ICT Tools- Group 2: Images, Podcasts & Digital Video

Scenario

Science lesson in gases, liquids and solids

Digital videos assist in transforming student learning due to students having the ability to provide students with the visuals of the new science terminology they are learning about. New concepts such as how the movement of molecules in a liquid and solid differ are difficult for a LM to explain. Digital videos provide LMs with a way to show students animations found on the internet assist in simplifying the science. Digital videos facilitate student understanding due to being able to condense multiple real world examples into a five minute video. Rather than the LM needing to provide multiple demonstrations to students and wasting time and materials with the setup and clean up, digital videos present the important aspects without any time wasting. Learning is also supported due to any demonstrations being presented through the use of digital videos can be replayed. This will allow students re-watch sections that they may struggle with to ensure the learning is taking place. Lastly the use of digital videos enhances the learning due to providing the LM with demonstrations and teaching content that they would otherwise be unable to deliver to students because of either time or resource restraints.

Images

This week i delved into the ICT tools of images, podcasts and digital videos. The first one i will look at and discuss is that of images.

Being a visual learner i have always felt that incorporating images and other visual aids into the learning is vital. As such i have some previous experience in knowing where to find good clip art and stock images that can be used as classroom resources. From my personal work with digital drawings i have also come across the suggested site of Flickr. A similar website which i use myself regularly is Photobucket. I took a picture from Photobucket as hown below:

Using thi image i played with the manipulation tools available in Photobucket, here is a sample of what i came up with:

 

There are definite uses for a ICT tool like this in the classroom, one of which would be critical literacy, a topic that is explored in upper high school. How does photo manipulation affect the message the picture is sending? Another possible application would be with self portraits. Students could be asked to either use their own photo or other ones that they take and using the photo manipulations tools alter the image in such a way as to portray how they see themselves. For example a student might see themselves as being an excellent athlete so they use their face on the body of another famous athlete. This will allow students numerous opportunities to engage and explore the ICT tools that are so important to today's society. An  example of this would be my personal work with photobucket. Having familiarized myself with the site prior to uni and developed the skills to adequately use it, these skills have been of great help in multiple situations so far. I remember in a visual arts course i did last year, we had to fiddle with photo manipulation tools and now again in this course. It just shows that ICT skills once gained, regardless of how random ther are, they are an invaluable resource. In a primary school context i see this tool being used more for enhancing students ICT skills by letting them fiddle with the functions that the tool provides. One possible use that comes to mind is if students were to write a newspaper article and would need an image, the program allows for students to convert an image to black and white. Although basic it will open students up to a whole new world digital tools that they would most likely not have encountered before.

Podcasts

The second tool that i looked at this week was podcasts. I had very little experience with podcasts prior to this week, as such i needed a definition to clear it up. This is the definition provided in this weeks readings;

A podcast is simply a sound file. But it is a sound file that is shared with others, usually by subscription. Clearly, podcasts can be accessed online, created by others across the web. They can be accessed online as files that you create for your students. But importantly, they are also files that your students create and share by uploading online.

To have abit of a look as to what exactly a podcast is, i downloaded one off iTunes. Heres the one i used:

Animal Riddle Rhymes

I loved this one, i can see myself using podcasts like this in the classroom all of the time, whether it be to help with students listening skills of comprehension (?) skills. Its a fun activity that can also be incorporated after lunch times to calm the students down before work time again. Podcasts like this would also be useful in the learning itself if the LM were to create their own, this would be extremely useful for auditory learners. Explanations on tasks can be uploaded onto the class wiki/ weebly/ blog for students to listen to if they need assistance with assignments. In particular the LM can predict problems that may arise and make a FAQs page where a number of audio clips are uploaded, therefore minimizing the need to repeat explanations to every student as they reach a point of difficulty.

Digital Videos

The last tool that i explored this week was digital videos. I didnt choose to include a definition here because the ICT tool of a digital video seemed quite obvious to me as to what it exactly is. Heres a free video i downloaded off iTunes:

 

Digital video use is faily common in most classrooms nowdays, with Youtube being as big as it is, even teachers who struggle with ICT feel comfortable enough to set up the projector with a video. The fact that there are so many videos on Youtube covering absolutely every topic, it is very easy for learners to incorporate them into the learning. Whether it be math, english, art or science, there will be inspirational or instructional videos to be be used. As a future teacher i hope to incorporate videos into my lessons, the knowledge they can present is invaluable. The video i uploaded is just a random one but it shows how even the most ICT illiterate student can hold a camera and film something as simple as them and their friends out and about having fun. Making a video requires very little ICT skills and the little that is necessary is very easy to learn, easily in reach of a primary school student. Applications of this in the classroom could be a photostory as was completed by myself in my first year for one of my arts courses. This cut out the old traditional method of a visual diary and made it digital. Personally i preferred the method because videos could be included as well as audio and photos. 

Overall i see possible uses for all three of the above mentioned technologies. Digital videos are extremely useful for the LM in teaching, images are useful in learning and podcasts are wonderful for  entertainment purposes in the classroom. They have many, many more uses but these are just some of the applications that i can see myself using in a classroom.