Multimedia tools are a quick, fun way to make students interested in what you are presenting. Multimedia tools can bridge the gap between students, parents, and teachers. Multimedia tools makes learning fun. It is another means of providing differentiated instruction to students. It will help those students who need the use of technology to better learn and understand materials. And as an educator, that is what we truly want; for our students to fully grasp the concepts. If it takes using multimedia tools, then that's what we need to do. Now days, most kids are using technology more than they ever have and we need to be mindful and govern ourselves accordingly in order to reach and teach more children. Multimedia tools are what kids are used to. Most of them are more technologically advanced than some adults will every be. So let's use their own material to support them in learning.
Multimedia tools are easy to use and access. It took me about 25 minutes to learn and create an animoto, but I have shared it with several of my friends and family and they have thoroughly enjoyed the clip that I created. I didn't show them anything that they didn't already know, but I presented it in a more interesting manner to them. We can have the same effects on our staff and students using multimedia tools. It is also easy to distribute multimedia tools to students and parents. All we have to do is click a button and we are able to share pertinent information with our parents about anything. It works the same way with our students. I am a big fan of multimedia tools and I going to work harder at incorporating them into my lessons and using them with my parents to make the connection between us all.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
What makes an effective website?
I think what makes an effective website is the fact that it MUST accessible, user-friendly, and easy to use. If I was going to create my website, I would use weebly.com. I looked over weebly and joined weebly and I thought that it was a great way to create a website. It is simple to use, it has tutorials, and it is becoming very popular.
My website will have the schools purpose, vision, and mission posted on the site. This lets others know what we stand for. My site is going to be user-friendly and appealing to those who log on to the site because with the way technology is, websites say a lot about you. Some people check out a website before they even are willing to go to a place and if the website doesn't meet the standards, they don't go. This tells me that first impressions are everything and I want my school to have great, lasting first impression. I am also going to put pictures of my students interacting with each other and the staff on the page. This lets people see how we work together to achieve a common goal. An “About Us” page is a must. This gives others the insight on the history and character of the school. A great way to do this would be to create an animoto, like the one I created in class to highlight the school. This will be entertaining and let others see how your school works. My website is also going to have a staff directory page and a link to other important sites page. This goes back to being user friendly and accessible. It is also a must to have school calendar and a sports page. These two things may be the two most important things on the site. Being that they are pushing teachers to use edline and email more, I am going to have a link to both of those on my site.
I want to do all that I can to ensure that my site is appealing and informative to all who visit. I am also going to have a place where those who visit can comment and make suggestions on the layout and design of the website. This will give me direct feedback to what my audience is thinking and how I can best support them.
My website will have the schools purpose, vision, and mission posted on the site. This lets others know what we stand for. My site is going to be user-friendly and appealing to those who log on to the site because with the way technology is, websites say a lot about you. Some people check out a website before they even are willing to go to a place and if the website doesn't meet the standards, they don't go. This tells me that first impressions are everything and I want my school to have great, lasting first impression. I am also going to put pictures of my students interacting with each other and the staff on the page. This lets people see how we work together to achieve a common goal. An “About Us” page is a must. This gives others the insight on the history and character of the school. A great way to do this would be to create an animoto, like the one I created in class to highlight the school. This will be entertaining and let others see how your school works. My website is also going to have a staff directory page and a link to other important sites page. This goes back to being user friendly and accessible. It is also a must to have school calendar and a sports page. These two things may be the two most important things on the site. Being that they are pushing teachers to use edline and email more, I am going to have a link to both of those on my site.
I want to do all that I can to ensure that my site is appealing and informative to all who visit. I am also going to have a place where those who visit can comment and make suggestions on the layout and design of the website. This will give me direct feedback to what my audience is thinking and how I can best support them.
Presentation Tools
I decided to look at PowerPoint. I chose PowerPoint because it is the most commonly used presentation tool. It is very easy to use and there are tons of materials available for those who do not know how to use PowerPoint. PowerPoint is full of animations and graphics tools which you can use to "spice" up your presentation. Those tools are simple to use as well. There are also tutorials available for those as well. I also like PowerPoint because it is widely available. If you log onto a computer, almost 100% of computers will have PowerPoint installed onto them. This makes it easy to make an assignment and not have to be worried about whether or not PowerPoint will be available for you when you go to a new location to present. It is also very simple to embed hyperlinks, videos, etc. into PowerPoint. I think that PowerPoint is a very user-friendly tools, which is why most people choose to use it. The other feature that i like about PowerPoint is that it is accessible on the Promethean board. I am able to type my lessons into PowerPoint and use them on the Promethean board. This makes the kids, as well as others, think that you are very savvy when it comes to the Promethean board, but it is really just using PowerPoint. Because most people already know how to use PowerPoint, it is a simple transition to the Promethean board.
I can't think of many cons to PowerPoint. The only ones that i could really think of is that unless the presenter is very entertaining and energetic, PowerPoint can be a bit boring to some. The other downside is that the audience will have a tendency to read the slides, as apposed to listening to the presenter and not pay as much attention as they should. But overall, I think PowerPoint is a very good presentation tool.
Using PowerPoint, or any presentation tool is in direct alignment with standard 3: Administrators are able to display all gathered information and data in an effective manner that makes taking necessary steps for school improvement more manageable and understandable. PowerPoint helps make communication data and materials easy to staff and others. Using PowerPoint also aligns with Standard 4:Administrators should demonstrate their ability to model the routine, purpose, and effective use of technology.
I can't think of many cons to PowerPoint. The only ones that i could really think of is that unless the presenter is very entertaining and energetic, PowerPoint can be a bit boring to some. The other downside is that the audience will have a tendency to read the slides, as apposed to listening to the presenter and not pay as much attention as they should. But overall, I think PowerPoint is a very good presentation tool.
Using PowerPoint, or any presentation tool is in direct alignment with standard 3: Administrators are able to display all gathered information and data in an effective manner that makes taking necessary steps for school improvement more manageable and understandable. PowerPoint helps make communication data and materials easy to staff and others. Using PowerPoint also aligns with Standard 4:Administrators should demonstrate their ability to model the routine, purpose, and effective use of technology.
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