Monday, November 21, 2011

Cool Xtranormal Presentation Used to Reflect on Course Learning

This presentation was created by a student and faculty member at the University of Regina in Canada. I hope it motivates you to use digital storytelling tools such as Xtranormal and GoAnimate!

Social Media & Open Education - Interview with L. Bechard
by: bechardl

5 comments:

Chandler said...

This video brought more than a few things to mind for me. First of all, I agree with all of the sentiments about learning new technologies and being excited about utilizing them in classrooms whenever able. I, too, created a Twitter account prior to my enrollment in this class, but was unsure how to use it. Since then, practice has made me more able to utilize its many strengths. Other web tools, such as Diigo, Weebly, Wordle, and others, would not have been known to me had it not been for this class.
Aside from the content portion of this video, I was excited by the idea of utilizing tools like Xtranormal and GoAnimate in my future English classes. It would provide students with a fun way to display their knowledge of a unit in lieu of a formal assessment, it could also present many different opportunities for students to write creatively and explore the intricacies of dialogue in their writing. I believe that seeing characters act out your writing, even characters speaking in monotone voices, gives an author a perspective on what may or may not be necessary in a dialogue.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the comment Chandler. I too see the use of Xtranormal and GoAnimate as unique ways to present case studies and act out role plays. Other ideas include asking students to create a dialogue that would be consistent with the theory of someone they are studying. Also can be used to provide prompts related to public debates such as whether there should or should not be more webcams in public areas. I also created one that was a monologue of a new teacher lamenting over the problems with classroom management she was encountering and asking for advice. Loads of possibilities!

LBechard said...

Sorry Chandler.. the above comment was from LBechard.

Kate said...

I enjoyed watching this interview with the use of a digital storytelling tool. It adds more excitment to the interview. I find digtal story telling tools to be a great way to engage students in the learning. I will be incorporating GoAnimate with my class next semester for use of the problem solving process with teen issues. Using this tool adds another level of engagment and another layer towards the learning process.
For any of these tools practice with them helps build confidence in thier use, especially when using them in a classroom setting.It takes time to learn the tools but like it pointed out in the clip, once you learn the basics of one tool you can apply that to other tools with the same idea. The course Technology in the Classroom has helped a great deal with building my confindence to use technology tools in the classroom. The weebly will become a great center point for students to obtain all information pertinent to the course and for me it will allow me to organize myself more for the class by having one centeral location of information. These tools can become great organizational tools if used properly. Remember start small and then go from there.

Andrea said...

I think that digital storytelling tools are a nice way to present information on technology and how to use it in the classroom. It shows that this type of technology can be implemented effectively to convey information to students. I think this type of tool could be used with students in grade 2 and up for presentations etc.

This class and all we have learned in it have made me determined to integrate technology into my class as much as I can. I believe it really helps students to become enthusiastic about what they are learning when they are able to use technology

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