BP12_2009103_SlidecastAsset

BP11_2009103_Slidecast

The slidecast is a clever twist to online help. It is exactly what it says it is, a combination slideshow and podcast. It is a relatively simple way to take a powerpoint, record audio on it, and post it online for all to hear and see. This makes it more valuable that just recording your voice with no pictures, or your powerpoint with no explanations. This is a great way to help parents who want to help their children, but can't remember anything about genetics, study or review. This is also helpful for those who are absent a lot or just need more time to process. Students can access it at home whenever they want to catch up, review, or even prepare for what lies ahead.

Slideshare has a free site that is pretty helpful except that you cannot record using it, you just upload both the presentation and the audio separately and combine on the site. Personally I found using Screenflow, which records your computer, voice, and video all at once, a much easier program to use. You can be sure of timing, and even include video of yourself if you are doing some explaining that is visual, or for those who need signing done. I made one for explaining mitosis because I made up hand signals to go with my powerpoint explanation. When I was teaching about mitosis, I found that showing them how mitosis works using my hands that they seemed to grasp it better. If I want to post just my powerpoint, my students would not be able to see the signals in action. Screenflow allowed me to do just that. My students said that they found it very helpful when they were reviewing for the test. They could not only look over the presentation again, but also hear my explanations and examples, which helped them so much more than words alone.

BP10_2009103_File_Sharing

File sharing is a really clever way to upload, share, edit and otherwise work with files. You can upload and alter docs, pictures, videos, and all sorts of things along those lines. This is a true collaboration tool for multiple people can write and edit at the same time and see those changes live. This is especially helpful for group projects that require a report to go with it. You can even compare different copies to see who has done what. Google Docs is a free version of this that is easy to use and has neat feature like an edit list of who has edited when, and comparisons of different versions. It is easy to upload docs and images and it does not matter what platform you are using. That is one of the true benefits of Web 2.0 software, much of it is online software and it is not platform specific. You can even upload different files and grant certain people access to the files you have loaded.

For those science minded, like me, this is great for group projects or lab reports. There are so many times where my students neglect to share their data with each other. This is great for after a lab, post results and use google spreadsheet to graph the results. Then students can take turns working on their conclusion paragraph. One of the most important things to do as a scientist, and one of the things as science teachers we tend to miss, is to share/publish results. The only way to truly make the discovery and experience authentic is to share that knowledge with others. Google Docs can help groups create a polished lab report and post results, they can choose who gets to view it. The ability to start something at school and then finish it at home is such a valuable piece to this wave of technology. It helps continue the learning, and lessens frustrations over of lack of time that can be alloted to complete projects and such.

BP9_2009103_Digital_Storytelling

As anyone who has seen the history channel, or The Civil War by Ken Burns, you have experienced digital storytelling. It is almost like watching a picture book, but there are no words to the pictures, except what the narrator is sharing. It is a very interesting concept that is fairly easy to accomplish even with minor skills with a computer. Put together pictures, you know, those things that say 1000 words, and tell a story using the pictures to ensnare the audience. The benefit is that you can touch people on an emotional level, even if you have only a base knowledge of things like iMovie.

This is much more meaningful if you give this as an assignment for your students. They get to voice their learning in a better environment than just a plain old PowerPoint. Especially useful in Language Arts and Social Studies, there are many reasons to assign this as a project. There are actually ways to use this in a scientific sense, maybe as the start of a debate, an persuasive piece about why to fund stem cell research, or as an advertisement on why you should visit Cell City and the sites you'd see there.

This could also be assigned to explain a scientific theory; who came up with it, how they did the research on it, and why was it significant. Since I am moving on to genetics soon, this might be a way for them to explore and explain about Mendel and his explorations using pea plants. Though it is better if there are a lot of options as to what to story tell. This is because storytelling is a personal thing and to do it right, it is vital to be emotionally involved, or at least interested in the telling. This would make a better project and one that many would be interested in seeing and learning from.

BP9_2009102_Flickr

I saw a lesson I would like to try in science using flickr, and also one I came up with on my own. The first one is something I saw several teachers use. Have their students take pictures, share them and write about them. I could have my students take pictures of all sorts of nature, then have them tag the pictures as producers, consumers, and decomposers. Maybe even arrange them using the batch feature into food chains then into food webs. This would seem more real to them (using pictures of what they see daily) and more interesting than looking at cartoons or just names of creatures.

The other Idea would be to have the students work on lab investigations at home, and then take pictures and post their results. This way everyone in the class could compare their results and physically see how their results compare rather than just talking about it or making a chart of results. They could even do the investigations in school and I could display them using my LCD projector. This would be a way for them to act like real scientists who post their results and share their findings.

BP8_2009102_ReviewAsset

BP6_2009102_wiki

Using wikis in science was a little harder envision at first. Then I had an idea as to when it would be useful for my students to have an online resource they can edit and add too. So I thought that the hardest thing, I deal with, is being able to keep those who are absent in the loop, and those who need extra help, a place to review. So the students would create a wiki that is based on each unit, they would each pick a topic to explain in their own words and post it on a site they all have access too. That way when it is time for a test, or even the big state test, they have their very own refresher! It would be the Manual to Life Science. The bonus it is it all in “kid speak.” Seeing

The benefit for a teacher is that you would be able to see who is editing, what edits did they do. You can track who is pulling their share or not. You can compare edits, and even pull any that are not appropriate. For students, there is the benefit of live audiences seeing and posting comments on the students’ work, making it more valuable to the students than just a paper they write in class. Also, students can learn from each other, get ideas and collaborate just like real scientists. In fact many tools that scientists use these day are the same web 2.0 tools that I am researching. Finding ways to link what we do in class to “real science work” has been a goal of mine. If students can see that what we are doing in class, is done out of school as well, they become more invested in their learn for they see that it has value.