Thursday, December 9, 2010
On to the third class!
This week I started my third class of my online cohort, Using Productivity Tools Effectively. One of the things that we are supposed to do is make a presentation using a presentation product other than Power Point. We need to use one that is web based. I have to say, I am pretty pumped about this because I do use power points with my classes, but they always seem to be a pain to interact with the students on their work. In my district, there are community folders where students can put there work and I can look at it, but it isn't very easy to put comments on their work. I'm hoping that a web based presentation program will be easier to make comments and help students as they are working. It will also be nice to be able to see the work from any computer I am at, home or school. In addition to that, we are also going to be making a graphic for the class and then posting it. I'm still not sure how I will use this, but I'm sure I will find some way to incorporate it into what I do. This class has a little different twist to it because we actually have a text book! Wow, I feel like I'm going back in time actually having a book for a class! I just got finished reading the first chapter and it basically got me to think what is technology's place in the classroom? Do you need technology all the time? When is it or isn't it appropriate. It has been pretty interesting and I think my ideas of what technology should do for me is very similarly in line with the authors prospective.
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If you are looking for a way to be able to view and comment on student work, wouldn't it be just as easy to use Google Docs to do this? I know that is prior classes, the professor's were able to make comments linked to specific areas in the text. This would make you as the instructor able to view and comment relatively easily. If you are talking about a web-based presentation program, I am not sure if the ones that we were looking at have the functionality for the instructor to be able to actually comment directly in the piece of work itself, unless the instructor is able to have editing powers and then can create new slides that could contain the comments. Interesting ideas though. Have you found a way to be able to embed the presentations in the class forums yet? I have been running into some problems and am starting to think that I am going to be more productive using the technology of a plank to smack myself in the face over and over. (comments may be somewhat disjointed due to sleep deprivation. If you need me to clarify any of my thoughts, please just let me know.)
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way Mike! I am trying to embed a presentation from 280slides.com and am having no luck. I have sent an email to Louis to see if he can help me out.
ReplyDeleteI just got a response from Louis and he says that 280slides and Angel don't work well together and you are unable to embed. He said that I could just paste the link, which I did and that seems to work fine.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to hear about how you are planning on commenting on student work using online presentation software. i've always had the problem that If I type anything or add a text box on anything it changes the formatting. I've had my students print to a pdf and then submit it as a pdf to be commented on. I'd sure love to be able to comment on a student's presentation using their original file, but not have any of the formatting changes happen.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first book we have had and I agree, its a bit of a shock. The nice thing about it is the portability and no need for a computer. I still enjoy reading text as opposed to a computer screen all the time. I used technology all the time in my classroom. I do not know what I would do without all of my technology. I know it is very inconvenient for me to have a substitute that does not know how to use my interactive white board. I tend to end up making overheads for the sub and throw them out the next day. This is a waste for me.
ReplyDeleteI see you also said you use power points a lot in your classroom. I am wondering what you use them for? I can only think of a few ways to use them.
I am personally a PowerPoint teacher. Between my Smart Board and Power Point I feel that teaching is very fun, informative, and interactive. I liked using the 280-slide program but it didn’t have the number of features that P.P. had, for example transitions and actions (if they were there I didn’t find them). It was nice to see that the 280 slides program would export the presentations into P.P. format – so I could save on my flash drive.
ReplyDeleteThe book and you bring up a great point “What is the point of technology in the classroom?” Technology must enhance what we are teaching, making concepts more clear, and not a distraction! My question to you is – How much distraction is okay? Where do we draw the line?