Nocturnal Animals Animoto Video

Check out this short Animoto video about nocturnal animals! 

http://animoto.com/play/c1qToySxL1rDYKT1QnYu1Q

Animoto is a video creation website where a user can easily upload photos and make their own short film!  This is a great tool for children to use in a classroom, because of the ease of use.  Children can easily choose a theme, or style, for their video and select the photos they would like to use.  There is also an app for use on an iPhone, iPod, or iPad, which is great for classrooms which have varying technology tools. Children benefit from easy to use, "user friendly", technology because they can feel successful when they can work and create a product independently or with a partner.  When children can learn to use a tool from start to finish, they can be confident in their skills.  This tool could be useful at many grade levels, and for all different purposes.  Young children could make a video which simply includes photos, similar to the model video I made. I wanted to show my students a video that they could easily view and make, without needing reading skills for the most part.  Older children could use PowerPoint slides, flipchart screen shots from interactive whiteboard software, or create their own project! I had never used this technology tool before, but am excited to try it in my classroom! 

Photo credits:

Nationalgeograpic.com

Discoverychannel.com

http://siouxlandchamber.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/nocturnal-animals.jpg

The Educational Value of Wordle

 Above is a Wordle, created to match the theme of my WebQuest about Nocturnal Animals. This WebQuest is designed for preschoolers to complete with the help of truer parents to gain knowledge about science and technology concepts. 

One of the ways that preschoolers can explore new words, spelling, content vocabulary, and using an online technology tool is Wordle. Wordle is a website that creates colorful, geometric, and customizable word clouds. A first time user can quickly and easily see how to get started. There is a box to type the words to be included, and then simply click, "create"! Once you can see your Wordle, you can edit the font, colors, and randomize the arrangement if desired.  Once you have an arrangement that you like, you can publish the Wordle to be seen publicly, copy the link to embed in a site or blog, or print.  Students benefit from this type of technology tool because of the many skills that are practiced when using it, and because of the wide variety of possible applications.  Children gain practice using online resources, the keyboard and mouse, typing and spelling words, generating lists, and the fun of customizing to create something that they like! Using Wordle can be easily modified to meet the skill level of a range of abilities. For example, children could independently or with help type or dictate words, either generate or use a pre-written list of words, and use the mouse independently or with help using hand-over-hand assistance. This flexibility is essential when using a tool with a whole class of children. Technologies that are easily differentiated are so important for this reason. A benefit is that at the end, all children would end with a similar looking outcome, which is helpful when the work might be shared publicly on a class website or bulletin board. For confidentiality purposes, this is often helpful. Overall, I was so excited to try a new tool, and am already planning to use Wordle in my classroom! The educational benefits are varied and many.