Stephen Fry Kinetic Typography - Language

Elementary Architects?

Last week in lecture I was introduced to Google SketchUp. Unsure of what it was, I Googled it, downloaded it, watched a tutorial about it, and then played with it. With help and instruction, Google SketchUp is something that even young students can learn to use. Websites such as www.3dvinci.net provide lessons and activities for grades 1-12 using Google SketchUp for math, art, science, and other subject areas. Sixth grade teacher Seth Denney was surprised at how quickly his students caught on to using the program. This got me thinking that if sixth graders could learn the basics of the program in just two days, it shouldn't be that difficult to use Google SketchUp in elementary classrooms. To download Google SketchUp for free visit http://sketchup.google.com/. Watch this video to learn more.

Classroom Radio

Looking for ways to get kids more involved in lessons? Try letting students create a podcast. Many students around the world are making classroom podcasts to enhance learning. Fifth graders in Mr. Coley's social studies class get together after each lesson to put together a podcast script. (Read more at http://www.edutopia.org/podcasting-student-broadcasts.) Podcasting gives students an additional opportunity to go over the information that they were just taught and collaborate with other students. While being able to record your voice is nothing new (my brother and I used to make "radio shows" in our basement on cassette tape), students can now record themselves with computers and then carry their recordings around on their iPods. Pretty cool, huh? Kids like having their work published, and what better way to share their work with the world- that's right, the world- than giving them the opportunity to make a podcast.
(photo from iCLIPART)

Presentation Tool with a "WOW!" Factor

Ever heard of Prezi? Most people haven't. I heard about it for the first time last week in class. Turns out its a pretty cool new way for making presentations. So far I've just been playing around, but it looks very interesting. Basically its a non-linear way of presenting information. It makes presentations more visually interesting by jumping around the page to show the different components of the presentations. It seems like a more exciting alternative to the worn out PowerPoint presentation, but maybe it's almost too exciting that it's distracting. However once students get past the "wow" factor of Prezi presentations it can be a useful classroom tool. Teachers can use Prezi to make their own presentations or use presentations made by others as teaching aids. Best of all its free for students and teachers to use. To find out more go to prezi.com and make an account for yourself and start exploring!
(photo from private collection)

Desks of the Future?

Multi touch technology is extremely fascinating. It’s in our phones, iPods, and computers, and now it’s coming into other surfaces. This video show how multi touch technology is used on surfaces of tables in restaurants and coffee shops, but what about the classroom? Imagine if the surface of every student’s desk was a multi touch computer. This opens up so many opportunities it totally blows my mind to think about it. The world of books and learning would literally be at our students fingertips.
Want to see the latest form of multi touch technology? Check out the Apple iPad.



(photo from iCLIPART)