guide a learner to understand the content beyond the simple bullets or images on a slide; narrating the presentation with a voice lecture in addition to the bullets and/or images on the slide; basically, they used the simpliest form of presentation tools). In addition, teachers did not post them to a class web site or within a learning management system so students could access the materials at any time.
To help teachers seeking to learn more about blended/online teaching, BrainShark was explored as a way for teachers to not only 'repurpose' materials they had created, but to also engage their adult learners to use the tool as well. In a nutshell, the 'freemium' version of BrainShark allows a user to create an account, upload a PowerPoint presentation and narrate it via the web using a microphone, or via a cell phone. In either case, BrainShark proved to be an easy and effective tool for teachers to create a voice-narrated presentation, embed the presentation within their courses and/or web sites, and track the number of views of that presentation.
To use with learners, teachers quickly learned the value from several angles: Career Tech Education, English Language learners and adult basic education teachers, all found ways to include BrainShark in not only their teaching of materials, but also in helping their students gain necessary skills. An example from ELL:
English Language Learners:
Language learners need a lot of experience speaking, listening and reading English. Using PowerPoint along with BrainShark allows students to compose a short introduction to themselves and their families and create a 3 or 4 slide presentation (with all necessary technology skills included such as writing, uploading images, revising and editing their content). The lesson would include a written "script" of what the student would say in relation to each slide and the information it contained.
Once the presentation was complete, the script written and revised, learners would then learn how to upload the file to BrainShark, and using either their computer with a microphone, or their own mobile phones, they would narrate each slide using the script they wrote. Learners could re-record their audio, upload their own audio file (such as music). In addition, learners can share their presentations via social media, embedded into a learning management system or other web site.
Teachers can further the lesson by requiring students to view and summarize other learner presentations including posting comments online, or creating an in-class activity to seek out other students and have a conversation about their presentations. In all, the use of BrainShark and PowerPoint can provide powerful learning experiences beyond language learning - it requires technology skills, (navigating the web, creating and managing accounts, file management, editing, ) reading and writing skills, conversation, review and analysis of materials presented by other learners. Additional value for teachers include the ability to view and comment on learner presentations, or if used for teaching, they can track how many views their presentation received.
Although BrainShark is a tool designed for business use, it can be a useful tool for teachers and learners. To see a sample presentation from BrainShark (uploaded music, recorded audio and uploaded PowerPoint) this presentation was created in a very short time.
No comments:
Post a Comment