Tapping into a child's creativity, in my opinion, is one of the most important part of being an educator. When a child is allowed to express themselves and utilize their creative talents their chances of learning and loving what they learn are much greater. Multimedia technologies can help us as educators accomplish this goal. There are countless programs and softwares that make learning and creating new things for students of all grade levels fun and inspiring. Multimedia combines text, data, voice, picture, and video all in a single application. Giving the students countless creative options for their projects. Comparing Minimal and Multimedia Classroom Technologies we can see the difference in certain teaching strategies. For example in the past (before the computer revolution) a teacher would have to draw the Water Cycle on the whiteboard/chalkboard and ask her students to copy it down and memorize it. With todays tools the teacher can used a times slide show with audio, or a reel-to-reel movie projected on a screen. She could also ask the students to create these on their own in groups or individually.
Using Powerpoint and Next-Generation Presentation Tools is another fun and exciting way to teach a classroom. With all of the new additions and abilities in these systems presenting to a classroom has never been easier or as exciting. The ability to embed podcasts and videos into your presentations gives them flairs and keeps the students interests alive. A document cameras captures whatever is under its lens and, when connected to a digital projector or a television set projects that image onto a large screen or whiteboard. Having the ability to transform the small screen of a single computer into a classroom-wide, theater like learning environment, drastically changing the presentation experience for the students and the teacher.
Photo-Taking and Movie-Making With Students was another important section of this chapter. Children in our generation love to take pictures and make videos. The applications such as Facebook and Vine show us that movie making and photography can be tapped into by just about anyone. Incorporating this into your lesson plan could be a fun and interesting tool for your students. This allows students to not only tap into one type of creativity but several. It gives them the opportunity to
Film
Write
Act
Edit
Critique
Coming up with a story line and acting is out is a wonderful way for students to re-inact historical events or explain one. For younger students softwares such as alphabet books allows students to upload pictures of themselves holding up objects with the specific letter they are doing. This is a fun way for young children to learn the alphabet while also tapping into their creative side
In conclusion, creativity is one of the most important thing for a child to develop. Technologies help us as teachers provide the tools to nurture this skill with innovative and fun ways to learn.
Resources:
Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.
The ability to use and create with multimedia is truly a wonderful addition to the classroom. :) Of course, it brings with it its own set of challenges, but the chance to address various learning needs is incredible. It is a more natural ingredient to your (and younger) generation so the expectation is definitely there - let's tap into it! :)
Fun with your ToonDoo - I do think student-produced videos demonstrating their knowledge is a productive and constructive way to learn.
The ability to use and create with multimedia is truly a wonderful addition to the classroom. :) Of course, it brings with it its own set of challenges, but the chance to address various learning needs is incredible. It is a more natural ingredient to your (and younger) generation so the expectation is definitely there - let's tap into it! :)
ReplyDeleteFun with your ToonDoo - I do think student-produced videos demonstrating their knowledge is a productive and constructive way to learn.