Thing #3 - To Skype or not to Skype

I must admit I have not tried Skype. I've downloaded, set my privacy options (Thank you Edublogger), removed the 5 new conversations from folks I don't know but don't have any contacts yet. We recently used Yahoo Messenger so I could talk to my daughter from 2,000 miles away. This was chosen simply because my father had an account and had already set one up on my laptop. We had webcams which froze frequently but it was better than just the telephone. My parents got to experience it while I used them as a hotel and they have now bought their own webcam. As others have said, class to class discussions, questioning experts, homework help hours much like public libraries do telephone reference are certainly ways to use the conferencing. I have a teacher friend who likes to do crafts and has talked about various afterschool clubs. If the technology is available maybe students could club from home. Elementary may not need to use it for group projects in the same way that high school students might, but they would definitely get a better sense of the world seeing a class in another country. Texan kinders getting to see New England kinders getting all their snow gear on just to go to school! (My daughter took forever getting everything off on her first day at school in MA and had to be taught what to do with the gloves so they didn't get lost - her teacher looked at me and asked if she'd never worn them before?!) Autumn leaves and other seasonal, geographical things may mean more through Skype than the pages of a book or even a streaming video. LMS is having Sun Burn Clinics for f2f interaction but one could be held in a conference call setting as well. Imagine a joint project among 3-5 graders on different continents using glogster or some other app. Clearly it boggles our traditional minds but leaves the other side excited!

Thing #2 - Image Generators

I have tried Wordle before so I looked at Wordsift. I chose to use an article in Britannica Elementary on Dolphins. I had difficulty bringing the image here, guess I've been out of the game too long! I did manage to bring the wordle. Wordsift was interesting with its links and pictures. The pictures were oddly attributed though. One link took me to a real estate site. I bet there's a lesson there! The pictures were easy to grab, (easier than the wordsift image), but I'm sure they weren't "free for the taking."




I have played a little with VoiceThread which I love. I have never gotten to complete a project since I don't have a captured audience, guinea pigs, etc. and haven't been able to capture a teacher into it...yet. My ideas were Book Reviews, using a jacket image and have others record their thoughts, and a 5th grade project with the people they are supposed to know something about. Glogster was fun and my daughter and I created this in the 20 minutes before the bus came today. She had just finished her dolphin project for school so the pictures and facts were still on the computer and fresh in her mind. I see good things coming out of this since there is a class component. I did not get to explore this...yet! Question about different thinking...the opportunity for links, which we didn't use, certainly changes the product from a traditional poster. Content, busyness, flow of info - that all stays the same as stuff to think about but the links and movies and sounds add a new layer.

On to Voki since I just used Animoto to send Father's Day Greetings to my dad! I had created a meez once upon a time so it was time for a voki.




I have been away too long or they've changed the rules but I am having a hard time getting things to show up. I finally put the voki on the sidebar and then when I posted, lo and behold, my voki, in the post as well. So, now I've edited and removed the side bar Voki because one Voki may be too much.

I felt the choices were more limited with the voki but they'll probably grow. A quick way to send a message that would get someone's attention. Homework reminders, due dates, meetings (did I say that?), invites, Have a nice day, Book Fair, New Books, book reviews, etc.


Bookr - Neat idea. Frustrating execution. Did it twice, it seemed like it never saved it. So I decided to emplore the archives, and ta da there were our 2 books. Oy. wait, not so fast, there were the covers of our 2 books but no guts. Double Oy. I'll have to see if other beachcombers actually were successful with this one. I'm feeling stupid. Thing #2 took about 4 hours total and I was already familiar with half of it!