Although I have trouble thinking about how I will use Voki in the classroom, I really do have lots of ideas for Prezi and Animoto. I used Animoto for a project in World History last year (transformed a traditional poster project into an Animoto project--my model for this WH project is what is shared here) and not only did I enjoy the films, the kids had a great time making them! I think I would like to use Animoto more next year as well as start using Prezi. As I embark on teaching Sophomore English, which has a siginfiicant speaking component to it, I think that both of these tools could help support student speeches. They can be more dynamic and less text heavy than power point, and yet they can offer visuals for students to speak from during an in-class, live presentation!
Voki does provide a bit more of a challenge for me to integrate; but after looking through some of the sample lesson plans, there are some good ideas! One for High School Social Studies suggested having students input information they learned or researched into their Voki and then the teacher collects and embeds them into a website for a study guide. This could work well, especially when preparing for exams; I could help the students make a more comprehensive study guide by dividing up the units and having them share virtually in this way. I also liked another idea I saw about creating a Voki for a character from a book and creating a "slogan" or "modern phrase" for that character via the Voki. That seems like a fun way into a book or an historical figure!
Overall, I think these three Web 2.0 tools could really help to engage more learners in more dynamic ways. They can be made an shared during class, or they can be created at home and shared via a class blog, Google Doc, or email for students to access outside of class. They all give students more opportunities to have their voices heard.
Correct! All students can be engaged by offering lots of choice in product or process.
ReplyDelete