Day 2

I really enjoyed learning about Prezi as an alternative to using Powerpoint. I often find Powerpoint presentations to be too linear and boring and Prezi allows the user to create something much more dynamic. I am still experimenting with how the software works but my hope is to use it as a means to present the information to my students (and to our class audience as well).

The tutorials on the Smartboard were also effective, although I don't know how often I will actually use those skills, considering I don't have one in my classroom. My colleague has one in her room, which I could use if my classes are scheduled there. Personally, I don't think I would use it much anyway, even the image gallery, because I find Picasa a much more effective tool to keep images organized. I would use it just as a means to be more interactive with the board and to be up and away from my computer, rather than using it for its note-taking abilities. However, I do intend to look into celtx.com as a way to get students to storyboard and plan, and how I might use the Smartboard as a means to import images.

It was interesting to learn about socrative.com as well and I will share that with some of my colleagues who have had some experience using the Smartboard remote controls for a similar quizzing purpose. I also appreciated learning about how to create my own personalized map within Google maps. I will likely use that feature more for my personal interest than a professional one.

As for the final project, I am considering a presentation for my Digital Art 8 class. I would like to focus on either our poster design or CD design project, and I'd like to learn to use Prezi as a way to present the four basic principles of design theory: contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity. Then I was thinking of using Jing as a way to create some Photoshop or Illustrator tutorials, demonstrating exactly how to put together the software skills to create a poster or CD, followed by a voicethread that reflects student project work and their critique or comments. I also plan to use Google docs as a way to list the resource links to the students. Although I have a set of rubrics that I developed over time, I think the most challenging task will be to alter the rubrics to reflect the use of technology in a way that is both effective and fair.