Reflection

I have always considered myself a tech-savvy person but taking this course has expanded my scope with 21st century technology and learning. In regards to social media I always considered it more of a platform for personal use and sharing personal experiences with friends. I never really considered how valuable it could be for integrating it into schools and classrooms for sharing student work or collaboration. After going through the process myself in this course I can recognize the major benefits and internal motivation that happens when you are required to share your work with your peers. It motivates me to put more effort into my work and it gives me an opportunity to share my own creative ideas. 

Furthermore, I really like how peer feedback can occur when students are encouraged to comment on each others work. I would have never considered a tool like Google plus and using hangouts as such a valuable resource for collaborative learning that extends outside of personal social use. On top of that, integrating and using blogs and sharing your work via twitter is only enhancing the experience with 21st century learning. Every time I sent a tweet linking a post on my blog about something technological I explored instantly gave a great feeling. As I look over what I have accomplished in this course I get a sense of pride from the collection I have created via my blog. This experience only is further encouragement as a teacher to ensure my future students take advantage and become engaged with these kind of tools in a classroom.

With immersing yourself in 21st century learning as an educator there are many risks worth taking. Just like we want our students to take risks and try new things and explore new technologies and as a teacher I need to nurture this process. One of the best aspects I received from this course is jumping in with both feet and just trying to figure out new technologies I was not familiar with such as pod-casting, Wevideo, and feedback audio tools like Jing. The learning I gained from just exploring technologies was extremely valuable to my development as a teacher and student. Now going forward as a teacher the thoughts that fill my mind is how can I integrate audio/and pod-casting, videos, vloging, presentations and more to enhance my students learning. More importantly I want my students to use these tools to become producers of quality work they want share with the world. This is a process I look forward to exploring and also sharing along the way with those that helped me get this far.

All the best to my peers in EDUC 9F61.

Mr. Ahmed.

Presentation Tools

PowerPoint

Source: http://bit.ly/1ozygll

When I was a student I used PowerPoint because of its simplicity. PowerPoint is a desktop application that is easy tool a student can use to explore creating professional presentations. It is now available to use through Windows Live as a web base platform. PowerPoint was originally created as a desktop application and I now feel its playing catch up with some other options that are web based.    

As for likes, PowerPoint is great with providing tonnes of backgrounds, themes and transitions on the program allowing you to really customize your presentation. You’re able to add external links, images and embed videos.  Another thing I do like about PowerPoint is how you can make flow charts graphs, and pyramids. I think this could benefit students who are presenting research about business or math. However, as a university student I found myself using PowerPoint less often because it’s not the best tool for collaboration or sharing where a lot of projects happened to be group work. A downfall is you are not able to upload presentations to YouTube or Facebook or other social media platforms. Also sharing with peers or colleagues requires you send your presentation as email attachment. 

Prezi

Source: http://bit.ly/1uP9EHs

I didn't discover Prezi until my last year of University where a peer used the online program for a professional presentation. I was drawn immediately to its aesthetic and visual look which came from the smooth and appealing transitions and object animations. Unlike PowerPoint, Prezi is presented as  whole board where students can lay out their information and it follows a progressive path as it navigates through slick transitions to display your information text, images or media. I find this as an engaging tool for students to use to develop presentations because of its simplicity but also how the interface looks would be appealing to youth.

Collaborating with Prezi is easy because it functions through an online cloud where students can share a link with their peers giving them access to edit and collaborate ideas on their presentation. Students are easily able to add text, video, and images into the Prezi interface and deliver their presentation that will look much different from the standard next slide format of PowerPoint.

Sliderocket and Google Presentation

Source: http://bit.ly/1xpbEpf

The best options for presentation tools that I have come across for teachers and students to use are Sliderocket and Google Presentation.  As a teacher I find these tools are important to for learning and for collaboration with peers and colleagues.  Both of these tools are online web based programs that have a comparable functionality to PowerPoint with a traditional slide to slide presentation format. However, they are great collaborative tools and it can allow students and teachers to develop great projects as a team. Both tools use the cloud based system and you are able to share presentations to social media platforms. 

Additionally Sliderocket has the best interface in my opinion and it presentation editing tools are the best. I really like how it is by far the easiest tool to use for adding audio to your presentation. With a simple click you can add narration through recording or uploading an audio clip to enhance your presentation. Sliderocket requires a subscription and has a free component that will not allow you to use all of their tools without purchase; Where Google Presentation is free for all through email.  

Overall the tools that promote collaboration for teachers and students are the best options when it comes to learning. Giving students as many opportunities to develop socially and academically through sharing ideas and executing them through collaboration is important for growth. The same applies for teacher to teacher collaboration and using online presentations is a great way to extend learning outside of your classroom and school. 

Image Manipulation Programs

In terms or image manipulation programs there are tonnes of programs or apps that can be accessed and downloaded by students and for teachers to use.

For instance,

Skitch:

Source: http://bit.ly/1zoxUSn

After looking through Skitch and seeing how simple it is to use I would recommend this program for teachers to use that can be valuable to providing feedback. Feedback is essential for student growth and using Skitch a teacher can take a photo and mark it up, or highlight student text and make annotations. This can be a valuable tool for teachers to not only provide descriptive feedback but to build a portfolio to share with parents, use as anecdotal notes or for assessment. 

Photoshop: 

Source: http://bit.ly/1tMKya8

I personally am a fan of using Photoshop and it might not be as simple to use like Skitch but it is extremely valuable and beneficial to students and teachers. As a teacher I love using Photoshop to create fun and engaging activity sheets and posters.

Although Photoshop has a learning curve, I feel students as young as the junior grades are capable of learning this program that actually develops a real-world skill they can use. Students can exercise their creativity with a tool like Photoshop and become producers of media publications through classroom projects. The DSBN has Photoshop on every computer that student can access. Unfortunately I think there is a great amount of teachers who are not aware of how to use the program let alone teaching their students the many tools the program has.

On the other hand I have witnessed students at a school in Niagara Falls have amazing 8th grade class projects using Photoshop. They credited their projects posters to learning Photoshop throughout their junior grades and developing their proficiency overtime. By witnessing the success students can have with this image manipulation program, it has influenced me to have my future students apply and benefit from using Photoshop in their education.