Avatar's in the Classroom

It has taken me ages to get around to making this Avatar. Not really sure why, only that I could not think of anything worthwhile to make it say!!
However it suddently dawned on me that an Avatar would be a great tool to use to introduce an ICT lesson. I will be using a learning object with my class next week for the first time (I did heaps with my former class, but we don't have an interactive whiteboard or projector in the room at this school).
As these kids do not get a great deal of exposure to ICT's I'd like to make a good first impression - for my mentor teacher's benefit as well.
The kids have free play time every Friday afternoon and I think doing avtivities like this one would be ideal for that time slot - sure a little more work for the teacher, but it would really appeal to some. It could perhaps be done in small groups in conjunction with the next door class (who have the interactive whiteboard) so that there is still supervision of those not participating.
Hopefull my mentor teacher will like the lesson and who knows where it will lead!!!

my synopsis

Talara Prac Weebly

Prezzi

Youtube Indigenous Unit

My class is doing an Indigenous unit at the moment and I think that youtube clips like the ones I've uploaded here would be a great way to introduce lessons and to use as fillers to keep the kids motivation high.
Being a year 2 class the concentration levels are not alway particularly long and as such these short clips are perfect.
Another thing that they could be used for is to explore their own construction of stories using video editing tools or artwork such as animation using the Pivot animation tool that I blogged about earlier.
The fact that the clips can be uploaded onto a classroom blog removes many of the risks associated with live youtube access.
I have used youtube fairly regularly in my unit plans and have always been a little concerned about the reality of accessing from the classroom - not any more.

Movie Maker

I thought I would do a SWOT analysis on Moviemaker in order to help myself better understand the usefulness of this particular tool. I will concentrate on my current context which is a year 2 classroom.

Strengths -

• allows the use of students artwork.
• encourage use of digital resources.
• relatively easily accessible.
• accessibility.
  

Weaknesses

• would require high support at this year level.
• reliant on teacher expertise.

Opportunities

• could be used in buddy class situation.
• use of parents as helpers.
• could be posted in virtual classroom.
  

Threats

• copyright issues with images and music?
• cost of software.

Picnik

This is a collage I made in about 15 minutes using Picnik.
Picnik is a photo editing suite which offers free access to a basic account and subscription for access to more complex tools.
It would be a great tool to use in the classroom as a digital scrapbooking tool, and as projects can be saved as jpg files, the possibilites for using your projects with other software packages such as movie-maker, powerpoint or in a virtual classroom are endless.
Whilst the process of producing the collages may be a little beyond children in the early years of school without sufficient scaffolding such as using in small groups, older children would no doubt learn how to use the software fairly quickly.
The software also provides tools to edit photographs such as converting to black and white photos and using sepia which would both be great for projects that focus on the past.

Added 18/08/2010
During a conversation with a colleague today I was made aware of the fact that Picnik is an online only application. This of course severely limits its usability within the classroom, given that many internet sites are blocked, not to mention the often mindwrenchingly slow speed of internet connections within schools.
Whilst this does not necessarily mean that this tool cannot be used in the classroom at all, the circumstances of its use will be quite restrictive.