Public Service Announcements

While viewing two public service announcements, I was taking on the role of a parent and my thoughts and reflections on the questions reflect this role.

“The Essay”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-uOO6O9uus

1. What was the main idea or point being made?

As I watched this video, I feel the main idea or point being made is to allow your child to take risks and be creative regardless of what others may think.  I believe it is acknowledging that children are our future and teachers need to be aware of and teach 21st Century skills that may be unfamiliar.

2. What audience was the video trying to reach?

I think the audience for this video is both teachers and parents. It provides teachers insight as to the thought processes of a young student and how she views and understands technology.  I believe the target audience is also parents.  It pulls at the heart-strings by having a young child reading a profoundly written essay about the future and having confidence in herself even when faced with adversity.  The video demonstrates parents standing behind their child and providing support of their child to be bold and brave.

3. Were the methods used to create the video effective?  Why or why not?

I think the methods used in this video were effective because of the child reading the personal essay. The child’s voice catches my attention as a parent because it makes me think of my own son.  I think by using parent emotion and other students’ reactions are powerful, but I did have to replay this public service announcement several times due to difficulty in understanding what the child was saying due to her accent.

“We Think”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiP79vYsfbo

1. What was the main idea or point being made?

The main idea in this video is showing the importance of sharing ideas and connecting globally to others around the world with the ease of technology.  It is demonstrating the ways to use the web for the creative mind, but also as a way to increase knowledge about mass innovation while sharing ideas to help others learn.  It is a way for people to work together to learn and invent.

2. What audience was the video trying to reach?

I think this video is trying to reach both teachers and administrators.  In the video, it provides many reasons as to why people should use the web, such as to encourage innovation.  It is important that when my child attends school, he learns 21st Century skills like sharing ideas collaboratively with others online, along with thinking creatively and being encouraged to innovate.  This video is also demonstrating to teachers and administrators that students need to have a voice and a say in their learning.  By using technology, this can be achieved with ease.

3. Were the methods used to create the video effective?  Why or why not?

I think the methods were incredibly powerful that were used within this video.  They were powerful due to the music and using only words.  It forced me to focus and read without a lot of other distractions.  The video flowed from one idea to the next and thoughts were short and powerful.

Using Infographics with Third Graders

Infographics are a powerful tool that can represent factual information in a creative way.  Students are using 21st-Century skills by comparing data and deciding on its importance.  They are creating an image that is strong while making a statement about the content they are displaying.

I believe that I could implement infographics with my third graders.  We do PBL within my classroom and it would be an excellent way to culminate a final project's findings.  Students could develop their infographic to display the vital information learned from the PBL and then design it for their target audience.  This would be an excellent way for my third graders to decide which information is important to share and how to display that information in a way others will understand.
As I ponder the thought of infographics and how I can use them within my classroom, I was thinking that my third graders could research a skill in a math unit.  Then, after they are proficient with that skill, they could teach others about it via an infographic.  It would be an attractive way for the students to display important information on their math skill.

I am lucky due to the fact that I have ten iPads within my classroom and I have access to two iPad carts, Macbook carts, along with five Chromebooks.  My third graders are accustomed to using technology in my classroom and would be excited to display their hard work in this creative format.

Thinglink VS. Adobe Sparknote Video

I had the privilege of making a Thinglink presentation and an Adobe Sparknote narrated video with images.  In this blog post, I’m going to be quite honest about my feelings on both of these presentation websites in ways of the ease of use, my final product, and whether or not I believe elementary students would be able to use either of these applications with success.

When I created my Thinglink, I found the website to be a little confusing at times.  When I started working with the tools, I noticed that many of them needed me to upgrade and pay in order to use them within my presentation.  I wasn’t a huge fan of this; however, I used tools that were free and I thought my presentation turned out well.  The dots are a neat feature, but I would’ve liked to do a voice-over in order to intrigue my students to read each one of the points about two-dimensional shapes.  I thought the colors that I used and the background image were attractive.  I think that I would use this as a whole group or small group presentation and most likely not independent work for my third-grade students.  I would want to make sure they hit on each bullet point I wrote and go in the order in which I presented the content.

My Adobe Sparknote video was extremely easy to create and narrate!  I loved making this video because I was able to pick a template, add music, and create a voice-over with ease.  I was also able to complete my voice-overs on each slide as many times as I needed to make it perfect. My students could refer to this tutorial during station time and could replay it as often as needed.

I believe these are two very different types of presentations that I created which could be implemented with elementary-age students.  I could see myself using the Adobe Sparknote video feature due to it being very kid-friendly.  I had an easy time navigating the site and uploading my images and narration.  

My students are currently working on researching a body system for Health.  The project consists of the students finding information on their particular body system and then creating a Google Slideshow to present their findings.  I think it would be more powerful to use Adobe Sparknote video because they will be able to add images, voice-overs, and have fluid transitions to capture their audience’s attention.  I would be able to assess their content and I could also use a presentation rubric to assess how they narrated their information. Students would be able to get their presentation finished in the allotted time provided as we have access to iPad carts, Macbook carts, and our own classroom Chromebooks.  I look forward to trying this out with my third graders to see how their presentations turn out!