I decided to create some exemplars for the students in regards to the circle geometry multimedia enhanced student activity assignment.  I designed a graphic using Microsoft Word, an audio file using Audacity with some audio found in Internet Archives and my personal favourite, a video animation with audio and graphics made entirely by myself using a software program I found called ‘Moovly’.  This by far, took me the most time but definitely came out with a good explanation of the property in my opinion.

Graphic

I used Microsoft Word to create the graphic.  I then had to convert it into a PDF file as the file must be read only.  Some of the details I took into account in the graphic were the bold, highlighted description of the property, using the same colour in both circles for the angle, the arc, the arrows and the text.  I also used ‘callouts’ for some of the terminology as well as some descriptions of central angle and inscribed angle.  The border outlining the terms ‘vertex’ and ‘same arc’, make the terms stand out even more.  I found inserting and manipulating the shapes was quite simple to do using Word.  I found some difficulty trying to determine the centre of the circle and had to create many circles and keep the mouse at the centre so I could then mark the vertex.  I think visually, it can really help students see and understand that the central angle is double the inscribed angle subtended by the same arc.

link to circle geometry graphic

Audio

I used Audacity and Internet Archives in creating this audio file.  The property I am attempting to introduce to the students is inscribed angles subtended by a semicircle are always 90 degrees, or right angles.  I also found a good audio file in Internet Archives called ‘Circle Geometry’ be Nigel Simmons where he spends some time talking about triangles in a circle, especially right triangles and further, quadrilaterals and some properties of interior angles of these shapes in a circle.  This is where I want the students to go next so thought it was a good way of getting them thinking about polygons inside circles.  Nigel had some good coughing episodes which were fun to cut out!  I was trying to get the audio at the same level throughout the file but had some difficulty raising my level of audio and quieting Nigel’s audio.  Like my activities, the audio is direct and to the point so that students can focus on the content.

Video – with audio and graphics

This was the most enjoyable part of the assignment.  I had worked on a Powtoon for one of my activities and wanted to work with some software similar to that idea.  I found a site called ‘Moovly’ and found it quite user friendly.  I was able to add shapes and animation as well as my own audio fairly simply.  Like Abbi noted in her video exemplar, this did take a few hours to complete, which is a long time for a 45 second video, however, the end result is a good explanation with visuals and audio that is timed to help students with the understanding.  I was very happy with the timing of the graphics with the audio so that students can use their auditory and visual skills in order to assist with the comprehension of these properties in action.  The idea for this property is inscribed angles subtended by the same arc are congruent.  This statement in itself, makes it difficult for students to understand that it is just saying, ‘inscribed angles at the same arc are equal’.  I think my video helps students see and hear this much more clearly.