Week 4: May 27th- June 2nd 

This week's assignments (mostly just the YouTube video) was a bit of a challenge for me. I had so many ideas that were going through my head, but when it came time to figure out how to put them into play, I came to a holt. I had to figure out 1. how to use the program, 2. what program to use, and 3. how would it be useful to my students. I initially thought about reading a book on a YouTube video, I figured this would be a good way to bring my own book in but that is quite popular. Since this is our last week of school, (we get out next week) I decided that I wanted to do something around culture. Letting my students know how unique they are to me! We participate in an activity called Celebration of Cultures. Where each Head Start is a different country. As we are the biggest center, we got Mexico! Since it is close to most of our students culture, it's always a fun time to learn more and help them expand on their knowledge of their Mexican/Central American background. So I wanted to make a video that states, we are all unique, we are all different but that's OKAY. I want my kiddies to celebrate their diversity, their individuality, and their social identities. I hope you enjoyed my YouTube Clip! It was a bit hard to make, I'm not the most techy person, but I tried my best and I think it came out pretty well :) As always a challenge, but a good one! Many times we think our children are too young to learn about culture, diversity, empathy and acceptance. Which isn't so. My children are 3rd generation Mexican-American and strong ties to their Native American roots, I try to help them learn about their cultures, be proud of them but ALSO be accepting to others. I think if we stat young to teach children about what it means to be MULTI-cultural and how it can be everything from religion, creed, ethnicity, race, to physical ability! Below is an article I found that focused on integrating multi-culralrism and anti-bias into our classrooms. I attended an anti-bias training at  University of Michigan and it helped me to recognize what types of language to use, how to interact with individuals of different backgrounds, etc. It talks about creating connections, patience, and self-exploration (which is what I am trying to work on with my babies!). Hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Surprisingly there are few articles on Multi-Culturalism in Early Childhood, but this one was a good one! 

http://archive.adl.org/education/miller/q_a/multicultural_anti_bias_education.asp

This week we also were asked to evaluate websites that allowed us to create videos/movies. Below are my evaluations on these : 

Internet Resource Evaluation

1.       Animoto:

a.       This could be used by students to learn how to make a small clip for maybe a project in the classroom or an art project, etc. Students could also use this as a personal video for their social lives. I think it would be cute to use as a birthday invitation, prom invite, etc. Parents could use this to announce their weddings, graduation, student’s achievements of the year, or parties, ceremonies, etc. Something quick and to the point (since only 30 sec is free!). Teachers could also use it to have playing pictures of their class or introduce themselves to their parents via email. It is a good way to send cards for holidays and whatnot without having to use all the paper, and materials.

b.       Ease of use of Animoto for me I would say is about a middle ground. I thought it was pretty simple because it allows you to pick your background that you might like for your clip. So you don’t have to design one, and there is quite a variety of backgrounds (Christmas, nature, fireworks, plain, etc).  It was still a bit confusing because I created my own video but what I thought would go into the video didn’t it created a completely new clip. I made a fake birthday invitation to my son’s Bday party to see and it was cute but without having many pictures of my own on my computer and clips of music (that were 30 seconds long) it was a bit confusing! I would say the ease of use is pretty basic if you have worked with other programs like Windows Movie creator and Prezi and used to uploading pictures and arranging things. Maybe with the Pro or  Plus package you get more guidance! But overall, it was a simple use!

c.       Cost- 30 second videos are free, but limited materials (backgrounds, no audio on clips they provide). If you upgrade to Plus you pay about $2.50 a month plus $30 annual which isn’t too bad. You get 10 min video and more access to backgrounds but the same access to music clips as the free plan. Pro which is the priciest is $20.75 a month and $249 annual. I don’t think I would ever get Pro unless it was a career for me. I think Plus is mostly reasonable but if you are really into making videos for your job, family, etc. It’s not too bad. You can sign up with no credit card, but options are limited. But if all you need is 30 seconds, go for it!

d.       Flexibility is design is medium. I think there is flexibility in what you want to bring in (pictures and music) but there are only a few options with backgrounds (in the free one) but if you upgrade you can bring in more clips and blend them.

e.       Pretty secure, I don’t think your videos are public unless you allow people you send them to view them. I looked at account and settings and didn’t outwardly see where it stated that your videos could be public (like Prezi) or to mark for them NOT to be.

f.        You can correct mistakes, by changing things on it. Doesn’t penalize you for it. You can change things and it allows you to explore and to undo if need be.

g.       You can add media but like I previously stated you are limited in size and amount that you can put on there due to having the “free” account”. If you have the 30 seconds you can only add media that fits into that. You can upload your own pictures into the video along with your own video clips. You can add media to it though! Songs were limited on there when I went to look for music!

2.       Yodio

a.       A good resource for teachers because they can add pictures and record their lessons if they may not be there for that day, etc. Allows students to make more interesting presentations versus just having pictures appear with captions. I think it is a good resource because it encourages that the student to learn to discuss things, rather than just having the audience read the information on the slide or picture. The community could use it on a community website or a place to talk about their community and pictures or local events. Parents could do it to announce the birth of a child, or create a “memory video” for their children maybe something like starting from a ultrasound to 18 years of age kind of video with small descriptions along the way would be cute.

b.       The ease of use is very simple. You just upload your picture and record your voice or add your pre-recorded voice clip. It is simple because you don’t have to pick a whole of extra transitions and stuff unless you want to. It’s just a picture, and a voice clip which I really liked. I think for students starting out learning technology this is a good option.

c.       Cost is free unless you upgrade to get royalties on your videos/pictures. If you upgrade to get 50% of royalties you pay $6.99 and if you want %70 of royalties you pay $34.00 a month. I am not sure how much it costs to “go Pro” but it seems like it would be for people who make money off of these. You can create a Yodicast and stuff like that, but I am unsure of the costs. But the basic package and to register is FREE.

d.       Very simple design, and flexibility is minimal though. You don’t have a lot of different options for this layout or this color scheme which can be nice. Because it is all about the picture, and the voice. Keeps it very simple. You have your choice of the order of the pictures, etc.

e.       Security is a bit more open here. Your videos/pictures are public and can be seen by others (like Prezi). I don’t know if there is an option to click it off because I did not register for this one due to it asking for your phone number (which I am never a fan of putting in anywhere).

f.        You can fix your mistakes easily and it is a simple program since you essentially only just upload pictures and add your voice to it as an overlay.

g.       One can add media by using your own pictures of things that you want and adding your own voice to the pictures as description. I didn’t see if there was any way of adding transitions between the pictures but it didn’t appear as though that was part of it.

3.       Edmodo                             

a.       Great resources for teachers. Probably better for teachers of older children in 6^th grade or above. I can’t see too young of children using it  but we may be surprised with what students can do these days!

b.       It is pretty easy to use, and it has a lot of activities you can use (polls, surveys, etc).  You can also use it as an option for students to be able to connect with one another in a community. It allows for your students and yourself to have forums, post things, add notes, stuff like that. I think it is a good if you are working on a project with people. It is also good because it encourages young students to connect with one another in a safe way online that you as a teacher can monitor. I don’t think it would be as good for the parents to use unless they are using it with the teacher who could update them on things in the classroom or lesson plans for the week. I doubt that one would use it for personal use though. For students that are used to social networks this is very similar to Facebook.

c.       Cost is completely free for signup and there doesn't seem to be any payment needed.

d.       Flexibility of design is easy, and simple to change things and create new things liked assignments. I didn’t like the sign up process. I thought it was a bit too much even though I understand it is used to be able to have people connect with your school and your classroom.  

e.       Security is good because it allows the teacher to be able to monitor what is going on in the classroom forum and stuff like that. Teacher is able to see what is being said between the students and able to keep charge and not allow it get out of hand. It also keeps others from viewing what the students are doing and that can be good since some parents want privacy for their students.

f.        Easy to use after you get past the sign up part! May take a little bit of patience and playing around with it but uploading information is very easy and creating things are pretty basic once you figure out where to click and all of that.

g.       You can add media: pictures, to your personal profile and videos also that your class can view.