An Educators Search for Tech Tools

This week has been fun, filled with lots of creativity and learning. I got to explore three different online programs that can be used to create cartoons and comic strips. I looked at Toondoo, Pixton, and MakeBeliefsComix. The all have some great qualities and some things that took me a little time to figure out. I discovered ways creating cartoons and comic strips can be used in education and want to share it with my colleagues and other educators. Overall, I have really enjoyed playing around with the programs. By LanaSnow | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon With Toondoo, it was easy to create a free account and get started. Once I logged in, I chose the layout and was given the option to add or take away frames or cells. Toondoo offers a lot of options as far as backgrounds, characters, and props. It was user friendly and allows you to flip the props and characters, bring them to the front of the frame or move them to the back, make them smaller or lar...

It has been another week of exploration. I have discovered many uses of videos on YouTube, how to use Animoto to make a book trailer, and how to create a QR Code for the book trailer and embed it into this blog. There is so much information I want to share with as well as some really neat videos created by students, staff, and librarians that demonstrates how they can be used as a resource in libraries. YouTube YouTube offers a wide range of videos. One of the YouTube channels I looked at was for the Norman High School Library. There were only a handful of videos on the channel but the "How to Use EBSCOHost" video was very helpful. It walked students through accessing the databases and locating information from reliable sources. I think it was the most helpful video available for students. One of the other videos that was a lot of fun and gave a tour of the library, including the technology available for students was "Tiger Visits the Norman High School Library....

Screencasts are something new to me. I wasn’t’ certain what they were at first, but I had an idea based on their name. A screencast is a video recording of your computer screen where you can include audio. It is can be used as a teaching tool or a way to share information and ideas. I spent some time looking at two different web applications that create screencasts. I used Screencast-o-matic.com and Jing, which can be accessed through https://www.techsmith.com/jing-tool.html . As I was playing around with the two webapps, I tried to keep in mind how I can use them as a learning tool in the classroom. I also focused on the pros and cons of each of the programs and determined which I prefer to use. Both Screencast-o-matic and Jing have free downloads.   With Screencast-o-matic, you do not have to download it, but I chose to so that I could compare it with Jing. I found Screencast-o-matic to be easier to download, but the free plan limits the number of screencasts you can create...

I went on a mission of discovery regarding infographics.   I had an idea what they were before I got started in my research, but I now have a better understanding.   An infographic is a visual tool that tells a story or shares information about a specific topic. It is fact based and planned, not just thrown together. It is an excellent way for educators to display important information for students. Infographics can also be used as a collaborative project demonstrating students’ knowledge and understanding of a topic. There are several webapps that can be used to help in creating infographics. The ones I explored include Easel.ly, Piktochart, and Infogr.am. All three sites have some positive aspects and some negative ones. They all offer a free plan with the option to upgrade for a fee. With the upgrades, they include additional templates and other tools. They also include features like creating groups that can work together on the same project, additional share option...