My school district has been promoting Google Earth, but I have yet to do anything with it because I wasn't sure how I could incorporate this technology in a meaningful way into my classroom.
Google Earth allows you to "see" the world without traveling. There are many features available on Google Earth. You can explore different places on earth, go under the sea, view the solar system, and even check out Mars. With Google Earth you can zoom in to street level and really see the city/location up close.
One interesting feature of Google Earth is that they have a layer called global awareness. There are a variety of topics such as fair trade certified, greenpeace, Unicef water and sanitation, and WWF conservation projects. When you click on one of these options it will show you where these are taking place around the world. Then you can choose a specific place and learn more about what is happening in that area of the world. It also provides a link where additional information can be found.
Another layer feature that I found interesting is that you can click on weather and it will show the cloud cover and temperatures. In some of the larger cities or famous points, you can click on 3D buildings and it will show the area in 3D.
In my French 3 class there is a unit all about Paris. I have had students create a PowerPoint about a trip that they took to Paris and it has been successful, however I think it would be neat to use google earth. There is a recording feature that allows you to record a trip. It records your voice as well as the "trip." I would have students go through Paris and show the monuments they visited and then explain in french the history of the monument and what they did. Then students could watch their classmates' trips and comment on them. Hopefully this project will go well.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Glogster
Glogster (www.glogster.com) is a new presentation tool that I found. Glogster's motto is "poster yourself." This free online website allows you to create an interactive poster. You can add text, photos, music, animation, graphics, and videos to your poster.
The first step is to sign up for a free account and then you can start creating your own poster. If you are interested with playing around with this website, you don't have to sign up, but when you decide to use it you can register then. Then you click on the dashboard to add text boxes, images, videos, sounds and set your background. There are tons of themes available, so there will be something for everyone on there. Here is a link to a tutorial video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80NISdsoouE. It is really important to constantly save your work. The button says "save and publish," but you can always go back and edit it when you sign in to your account.
One of the advantages of using glogster is that the students have a blank page to create their poster and they can easily add different medias. The students are so creative and can use new websites easily. The students can also work on it from home without having to save it to a flashdrive and when they turn it in, they just send me a web address instead of saving their PowerPoint and taking up space on our district network.
As with any presentational tool, like PowerPoint, students tend to put too much on their glogster. If they are using it for a presentation, they have to make sure that the graphics, fonts, etc don't distract the audience. Some of the glogs are difficult to read because they have crazy backgrounds. A few of the glogs that I checked out when I first started using it had loud music, but thankfully you can turn it off.
Last week I had my students create a presentation about a French region. They had three options for their visual. They could create a traditional PowerPoint, create a prezi presentation, or use glogster. I showed them their options and many students were excited about the new tool. About 2/3 of the class created a PowerPoint presentation and the other 1/3 created a glogster. I thought it was great that some students chose to use glogster because it changed things up instead of just having 20 PowerPoints. The students commented that they liked using it and that they will use it again in the future.
I will definitely allow my students to use glogster again in the future. I like giving them options and allowing them to do what they are comfortable with.
The first step is to sign up for a free account and then you can start creating your own poster. If you are interested with playing around with this website, you don't have to sign up, but when you decide to use it you can register then. Then you click on the dashboard to add text boxes, images, videos, sounds and set your background. There are tons of themes available, so there will be something for everyone on there. Here is a link to a tutorial video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80NISdsoouE. It is really important to constantly save your work. The button says "save and publish," but you can always go back and edit it when you sign in to your account.
One of the advantages of using glogster is that the students have a blank page to create their poster and they can easily add different medias. The students are so creative and can use new websites easily. The students can also work on it from home without having to save it to a flashdrive and when they turn it in, they just send me a web address instead of saving their PowerPoint and taking up space on our district network.
As with any presentational tool, like PowerPoint, students tend to put too much on their glogster. If they are using it for a presentation, they have to make sure that the graphics, fonts, etc don't distract the audience. Some of the glogs are difficult to read because they have crazy backgrounds. A few of the glogs that I checked out when I first started using it had loud music, but thankfully you can turn it off.
Last week I had my students create a presentation about a French region. They had three options for their visual. They could create a traditional PowerPoint, create a prezi presentation, or use glogster. I showed them their options and many students were excited about the new tool. About 2/3 of the class created a PowerPoint presentation and the other 1/3 created a glogster. I thought it was great that some students chose to use glogster because it changed things up instead of just having 20 PowerPoints. The students commented that they liked using it and that they will use it again in the future.
I will definitely allow my students to use glogster again in the future. I like giving them options and allowing them to do what they are comfortable with.
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