Reflection 4 - Week 5

This week my mind was in tangles over all these ICT tools. I am amazed at how many ICT’s there are available to us as teachers for the classroom. I was introduced again to new ICT’s with the Prezi and Glogster. I had never heard of or even known they existed until this week. I learnt some new capabilities of PowerPoint such as the 3D format.

Source: www.slideshare.net

From what I understand of Glogster it is an online scrapbooking tool that can be used to make posters. It is an interactive tool that can incorporate the use of text, images and videos.

This is the first time I have heard of Glogster. It looks to be an engaging ICT tool that can be used for many classroom activities. Your imagination would be limitless when it came to designing a Glogster.

PowerPoint is a great ICT to use for presentations and constructing lessons. It is a very functional tool however, it can be limiting. After looking at PowerPoint and then Prezi I found Prezi to be a fantastic tool that offered so much more. 

Source: www.wicked798.rssing.com

With Prezi offering the ability to add minute details, such as answers to a math problem, students can be presented with a problem without seeing the answer straight away. It is like being able to hide details and present them when needed. For this reason, my focus for this week’s blog is on Prezi.

It was a bit of a challenge at first but once I watched a couple of tutorials and had a go I figured out how to use it fairly quickly. My attempt at Prezi is very basic and I believe there will be so much more that I could do with Prezi as part of a lesson. With more time and practice with Prezi it can be a great tool in the classroom. 

The Prezi I designed is How to Calculate the area of a compound shape. I have attempted to embed the Prezi in my blog, with technology, it does not always go the way you had planned. I have also hyperlinked it aswell just in case embedding the Prezi did not work properly.

Prezi - Area of a Compound Shape

 



 SAMR

In the enhancement stage of the SAMR model (substitution and augmentation); Prezi can be a substitute for handouts and writing examples on the board. You can have your examples already prepared and set for a lesson without having to stop to continue to write on the board.

In the transformative state of the SAMR model (modification and redefinition), Prezi create an opportunity to incorporate videos, diagrams, text and images all in the one place. By not having to shift between different sites or ICT’s it will allow for a more streamlined lesson. Once your lesson has been created you can save it and keep it for future classes it is easy to modify the presentation if needed. 

After investigating all three tools I found that the Prezi was most suited to my teaching areas. The Glogster and PowerPoint can also be used however; Prezi was more interesting and interactive.

With any ICT that is being used for classroom lessons or student’s assignments the awareness of copyright issues needs to be addressed. With PowerPoint, Prezi and Glogster it is simple to use a YouTube video or picture from the internet in the presentation. Referencing these video and pictures is just as important as referencing a quote taken from a text book. Students need to be aware that all form of text and print, no matter the format needs to reference in the presentations. As teachers, we should be no different. We need to reference the videos and text that we may use in our class lessons to set an example.

Source:www.googleimages.com.au

Students also need to be aware of cyber safety using these tools. If a student is creating their own account they need to be mindful of not releasing any private information such as their name and address. All ICT tools are great for students to use; they need to be used with safety in mind.

References:

 Raichura, B. 2012. What is glogster PowerPoint. Viewed 09/04/2015. www.slideshare.net/beenaraichura/what-is-glogster-powerpoint. 

Math Prezi Demonstration. Retrieved 09/04/2015. http://www.youtue.com/watch?v=kF8UEfia5o

Prezi vs PowerPoint. Image Retrieved 09/04/2015. www.wicked798.rssing.com

Glogster Example. Image Retrieved 09/04/2015. www.slideshare.net. 

Cyber Safety Image. Image Retrieved 09/04/2015. www.googleimages.com.