Final Post: Technology Tools

Technology Article #1: SnapGenie by Myfamily.com
Share the stories behind photos with SnapGenie. SnapGenie helps you easily build and share narrated photo slideshows. It uses a simple, three-step process: 1) upload up to 50 photos per show, 2) use a phone to narrate the show, and 3) publish and share it! SnapGenie shows are easy to share and once created, always exist under your account. Best of all, it is totally FREE!

I think this program could easily be incorporated into a classroom in a variety of ways. For example, students could create their own slideshows with pictures they’ve taken. These shows could be part of a group or class project. The shows are easily emailed to the teacher to be used as a form of assessment.

Teachers can also use this as a tool to communicate with parents. Pictures could (and should) be taken of the various happenings in the classroom. Then, on a regular basis (weekly or monthly), the teacher could compile a slideshow and narrate it. It is then easily emailed to the parents as a visual narration of what their children are doing at school.

Technology Article #2: iMovie from Apple
iMovie is a video editing software application which allows Mac users to create and edit their own movies. It is free with the Apple operating system and is very easy to use. Despite this simplicity, it still includes "professional" editing options such as dropping clips on a timeline, cropping them, and adding transitions between clips. There are also support tutorials available from the Apple website. I also found these tutorials from the Iowa State University website helpful.

As far as integrating iMovie into a classroom, I could see it being used with older students (like grades 5-6) because fairly sound knowledge of computers and digital cameras are needed as a foundation. However, I can see it being very successful with the proper instruction. In fact, my student teaching classroom used iMovie to create their own movie, highlighting events from the entire year. Pictures and videos are easily collected throughout the year, providing students with a wealth of material to choose from. They could also use it in group or individual projects.

Teachers can also use iMovie. This would be a more practical approach for use in classes with younger children. They could create movies to extend specific topics, as a form of assessment and documentation, as memorabilia for them and the students, and as a way to help parents feel included in their child's learning. The possibilities are endless!

Publisher

Over the past several weeks, I have been working with Microsoft Publisher to create various documents such as a flyer, newsletter, and list of classroom rules. I am an old friend of Publisher, so I've rather enjoyed this process.

I like Publisher because it provides numerous templates for a variety of projects. These templates are easily manipulated, even for beginners. This would be useful in a classroom because it would allow students to create professional-looking documents with ease. It also makes the teacher look more computer-saavy when sending home notes, newsletters, calendars, etc. to parents.

I have also been filling out my Google Site a little more. It now includes items such as a class calendar, students of the week, and homework assignments. I can see this becoming a valuable tool to help open up communication between parents, teachers, and students.

The key to making this work would be to make sure that parents know that it is available. It is also important that the teacher keep it updated, otherwise it becomes pointless.