Without further ado, the first site I chose is: https://pablo.buffer.com/ .
Pablo, as it calls itself, is a part of the Information Processing side of learning and is a platform on which users can freely create graphics overlaid with text. The site itself offers over 600,000 pictures to choose from. Check out this example I was able to create:
Ease of use: The website is completely free AND you don't even have to sign up, make an account, or share any personal information to use it! You can search for pictures in the bar to left located on the main page and bring up new photos by hitting the 'shuffle' button. Then simply quick twice on your selected photo to begin editing it.
Versatility: Want to give students practice writing descriptive sentences? Have them use a picture as inspiration. Or, have students choose pictures that represent the setting in a story they've read or are reading and overlay it with a quote or the book title. Don't want to do something ELA related? Many of the pictures are nature scenes, have students use it to create a photo collection in Science to represent the different biomes. With a little imagination, the possibilities for use abound.
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The next resource I have to share is: AWWApp .
This tool functions as an online interactive whiteboard with similar sharing capabilities to Google Docs or the bubbl.us concept map maker we learned about in class. This capability is quite necessary, considering this resource is a part of the Collaboration collection. 
Ease of use: The website is also completely free and does not require an account to use! As soon as you click on the link you are brought to the main page that comes with a blank canvas and a toolbar, ready to use and create.
Versatility: With the capability of sharing with others this tool becomes a platform for endless amounts of collaboration. Foremost in my mind, I can see it being used as a tool in math for students to collaborate on solving problems and showing their work, creating diagrams, and representing their thinking. One issue I noticed right off the bat though is that this tool becomes limited with a device that simply has a computer mouse as it can become quite time consuming to draw everything out. IF accessible on other devices with touch screen capabilities this tools' versatility magnifies greatly.
Overall likelihood of using: If I were to have devices available with touch screen capabilities, I would absolutely incorporate this into my classroom. I can even begin to picture how it could be used at the different levels of the SAMR scale, beginning as a substitution for paper and pencil in writing out math problems.
Good morning Amber!
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I love that both of these tools don't require a sign in. I have so many emails from all that we have signed up for it's a bit overwhelming. Pablo looks like a lot of fun and I like that you figured out a way to use it for multiple lessons. Can you upload your own photos onto it so you can further tailor it to your lesson's needs? I also really like that you were able to relate Aww to SAMR. I cant see myself using it without a touchscreen pen because it never looks like handwriting if I use my finger. Great post and have a fabulous weekend!
Hey Amie,
DeleteI find myself being really drawn to the resources that don't require any type of sign in (especially if all I'm doing is checking them out!). Pablo DOES have the capability to upload your own pictures if you'd like, so yet another facet to add to it's versatility! I hope you are feeling better and have a great weekend as well!
Amber, I don't know how I missed pablo and kind of disappointed I did! This is such a neat idea! I like the versatility it entails, and how it can be used more than just as ELA. Your example are great too! I will probably mess with this more, but is this something you can add pictures on to pictures? Like could you create the story and take the avatars students to create to add to it? I hope that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteAww is a really cool idea, and I like the idea of using it for math like you mentioned. In general i like the collaboration it can involve and so much more. With how computers changed, I know at Lewis and Clark H.S they have the laptops that fold in half and basically turn into a table, so ideally the problem you brought up would be so much of an issue. Good job connecting it back to SAMR!
Great post, thank you! Have a good weekend!
Faith,
DeleteI'm not completely sure if I understand what you're asking in the first paragraph but you CAN upload your own pictures to Pablo to create designs if you'd like. Hope that helps! I think it's neat that even if we have issues with technology, there's often ways we can work around it! For example, a friend and I were trying to video chat the other day but couldn't get the audio to work. We ended up leaving the video open so we could still see each other and then called one another on our cellphones to get the audio haha!
That's more of what I was trying to ask, I was also just thinking of the Avatars that we can create and incorporating but couldn't think of how to ask. Sorry for the confusion!
DeleteNo worries at all!!
DeleteHey Amber! These were both wonderful tools that you chose to work with! The most important thing I wanted to point out is to respond to your comment that neither tool was under the Creativity aspect of the "L." I would totally argue that it is up to the teachers and students to decipher that. What makes me state this claim is that I completely see from your Pablo slide that it is totally Creative! I am a huge sucker for poetry, and those words combined with the beautiful image speak volumes of Creativity to me. In that sense, it makes the tool even more powerful than what we can see on the surface. I want to applaud you for that!
ReplyDeleteThe other tech tool was super great for me to mess around with. Again, this was a tool that somehow slipped under my radar and I might have considered adding this to my own blog post! Well done, Amber!
Hi Matty,
DeleteThanks for pointing that out! What I meant when I said they weren't under the creativity label was that they didn't appear on the specific resources page that Gus provided us for creativity. But, you're totally right! Many of these resources can be quite versatile in that they can fit under many of the different labels we're giving our resources. It's all in how we look at it! I'd agree that this capability makes these tools just that much more powerful!