Wow! These are some pretty powerful learning tools for students and teachers! It was a bit frustrating at first when I had to set up accounts and download all the different parts to get it to work...then, I couldn't find my Jing sun, but finally figured out that I had inadvertently hidden it from myself. :)
Anyway, Jing will be a great help for students and teachers trying to put together presentations or send information to others. I put together a brief video of plant labeling in order to try my hand at using Jing and it was not too hard. I used PowerPoint, but I think it would be easier for the kids to maybe use Google Docs or Inspire (but I have to really work with GD for me to be able to help the kids use it since we won't have access to PP on the new technology we are receiving...I wish we did have that access...*sigh*). I think that the kids could use it to make "How to" or research videos. Screencast will really make it easy for students to save their work and access it without all the hassle of having to find and log into their folders.
Skype would be an awesome way for students and teachers to access people all around the world and I hope the district will help by providing some cameras for classroom use. I think it would take some really good planning and organization to create a great learning experience. I will have to do some virtual "leg work" to find people willing to participate in a learning experience with my class outside the district...maybe the ePals might be the best idea to get it started? I'm sure my team or others at my school would be willing to experiment with me in this area...maybe we could Skype some stories with younger grade levels?
I'll have to spend some more time looking for other teachers who would like to design a Skype learning experience together...and we can plan it using Google Docs!
All of this is very exciting, but also a bit intimidating, but, as I sign all my e-mails, "The best teacher is also a student". If I expect my kids to take risks, then I'm going to have to take them too. :)
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I know how you feel about missing PowerPoint on the Macs, but did you know that Apple has a comparable program called Keynotes that works in a very similar fashion? With regard to Skype, it is a wonderful tool that I used last year with Mr. Romero's class and a bi-lingual 3rd grade class at Terrace. The kids loved it! I'd be happy to work with your class next year if you're interested.
Millie
No, I've never heard of Keynotes. Where can I go to see it?
If you're on your Mac, you can either click on the magnifying glass search tool at the top right corner of your screen and type in the word "keynote" or you can go to Finder and look for it under applications. Let me know if you can't find it.
Millie
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