Last year I got a few iPads from a grant and since then I've been wanting to integrate them more into my library lessons. So far I've mostly used apps that are required for various robots that I have (sphere, dash & dot) and coding games that students do independently (scratch jr, lightbot, etc). When I give my students free choice for makerspace and board game days, I let them use the iPads and choose what they'd like to do. They especially came in handy last week when an incident in the school meant one of my classes wound up staying in the library for an hour and 45 minutes!
Part of the Should I Download That App article resonated with me. Number three said, "Will our students be consumers or creators when they use this app?" I want my students to be creators in the library. Over the past two years I have integrated a lot of makerspace and coding activities into library classes because I want my students creating. I don't want them mindlessly playing games on Cool Math (we all know that's not real math), but if they want to spend their makerspace days creating a video game on Scratch or Bloxels, I will encourage them! When they're using iPads in my room I want them creating video games, writing their own code, making their own art, or whatever else they can think of.
A few of the apps on the list of 30 librarian approved apps intrigued me. Specifically, Adobe Capture because many of my students don't want to draw, but will happily edit an image. As much as I want to encourage them to draw, I don't want them to get discouraged either. Lark by Storyboard also looks good, although I wish it didn't require accounts. Lego Movie Maker, because it combines movie making and Lego, two of my students' favorite things.
On the AASL list of best apps I'm most interested in Complete Fairytale Play Theatre (I wish it was free, but depending on its price I might buy it), GooseChase, Hopscotch Make Games (again, wish it was free), and Puppet Master.
I was happy to see a lot of the apps I already use on various lists, such as Scratch and Kodable. I am trying to get Osmo kits soon and it was nice to see them mentioned in a few articles.
With my school's Montessori Global event coming up, I am hoping some of these apps will come in handy for that. I haven't decided what projects to do with the students yet, but I want to integrate more technology in with their research.
I was hoping to explore some of these apps before writing this post, but for some reason my iPad is refusing to connect to the App Store. I've never had this happen before and so far none of the tips on the internet are working. I'm updating its software right now hoping that will help. If not, I might be making a trip to the Apple Store. I'll update this once I'm able to test a few apps!
Thursday, January 31, 2019
Saturday, January 26, 2019
Thing 26: Media Skills
This activity caught my eye because I can imagine my students' responses if I told them we were going to create GIFs in the library. It would be similar to when I had them create their own animations with Scratch. They always like when we do something "cool" during class.
So, I decided to try and create a GIF, which I've never done before. The youtube video about how to create a GIF that was linked in the activity is no longer up, so I turned to Google and easily found a blog post about how to create a GIF. Linked here. I chose the first option, which was to use GIPHY. It was very easy and didn't require an account (which always makes me more likely to use a tool). I created this GIF of Pinta, my brother and sister-in-law's dog.
As always, privacy is an issue, and I can't see letting my students GIF themselves even if they have photo releases. But, I think they'd enjoy creating very short videos of action figures, Lego creations, and the various coding robots I have and turning those into GIFs. Plus, that would be a way to incorporate more coding and makerspace activities!
I also tried BeFunky and I loved it! Another tool that doesn't require a log in, plus it has a photo search embedded right in it that searches images that won't violate copyright. For this I created a collage of images inspired by the book I'm currently reading - Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan. (I am only halfway through the book, so it's entirely possible I'd choose different pictures if I'd already finished it). I am always looking for fun technology to use that will inspire my students to think more deeply about what they're reading and I think they will really enjoy this. This activity is also very quick and simple, so it would be a good one to do if I have an extra class period before or after a larger project. And once they've done it once it would be a great activity for a sub to do with them.
Here is my BeFunky creation!
So, I decided to try and create a GIF, which I've never done before. The youtube video about how to create a GIF that was linked in the activity is no longer up, so I turned to Google and easily found a blog post about how to create a GIF. Linked here. I chose the first option, which was to use GIPHY. It was very easy and didn't require an account (which always makes me more likely to use a tool). I created this GIF of Pinta, my brother and sister-in-law's dog.
As always, privacy is an issue, and I can't see letting my students GIF themselves even if they have photo releases. But, I think they'd enjoy creating very short videos of action figures, Lego creations, and the various coding robots I have and turning those into GIFs. Plus, that would be a way to incorporate more coding and makerspace activities!
I also tried BeFunky and I loved it! Another tool that doesn't require a log in, plus it has a photo search embedded right in it that searches images that won't violate copyright. For this I created a collage of images inspired by the book I'm currently reading - Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan. (I am only halfway through the book, so it's entirely possible I'd choose different pictures if I'd already finished it). I am always looking for fun technology to use that will inspire my students to think more deeply about what they're reading and I think they will really enjoy this. This activity is also very quick and simple, so it would be a good one to do if I have an extra class period before or after a larger project. And once they've done it once it would be a great activity for a sub to do with them.
Here is my BeFunky creation!
The only thing I didn't like about BeFunky was the fact that if you choose to save to Google Drive, you have to give BeFunky access to view, edit, and delete things in your Drive. At first I was excited about the Google Drive feature, but not after that. I saved to my computer instead. It's unfortunate, since letting students save them to their Drive would've been a great way to let them keep a digital copy of their images. Instead, they will have to download them to the computer, then upload to Google Drive.
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