Microsoft's Office 365 is offered free for schools and allows teachers and students to collaborate in innovative ways. The program comes bundled with email, instant messaging, video conferencing, calendar and document sharing along with virtual storage. Learners can use Microsoft's Office 365 to collaborate asynchronously on group projects using SharePoint to promote knowledge construction and find meaning as they solve problems. Since Microsoft's Office 365 promotes active learning, I will use this program as one of the three artifacts for my multimedia workshop on flipped classroom instruction.
Google + hangouts is a free Google live video chat service that was launched during 2013. This Google application allows up to 10 users to be engaged synchronously through instant messaging and video. The program also allows users to share each other's computer screens while engaged in live video conference. Google + drive allow users to store several gigabytes of information, and since hangouts has numerous features that can be used to suit a wide variety of learning situations, I will use this program as one of the three artifacts for my multimedia workshop on flipped classroom instruction.
Website 1 - Prezi Presentations: http://www.bbcactive.com/BBCActiveIdeasandResources/UsingPreziInEducation.aspx
Prezi is a cloud-based presentation program which was created during 2009 by Peter Arvai (prezi, 2014). Due to its intuitive nature, educators and learners can use prezi to organize information to promote knowledge construction for finding meaning to complex problems. Knowing that prezi presentations promote active learning, I will use this program as one of the three artifacts for my multimedia workshop on flipped classroom instruction.
This aim of this screencast demonstration is to create clarity concerning misleading elements found on the wikihow site that was provided as a guide for my workshop participants to effectively develop their powerpoint presentations for their authentic assessment.
Webspiration allows the user to create various forms of mindmaps with unlimited design features. The website allows users to work individually or collaboratively online. It also gives you the opportunity to visualize your ideas creatively. All work can also be downloaded and printed if needed. I chose this site because it is very user friendly and can keep the learners interested with its hands-on capabilities.
Brief Description: Webspiration is a website that allows individuals to brainstorm ideas, collaborate with peers from any location, and visual concepts of importance.
Brief Explanation: Webspirations presents the learners with various opportunities to create an outline before working on the final project, to create diagrams or graphic organizers, and lastly the opportunity to connect with group members despite of their locations.
Assignment, Module 3 - Mywebspiration.com is a free, web-based visual thinking tool that allows users to creatively organize and map mental connections. One advantage of this site is it converts your mind map bubbles into an outline (and vice versa) format to assist in the writing process. Users can add color, rapid fire links, and graphics to their work. Also, the site provide easy-to-use templates to aid in formatting styles. Collaboration has been made easy as it automatically saves and stores the product online. It is a wonderful brainstorming tool.
Webspiration is an online version of the software Inspiration. It is very simple to use to create your own graphic organizers. If could be used to create custom graphic organizers for your presentation and easily shared with the participants through Google Docs or a simple .jpg. Webspiration allows for the create to generate their own customized graphic organizer, many of the other graphic organizer websites do not allow you to customize them. This is an example of essential learning since the learner organizes their new learning in a way that is best for them, thus moving the learning into the working memory.
Webspiration is an easy to use concept mapping resource which allows users to design and manage their own learning webs. Compared to other similar programs, this site is very similar to Inspiration, and Kidspiration, used frequently in elementary schools. Final products can be easily shared, saved and downloaded into other media such as Word documents, Google Docs, and also can be used for collaboration. Various designs allow learners to individualize their maps according to their needs.
On this site, users are able to create graphic organizers from brainstorming sessions. Similar to other online sites, multiple users are able to collaborate on a single graphic organizer. I chose this site because of the ease of use and the collaboration options.
This website is another example of Graphic organizers that can be used collaboratively by the instructor and learners or by learners who are working on collaborative assignments.
What it does: Allows you to build a mind map organizer of your thoughts, plans, or ideas.
Why this one: It is free. It is very intuitive and user friendly. It allows for collaboration. You can protect it so only those you authorize can change it.
Learning benefits: For essential learning, it provides an outline and overview. For generative learning, it allows a learner to branch off into possibilities and extensions. It also can help the user organize their thoughts and ideas.
In my workshop, the participants will use this site to create a graphic organizer to help them organize their notes as they navigate the workshop. The mywebspiration site is strong on active processing (Mayer, 2009) as the user must take in the material and actively process it in order to produce the synthesis of the information in the form of a mindmap.
Webspiration is a great website that allows you to create graphic organizers. It is free, easy to use, and very useful.
I like this web resource because it is easy to use and creates very nice graphic organizers.
The Webspiration free site offers users the ability to build a mind map to organize thoughts, plans, and ideas for any subject. \nWhy this one: The mind maps help foster collaboration among teachers. The program allows the user to complete outlines associated for each organizer ensuring essential learning. The teacher is able to organize their thoughts and ideas providing the learner with additional activities associated with generative learning.\n
This site allows you to create custom graphic organizers. There are many templates and lots of clip art to choose from. I like this site because you can upload your graphic organizer as a word document or save it to a web page that others can access.
* Webspiration allows a teacher to create a free Webspiration classroom. The site allows users to create collaborative mind maps that lend themselves to generative learning.
Assignment, Module 3 - Mindomo.com is a web-based, graphic organizer tool that allows users to manage, plan, track, and prioritize tasks. Although there is a minimal charge for the premium package and group rates, the basic service is free. The site allows you to embed videos and photos and add links. Some advantages of this site are: users can install Mindomo on your desktop to work offline, and Mindomo recognizes and imports mind map formats from other services.
This website is great for brainstorming alone or with others. You can add videos to your mind maps. Mindomo can be downloaded to your desktop to use offline or your server. The desktop maps you create can be integrated with your online maps.
Mindomo is a mind mapping tool that not only allows users to create a map for a concept, but also allows for collaboration and the addition of multimedia elements. This tool can be used at the end of a workshop to allow participants to share their knowledge with each other or with those who did not attend the workshop through the creation of a mind map. I have not used this particular tool, but it looks to be fairly easy to use. The fact that it allows for the addition of multimedia elements to the mind map makes it even more appealing.
Mindomo (http://www.mindomo.com) is an incredible graphic organization site. This site allows the user to create interactive graphic organizers. They can choose the layout they want, import pictures, and add video or audio clips, hyperlinks and much more to the graphic organizer. This allows the user to create dynamic interactive graphic organizers that demonstrate whatever they are trying to get the learner to learn. The graphic organizers can be saved and shared within the site or embedded into a website for others to view. This site has two levels of service the free component does not allow the user the same privileges as the paid customer such as uploading pictures but with the free component the user is able to still make a interactive dynamic presentation. This site is better than some of its counterparts like Inspiration and even Bubbl.us because it allows the user to embed the graphic organizer into a website or create a slide show presentation of what they are trying to do.
The topic of my multimedia workshop is on How to Utilize Multimedia to Create Effective Instructions. I plan to use PowerPoint as my multimedia artifact. In Jones (2005) article she establishes the fact that the technology of choice for most projects was PowerPoint. The main reasons for selecting PowerPoint for my multimedia project coincided with what was discussed in this article. PowerPoint is accessible and familiar to most educators and students. It is simple to use, can be created on desktop, visually stimulating, sounds or auditory stimulation can be added and can be use for cognitive abilities. In addition, PowerPoint has presentation versatility because it can be used as an original file, PDF format, and html format. It can also run with videos and have narration added. Finally, the software allows for interactivity. The focus of the multimedia workshop is to create a learner-centered approach to learning instead of a technology approach to learning; the software is used to facilitate this process (Jones 2005, p. 1).
Mayer's (2008) active processing is when meaningful learning occurs and learners are engaged in the active cognitive processing during learning and instructors must figure out ways to prime the learners to pay attention to relevant material, and mentally organize the information and integrate the information based on their prior knowledge. The ability to actively process information can be associated students dynamic, collaborative and synergistic construction of significant knowledge within a multi-learning environment.
Jones, D. (2009.). PowerPoint with a learning point. University of Wisconsin-Whitewater--19th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning, Retrieved July 10, 2010, from
http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/Resource_library/proceedings/03_37.pdf
Poll everywhere allows for polls, simple quizzes, text based responses from an audience. It is a tool for gathering data and opinions from an audience. It is free unless you want to use more expansive tools.
Diagnostic assessments drive the instruction process, when teachers/presenters know what the students know, need to know or wonder about. Poll Everywhere is an audience response system using standard web technology. It works through text, web, or Twitter, its simplicity and flexibility are earning rave reviews. I love it because responses show up immediately on the screen, allowing the instructor to create a chart, or just show responses. This is a free web-based program for up to 30 responders.
This website allows a user to develop online polls that learners in a workshop/presentation can participate in. With regard to pre-training activities, quick polls can help both learners and the instructor quickly gauge what the learners know before digging into the planned activities. In addition, polls can be designed to engage learners and prepare them for some of the activities they will participate in.
The product available at this website provides free access for designing quick polls. It also allows the designer to choose how participants respond to the polls. In addition to text messaging, the designer can use a web address (if mobile devices are not convenient for the setting) to allow easy access. In addition to the interactive capabilities, the polls can be seamlessly integrated into a PowerPoint presentation or website.
This is an excellent collaborative brainstorming tool for creating a mind map. This could be excellent for PreTraining or for a graphic organizer. Imagine your class having this open while you present key information, and they create their mind map of your concepts.
Bubbl.us
http://www.bubbl.us/
Bubbl.us is a free application that allows users to brainstorm and think online using colorful mind maps. While this application is a bit different from Webspiration the concept is the same. If you are looking for a very simple and easier to use program for younger students this might just be your answer! With just a hit on the enter key you can quickly and easily design and create spider mind maps.
I believe that Bubbl.us is a website that can absolutely help learners think with more organization and it illustrates how connections can be made between information. Compared to Webspiration Bubbl.us seems a bit elementary to my likings for my high school students, but for someone who is working with the elementary crowd this would be perfect because there are not as many bells and whistles to this program. Even though students are still able to modify colors and change the location of the bubbles.
Online bubble maps that can be used in the planning process for presentations. This tool is user-friendly and will allow teachers to share access with each other throughout the workshop. The sharing feature of this tool will also promote the needed collaboration among the group.
An online mind mapping application which is very user friendly. Throughout the presentation process, this tool will provide opportunities for the instructor and participants to design webs related to covered material. For instance, in my workshop, webs can be used to illustrate various teaching and learning strategies for each special education category visually.
This application is somewhat different to navigate than Webspiration, which I have frequently used in the past as well as Inspiration in the classroom. It took a few moments of trial and error to determine where certain element tabs and buttons were, but it also presents graphics which have a more professional appearance.
This is a free site that allows for brainstorming and creating graphic organizers. It automatically arranges bubbles as you type and allows you to manually arrange them. Bubbl can create colorful mind maps online, share and work with friends and embed mind maps in your blog or website.
This site allows you create mind maps. It easily allows you to branch out your ideas. I like this site because it is easy to use, you simply click an existing bubble and it creates a new branch. It is also very easy to change the font and the color of the bubbles.
Bubbl us is a graphic organizer used to organize ideas.
As I viewed the site, I thought I could offer this to my students who might be intimidated by the use of graphic organizers on the web. Using this site might reduce the extraneous process because the goal is to organize thoughts not learn a new tool.
The is online mind mapping software whre participants can create a graphic organizer online. Graphic organizers can be shared with friends or saved as a jpeg.
This is the third, and most difficult to produce, screencast I created for my multimedia workshop. In this tutorial I demonstrated how to design a 3-dimensional graphic image in Google SketchUp. I reproduced the Fila logo in the demonstration.
* Name of the site: Authentic Assessment Toolbox
* URL: http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/tasks.htm
* Brief description of what it allows you to do and how it can be used for essential or generative learning: This is a great site to help teachers develop an authentic assessment for their students. It will be good in the workshop I am developing on Web. 2.0 from the later days when the participants are thinking on what they will develop.
* Brief explanation of why you found this site to be better than others you found (e.g., more effective, creates better products, easier to use, and so on). This comes from a knowledgeable source and cites Grant Wiggins.
* Name of the site: Graphic Organizer Links
* URL: http://www.nvo.com/ecnewletter/graphicorganizers/
* Brief description of what it allows you to do and how it can be used for essential or generative learning: This site has multiple uses for graphic organizer templates. It also seems to have been developed by Texas educators to connect education with technology. It has links to the other states as well. I intend for the teachers in my workshop to access standards for their state or region, and this site will allow that.
* Brief explanation of why you found this site to be better than others you found (e.g., more effective, creates better products, easier to use, and so on): It is so rich in graphic organizers, but it is useful in other ways as well.
This is a free mind mapping site that is very easy to use. It uses colors and branches effectively. As a graphic organizer tool, I would recommend it to anyone looking for a free site.
This is a free online Mind Map creator which would be very good for a Pre-Training demonstration, to allow the learners to see what the instructor has planned for the workshop.
This is the second of three screencasts I created for my multimedia workshop. Here, I demonstrate how to enhance a 2-dimensional design by using dumpr.net. I also demonstrated how to take a screen shot of an existing image using a Mac.
This is a screen cast tutorial developed for my multimedia workshop. I demonstrated how to design a simple, 2-dimensional graphic image using the drawing and formatting applications in Microsoft Word.
