For this week’s Tech Play assignment I
investigated making Bitmogi rooms and using PREZI or Google Slides for a presentation.
Creating my initial Bitmogi was a little difficult. I disliked the one that the software made from taking a selfie. I ended up making it from scratch which required individually selecting each option for how I looked. That seemed a little time consuming. Trying to make a Bitmogi room was also time consuming. Finding objects to include in the room and adding them gave me a headache. I realize that students catch on much quicker than I do, and could see the value in using Bitmogi for a project, such as designing their vision of what a classroom should look like.
(Example: Bitmogi classroom play)
I have witnessed the students using emoji’s for
some time now for personal use in gaming and other platforms. For this reason I
feel using Bitmogi is a great tool for students to demonstrate their creativity
and knowledge in a “fun” learning platform.
Using Bitmogi in this way encompasses the “Technological Knowledge” and “Content
Knowledge” portions of the TPACK model. Touching
on the “Pedagogical Knowledge” aspect of TPACK would be dependent to the
information included in the Bitmogi.
I started out wanting to try PREZI to make a
presentation. I was very excited looking
through all the available templates.
Unfortunately, PREZI will not let you even do a free trial without
giving them a credit card number. When
the site started asking for money my investigation ceased. I was extremely disappointed at not having
the opportunity to actually play with PREZI.
I have seen some very comical presentations done on this platform in the
past and was looking forward to testing it out.
They should allow teachers and students to try it for a short period of
time without asking for money.
Since PREZI bombed, I went on to try Google
Slides. I like the similarity of Google
Slides to MS Power Point. In fact, if
there is a template or color scheme you prefer to use in Power Point it can
easily be uploaded to Google Slides to prevent the need to recreate the
presentation you desire. The ease of
drag and drop for graphics is outstanding, and to me is much simpler than cutting
and pasting into Power Point. Google
Slides is an excellent tool for students to present their knowledge through a “hands
on” activity. Google Slides is a great
tool for a student collaboration project since it can be shared with several
participants who can make tracked changes for a group project. Google Slides used for education can
incorporate all three aspects of the TPACK framework. The affordances of using Google Slides
include the option for self-publication, networked content creation, and
scaffolds networked innovation.
(Google Slides Tech Play Example)
Creativity
included with curriculum helps students to become innovative and helps
encourage them to learn new things that are outside of their comfort zone. Creative tools add to a students’ ability to
become better communicators through different mediums which additionally aids in
improving their social skills. Creativity
through expression bolsters a students’ emotional development by giving them a
positive outlet for expressing their emotions in a structured learning
environment.
Every
person learns in their own way, and has their own likes and dislikes. A teacher should not impede a students’
interest of technology because of a personal preference. Students deserve a well-rounded education and
the ability to learn any new technology available. I personally did not like making a Bitmogi
page. It was way too time consuming for
my taste. But I can see the value of
allowing students to play with it and incorporate it into their classwork,
especially when it heightens their interest.
After all, getting the students to love learning is what we are working
toward. Any technology that tweaks a student’s
interest in learning and enhances that learning should be used for the benefit
of a well-rounded education.
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