Monday, October 17, 2005

It's Done! I Think?

I think the ABC Fruit and Vegetable game is finished. I hope:) I decided to put the menu button only on the last frame of each letter grouping. I figure that if you go to the letter you will want to go through all of the frames before going to another letter.

I'm still not happy about the play video again button but it won't work any other way.

I have also added goals and ideas of how to use the game including using it with an interactive whiteboard. (SmartBoard)

Thanks for all of the help and input Rosemary!

Now I have to get the website up and running properly. I just bought ASL Animations 1 and 2 to use for the website and additional games. I want to make an auditory version of the game for the kids in our program-have to learn how to do sound in flash now. Then I want to make a numbers game. Still thinking about how it will work.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

ABC Game

I really do not like what is happening to the video with the button having to appear on the video at the same time as the word. I really think it will be distracting to the children. I have tried several different ways including starting from scratch and the same thing keeps happening. I guess the problem is that I'm not fully trained in Flash.

I also still need to decide about the Menu button-every page? some pages? written word? a button?

I am ready to finish this game. I hope the end is in sight soon!!!!!

All of the videos are now posted in the newest version even though I don't like the play video again problem.

ABC Game Weird Problems

I started putting the "Play Video Again" button on the individual videos. Some of the works fine and I can do it so that the word appears on the screen for a short bit before the button appears. Others the only way I can put a button on is to put it on at the same time the word appears otherwise when it stops it stops with the word and a frame showing Ruth. I hate doing that because I feel like it distracts from the word. I would prefer to see the word alone first and then with the button but I can't get it to do that. The weird thing is that all of the videos were made the same so I'm not sure why they don't act the same.

I put forward buttons on all of the slides except for the matching frames. It took a little creativity to get them to work right. If I put them on as buttons where I pulled in videos they did nothing, so I changed them to graphics and it works off of the original whole frame button.

The directions page still needs so work organizing it and deciding what I want to say.

Changed the button that said Home to say Menu but haven't decided which pages I want to put it on. Any ideas?

This is what is done so far. I'm up to fruit making the video changes.

Monday, October 03, 2005

Using Blogs to Support Literacy

Blogs
A blog is a web-based journal, log or diary that first appeared around 1999. Since then the number of blogs have multiplied. Technorati recently reported that they are “now indexing over 16 million blogs, with about 100,000 new blogs created every day.”

Blogs usually have only one author although sometimes, as in the case of a collaborative blog, there may be more than one. An author will generally write about what they are doing, an opinion about something or a reaction to something. It is not uncommon to see postings that reference or discuss another person’s blog. Blogs are also in reverse chronological order. At the top of the page is the most recent posting with the older ones following. Postings are dated as to when they were posted.

Blogs are public and lasting. Anything written in them can be read by anyone who finds them. They can be searched for by using Technorati or Google’s new blog search engine. Once you find a blog you like, you can continue to follow it by subscribing to its RSS feed. This will make it possible for you to follow it in a newsreader or aggregator such as Bloglines.

Blogs are becoming very popular in schools, because you don’t need to be a web designer to create them and they are free. Schools can use online software such as Blogger, or install “free for educational use” software on their own servers. Blog editing software uses a WYSIWYG (what you see if what you get) editor to type in your content. Blog entries can consist of text, links to internet sources or podcasts, photos and /or videos. Use of video allows signing students to post in their native language.

Administrators are using them to keep parents informed about school events. Teachers use them to post homework assignments, handouts from class and class news.

Blogs and Literacy
Blogs are also being used for literacy, both reading and writing. Teachers are encouraging student writing through two features of blogging-posting and commenting. By posting to a blog, a student’s work is essentially published for the public to read. It gives students the feeling that what they write is important and that their opinions can be heard. Through the comment feature the public is able to comment on student posts and students are able to comment on each other’s.

Teachers can encourage student reading by assigning news articles for them to read and comment on, by having students read and comment on each other’s blogs and by posting teacher blog entries written on the reading level of their students.

Class blogs are another popular use of blogs. In addition to posting class news, assignments etc. teachers also use blogs for class discussions, student collaboration and to post student work. Parents are able to read what is happening in the class and then comment on entries their child or the other students post (click on the comment link at the end of one of the postings that this links to and you can see parent comments.)

Technospud.com uses a collaboration blog in their O.R.E.O. project. Participating classes use a specific style of Oreo cookies to measure different objects. They then post 5 of their results to the project blog and read postings from other classes.

Last year, Team 6/7/8 at Kendall Demonstration School used a blog to communicate with Sgt. Earl (Jay) Beatty in Iraq and his wife in the U.S. It helped to make the war more real for them. His tour of duty ended in May and when he returned Jay, his wife and son visited the school to meet the students.

We as adults are falling behind the students in our technology awareness. Although they may not necessarily know the word blog (my daughter didn't) a large number of teenagers and/or thier friends now Xanga. (My daughter tried it for a week and quit but does follow her friends blogs.) We need to start to take advantage of something that students enjoy and use it for education.

Resources to Check Out
Weblogs for Use with ESL Classes

Blogging and RSS-The "What's It?" and "How To" of Powerful New Web Tools for Educators by Will Richardson

Blogs and Blogging: A Homerun for Teaching, Learning, and Technology - a mini-course about blogging

New Kids on the Blog-an article in NEA Today October 2005 issue.

Clerc Center Blogs-list of blogs and additional ideas for using them

Blogging Software
Blogger-online software


Blogmeister-online software


Kidzlog-download and install on your computer or server. Very kid friendly. Charge


Wordpress-download and install on your computer or server.