Tech Tips Tuesday

This Week's Tip: Thoughts on "Thinkin' Things 1"

During my computer lab duty last week I did some playing with the software our school already has access and licences for. I came across Thinkin' Things Collection 1. While I'm not sure how much I would be willing to pay for this program, it was a great find for something we already had. There are six different activities for students to explore thinking skills and creativity with music, patterns and shapes. Levels can be modified according to desired challenge.

My students enjoyed exploring this software and experimenting. Partway through the session we paused with our playing to share the things we were discovering. Everyone was buzzing with excitement and loved the opportunity to get creative.

In particular, I enjoyed playing the chicken xylophone (which plays clucking sounds!) and also trying to play Oranga Banga's instruments after hearing him play them in the dark.

I'm looking forward to trying our Thinkin' Things Collection 3 during my lab duty this week!

Tech Tips Tuesday

This week's tip: Making a Class Movie/Photostory

As an end of year gift for our students, the year 1 teachers decided to make a movie/photostory using photos taken of students throughout the year.
I used Photostory 3 and Bec used Windows Movie Maker. We thought it would be fun to get together and do a comparison of the two programs.

Windows Movie Maker
Bec chose to use Movie Maker as it was already installed on her home computer and she had done a PD on it previously.

Advantages

• You can click and drag pictures into the story board
• It's easy to add music to the movie
• Title frames can be inserted without photo backgrounds
• Transition selection and video effects are user friendly (click and drag)
• Can include video segments
• Easy to include credits

Disadvantages

• Photos are not stored in the file, so you need to use the same computer in order to access the pictures while editing
• Periodically crashes and can be slow to load
• Need to save frequently
• To finalise and burn the movie to CD within the program takes a considerable amount of time (40mins on Bec's computer)

Photostory 3
I chose Photostory 3 because it is the main one the teachers at my school were using, and because I got frustrated using Windows Movie Maker when I couldn't edit the file on another computer.

Advantages

• Able to crop and edit photos within the program
• Guides the user in a sequential process to create the photostory
• Designed to use photos rather than video

Disadvantages

• It is difficult to rearrange the order of the photos, so it's best to import them in the order you intend to display them
• Can't use video segments - photos only
• Can't insert text slides (text has to be on the image)
• To make the images fit with the audio, you need to resize the length of time for each image and save changes each time - quite a lengthy process
• Inserting Slide Transitions is time consuming if you want to personalise them

I also chatted with our ICT specialist and she says that when working with students, she finds Photostory better for younger children with less ICT experience. She has had success with Windows Movie Maker with Year 6 students creating their Graduation movie.

These are our thoughts. Let us know what you've found from your experiences using Windows Movie Maker, Photostory 3, or some other program.

Glancing Back - ICT in my childhood

I've been thinking a lot lately about the people who have influenced my life in terms of computer technology. My family didn't get our first computer until I was in Grade 7. Fortunately I had some computer access at school prior to that. When I was in Fourth Grade I had a brilliantly techno-literate teacher. He must have been one of the leaders in the field at the time. The year was 1988 and the teacher's name was Don Nethercott. I don't know what he is doing now, but would love to thank him for opening my eyes to the world of technology. If only I can do the same for the children that I teach. He seemed to be looking for ways to integrate technology into his teaching. He found computer programs on dinosaurs for our unit of work. We played Carmen and Sandiego to find out about Geography. We learnt more about angles, direction and computer language with Logo.

1988 was also the year when the National Science and Technology Centre opened in Canberra. In it's early days, they held a special event on Communication. I don't remember all the details, after all, I was only 10 at the time. Google tells me that the building was a gift from Japan. So, for this special event my teacher took me and a few classmates to the National Science and Technology Centre where we used computers to 'chat' with people in various places around Australia. We sent a fax to our school. We went back in the evening to do a video conference with children in a school in Japan. It was an amazing experience, and unlike anything I'd do with computers for the next 10 years!

I did some computer courses and learnt how to type (on old typewriters) when I was in grades 7-10. My next real exposure to computers was at university. My peers and I got hooked on Kangachat, an online chatroom. This was the first time I had ever used the world wide web. Since then, it has been a part of my life, slowly taking over bit by bit...

So, I feel inspired by my history. My fourth grade teacher went out on a limb to explore technology in the classroom. He tried things that most teachers were not yet ready for. Let's be inspired by this and push technology to the limits with our classes. Don't just wait for someone else to do it.