Voicethread

Voicethread is such a fabulous tool. It is very user friendly. Someone who has little technological experience could create a voicethread with very little instruction. I didn't have any trouble navigating my way through the process of creating by uploading photos, commenting by typing or recording my voice and finally embedding it in my blog. I like the fact that it is quite easy to organize your photos however you want. I can see this becoming one of my favorite tools on the internet.
Here is another excellent example of a tool with useful applications for school teachers. Voicethread could be used throughout K-12 classrooms. I think someone in class may have mentioned this could be a great tool for using with another class in a different location to communicate. One of my friends is a 5th grade teacher in Massachusettes and her class did an ongoing project where her students look at the moon every night and record what they see. They shared this project with a class in Japan. How awesome would it be if they used voicethread to upload their pictures of the moon and students from both classes could comment on the pictures.
In the introduction to voicethread I saw a picture of a dinosaur that a boy had drawn and colored. It was uploaded and others commented on the drawing giving feedback. Voicethread is a place where students and teachers could share all kinds of work samples like; art, stories, science projects or anything created in the classroom. Once uploaded on voicethread they can ask for feedback or give out information. The applications are endless.

Online Storybook

| View Sample Photo Books | Create your own Photo Book

Creating a digital online storybook on Mixbook was such an enjoyable experience. Kelly and I had such a great time collaborating on the storybook. I learned so much from working with Kelly. We were able to compare and contrast our individual experiences with the Awana Grand Prix. This was a fantastic example of how collaboration may take place in a classroom setting. I found Mixbook fairly easy to navigate and create. The layouts and stickers were fun to play with and add to our theme pages. It was unfortunate that Kelly and I could not both be logged onto Mixbook at the same time. We loved the final product online and even ordered one for each of us. I can't wait to receive it and see how it compares to the online book. Now that I have used the site I would feel comfortable introducing students to it and creating projects in the classroom.

Mixbook is another fabulous and useful application for students in the classroom. This would be a great way to teach students to work together on a project. Comparing and contrasting experiences that students may have had on a field trip would be a great teaching tool and the class would have a memory book of the field trip from each students perspective. Involving the students in creating a memory book of the years highlights could be another application where the students could collaborate. To focus on a science unit, students could research different body systems and input pictures to Picasa in order to create a book highlighting each system with 5 interesting facts on each page. Younger students might work together with their teacher and their families in creating a book about families. Older students might create a class book about biographies where they create their own page writing about their interests, strengths, goals and dreams. There are so many ways Mixbook could be utilized. Thanks for introducing me to another wonderful teaching tool. One of my hobbies is scrap booking memories through creating books at home. Mixbook is a great fast, easy alternative to creating homemade scrapbooks. They would also make fantastic gifts.