Sunday, November 15, 2009
BP14_2009113_Blog Comment #3
@ Tara - I really liked this site. What a great way for art teachers to incorporate graphic arts into their classroom. It was very easy to use and it can be used at many different grade levels!
BP13_2009113_Blog Comment#2
@ Patrick - Very cool site! With every new Web 2.0 tool I am learning about, I can find a use for each one. I like the idea that student screenwriters can share their work and work collaboratively. Thanks for sharing!
BP12_2009113_Blog Comment#1
@ Coleen - What a cool site! As I was playing around, I found it was so easy to use! I would love to use something like this in my classroom. Maybe to give our parents and update of our week! Thanks for sharing!
BP11_2009113_Web 2.0 Kerpoof
Web 2.0 tool: Kerpoof
Kerpoof is a website owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company. One of the reasons I was interested in this site was because it has so many different ideas to offer not only children, but parents and teachers too. Kerpoof is a site where kids can chat, make artwork, make an animated movie, tell a story, and much more.
Who is Kerpoof for? (www.kerpoof.com)
Ages 3-5
At this age, Kerpoof is typically visited with an adult or older sibling and with their help, can usually navigate most of Kerpoof's activities. Kerpoof is a great way to build motor (and mouse) skills and to foster creative thinking. You can also turn any picture you make on Kerpoof into a coloring page for off-line coloring. More than 400 pre-made Kerpoof coloring pages can be found at www.coloring.bz.
Ages 6-8
With a few reading skills under their belts, children can start to take full advantage of the Kerpoof creativity suite on their own. These kids will appreciate the ease with which they can make all sorts of fun creations on Kerpoof
Ages 9-13
As kids develop more analytical reasoning skills and social interests during these years, several of Kerpoof's activities will become richer experiences for them. The Make a Movie activity has been designed to teach some of the basic ideas behind computer programming and is a great way for kids to learn what a powerful tool a computer can be (www.kerpoof.com).
While I was playing with the site, I found it very easy to navigate around. Drawing pictures were very easy, and I am not an artistic person! It was almost like KIDPIX, but a little easier to use. As I continued to play around, I found a site dedicated to teachers. There were lesson plans for specific lessons and grade levels. There were even ideas geared to younger grades!!! I decided to sign up for a teacher account and they have a very serious terms and conditions policy. They are very serious about having a site for kids, and keeping it safe for all children. They monitor everything that is posted to the site and urge adult supervision at all times while on the site. I am very excited to use this site in my classroom. I believe that my students will be able to use this site very easily. I am thinking of using this site in my action research project!
Walt Disney Company. (2008). Kerpoof studio. Retrieved on November 12, 2009, from www.kerpoof.com.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
BP9_2009112_Web 2.0#3
MiddleSpot:
This site is designed for educators. This site allows you to interpret information faster from their search results, collect and annotate relevant results into groups, and share those collections with people relying on their expertise.
To begin you start a mash tab. This allows you to collect web pages, images, music, videos, web widgets, files, documents, code, and more in one central spot. While I was learning about the web site, I realized it was really valuable. It is a quick way to search for images, papers, educational articles, etc. It's hard to argue with results. A study by Microsoft Research reveals that presenting a screenshot in conjunction with a text result allows a user to locate desired web pages faster and easier in almost every attempt. Our brain is designed to filter, distinguish, associate, and select information first and foremost visually. Middlespot.com is designed to take advantage of this strength by providing a patented interface that helps you determine the relevancy of your results with greater efficiency and accuracy.
Middlespot also acts as a search interface, allowing you to submit your search query to a number of search engines and social services like Yahoo, Flickr, Amazon, Twitter, and Microsoft. We also keep track of what you searched for, from where, and when and make it easy for you to access anytime using our "recent searches" tool.
This Web 2.0 tool would be very effective to use in a classroom. It would be very helpful to filter through websites to actually find relevant information. I know from my own experience with my action research it is frustrating trying to find valid and reliable information.
