I decided to embed screencasts into a blog in order to deliver content to my A Level class and 'flip' some of my lessons; the screencast would deliver the content and the blog would offer context and further activities. For the most part, the blog and screencast combination worked well. However, some issues arose:
It seems that my students didn't start at the top of the blog and read down, as they would with a book. In fact, some didn't look at the title or date of each blog. Rather, they scanned the page for the most gratifying part, and ignored the rest. This habit isn't restricted to online content; over the years students have been drawn to resources within examination questions and ignored the preceding instructions. As a result, they mis-interpreted the question and lost marks. Also:
The students who read the text would see the links and other activities as optional further reading rather than an integral part of the delivery of the lesson.
The blog shows the most recent post first. Some students only read the most recent posts and missed the preceding content.
In a world saturated with information, the ability to scan and filter is essential; I need to ensure that this filtering process doesn't just include the visually appealing resources but the accompanying information as well. Perhaps all of the information should be visually appealing? Then again, perhaps their attention would be drawn to the most appealing resource and the other information would still be filtered out?
In future, I intend to devote time to teach online study skills as part of the course and give more thought to the design and delivery of my digital content.
We've all sat through dull and uninspiring PowerPoint presentations. The fatigue and boredom experienced when a presenter reads through dozens of text heavy slides is like death by a thousand cuts. However, PowerPoint is a versatile and useful tool that, when applied appropriately, can provide a variety of learning opportunities.
Recently, I've been using Powerpoint 2010 to create screencasts to deliver lessons to my A Level students while I recover from a knee operation. It's possible to create high fidelity video files (wmv.) of your presentations very easily by using 'Save and Send' under the 'File' tab in PowerPoint. Alternatively, you could use the 'Community Clips' tab on the banner to record at a lower resolution. I've uploaded my presentations to YouTube so that my students can access them anywhere and I can embed them in my teaching blog. I'll continue to use this method of delivery when I return to work as a way of flipping some of my lessons.
Before creating a video, you need to record your slideshow. In order to do this, simply press 'Record Slide Show' under the 'Slide Show' tab. It's possible to press the 'esc' key at any time during the recording and the animations and narration will be recorded up to that point. The narration is recorded as a sound file on each slide. This is an advantage as you don't have to re-record everything from the beginning if you fluff your lines (Tip: don't talk between slides as your voice isn't recorded during transitions).
I bought a cheap headset and microphone from a local supermarket (like this one) to record my narration, though it's possible to record your voice with a built in microphone, if your device has one. Remember to keep your presentations shorter than 15 minutes if you wish to upload them to YouTube. Also, the longer the presentation, the longer it will take to convert to a wmv. file (this can take a while!).
I had some fun using animations to enliven my presentations and tried to keep the text to a minimum. In my next post I'll explain how I formatted and animated the objects in this Welsh medium presentation.
Since discovering David Leat's book, Thinking through Geography, a number of years ago I've been making regular use of Thinking skills activities. The students enjoy them and they're designed to encourage increasing complexity in their understanding of a topic. As such, they're suited for use in conjunction with SOLO.
I decided to use a geographical mystery I found on the Staffordshire Learning Net website; the murder of Chico Mendes. I hadn't used this particular mystery for a few years and was interested to see whether Web 2.0 could breathe new life into it. The original mystery came in three parts - A Police evidence board, Suspect Sheet and Mystery Cards. The task is to make use of the information to deduce who murdered the environmental activist.
I decided to place the original evidence board and suspect sheet on a Prezi, along with some additional multimedia information I'd collected. I wanted to create the sensation of being in a Police incident room. A major advantage of using Prezi in this way is that the students can work together in class and at home. Here's a link to the Chico Mendes mystery:
Pupils are able to make a copy and collaborate with each other in real time, even when they're at different locations. They are able to edit the information and present the amended presentation to the rest of the class in order to reveal 'whodunnit'. Within the Prezi I created a path to guide the pupils through the information. A link to the mystery cards is provided at the end of the presentation.
The ability to change the size of the evidence helps students demonstrate its significance. Grouping evidence on the Prezi canvas allows students to make a chain of connections and present a coherent argument.
You can breathe new life into Powerpoint presentations by importing slides into a Prezi.
Here are some of my thoughts on using prezi:
Thinking Skills
1. It is possible for students to create a multimedia mind map of a subject.
2. A prezi could be created to incorporate multimedia clues to a thinking skills mystery activity, in much the same way as I did with Photosynth (I describe this in a previous post). For example, I'm thinking of creating a prezi 'suspect wall' full of information to help students solve the mystery of who killed an environmental activist.
3. Students could make an editable copy of a prezi produced by the teacher which is full of information, pictures etc of a topic. They could then sort and group the information, make connections and re-size according to importance. They would then be able to present their findings to the rest of the class.
4. Students could be asked to follow a presentation path for a prezi that has been produced by the teacher. They could give a commentary on what they see and understand. This could be recorded using Audacity (audio only) or screencasting software.
Collaboration
5. As prezis are stored in the cloud, it is possible for students to collaborate- for example, individuals could be given responsibility for a particular continent on an outline map of the World. They would then populate their continent with relevant material. The prezi brings their individual research together and the geographical context is clear. The ability to edit and create prezis with others in real time is a real plus; there's nothing stopping teachers and students on different continents working together on a presentation. It could also be a good platform for transition work between Primary and Secondary schools
Revision
6. The 'understanding a topic template' provides an ideal framework for revising a topic or unit of work. The ability to incorporate YouTube clips means that it is possible to incorporate screencasts (see my previous post). Making a prezi public means that everyone can have access to it.
We're having fun with Prezi, but be warned, a path that jumps too much from one end of the canvas to the other can make you seasick!
Not every pupil achieves their potential in external examinations. One reason for this is revision technique; even the most innovative and engaging lesson is unlikely to have much of an influence on a student’s final grades if he/she is unable to recall the learning outcomes. Linear examinations mean that nearly two years may have passed (maybe more if you start GCSE classes in year 9, like dukkhaboy) between the lesson and the examination, making effective revision crucial. How can technology help pupils revise for Geography examinations?
One method was demonstrated to me by Will Wright, a Maths teacher and recent Microsoft Partners in learning teacher award winner. He uses Community Clips, basic screencasting software for Windows, to record instructional videos as an aid to revision. These ‘Mathscasts’ are then uploaded to his YouTube channel for the students to view and revise at their convenience. He uses interactive whiteboard software to present his mathscasts and an audio commentary. Here is an example:
There are a number of reasons screencasts appeal to me to support students when revising:
The clips are designed to support the lessons taught and directly reflect desired learning outcomes (this is great because I’m likely to make use of a variety of case studies, many of which aren’t referenced in revision guides. The guides themselves may not be written with our examination board in mind and in the target language of Welsh).
Students are more likely to watch a YouTube clip than pick up their course files and revision notes.
Listening to the clip with headphones means less distraction.
Students who are daunted by lots of text and find it difficult to access will be able to listen to the commentary and view an active demonstration.
The clips can be made available to download onto mobile devices.
They are easily available, provided there is internet access.
It would be great, for example, to provide students with a tailor made guide, easily produced and based upon digital resources that I’ve already created to:
Demonstrate how to make effective use of resources such as maps and photographs in exam papers by referring to a past examination question.
·Explain processes such as atmospheric circulation or the formation of landforms associated with different plate boundaries.
·Deliver a commentary on a mind map created by the class as the basis for an essay based question.
·Create a ‘walk through’ of pre-release material in preparation for a synoptic examination.
·Produce a library of case studies.
A variation on this theme would be to create podcasts using free software such as Audacity.
Will has taken this idea further by encouraging students to create their own Mathscasts. I love this idea. Taking ownership of the revision guides consolidates previous learning; viewing them on laptops or mobile phones is in tune with students preferred means of communication and, for some, more accessible than course notes.
The community clips software is also used by the Partners in Learning community of innovative teachers to provide online guides or innovids for educators.
