Intersection of Art & Technology

Every now and then on the web, one comes across a brilliant example of using technology to support an artistic effort. The following video by the dance troupe Enra in Japan is a great example. Its use of projected light adds a unique visual element to the dance performance. I wonder how they created the projected images. To me, this video exemplifies the approach we strive for with technology at BB&N. We want to extend and enrich the curriculum using technology tools that add new meaning, enable new functionality, or enrich the meaning of the learning.

First Stab at the Makey Makey

[In this blog post Upper School Academic Technologist Nick Wilson describes his exploration of "Makey-Makey" technology, and how he is sharing it with the upper school faculty.]

So I've had a Makey Makey sitting on my desk for a few months, and until last week, I hadn't even opened the box. After seeing a video of the Makey Makey's creator Jay Silver on TED back in the winter, I felt inspired and compelled to get one. But as they so often do, work and life get in the way of things, especially creativity. And so the Makey Makey sat on my desk, all but forgotten, until a couple of weeks ago, when my colleagues and I decided to schedule our first technology professional development workshop devoted entirely to "play."

Rather than simply send out the all-too-commonly unread mass email announcement, or post fliers above the copier machines, we decided to advertise our workshop with whimsical crafts, making use of the same tools we wanted to bring with us to the workshop. Finally, I had a reason to unpackage my Maley Makey, and start playing with the very serious intent of doing "work."

The Makey Makey is a very simple device, reminiscent of the original Nintendo Entertainment System game controller, but with sharper edges, more holes, and exposed electronic components on the back.

  

It runs off of USB power, and acts as a sort of modified "keyboard" (without any obvious keys). In fact, it would be like having a keyboard for your computer that only consisted of the four arrow keys and a space bar. The sixth input on the Makey Makey functions like a left mouse click. Super simple. The Makey Makey comes with seven colored alligator-clip leads, which you use to create connections between the designated buttons (keys) on the Makey Makey and other conductive objects (spoons, fruit, coins, aluminum foil, etc.). There are also six "ground" input/output connections on the Makey Makey. The "ground" connections serve to complete the circuits you'll end up constructing to control the buttons (keys) on the Makey Makey. By building these mini circuits, you can control your computer's interface, such as scrolling up, down, left, or right, entering spaces between text, or clicking on objects. In the video above, Jay Silver shows some examples of this being used to create things like pianos and drums on the computer, but of course, with just a little bit of imagination (and a little bit of computer programming experience), the Makey Makey can do much more.

To advertise for our workshop, I decided to make my own five-key "piano" with the Makey Makey, and the process was made MUCH easier by using some HTML5, Javascript, and some help from Google Coder. The Google Coder site lists a bunch of easy-to-hard web-based projects that are specifically directed towards use with the Raspberry Pi, but are easily adapted for regular computer use. I chose to use their "Music Boxes" project for my Makey Makey for its simple interface and use of HTML5, which I have some experience with.

HTML5 is great in that it lets you use media "tags" in your HTML code, rather than fussing with overly complicated syntax or plug-ins like Shockwave. To make a long story short, the Music Boxes project provides you with some basic HTML code and instructions to help create the site picture above, and associate various musical tones (which come with the Music Boxes project download) to the individual colored boxes. The result is that when you click on a box, the browser plays a tone. With a mouse, this means you can play one tone at a time.

Using a combination of HTML and Javascript, however, you can associate the various tone files with keyboard keys, turning your QWERTY keyboard into a virtual synthesizer. Enter the Makey Makey. Using the five Makey Makey buttons (keys), I was able to take the Google Coder Music Box code and write my own little program and create a real-life "synthesizer" that my colleagues and I could play together in our faculty lounge. Here are some images of the result. Not an elegant first stab, I'll admit, but I have plans in the works for the next iteration already!

Technology in the World Language Classroom

Last Tuesday (5/13/14) Lower School Academic Technologist Jen and I attended our monthly MEMSET meeting at Tenacre Country Day School in Wellesley. We were pleased to meet Mercé Garcia, a Spanish teacher from The Chestnut Hill School.  Mercé Garcia's presentation was on the use of technology in teaching foreign language. Mercé has a wealth of creative ideas (and energy!) on how to incorporate technology in education. Below is a list of tech-tools she is using in her classroom. Although the examples she shared with us just use technology to teach language, the same tools can easily be applied to other subject areas. Please let myself or Jen know if you would like to learn more; we would be happy to chat with you about your ideas.

World Language Tech Tools:

• voice thread
• sock puppets  
• dibujos.net
• Scratch
• MyCreate
• Voki
• Google voice
• Toontasic
• NearPod
• iTalk - recording app (3min limit)
• Dragon Dictation -Spanish kids have to pronounce words and sentence clearly. Great for phonemes
• Sphere- used to be tourist: great warm up activity to describe the weather or scene, in language direct them to turn up, down, left , right -hotel reservations
• Book Creator / iBooks Author
• Foreign language scavenger hunt using iPads

8th Grade Science Journal

The BB&N 8th grade class of 2014 designed and conducted field studies at Drumlin Farm in Lincoln, MA. The Knight Science Web Journal is a compilation of all of those reports. Here is a link to see it: http://tinyurl.com/KnightScience2014

Exploring the Maker Movement

Perhaps you've heard of the Maker Movement, Design Thinking, Fab Labs or tinkering? They all refer to an educational movement embracing an iterative process of solving problems. This is nothing new in educational pedagogy, but what is new is the enthusiasm and energy circulating around the connection of this process with new technology devices such as 3D printers, rasberry Pis and arduino circuit boards. These devices give designers ways to create new artifacts or tinker around with simple programs to create an effect or some kind of output. Here are some links and a video to explore to learn more!

• NAIS article on FabLabs (brief intro to the concept)
• YouTube video: 3D printer supporting "play"
• Hillbrook iLab (classroom space as third teacher)
• NAIS blog post on the Hillbrook iLab
• Castilleja's School's Bourne Idea Lab (maker projects)

4th graders part of a world wide Scratch project

The first Saturday of each month, there is a meet up at the MIT Media Lab for those local, Boston-area educators who are interested in sharing idea about Scratch.

At a meetup this past winter, I met a teacher who linked to a World Music project page which includes songs from students in many parts of the globe.  This has been a wonderful way to link students from many backgrounds and to help promote world peace.

BB&N 4th grade students learned a song in English and Swahili called, "Together", made a recording and they are now included in the project.  Fly over the world and have the dove descend over Boston and you will find us!

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/11011006/

Debbie Slade, LS Music

Brief Redux of AERA 2014 and Participatory Learning

I was at the American Education Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting in Philadelphia a couple of weeks ago, and in addition to meeting a whole slew of amazing scholars, particularly in the field of the Learning Sciences, I was greatly encouraged by the research and work being done with technology in support of student learning. Interest in educational technologies is growing fast, and is gaining a lot of momentum due to large philanthropic organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Macarthur Foundation, both of which seem to be fueling a rapidly innovating field. This is exciting. In years past, it seems that much of the research being done in education technology surrounded behaviorist theories of cognition and learning, and focused heavily on the concept of “transfer” - being able to apply the knowledge gained in one domain in other areas. Nowadays, it seems that “learning as participation” has garnered a lot of attention, placing a much-needed focus on student autonomy, authority, and the production of learning artifacts. These form much of the basis of student-centered pedagogies, and are part of the growing popularity in interest-driven learning, such as maker-spaces and digital media hubs, and even “gaming*”.

*I put the word “gaming” here in quotes, because typically, the term “educational game” inspires a lot of suspicion and skepticism, and belief that “gaming” is synonymous with “entertainment”. A lot of media attention and venture capital have been given to educational games that fit this description, and while this is great for Silicon Valley, such games have questionable value for education on the whole (test preparation, maybe, but critical thinking, collaboration, civic action?). But while these entertainment games seem to dominate our perception of gaming in school, there has been considerable research done on what aspects of games actually foster learning, and promote engagement, persistence, and reflection. Anyone familiar with James Paul Gee’s work for instance, will tell you that education has a lot to learn about gaming, without watering down content, or sacrificing rigor, in favor of entertainment.

A great primer on the “participation as learning” approach is Henry Jenkins’ work on “Participatory Culture”. Basically, this approach to learning suggests that by engaging in community-based practices, such as collaborating on a media project together, contributing to the knowledge of fan forums (such as the Minecraft forum), remixing songs or other cultural artifacts, we are in a sense, learning by doing - coordinating distributed knowledge resources (people, tools, websites, etc.) across multiple multimedia, jointly solving problems (especially community-based problems), appropriating materials to remix them for an audience, apprenticing people into the valued practices and ways of thinking about the world around us.

A central part of this type of learning is developing literacies across multiple domains, and applying those literacies in ways to empower our students and ourselves. Nichole Pinkard, whose work focuses on youth-based programs for developing digital literacies. Through the use of mentors to learn various digital tools, students in Pinkard’s Digital Youth Network who develop a strong passion for a medium can then go on to mentor younger/less-experienced students with similar interests.

Another significant aspect of this type of learning, and one is seems to be just finally gaining some legitimacy in schools, is social networking - building connections across settings to access knowledge resources. Facebook and Twitter come to mind as obvious examples of social networking, and these have largely been used for un-academic purposes. But that does not mean they are not powerful tools for things like mobilizing political action (remember the Arab Spring?), or building connections with professionals and experts in a field (see Jen Lavenberg’s post on Personal Learning Networks).

These areas of participation and learning are invaluable for our children, especially since many of them are already doing these things. The trouble is that many children might not see the connection between participating in digital ecologies and “what counts” as learning in school. The question we need to start asking, is how we can legitimize their participation as a valued part of learning, and how we can incorporate the vast range of resources we now have access to into ways of teaching that actually empower students.

Professional Development For School & Life

Being an educator today is not only about preparing lessons for your next class; it is also about staying in-tune with what tools might excite your students and prepare them for the future. As this may seem like an overwhelming task, the question becomes how do you keep up to date with all of the latest ideas, innovations, and tools to use in your classroom?

Building a personal learning network (PLN) can help educators stay in-tune with new ideas and tools to use in school and in their personal lives. A personal learning network is a community of people and organizations that help you learn about the latest and greatest news in your profession. Below I have listed my top 5 PLN recommendations for teachers and for life.

#5. Common Sense Media has so many great resources for school and personal use. The organization's mission is to improve the lives of kids and their families by educating learners of all ages about what it means to be in a world with an abundance of information and technology. Common Sense posts many articles about internet safety, new media ideas, and has a large database of  reviews for apps (iOS and Android), websites, and games.

#4. EduSlam is a great website where users can listen to what best teaching practices educators are doing around the world in just under five minutes. These videos as short and sweet, helping educators think outside the classroom.

#3. EdTechTeacher & Edutopia Blogs are my go to places for inspiration. Whether I am reading about social/emotional lessons, integrating technology into the classroom,  or lessons that lead educators to change the way we teach, I am never disappointed.

#2. Twitter is a great way to get an assortment of links if you follow fellow educators. I like to think of Twitter as the community bulletin board. If you find a great link, article, or idea you pin it up on the board for your teacher friends to see. You can get a variety of information just by following 3-5 people. Below I have listed 5 "movers and shakers" in the education field I recommend following on Twitter.

1. Edutopia (@edutopia)

2. Richard Byrne (@rmbyrne)

3. Kristen Wideen (@mrswideen)

4. Beth Holland (@brholland)

5. Edudemic (@edudemic)

#1. TED Radio Hour (Podcast) is a great way to listen to "ideas that are worth spreading." Each week the show has a theme, and NPR will collect a few TED Talks that relate to the theme. The TED speakers' do an amazing job storytelling different ideas and opinions. For someone who looses interest quickly, I find it very enjoyable because each story is about 15 minutes long. I really enjoyed listening to January 17th's theme Disruptive Leadership.  As an educator it helped me process new ideas, take risks, and reflect on my practice. I would recommend TED Radio Hour to anyone as a personal or professional development resource. This podcast can be found through the Apple Podcast app or through npr.org.

5 Key Questions That Can Change the World

My most recent 4th grade Internet Safety lesson on "scams and schemes," which was primarily about email and IM spam, and today's 5th Grade Internet Safety lesson called "Selling Stereotypes" reminded me of an article I read years ago about media literacy and the five key questions that we should be teaching our students to ask themselves any time they interact with media- whether it be a newspaper or magazine article, a textbook or another book, a print ad, a movie, a TV show or commercial, or a music video.  The "Five Key Questions that can change the World," as the Center for Media Literacy calls them, are as follows:

1. Who created this message?
2. What creative techniques are used to attract my attention?
3. How might different people understand this message differently than me?
4. What values, lifestyles and points of view are represented in, or omitted from, this message?
5. Why is this message being sent?

The above questions align with the following core concepts of media literacy:

1. All messages are "constructed."
2. Media messages are constructed using a creative language with its own rules.
3. Different people experience the same media message differently.
4. Media have embedded values and points of view.
5. Most media messages are organized to gain profit and/or power.

Teaching our students these questions and concepts encourages them to look at media content and the choices that were made in constructing it; the format of media and the way it is constructed; the idea that our differences can influence the way we interpret media; the subtle messages included in media that depict values, attitudes, and points of view; and the purpose of or motive behind media "beyond the basic content motives of informing, persuading, or entertaining."  Viewing the media from this perspective with a more critical eye gives students the opportunity to explore it on a deeper level.

The "Hour of Code" at the Lower School: Programming in the Classroom

In honor of Computer Science Education Week (December 9-15, 2013), the website code.org launched the "Hour of Code" program with the idea that every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn code.  There are several opportunities for our Lower School students to program:

Kindergarten used the BeeBot, a programmable robot, in literacy in January.

In December, 2nd graders completed the first hour of code on the code.org website.  In January and February they did also used the LightBob app and the BeeBot app.  After March break they plan to create math word problems in MIT's Scratch programming environment.

During several technology classes this winter, 4th, 5th, and 6th graders also used the code.org website, creating online accounts so they could continue their progress at home if desired.  4th graders have been learning Scratch as well and are now learning how to use Scratch with the LEGO WeDO kits' sensors and motors.

5th graders will spend their spring trimester in the technology lab learning how to program in LOGO, an educational programming language (in fact, the first programming language for children) originally designed in 1967.

6th graders have been spending a lot of their time in the technology lab exploring the new online Scratch 2.0 programming environment.  They are currently working on programming challenges from the Creative Computing Curriculum Guide, a design-based introduction to computational thinking.

tinkering with teachers

Yesterday I attended a MEMSET (Massachusetts Elementary and Middle School Educational Technologists) meeting at the Kingsley Montessori School in downtown Boston for two hours of "tinkering" along with other BB&N educators Jennifer Levenberg, Carol Fine, and Svetlana Grinshpan and my daughter Hannah.  We all used conductive copper foil tape to make a simple circuit with a battery holder which lit an LED following a video tutorial by Jie Qi from the High-Low Tech MIT Media Lab using a template.  We also discussed the possibility of arduino in the classroom by exploring the SparkFun inventors kit with a peer from the Pike School and looked at Makey-Makeys and how they interact with the Scratch programming environment with educators from the Chestnut Hill School.  If you are interested in exploring tinkering in the classroom, BB&N has Makey-Makeys, pico boards, arduino kits, and raspberry pis to play with.  We also have several books in our library if you would like to read up on engineering and programming.  Below are a few of our titles:

• Invent to Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom by Sylvia Libow Martinez and Gary Stager, Ph.D.
• Super Scratch Programming Adventure by the L.E.A.D project
• Getting Started with Raspberry Pi by Matt Richardson and Shawn Wallace
• Sew Electric: a Collection of DIY Projects that Combine Fabric, Electronics, and Programming by Leah Buechley and Kanjun Qiu
• Encyclopedia of Electronic Components by Charles Platt
• Learn to Program with Scratch by Majed Marji
• and lots of books on programming with LOGO

Talk to an ATS if you are interested!

5th Grade word textbooks and PowerPoint presentations

During the months of January and February, 5th grade students learned the ins and outs of the Microsoft Word software while creating textbooks.  They learned how to edit the font size and style, insert page numbers, create columns by inserting tables, and adding images with captions as well as a bibliography.

Earlier in the year the 5th grade students similarly learned the ins and outs of PowerPoint, creating slides, inserting images, adding transitions, and experimenting with animations.

6th Grade app fluency

6th graders spent much of their time during technology class this past November and December increasing their app fluency and experimenting with app smashing.  The term "app smashing" was originally coined by Greg Kulowiec (@gregkulowiec), but the concept of using multiple apps to merge content is also referred to as App Synergy by educational technology Lisa Johnson (@techchef4u).

Below are some articles on app smashing:

The History 2.0 Classroom: App Smashing Part I

Edudemic: How to use 'App Smashing' in Education

Unleashing Creativity

Tech Chef's App Synergy: The Art Form of App-Smashing

Beth Holland on App Smashing by Greg

4M Environmental Unit Glogster Poster

4th graders are in the technology lab right now creating glogster interactive online posters for their social studies environmental unit.  There is a lot of buzz and excitement in the room as students look at pictures of hybrid cars and graphs about space debris, watch videos on GMOs and organic foods, conduct research on websites for organizations such as National Geographic and the National Resource Defense Council, and discuss how to present information on topics such as endangered species, deforestation, alternative energy, extreme weather, climate change, factory farming, and marine debris.

2013-2014 Launch Grant Recipients

Here are the teachers' launch grants from the 2013-2014 school year. You can read more about the launch grant process on our launch grant help page.

Debbie Slade	LS	Music notation and skill practice
Carol Fine	LS	Tree E-books
Lora Mazaheri and Maura Pritchard	LS	Ipads for Differentiation and Assessment
5th & 6th Grade Teachers	LS	5th & 6th summer iPad prep
Rebecca Geary	LS	iPad Exploration for Science Instruction
Kelley Schultheis	MS	Alternative Energy &Animal Behavior
Science Department	MS	MS Knights of Science Field Study.
Dorothy Williams	MS	Library Parent Pages
Susannah Walker	US	US History Pilot Site
Thomas Siegel	US	US History Pilot Site
Christine Oulton	US	ipad use in classroom
Karina Baum	US	Social media in the classroom
US Science Dept.	US	iPad Exploration for Science Instruction

Launch 2012-2013: Second Grade Nooks

Objective: To encourage reluctant readers to read during 15-minute “SSR” time each day after lunch.

Set up: 

1) I allocated a desk drawer for Nooks to be kept.
2) I gave instructions as to how Nooks should be handled.
3) I explained Nook basics:
Turning the Nook on/off
How to navigate to the classroom library
Explained that Nooks are to be used for reading books only
(no on-line games or web browsing)

Weeks 1-4: Teacher selected individuals to use Nooks during SSR
Observations:
Constant questions:
Colin: “When will I get a turn?”
Pablo: “So-and-so has had it for three days in a row!”
Teddy: “Can I have it after so-and-so?

Weeks 5-9: Teacher posted a sign-up sheet for Nook use
Frequent comments/questions:

Alex: “Fotis signed up twice in one week!”
Fotis: “That’s because I traded with Sam and Sam forgot to erase my name!”
Alisa: “Ms. Peterson, I notice that Sam signed up three times this week.”
Sam: “That’s because we didn’t have SSR on two of those days, so I had to sign up a third time!”

                                     

Recommendation: For my classroom, the experiment would have been more successful if I had ordered four Nooks instead of two. With four Nooks, I could have assigned Nook useage on a weekly basis by table group. I would order short selections or maybe even just magazines (Time for Kids, National Geographic for Kids, Sports Illustrated for Kids, etc.) to ensure that on one was in the middle of a chapter at the end of the week.

Advantages to this format are:

• Everyone would have an opportunity to use the Nooks.
• Students would be exposed to a different media type (magazines).
• Less time settling disputes over scheduling of the Nooks!

Launch Grant 2012-2013: iPads in the LS Science Classroom

The best laid plans....

At the start of the Launch project, my goal was to use iPads in order to create a portfolio of QR (Quick Response) Codes that contained extension science activities and games for kids to use during choice time or as enrichment. In theory it was a good idea. QR codes are easy to generate. The basic premise is you take a web address enter it into a QR code generator program, and an image like the one below is generated that contains a link to that website, video, or any other digital data.



Young kids, instead of having to type long web addresses, can scan the code (with a QR code scanner app) in order to get to the place or video. It is a great idea and particularly useful for younger students who are still practicing literacy skills, never mind keyboarding!

There are a myriad of free QR code generators including:
GOQR.ME http://goqr.me/
KAYWA http://qrcode.kaywa.com/
SNAPMAZE http://www.snapmaze.com/
And QR scanners (from the APP store – free):
SCAN
QR BARCODE SCANNER
QR READER for iPAD

While in theory this was a good idea, and is a concept worth implementing for next year, I found that I did not have enough time in the science classroom to apply QR code use. Instead, I decided to use the iPad as a tool for the kids to express ideas, and demonstrate the knowledge they gained at particular instances during the year. I used the iPads during three targeted units at each grade level I teach: K, 1 and 4.

Fourth graders used the app Explain Everything which is a screen casting application to keep track of the work they were doing during the construction of the solar cars. They also made a movie for next year’s fourth grade with tips on how to solve some of the most common problems that come up during the design and construction of the solar cars. Below is one of the videos made.

To demonstrate their understanding of the mealworm lifecycle, first graders drew pictures of each of the stages of a mealworm’s growth and animated them with and app called Animator Free. Enjoy the movie below...

As the culminating activity of the motion unit, kindergartners designed and created marble coasters. Part of their responsibility included making sure they got a picture with their coaster. Once the picture was obtained, the kindergartners reviewed the path that the marble took on their track, as they animated their picture using the app called Animator Free. Take a look below!

The moral of the story is...you have to go with the flow with technology! While the original goal of my project changed half way through it, I was surprised to learn what a great tool for the science classroom the iPad is. To quote from the EdTech Teacher folks iPads really did “help make (my...) science classroom a site of active learning and critical thinking, furthering student inquiry and connections with the materials.”
Movie 1

-Maria Elena Derrien

Launch Grant 2012-2013: LS French and Spanish Web 2.0 Tools

            This year, the Lower School Spanish and French classes (4-6) experimented with several different Web 2.0 tools. We were looking for inexpensive software that was creative, easy to use, and engaged students vocabulary and grammar skills both written and spoken.  Web 2.0 tools seemed to be the way to go specifically because most websites were free or less than $40.00. Many of the tools offered education specific webpages that provided classroom lists and rubric creators as well as the ability to make the content private to the classroom only with options of sharing it to the public. The following is a brief introduction to each web 2.0 tool, the link to each website, and examples from both French and Spanish classes. In addition, we added QR codes to our multimedia projects. To view them, use any smart device with a QR code scanner (most apps. are free to download) to see and/or hear the projects displayed.

A)  Sound Cloud

B)  QR Code Creator

C)  Animoto

D)  Pixton

E)  Glogster

A) SOUND CLOUD:   https://soundcloud.com

            Sound cloud is a "social sound platform" that lets anyone share sounds publically or privately on any smart device and computers.  Students in the Spanish classes used Sound Cloud to record paragraphs describing themselves using adjectives. Later we turned their audio into QR codes. Students were able to use ipads to individually record and upload their audio simultaneously.  

Pros:                                                                                             Cons:

Easy to use                                                                                    Registration

Good sound quality                                                                      Another password and user name

Free                                                                                                  

Ability to make sounds private

Website for QR codes

Sign in to multiple devices on one account

Easy to share

B) QRCODE:  http://www.qrstuff.com/

     With QR stuff.com, QR codes were created for Spanish student's Animoto and sound cloud activities. Students could scan their smart devices and watch their web 2.0 tool projects come to life. The QR codes could be created with different colors, printed and emailed. The QR codes were a fun way to display students work and keep an element of surprise when presenting projects. Students liked the idea of creating scavenger hunts using QR codes in our future language classes.

Pros:                                                                        Cons:

Easy to use                                                               Takes time to add each webpage

Easy to print

Free

No registration

C) ANIMOTO:  http://animoto.com/                                           

            In the French and Spanish classes we experimented with Animoto. Animoto is a creative website to make quick and easy videos. Students created video flashcards to practice new vocabulary and verbs. We liked the user friendliness of being able to log on to one account on several computers or iPads to create videos, and students were able to create Animotos in one class period. There were limitations  Students were engaged and expressed their enjoyment with the project. The videos were fun to watch and they asked to use Animoto again for additional projects.

 Pros                                                                         Cons:                                            

Easy to use                                                               Computer and iPad Animoto different

Many users on one account                                      Another registration

QR code friendly                                                      Pay for upgrade

Easy to share with others                                          Difficult to find songs without English

Ability to make private and public                            Photo bank limited

Free

Good online tutorials

D) Pixton: http://www.pixton.com/

            Students in French and Spanish explored Pixton. Pixton is a website that creates fun and easy comics for a small fee. What we liked about Pixton was it allowed us to create class lists, rubrics and projects for students. We could track each student on a private school account as well as grade and comment on each of their projects. Students made comics using new vocabulary and grammar for basic conversations. When students first used Pixton, it took a class period to familiarize themselves with the program and several class periods to complete. For the first project we let them explore, but quickly realized that they were distracted making their avatars rather than focusing on the assignment. The second time around, we found more productive to create the comic and have them fill in the conversations. Students enjoyed Pixton and expressed that they didn't want to stop using it.

Pros:                                                                                 Cons:

inexpensive                                                                        Not free

QR code friendly                                                               Accent marks difficult to use

Can make private                                                               Takes some time to set up

Class list creator                                                                 Another registration/password

track student homework/work                                    

Rubric creator

grade

comment on student work

students can comment on students work

Make private

Access to all accounts

Can create accounts for students on one main account

Access to edit

Easy to share

Easy to use

Easy to contact support via email or phone

Great online tutorials

E) Glogster: http://www.glogster.com/

Spanish and French students explored Glogster to create virtual posters for their MFA Projects, and in French, to create personal narratives to describe themselves. Students in both classes created Glogs to write and to illustrate information about their French or Spanish artists for their MFA Action projects (collabration between Art, Culture and Technology for MFA Day.) We liked that students were able to make posters without the mess, it was easy to use, and students could add illustrations, videos and music to support their research in one place. It was not easy to add accent marks and students demonstrated frustration. The only way we could add them was to use one specific font in a word document then copy and past the accents to the Glog.  Students expressed that they liked sing glogs and wanted to use them again.

Pros:                                                                                Cons:

inexpensive                                                                      Not free

QR code friendly                                                             Accent marks difficult to use

Can make private                                                             Takes some time to set up

Class list creator                                                               Another registration/password

track student homework/work

Make private

Access to all accounts

Can create accounts for students on one main account

Access to edit

Easy to share

Easy to use

Good online tutorials

            Overall, we found these web 2.0 tools to be a fun way to present old material and make it new and fresh. Each tool was easy to use with plenty of tutorials to help along the way. Becoming familiar with the programs varied in time. We were often frustrated about registration and remembering different username and passwords. In addition, we had to actively make content private for websites we did not purchase and made specifically for the classroom. We enjoyed discovering new tools and watching students engaged in displaying their different language skills.

-Cristina Carrion Murphy and Soizick Munir