While I certainly enjoyed all the presentations of my
fellow classmates thus far, I think the tech tool that I consider the most
useful was Padlet. Audacity was pretty helpful too especially when I had to
edit my conversation for ED 511. (I had to edit out the profanity) Maybe, that’s
too much information. In any case, I still want to discuss Padlet though.
Now, word on the street says this application is just like
Pinterest. But, I’m way too cool for Pinterest so I wouldn’t know. In any case, I thought the group really
showcased how this application could be used in the classroom. It seems to be a
great fit for social studies especially. So, being an extra awesome, future
history teacher I’m really excited to use it.
The idea that I thought was the most fantastic was creating
timelines. I most likely would not have thought of this without the incredible
insights of my colleagues. After that tangent, it goes without saying, but I’ll
mention it anyways: timelines are especially important for history. Students
need a framework to stick events onto according to Shemilt. I just had to throw
in the theory there; I couldn’t help myself. I love theory; it’s my favorite.
Anyways, using Padlet would allow students to add to the timeline all year.
What’s also great is students do not have to create an account for the
application. I always think it’s annoying to have to give all your information away
to use something.
Padlet is also great because students can share videos,
documents, and all kinds of different materials. The possibilities are endless.
In this regard, it’s simply great for organizing. It can essentially be used as
a teacher website as well, which is helpful to me because I’m not the most tech
savvy guy in the world. Ease of use is an important aspect to me. I don’t like
to work hard. With technology stuff my philosophy is: if it’s not easy; it’s
not right. Padlet is easy.
Thanks to the presentation of my classmates, I’m willing to
give this application a try in my future classroom.
Steven, I could hear your voice in my head as I read this post. You write as you speak, and I like that.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, and I'm not playing favorites, Padlet was one of three tools from those presented which I might actually apply in the future. Voice Thread and Prezi were the others, and I love Prezi because I presented on it. Not really, I just think it's far more aesthetically pleasing and diverse than any other presentation tool.
You mention timelines. I think Voice Thread would also serve your purpose well here, especially because it enables you to tell a story through spoken word and pictures. I agree with you about the need for simplicity in technology. I often feel encumbered when I use the stuff in my placement. The fewer moving parts, the better. For this reason I really like Padlet. It lends itself to all sorts of things. I won't enumerate all of the possibilities, but one can imagine what can be accomplished with an endless blank slate which enables embedding and posting of all sorts of content. It's like a huge, ubiquitous, digital poster board; anyone can edit from anywhere, and anything can be posted in any type of constellation.
Godspeed you, Mr. Smith
Padlet appears most useful to me, too! Other tools had interesting capabilities, but often not applicable to math. I have avoided Pinterest because I heard it is addictive and I don’t have time for add any distractions during the demanding program. Padlet does not appear to have any such addictive side effects! Common Core has a strong focus on connections and Padlet allows those necessary associations between previous and current material to be available and evident for the entire class. Do you think the iPhone fingerprint passcode will become prominent in tech soon enough to eliminate the account creation frustrations? I hope so! In the meantime, I agree that it is helpful to have a tech tool to explore without the need and with so many options to keep “Deep Thoughts” organized… ☺
ReplyDeleteStephen- I completely agree with you! So far I've found Padlet the most helpful tool that we've been introduced to. I've actually already used Padlet to create a lesson and I found it so helpful for organizing my lesson. I also plan on using it to hopefully help create chracter maps to help my students keep track of texts that include many different characters. That may also help while teaching a unit that includes many different historical figures. I've also become a fan because the site is so easy to use. I also like to use it as a place to collect supplementary materials for a lesson. It's so easy to link videos and articles to the site, so when I find something that I think will work well with a unit, I can link it over to Padlet for easy access when I need it later.
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