Pre-Training

www.xtranormal.com

Xtranormal can be used as a pre training tool as it allows words to be turned into movies within minutes. It serves as an excellent tool for introducing new ideas on lessons or workshops. It is user friendly and easy to use when creating short movies from learning content.

Word Clouds

www.wordle.net

This site allows users to create generate word clouds from text. The text will be key concepts that would be covered in the lesson. The words created will give learners opportunity to have a pre- knowledge of what is expected in the lesson.

Graphic Organizers

Mind manager

www.mindjet.com

Mind manager capture and organize information, communicate ideas and create actionable plans. It uses maps to capture information and spark innovative thinking. Users can add hyperlinks, images and content from Microsoft productivity tools. It is also useful for tracking priorities, project completion and timelines to streamline and keep projects on schedule. It is better than other organizers because of the robust features, though it is not a free software tool.

Mywebspiration

www.mywebspiration.com

A mind mapping tool can be used collaboratively. It allows users to brainstorm ideas, gather and organize information. Users can visualize their ideas using assorted color codes. It is a useful tool for educators and learners as it supports curriculum integration, student-teacher interaction and the online access facilitates peer review of collective ideas.

Presentations

Go!animate

www.goanimate.com

This is a web-based tool that allows users to turn photos, video clips, and music into movies. It allows educators to create animated lessons for classroom use, and the easy-of-use makes it more attractive.

Windows Live Movie Maker

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-live/movie-maker-get-started

Windows live movie maker is free and easy-of-use. It allows users to turn videos and photos into movies within minutes. It is user-friendly, and users can quickly create digital storytelling for events, and lessons.

Authentic Assessment Activity

Assessment focus

www.assessmentfocus.com

This website is very comprehensive and has several links to various assessment activities such as teacher assessment, language testing, test development, and rubric maker among others.

Assessment Rubrics

http://www.teach-nology.com/platinum/samples/rubrics/

This rubric maker is a powerful application. It is used to create rubrics for all K-12 content areas. It has preformatted rubric templates that educators can use, and users can also create custom rubric.

There is a new series of movie maker software. The list includes imtoo movie maker (http://www.imtoo.com/movie-maker.html ), xilisoft movie maker (http://www.xilisoft.com/movie-maker.html ), muvee movie maker (http://www.muvee.com/en/ ) and Windows live movie maker (http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/windows-live-movie-maker.aspx). The software has peculiarities. However, my focus will be on the use of Windows live movie maker. There are several sites that guide learners on how to use Windows live movie maker in the classroom.

Movie Maker Mastery curriculum web

http://www.cuip.net/~bbird/teachingguide.htm

The site presents to teachers the benefits of multimedia in the classroom to engage students and increase retention, as well as for mastery of the Windows movie maker software. The instructional design is very rich with lots of information. According to Mayer (2009), presentation of excessive information does not mean learners are processing them due to the limited capacity of the visual channel. The information is mainly in text format, and it is the technology-centered approach.

Windows Live Movie Maker in the classroom

http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/windows-live-movie-maker.aspx

The Microsoft Movie maker site provides a brief guide for teachers and also uses dual coding in terms of audio and video information to teach learners how to create movies using sounds, motions, pictures and texts. This is the learner-centered approach and its simplicity of using the various features help learners convey meaning of the instructions. The focus is an aid to human cognition (Mayer, 2009).

Windows Movie Maker Tutorials and Lesson plans

http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/moviemakerlessonplans/Windows_Movie_Maker_Lesson_Plans.htm

The multimedia tutorials provided in this site take learners through the steps of using Windows Movie Maker. It does not have audio but used text and visual effects to guide learners. The tutorials are divided into sub-sections of five series. It is learner-centered as most of the instructions were tailored toward curriculum expectations.

Reference
Mayer, R. E. (2009). Multimedia learning (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.

These are the links to my wikis

Working wiki: http://belloaworking.wikispaces.com

Presentation wiki: http://belloapresentation.wikispaces.com