Journal Entry #6

Journal 6: Kidspiration

I really enjoyed using Kidspiration. I think it’s a very simple yet very diverse tool for allowing students to create their own graphic organizers for various subjects, including math, science, language arts, and history. It is colorful, with easily identified options and is very easy to start using. Additionally, it’s designed in a fashion that makes it accessible for younger students (k-3^rd graders) as well as for older users.

The Kidspiration software is a valuable addition to any classroom. It provides students with an accessible way to create high quality graphic organizers. Students have the opportunity when using this program to demonstrate their knowledge of a subject in addition to building technology skills. This program can be used to create compare/contrast graphs, venn diagrams, thought maps, and other useful graphic organizers for use within the classroom. Additionally, this program is useful for educators who want to design original, student-friendly graphic organizers within a variety of disciplines (math, science, etc).

I did not use the Atomic Learning video tutorials. I prefer a more hands on approach (I downloaded the program and just started clicking on the various options and exploring the different types of graphic organizers available using this software). However, I did glance quickly at the tutorials, which are a useful resource if I find myself unable to do what I want to do with this software.

iMOVIE Software Review

I think that the iMovie software is an extremely valuable tool for educators and anyone who is interested in using video media. The potential use for this program in the classroom is nearly endless. In addition to the technological skills which students will develop when using this program, the ability to create projects, instructional videos, classroom movies, reports, and even plays, personal movies, or narratives is simply amazing. Also, this program is awesome for engaging students. I know that many students will be excited to create their own videos and might not even realize they are developing valuable intellectual and academic skills in the process.

Another great part of the iMovie software is the way it requires a variety of interdisciplinary skills to be developed and utilized by the students. Planning and management skills for developing a proper sequence of video clips, language skills for research and narratives, technological skills to use the software, and collaborative skills when working within groups will all be routinely reinforced through the incorporation of this software in the classroom.

This was also an excellent experience for myself to learn another type of video editing software. I prefer the use of PC’s to Macs in general, but the ease of use that iMovie offers helped me to realize the potential value of Mac based software. The ability to simply drag clips from the desktop or photo's section is an example of an ease of use feature that many PC based editing programs lack.