Today we presented our movies to other members in the class. We each had to give a brief introduction to the movie then showed our movies on the big screen. It was really interesting to see what different ideas the other groups had come up with and how they had edited their movies.
Sharon used a voting website called poll4. It requires the use of a phone or the Internet on a iPad or iPhone. It can be used to ask questions, take polls or for assessment purposes. Poll4 is effective because it is anonymous which means children do not have to worry about what their peers think about their opinions or answers. It also means there is no animosity after any voting processes because no one will know who voted what. This could be used in any lessons as it may encourage children who do not usually participate in classroom discussions, to participate.
Sharon carried out a voting poll in which we rated each film from 5 to 10. All the scores were recorded till the final film had been played and then the winner was announced.
My group won!! I am so proud of how well we worked together and how well our movie turned out. Although I have to say that the other groups movies were just as brilliant! Well done everyone!
Our winning movie
Wednesday 23 February 2011
Movie Editing
Today we began editing our movies. We used a website called Zamzar to convert the movie files into the appropriate format so we could put them on Windows Movie Maker. Zamzar was quite complicated to use and very time consuming therefore I do not think I would use it with the children. Zamzar also corrupted all our files so in the end we had to find another software to convert the files. This whole process wasted a lot of valuable editing time so I definitely would not use it with children.
We used Windows Movie Maker to edit our movies. Sharon briefly showed us how to use the software which helped us identify all the different things we could use to produce better movies. Although it is quite easy to use if I was doing a lesson on movie editing, I would give the children a quick demonstration on how to use it. Windows Movie Maker is really effective because we could add music, sounds, transitions between different scenes and we could edit scenes by cutting off sections that were not right.
In my group, we all worked together on the editing process ensuring we each had a turn at each part of the process. This resulted in me fully understanding how to use the software and I now feel more confident to use this in a lesson with a class. Although if I was carrying out this lesson with a class, I think I would allocate the children with specific roles within their groups to ensure they all know what they are doing and to stop disagreements. If this works, I would let them choose their roles the next time. We all worked well together therefore it made the process a lot easier because there were no disagreements. As a result of this I would ensure that children were in appropriate groups in relation to who works well together and who does not.
I would always tell the children to save their work because they would feel very downhearted if for some reason the computers crashed and they lost all of their work. I would also ensure they backed their work up onto a couple of pen drives in case they loose one.
The editing process required a lot of patience and effort but the end result was definitely worth it! This task will motivate the children and they will feel a great sense of pride once they see their final film. This will promote their self-esteem and possibly their future interests in ICT.
We used Windows Movie Maker to edit our movies. Sharon briefly showed us how to use the software which helped us identify all the different things we could use to produce better movies. Although it is quite easy to use if I was doing a lesson on movie editing, I would give the children a quick demonstration on how to use it. Windows Movie Maker is really effective because we could add music, sounds, transitions between different scenes and we could edit scenes by cutting off sections that were not right.
In my group, we all worked together on the editing process ensuring we each had a turn at each part of the process. This resulted in me fully understanding how to use the software and I now feel more confident to use this in a lesson with a class. Although if I was carrying out this lesson with a class, I think I would allocate the children with specific roles within their groups to ensure they all know what they are doing and to stop disagreements. If this works, I would let them choose their roles the next time. We all worked well together therefore it made the process a lot easier because there were no disagreements. As a result of this I would ensure that children were in appropriate groups in relation to who works well together and who does not.
I would always tell the children to save their work because they would feel very downhearted if for some reason the computers crashed and they lost all of their work. I would also ensure they backed their work up onto a couple of pen drives in case they loose one.
The editing process required a lot of patience and effort but the end result was definitely worth it! This task will motivate the children and they will feel a great sense of pride once they see their final film. This will promote their self-esteem and possibly their future interests in ICT.
Tuesday 22 February 2011
Lights, Camera... Action!
In our groups we were to create movies relating to our chosen topic. My groups topic was "People Who Help Us" which we decided to target towards children in Early Years. The movie was going to be like a children's TV programme in which the presenter would cover different topics every week. We thought it would be quite effective to use teddies to play characters within the different scenarios.
We started constructing our movie by writing up a storyboard. This was extremely helpful when filming our movie because it meant we knew exactly what everyone was doing in each scene. If I was carrying out this lesson with children, I would ensure they all had written up storyboards before beginning their filming. This would ensure they knew exactly what they had to film and could allocate appropriate roles to all members of their group.
We used Flip Cameras to film the movie. Even though I had never seen one of these before I found it easy to figure out how to use it. Every time we stopped filming a scene the clip was saved automatically as a file in the cameras memory which we could then put onto the computer. Children would find these extremely easy to use in lessons in which they have to record certain things.
Once we had written up our storyboard, we went to a flat with the camera to film our movie. Once we got there we found out that the camera was not working. We tried new batteries, but nothing worked so we had to return to Uni and wait till another group finished with their camera. By this point the group felt demotivated due to us not being able to record our film. Upon reflection, before teaching this lesson I would ensure that all of the cameras were working. This would avoid any groups feeling demotivated or demoralised due to them working hard to create a film but in the end felt it was pointless because they were not able to record it.
The filming process was really fun because it gave us the opportunity to experiment with different voices, scenes and characters. I think children would find this task very motivating because it provides them with opportunities to experiment and explore. I think this task was "intrinsically motivating". In Christensen's (2008, p7) book on Disrupting Class he explains that "intrinsic motivation is when the work itself stimulates and compels an individual to stay with the task because the task by itself is inherently fun and enjoyable." I cannot wait to see our film once it has all been put together!
Christensen, C,M. (2008) Disrupting Class New York: McGraw-Hill.
We started constructing our movie by writing up a storyboard. This was extremely helpful when filming our movie because it meant we knew exactly what everyone was doing in each scene. If I was carrying out this lesson with children, I would ensure they all had written up storyboards before beginning their filming. This would ensure they knew exactly what they had to film and could allocate appropriate roles to all members of their group.
Once we had written up our storyboard, we went to a flat with the camera to film our movie. Once we got there we found out that the camera was not working. We tried new batteries, but nothing worked so we had to return to Uni and wait till another group finished with their camera. By this point the group felt demotivated due to us not being able to record our film. Upon reflection, before teaching this lesson I would ensure that all of the cameras were working. This would avoid any groups feeling demotivated or demoralised due to them working hard to create a film but in the end felt it was pointless because they were not able to record it.
The filming process was really fun because it gave us the opportunity to experiment with different voices, scenes and characters. I think children would find this task very motivating because it provides them with opportunities to experiment and explore. I think this task was "intrinsically motivating". In Christensen's (2008, p7) book on Disrupting Class he explains that "intrinsic motivation is when the work itself stimulates and compels an individual to stay with the task because the task by itself is inherently fun and enjoyable." I cannot wait to see our film once it has all been put together!
Christensen, C,M. (2008) Disrupting Class New York: McGraw-Hill.
Aufwiedersehen Tessie!
Today we sent bears on a bear exchange. My group sent a bear to a group of students in Germany who are also studying to become teachers. Our bear is called Tessie, she lives in the river Tay and is Nessie's (the Loch Ness Monster) cousin. With Tessie we sent some Scottish tablet and postcards with pictures of places in Scotland on them. I am really looking forward to hearing all about Tessie's adventures in Germany. It will give me an insight into what teaching students in another countries learn and their teaching beliefs. This would be a great learning opportunity in schools because it would provide children with opportunities to see what children their age do in other countries. It will also give them a deeper understanding of the variety of cultures and nationalities around the world. It also provides them with the opportunity to teach children in other countries about their hobbies and what they do at school.
This activity could tie in with Religious Moral Education in which the children will learn about other children's cultures and beliefs in various countries. It could also be linked to Geograpghy where by they learn about the ways in which other children live and their schooling, around the world.
Thursday 10 February 2011
Voices of the World
Today Sharon introduced us to 'Voices of the World'. Every month she creates new tasks which people from all over the world participate in. The participants use the same software as she has used to create their own version of the task. They complete the task in their own language and include their own resources. I think this is an effective way of encouraging the children's understanding of all the different languages around the world. The tasks require the use of simple and basic language to make it easier to translate and learn the words in the different languages.
My group decided to do something quite simple that required basic vocabulary children would enjoy learning. Our chosen topic was "Our favourite sports." We selected 10 different sports, found pictures relating to the sport and displayed them on a PowerPoint. We used audacity to record each of the pronunciations of the sports in English. This software is very easy and effective to use because you can instantly playback what you have recorded and can cut the bits you don't like out. This took some time because we were trying to get the pronunciation correct. We then used a website called myplick in order to put the audio and PowerPoint together. The software is extremely straightforward to use. Although, it took a while to upload both files and then we found that we could not access our work because we did not have an account with the website. This resulted in us running out of time therefore having to stay behind to finish it quickly. Once it was all uploaded we just had to adjust the voice recordings to go in time with the PowerPoint. Although the software's were easy to use, it was quite time consuming so I would carry out this kind of lesson over a number of lessons. I am really excited to see what people from all over the world create and learning how to say the different sports in a variety of languages.
'Voices of the World' May Task'
My group decided to do something quite simple that required basic vocabulary children would enjoy learning. Our chosen topic was "Our favourite sports." We selected 10 different sports, found pictures relating to the sport and displayed them on a PowerPoint. We used audacity to record each of the pronunciations of the sports in English. This software is very easy and effective to use because you can instantly playback what you have recorded and can cut the bits you don't like out. This took some time because we were trying to get the pronunciation correct. We then used a website called myplick in order to put the audio and PowerPoint together. The software is extremely straightforward to use. Although, it took a while to upload both files and then we found that we could not access our work because we did not have an account with the website. This resulted in us running out of time therefore having to stay behind to finish it quickly. Once it was all uploaded we just had to adjust the voice recordings to go in time with the PowerPoint. Although the software's were easy to use, it was quite time consuming so I would carry out this kind of lesson over a number of lessons. I am really excited to see what people from all over the world create and learning how to say the different sports in a variety of languages.
'Voices of the World' May Task'
- Children in the class will draw/create pictures to go alongside the sports mentioned.
- Note: No children are to be in the pictures.
- These pictures should then be placed on a PowerPoint.
- Using a sound recording program, such as Audacity, the class can then record themselves saying each of the words aloud, in their first language.
- The teacher can then merge these using a simple program such as 'myplick'.
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