Group items tagged

"Students in Cathy Hunt's art classes are constantly blurring the lines between physically created art and digital creations. In one project, students created fish out of clay using old pinch-potting techniques. But the project didn't stop there. They then took photos of their creations and used digital tools to paint on the photos, adding color and design without fear that an unknown glaze would ruin their vision. Once they designed their fish, they developed a storyline featuring their creations for a stop motion animation created by the whole group. When the project was completed students had artfully blended the physical world with the digital one, using the best of both, and creating a finished product that can be put online and shared with the world. The impact of that project goes far beyond a shelf full of clay fish."

"At an event in New York City today, Microsoft unveiled a radically updated version of its ubiquitous Paint app for Windows 10, one that lets users build three-dimensional creations. And it turns out that the new tool will be especially useful for Minecraft players. According to Microsoft, players will not only be able to export their in-game creations to the new Paint 3D tool, but then 3D print them from the app, so you can have a real live version of your previously digital creation. There are already a few third-party options that offer similar services, of course, but given the tight integration between Minecraft and Paint 3D, this should be the most streamlined way yet."

"Make Beliefs Comix is a free multilingual comic strip creation tool that I've featured many times over the years on Free Technology for Teachers. Recently, Make Beliefs Comix released an updated iPad app for creating comic strips. The best feature of the app is that it supports the creation of comics in seven languages; English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Latin."

"In this four-part series, we are using the Someday/Monday concept to explore four dimensions of using tablets, such as iPads, in educational settings. We will do this by examining how teachers can take students on a journey from the consumption of media to curation, creation, and connection. In the first part of this series, we used the Someday/Monday template to explore Consumption. During the second, we examined Curation and the evolving role of the teacher as a curator of learning objects. This week, we will address Creation, examining what is possible when we empower students and teachers as innovators with iPads and other mobile devices."

"A couple of years ago I published a list of 21 online map creation tools. Since then some of those tools have gone offline and new tools have replaced them. Here's my updated list of online map creation tools for students and teachers."

"Cardboard Creations Maker Education Camp utilized no technology (except for projecting images of example projects on the whiteboard) and low/no cost materials. Many of the discussions about and actions related to integrating maker education into educational environments center around the use of new technologies such computer components (Raspberry Pis, Arduinos), interactive robots for kids (Dash and Dot, Ozobots, Spheros), and 3D printers. These technologies are lots of fun and I facilitate Robotics and Computer Science with my gifted students and at one of my summer camps. The learners engaged in these high tech learning activities with high excitement and motivation. Such high excitement, engagement and motivation, though, were also seen at my low tech/low cost maker education camps: LED crafts, Toy Hacking and Making, and Cardboard Creations."

"Our goal as iPad teachers is to rely less on content-specific apps and further our knowledge in using creation apps to make valuable lessons for our students."

"A few weeks ago I heard the amazing Katie Cunningham discuss the power of storytelling - check out her new book here. She shared some of the ways you can support student storytellers and it got me thinking… how can we use technology tools to capture stories? I've put together a list of my favorite creation apps and websites to help you leverage technology tools to help students tell their stories. What I love about this list of tools is how you can tailor them to the needs of your students. Maybe your kids will tell their stories through voice recordings or a slideshow of pictures. Some students might write a thousand words in one sitting while others will retell a special moment in just a few sentences. The creation apps and websites featured below will let students capture stories with your guidance and support."

"Over the weekend, I finished George Couros's Innovator's Mindset.  I highly recommend reading it to understand why we should foster a culture of innovation in our schools and where to start.  A culture of innovation makes everyone a creator in our schools, unleashing the creativity that is in all of us. The Innovator's Mindset frames the steps to create that culture of innovation in a school and it gives some powerful examples of creation in the classroom.  That's where the new book by John Spencer and A.J. Juliani picks up.  The book LAUNCH is focused on the importance of a clear framework for the creative process.  I'll dig into that process in later posts as I get deeper into the book.  But, let's start with the why of creation in the classroom."

"Creation-based tasks promote higher-order thinking, encourage collaboration, and connect students to real-world learning. Whether you're teaching in a project-based learning classroom, engaging students with authentic assessments, or committed to pushing students to analyze and synthesize, providing opportunities for creation is a must. Students who are "making" to demonstrate their learning can produce content that is shareable and valuable. Their creations can be geared toward a specific audience and viewed outside of the classroom. The sense of purpose that students have as creators can be leveraged to increase engagement and get learners of all ages excited about content."

"I made this Webinar a few months ago…. Creation Tools for the iPad… and today I wanted to share some of the apps and ideas around Creating "stuff" on the iPad. With the camera, it's portability and some fabulous apps, it has never been easier for us to create our own resources on the iPad. And when I say "us", I don't just mean educators - teachers, therapists, parents and support staff, I also mean, our students as well. Anyone and everyone can harness the power and possibilities in the iPad to create some amazing things!"

"The possibilities for the use of timeline tools in the class are endless. Whether you want to teach salient historical incidents, chronological order of events, or explain a developmental process in biology or simply outline the major learning curves for the year, timeline creation tools are the ideal platforms to implement."

"How will you use graphic novels and comic creation apps in your iClassroom to support your curricular and project-based needs? This hands-on workshop will guide learners through a spectrum of comic creation apps from limited to full customization and showcase multiple student-created examples. Preferred device: iPad"

Slideshow of a game creation process for the iPhone - good appendix of resources

"Strip Designer is a great comic strip creation tool to add to your students' iPads. Priced at $2.99 USD it is $2 less than Comic Life and is just as good. Strip Designer provides dozens of comic strip layouts from simple one frame comics to one page layouts in a variety of configurations to multiple page layouts there is probably a layout that works for all students. And if not, your students can create their own custom comic strip layouts in Strip Designer."

"One of the core principles of good iPad usage that my EdTechTeacher colleagues have developed is the idea that educators should focus on creation apps rather than content apps. Most apps that are designed to teach specific content are terrible, so educators shouldn't think of iPads as repositories of apps but rather as portable media creation devices. Thus, educators don't need to review and master the hundreds of education apps that come out every year; rather, they should consider how a small suite of apps related to annotation, curation, and image, audio, and video production could support diverse student performances of understanding. "

"There is an ever growing number of teachers and students using iPads for creation projects. Little by little, people are understanding that the iPad is not just a consumption device for reading emails, watching YouTube and checking FaceBook and Twitter. The iPad is a powerful creation device. But an issue arose during the year at my school: How does one share large student videos and other projects with parents? Read ahead to find out."

"Yesterday we published top iPad apps for librarians and today we are featuring another equally important visual comprising some of the best web tools to help librarians in their everyday work. We have arranged these tools into 10 main categories: Database portals, research tools, curation tools, animated video tools, poster creation tools, note taking tools, timeline creation tools, tools communicate with parents, presentation tools and reference tools."

"Ten years ago, I walked past a newsstand and out of the myriad of multicolored covers, one jumped out at me: MAKE magazine. As someone who grew up making stuff, this magazine spoke directly to me. I bought copies and immediately brought them to the director of my school. I remember triumphantly exclaiming "We should show this to all of the teachers-think of the projects we can do!" A decade later, well-intentioned schools that create dedicated "maker spaces" worry me. For the uninitiated, a maker space often houses ultramodern tools like a laser cutter or 3D printers, mixed with drill presses, table saws, and soldering irons, or perhaps screen printing equipment or sewing machines. My fear is that stand-alone maker spaces will cause the powerful act of creation to be confined to only certain parts of the school building. I worry that yesterday's centralized computer lab-which we rightly democratized and decentralized by putting computers in every classroom-is today's maker space. When I walk past a new room being outfitted with a laser cutter or a drill press and hear, "This is our maker space!" I am tempted to ask: "What happens in all of the other spaces? What do people do there?" The act of creation is transformative. An individual's self-image is forever changed when he or she can hold up a real object-a real contribution to the world-and say, "I made this." In a time when students' lives are increasingly virtual, abstract and vicarious experiences, it is every teacher's job to make learning, and life, "hands-on." "

Description: Avoid succumbing to content app frenzy, instead center your use of iPads to create projects that allow for "app smashing." In this session, learn how you can blend the creations from one or more apps into incredibly fun creations. Get a free copy of iBook, "The Definitive App Smasher's Guide."