Emaze Presentation Review- Week 9

Emaze Presentation Review

 

 

 

This week I decided to do my Cool Review on a presentation site called emaze. I really loved this site; this site is very similar to Prezi, but I think it might be easier to use and share. This tool gives you the opportunity to create a presentation that is more than just a plain PowerPoint. It has more of a flow with the presentation that makes what you are talking about visually appealing. It allows you to pick out a layout and you are able to add you own text and images as you please. Here is a link to what I did with the tool. 10/10 for this tool for me!!

 

I would definitely use this tool in my classroom. If I was working with older students I think having my lectures using this site would keep this all engaged. They would enjoy it because it is something a little different than they are used to and it feels like they are riding along with the information because of the transition that are in between the slides.   

 

As for my students using this tool, I would say that would have to depend on how old they are. Since I am early childhood, which is a range from age 3 to grade 3 and potentially through grade 5, I would not let my preschoolers use this. But if I was teaching 4th or even 5th grade I would definitely have my students use this tool. I think a child who is in 5th grade would enjoy and flourish with a tool like this, because I think many times we limit the abilities that our students have because we think they are too young to have the necessary skills. So yes, I would use this tool with my older students because I think they would enjoy the challenge and opportunity.

 



ThingLink Review- Week 8

ThingLink Review

 

 

This week I decided to do a video tool. I chose ThingLink for this tool. At this website you are able to have a background picture with dots on certain parts of the picture that has links, pictures, or videos about the topic of your choosing. I really enjoyed using this website, and I think that the idea of the product you are able to make is really cool as well. I did my sample on knitting since that is my major project topic.

 

This tool would be very helpful to use in the classroom as part of a presentation. I think the students would like the look of the presentation if it was done this way. One of the examples that I saw was a map of a city and then there were dots with pictures that were linked to that certain area of the city. So this tool could definitely be used by a social studies teacher.

 

If I did have my students use this tool I think I would have to do it as a class project. I would have to project it on the screen so the whole class would be able to help me design the photo. I think that it might be too difficult for my young students to do it on their own, but I do think it would be very beneficial if we could do it as a class. 

Canva Poster Review-Week 7 CTR

 

 

Canva Poster Review

 

 

 

 

 

This week I chose to use the tool Canva, which is a poster and collage editor. It is a very useful tool to use if you need to make something visual for any reason. After you sign up for the site, then you are able to pick what design you would like. They have many different designs

to pick from, anything from Facebook cover photos, to blog posters, to cards. So this site is useful to just about everyone. One problem I do see with this site is that you have to pay for the images that are provided on the site. You can search for any image but most pictures are $1.

 

All you have to do after you put your design is layout, visuals, and text you want on the poster. You are able to use the search bar to look up pictures in which you can use. Then you can pick which word bubble you would like. You are able to edit the text and write in whatever you please. Then once you are done you can share or download it to your computer. I emailed it to myself. My finished product is above, and I had fun using this tool.  (I know Journey is spelled wrong, I closed the window before I would fix it)

 

 

The cool thing about this tool for teachers is that we could make posters for the walls in our classrooms. We can personalize them to fit the needs of our students the lessons we teach. I could make a new poster for each lesson or just do it when I think it would be very beneficial to my students. Having the students see a poster that looks professional but they know it is customized would really help spark creativity in them. So the poster would not only help the better understand the lesson I am presenting to them but it also help them think more creatively.

 

 

I would not have my students use this tool because I think it would be too complex for them to use. Since I will be working with younger children I think they would find this tool because it is not simple with regard to the amount of options that are presented for them.

Cool Tool Review- StoryBookThat- Week 6

StoryBookThat

 

 

 

Week 6 I decided to do my cool tool review make a comic strip that I could read to my preschoolers. This site is so simple and fun to use, even my students could use this site to make their own stories. This cool tool has many different options for the background, characters. You could choose being inside, outside, on a football field, or in the middle of a street. This is a great tool because it really promotes creativity for students to be able to make up their own stories. There are just so many options that makes the site user friendly for anyone and any story.

 

For my younger children I would have them make a picture story and I would write what they tell me on each page of their story. For my older students I would have them tell a story that has happened to them. I would also read half a story to my students and then I would ask them to finish the story for me.

 

It is easy for the students to use because all the students have to do is pick what they want and drag it down to where they want to place it. One challenge I could see coming up would be my students feeling overwhelmed and feeling like they don't know where to start still there are so many different options on the site. I would use this tool in my classroom someday and I think you should as well; here is the link so you can check it out: https://www.storyboardthat.com/



Tagul Word Cloud Review- Week 5

 

 

 

 

Tagul Word Cloud Review

 

 

For this week's cool tool review I did a word cloud from Tagul.com. This website allows you to cope and paste any words from anywhere on the internet and make them into a word cloud. Word clouds are used to show how much a word is used. The bigger the word the more times it was used in the text.

 

I could use this in the classroom by having one for each story we read so I would be able to point out some new words that the students would hear. I could even help the children make their own. It would be very beneficial for my students to have this tool because it is just another way for my students to be exposed to processing and learning new vocabulary words.

 

This website is very user-friendly. I believe that my students would be able to use the site and they would enjoy it a lot. The site allows you to make the clouds very customizable, so the students would never get bored with this tool. The one thing that might challenge the children is the fact that there is so many different options to pick from, it might become overwhelming for them. The younger the child is the less amount of options they should have. The simpler the better for the little tikes.

 

Check out the website and let me know how you like it:   https://tagul.com