Making catchy announcements

Announcements, long or one-liner, in big posters or in bond paper size, must be able to catch attention so it will become effective.. It is the same with sharing quotes. It is not enough to have very good quote, it should be complemented by the appearance that will make it memorable and useful.

I found some handy, pretty and quick applications that can assist office staff to come up with reminders or announcements that are unforgettable.

First, is Avachara, an avatar character maker. When making posters or big invitations or reminders in a training facility or campus, avatars serve as useful, eye-catcher and attention-getter. In a brief time I was able to make my own avatar.

Second is Quozio, an instant type-your-quote, scroll and select the theme of your quote. It even encourages the user to make her own quote, and so I did.

 

Third is Pablo, an easy quote maker that provides beautiful wallpapers or backgrounds. The user also has the option to upload her own background picture. This is what I did, upload a photo I shot last Sunday and put the quote.

Pablo is still in a beta version but I find it very comfortable and recommendable to office staff.

All the three applications can be used without registration and the outputs can be downloaded as an image. This makes the use-test practical.

All of them have very simple navigation, no complicated searching of functions because all the tasks are on top of the screen (for Quozio and Pablo) or on the left (for Avachara). This is how tools should be designed, having extra consideration for amateur and frequent users.

I will definitely recommend and include them in the staff training for next year. Costs of these tools are also modest.

My example of a reminder, using my avatar from Avachara and Pablo .

ICT Teaching can be a comfort zone

It is simple, a teacher need not be a superwoman to be very good in teaching. But given the right solutions and technologies, she is able to deliver better.

Storyline, Voki and Online Voice Recorder make my preparation of instructional materials not just comfortable but worthwhile.

So a piece of advice, if you are a teacher, every time you encounter a very good application, be it web-based or mobile or even stand-alone and you enjoy using it, make it as an extension of your teaching. As Marshall McLuhan would say, the medium is the message. How you are able to skillfully utilize an ICT application to exhibit seamless teaching becomes the message of the whole learning experience.

Testing Voki

I am trying to look for a tool that can animate speaking. This the second application I found, Voki. I am still learning how to use it, DIY style, and how to transport it in the different LMS.

This is Minet Kha, my very own Voki character.

Voki allows creations of characters or avatars, adding persona to the characters and adding voice or audio in several ways.

The output can be an html format  that can be embedded in the personal website or can be in a url link like this example.

Minet Kha talking about eLearning 101

Testing Powtoon

Powtoon is a slides and movie creator. It is an alternate to Powerpoint and allows two types of outputs, a presentation and a movie. For important or abstract concepts, this can be used by teachers. And the teachers would have the option to replay it (even the students). It would allow students to formulate their questions or reconcile the movie with related topics.

Powtoon is not free. It provides free trial for month. The slides or movie produced can be directly uploaded to Youtube (you need to have your Youtube channel in place) or have Powtoon generate a url link to be able to watch and view your movie. The result also has a Powtoon stamp.

Here is an example: (with audio) Additions to Tech4Teach

 

It is recommended to use the ready-made templates of Powtoon. They are convenient to use and the management of animations and timelines are easy to understand, it is in a model + or – 1 second.

For the trial version, a voice over can be inserted in every slide. A voice over can have a maximum of 18seconds to make it work with the existing template. Powtoon has its own voice recorder facility but the result when I tested has some hisss sounds.

There are several online sites to record voice or audio available but the 123 Apps Voice Recorder is the recommendable choice. It is available at this link– http://online-voice-recorder.com/

Teaching with Comics

Comics is a form of medium that combines the elements of words and cartoon pictures. It is easy to read and it can easily send a message in a single strip, double strip or multiple strip. Comics is a medium to spark reading among young people.

While this used to be a medium in print, it has also evolved along the way, just like any media as technology progressed.

There are several online applications that can generate comics. There are also mobile tools to create comics or cartoon characters. I have seen four or five and I found BITSTRIPS and StripGenerator can comfortably handle creation of strips, selection of characters and plotting of the script or conversations.

This is what I was able to make in one sitting in StripGenerator.

 

My image of sau rieng is not recognizable as I simply took one of the abstract photos available that could depict durian. But if a Vietnamese student would be able to read it, she could readily recognize what is being talked about.

My comics looks harsh and sarcastic. That is the point! Clear and descriptive, as a response to the question of color, shape and taste..

Comics can be a creative tool for teachers to ask students compose their thoughts in short, concise set of words.

As to StripGenerator, I recommend it for English Teachers to use. It is an effective way of creating memory recall of class rules, studying techniques or even reinforcing positive values and good behavior.

The link is here: http://stripgenerator.com/

 

ICT Teaching

ICT Teaching as a combination of practice and a way of thinking brings us to a teaching dimension that is characterized by habits, dependency and conformity. This is all true if ICT is doing all the things we want to happen. On the other hand, it leads to frustration, exhaustion and detachment when the opposite happens.

So along the way I will be introducing some nurturing experiences that may give insight one way or the other to the practice of ICT Teaching.

 

 

The Vantage Point

I earlier talked about ICT as a way of thinking and the fact that dependency is unavoidable. At the same time there is the danger of conformity.

It is important we become mindful of our vantage point– how close, how far, how fixed we are, how immense it affects us. Given the worst situation, can we live without technology?

A long time ago when we go mountain hiking, my brothers would be in distress not to hear a music or a channel signal when they open the battery-operated radio. Of course, we were in the middle of a mountain range, what do they expect?

Nowadays, business or tourism travelers include wifi as a major requirement when choosing a hotel, a restaurant or even an island to visit. If an establishment does not have a wifi, it is like you threw the white towel and gave up your business. This is an uncontrollable change we are facing. The demand for internet connectivity is high especially in urban areas.

For the teachers, what should be the vantage point? How close should teaching be with ICT? Should teaching espouse ICT or should teaching surrender to ICT?

Should ICT be in the backgound so as not to cover the symbolic and epitome stance of the teacher or should technology be at the foreground of teaching to attract and get the attention of the (so-called millenial and ADHD google) students?

Should ICT become the soul of teaching? Or should ICT be the home of teaching that enables anytime, anywhere learning?

It is certain we are facing a digitally connected future. It is certain digital skills are necessary for teaching and learning. As learning evolves, teaching does evolve too, with technology.

 

 

ICT Teaching is.. a Way of Thinking

While technology is an instrument of how to perform new ways of doing things, the nature of technology is not technological as the German philosopher Martin Heidegger (Lovitt, 1977) argued on it. He claimed that its nature is coupled by freedom in the process that reveals its nature and is able to frame a fresh way of looking at things.

Having been in the field of teaching for many years and using ICT for effective teaching, I could not disagree with Martin Heidegger. Use of ICT in teaching has revealed important statements in my humble opinion. These statements are in itself part of the nature of technology that I have recognized in my long years in the field .

First, ICT in teaching is in itself a way of thinking.

Many studies had been made claiming the effect of ICT in teaching leads to better understanding, better learning. I am aware of those studies too. But this is how I explain the statement.

ICT brings forth not only a different modality of instruction and an effective, efficient way of teaching. ICT is a practice, a way of exploring different possibilities. In teaching, ICT creates a ball game of what-ifs, expanded discerning and more so, while some actions are intended for less or unthinking, more musings and deductions actually happen.

In choosing a particular application or platform or computing instrument for example, will this choice enable the outcome that is envisioned. What techniques or strategies would complement such choice? Will such selection and its usage invent a worthwhile impact? So while many assume that there is not much thinking to do with ICT on hand, it is the opposite, more pondering and deducing to be done.

 

Second, ICT in teaching leads to a whole different mindset of teaching and delivering outcomes.

Once a selection of an ICT solution turns out to be fruitful and has a perceived worthwhile impact, it then leads now to an evolving method of teaching. One, it creates a realization that delivering outcomes with the use of ICT would produce a new set of skills and aptitudes on the part of the learners apart from what is intended. Two, this generates another dimension of teaching, that is, teaching now requires a continuous upper hand of ICT to be more meaningful and to produce both planned and unimagined, positive possibilities.

 

Third, ICT in teaching exhumes a totally different evolution of education.

Technology creates a perception of vulnerability and control that we deem it as a standard, necessary medium now in teaching. Along the way, having the upper hand, we become consumed by technology, consciously or unconsciously. It creates a mindset that teaching could not be more effective without technology and that teaching is now difficult to perform without technology.

The evident dependency of teaching on ICT is now unveiled. “ICT in teaching” or “ICT with teaching” or “ICT teaching” becomes a coupled words, a compound term or an idiom to express ICT teaching is a new way of thinking, an evolving way of teaching.

Lovitt, W. (1977). Martin Heidegger The question concerning technology and other essays. Harper and Row Publishers, New York.