Using digital tools for learning

Need some inspiration?  Here are two videos showing digital learning at CVU.

First, what some students are doing:

 And some tips from teachers:

Vignettes using WeVideo

Jeanne McCormack's class recently wrote vignettes.  To bring them to life, students used images and music to accompany their narration of the vignettes.  The tool they used is WeVideo.  I've mentioned WeVideo before-- it's a great web-based video editor that connects to Google Drive for easy access from anywhere.  WeVideo has lots of capabilities for editing video, but in this case, students used WeVideo to create simple, elegant slide shows to which they added narration and music.

Here is a set of instructions I created for the class (with editing help from Jennifer Lucey!).  And here is what two students created:

Rainy by Sage

We Climb Together by Devon

This kind of project can be done with other tools, as well.  In the past, PhotoStory was a popular choice.  One big disadvantage to using PhotoStory, however, was that students had to use the exact same computer to access files they created.  With WeVideo, they can work from any computer (or even use the app on their phones or tablets).

Two recent inspiring class activities

I had the privilege of working with two classes using technology in recent weeks.  In both cases, students were using technology in creative and transformative ways.  It's always good to share these-- if you're inspired and want to take on something similar, please let me know!

Geology Volcano Project

Kerry Walker's classes are studying volcanoes.  Each student used LucidPress to create an online "brochure" about his/her volcano.  Then, the class used a shared Google Map, attached a pin to the location of each volcano, and provided a link to the brochure.  Check out the final result here:

Current Issues Political Ad Project

Lezlee Sprenger asked her students to create political ads for different candidates. The description and targets are here.
Here's what one student produced:

LED Web site created by CVU student

CVU senior Julien Vandal has created an excellent web site (using Weebly) to promote LED usage in Shelburne.  He states, "I'm doing this project for a class Money, Energy, and Power, but I hope to continue my impact on the community after the class ends this semester. I'm really passionate about LEDs, and I have already installed some in my room and around the house."  Thanks to Glenn Fay for sharing.
Check it out:

 http://ledshelburne.weebly.com/index.html

Technology Integration Showcase 02

Here are two more recent examples of students using technology to demonstrate their learning:

Tupper's Glogster digital poster about The Troops of WWI-- from Lezlee Sprenger's class:

---

A screencast of a presentation on Galicia from Seth Jensen's Spanish class (Laura used Screen-cast-o-matic for this).

Technology Integration Showcase 01

You may recall that last year, I started posting excellent work that students did using technology in what I called the "Technology Integration Showcase."  Since our help site is now public, I have gotten permission from some of the students to re-post their work here.

If you are a student or teacher that would like to share what you've done, please let me know.  Go ahead and show off-- it may inspire others!

---

OK, here are three from last year to kick it off...

1. Here is what Antonio F and Graeme W created when asked by Garett MacCurtain to present their understanding of the fall of Rome: 

Students were given the choice of how to do this presentation. These students used goanimate to produce an animation. Others used Prezi, Lego animation, video editing software, and more.

Rome pt. 1 by antonio and graeme 12 on GoAnimate


Rome pt.2 by antonio and graeme 12 on GoAnimate

Part1: http://goanimate.com/videos/0SykfUI0Obnk/1

Part 2: http://goanimate.com/videos/0S66Tshf4F_Y/1

---

2. As part of the final exam in Natural Resources, Mike Burris and Nicole Gorman asked students to create a Forest Management Plan for the Hinesburg Town Forest. Students had used GPS devices to find coordinates, then used Google Earth to create and annotate a map. The map was part of a presentation students did of their plans.

Here is Nik's  (click "Download," then "open in Google Earth."):

---

3. Students in Glenn Fay's Thayer Model Engineering course built engaging websites and entered them into a ThinkQuest competition.


Here's a site built by Chris B and Andrew D:
http://consciousconsumption.netai.net/

Prezi

(Originally posted 3/30/10)

Prezi is a different way to make presentations. It is especially useful for looking at the big picture versus the details. 
Check out this example from CVU student Maddie R (used with permission- thanks to Joe G):
http://prezi.com/pq1f-tgzlefi/the-battle-at-the-nile/
or this template about perspective:
http://prezi.com/cqmxgc-xv9jh/template-reveal-a-new-perspective/

Timeline tools

Here are four tools for creating timelines:
TimeRime. Like other timeline tools, TimeRime "does the math" of creating an appropriate scale, so if that's the skill you're looking to practice, this is not the tool. However, if you're looking for a way for students to create text descriptions of events and add photos and videos, this is worth a look.
Here's an actual student example. Note that "M" signifies an event with multimedia attached (follow the link for this to work).


TimeToast:


xtimeline

tiki-toki

Please let me know if I can help!
(originally posted 10/31/11)