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EDDL 5131 – Media Exemplar Collection – Everyday Things

PICTURE/GRAPHIC: Google Photos; Snapseed

Ex.) Six-Word Memoir Graphic

With my particular group of students, Grade Seven, I thought the use of the smartphone would serve a dual purpose. It would activate engagement because of the familiarity and appeal their phones would bring to any task. Secondly, the various apps could be utilized to facilitate the learning process.

In working with six-word memoirs this year, I thought that several activities using multimedia elements would help provide a more engaging approach for each student to meet the learning objective. I designed these exemplars around a six-word memoir unit based on everyday things in our lives.

For my picture/graphic, I used my iPhone 6 camera with the following apps:

• Google Photos
• Snapseed

Google Photos allowed access to unlimited storage of my photos from my phone’s camera roll. In addition, Snapseed is an application that links directly to Google Photos and provides various mobile editing features such as adding text, filters, and effects. (see below)

 AUDIO: Six-Word Memoir Recording: Audacity

In terms of creating an audio file, I wanted students to have an opportunity to tell their story by recording a familiar sound in their everyday lives. Students would write a six-word memoir about that particular sound. They would then use Audacity to record the audio of themselves reading their memoir. In addition, they would use Audacity to record the actual sound.

Six-Word Memoir recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KNCx4e-xdBiiY0POzWQ2qBXfztIE51qJ/view?usp=sharing

VIDEO: Screencastify Lite; YouTube; Google Drive

Ex.) Record a video based upon three six-word memoirs

As a final task or summative assessment for my six-word memoir unit, I thought it would be fun to incorporate all three multimedia elements of picture, audio, and video into a Screencastify video clip.

The following clip is an example of three six-word memoirs about everyday things in my life.

Six-Word Memoir Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L4NsC5ba3lcoB7rCA-y5azzqdfAcBgm2/view?usp=sharing

Six-Word Memoir: Mystery Character

Objective: In a small group (3 to 4 students), each student will write a six-word memoir about a popular fictional character and produce a Google Slides ”Guess the Character” presentation to reveal the mystery character.

Materials: Chromebooks or laptops, Google Slides application, Screencastify program, Google Docs, Google Classroom, *earbuds or headphones equipped with a microphone, Google Drive

INTRO.

The teacher will begin the lesson with a quick review of the characteristics of a six-word memoir. Next, the teacher will ask the students to form a small group of three to four students.

The teacher will ask each group to select a popular fictional character from television or film. The teacher may provide a list of acceptable characters.

Each group will be given three minutes to select a character. The teacher will prompt the class to not share the identity of their group’s character. Using one student Chromebook, the character’s name will be emailed to the teacher.

THROUGH:

At this point, the teacher will ask each group member to write a six-word memoir about their group’s character. The teacher will also remind students that they may write about their character from various perspectives. Such as:

• The character’s point of view
• Another character’s view of the character
• The student’s personal point of view about the character

The class will be given ten minutes to write their six-word memoirs.

Once the class has written their mystery character six-word memoirs, they will be asked to create a shared Google Slides presentation to help reveal their character to the class.

In addition, each group will use Screencastify to record each student reading his or her six-word memoir about their mystery character.

Each Google Slides presentation should contain the following:

• Each slide on their Google Slides presentation will represent each group member’s six-word memoir about the mystery character.
• The final slide should display an image of the group’s mystery character.

Upon completion of the Google Slides presentation, each group will be asked to Screencastify a recording of each member’s six-word memoir. The Screencastify recording of the Google Slides presentation should be saved to each student’s Google Drive.

The teacher will create an assignment via Google Classroom for each group to submit their final presentation clip.

Once all presentation clips are submitted, the class will view the clips in an attempt to guess the each group’s mystery character based on the six-word memoirs provided. The teacher will pause each clip prior to the final slide revealing the group’s mystery character.

BEYOND:

Once all presentation clips are presented, the teacher will wrap up the activity with a discussion about how storytelling can be a powerful form of communication, even if only consisting of six-words. Student feedback will be acquired through a Question task in Google Classroom.

Resource Links:

Google Slides tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYpGoN6Pj5c

Screencastify tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YApKqhQS-yA

Google Docs tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBITNezSmLY

Google Classroom basic tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVJHM5V7l2M

Six-Word Memoir Lesson

For this multimedia enhanced lesson, I incorporated the following programs and applications to create my online lesson on how to write a Six-Word Memoir.

• Google Sites
• Google Slides
• Screencastify Lite
• Photos (IOS)
• Google Photos
• Snapseed
• Voice Memo (iPhone)

As a Grade Seven teacher, writing is an area that I like to focus on. It’s very important to find new ideas or ways to develop a love for writing. With that in mind and with our new generation of the smartphone student, I thought it would be fun to incorporate writing with some familiar technology. The Six-Word Memoir is a form of storytelling, and definitely caters to the saying of less is more.  

This particular lesson allows the student to utilize media in either a visual or auditory fashion. Using photography and mobile editing allows the writing to be captured in a visual format very common to the student. With various social media platforms such as Instagram or Snapchat, the marrying of text and visuals is a common feature for sharing.

The audio recording component allows the student to have the option of recording their Six-Word Memoir. This definitely helps the student who prefers to talk or learns more so from talking. This avenue also allows the student who is disinterested in writing to meet the learning objectives of the lesson without the physical writing.

With the engagement provided through the use of media, my hopes are to have my Grade Seven students find a unique way to write stories and to extend their interest in story writing.

My lesson is pedagogically sound due to the incorporation of the digital storytelling components found within Jason Ohler’s storytelling and new media narrative. It took some time to plan this lesson, being that my daily forum for teaching has me providing direct instruction in front of my classroom. I found this resource to be helpful, especially with the rehearsal of my Screencastify instructional clip. I must’ve tried at least ten takes before I found one to my liking.

I was happy with this lesson but I always feel that certain parts could’ve improved. Maybe I should’ve done one more take? Maybe I should’ve produced a “how to” clip on how to produce a voice recording with a smartphone?

I’ve learned that after the delivery of a lesson, subtle changes that upgrade the effectiveness of your lesson must be considered and often implemented.

I decided to take an image of my sons taken during the Fall of last year. I wanted to focus more on their “martial arts” pose without losing all of the hues of Autumn. haha 

Hi, everyone. My name is Jose Pascua and I am a husband, a father of two, and a Grade 7 teacher at Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Vancouver, British Columbia. I have been an elementary school teacher for thirteen years. However,  I’m at a point in my teaching career where I would like to explore the secondary school environment.

Teaching has been good to me, and it’s been quite rewarding. I’m originally from Los Angeles, California. I began my teaching career in Palmdale, California. It’s taken me to the South Bronx in New York City for a couple of years, and it currently has me in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Long story short – my wife is Canadian and we’ve always agreed to settle in Vancouver when we had children.)  It’s been a fun and exciting ride through and through.

I have learned, that as a teacher, you can never stop learning. Hence, I’m always trying to pick up new things as I go. I hope to share, learn, and possibly steal some really good ideas with my participation in this course.

I look forward to learning with all of you.

Best,

Jose

YouTube is arguably the most important website in terms finding one go-to location for both knowledge and entertainment. A consumer can use YouTube to learn how to replace a flat tire on a 2009 Scion Xb. A teacher can use YouTube to find a clip of how ancient man lived five thousand years ago with the discovery of the Iceman Otzi. A student can use YouTube to better understand the Pythagorean Theorem, should he be absent from an Algebra class. YouTube can also be a source of entertainment as the era of vlogging and celebrity youtubers has engaged many younger viewers. Regardless of what the YouTube viewer does with the site, YouTube can play a vital role in incorporating student engagement in the current classroom mold.

Ease of Use

YouTube has evolved to become a more user-friendly site over the years. With the smart phone and tablet era, consumers can simply download the YouTube application and upload directly to YouTube. While using smartphones tends to be the norm, traditional laptop/desktop users can continue to utilize the YouTube website to upload content.

In conducting tests for the ease of using YouTube, three steps need to be taken to create and upload content in a simple manner. First, an account via email must be created. Second, the YouTube application should be installed. Finally, determining what to record and upload via your account.

YouTube is very simple to use and can easily be utilized in a classroom setting. The only obstacle that would be in question would be the age of the student in the creation of a user account.  Parental permission to create an account would be required for those students under the age of thirteen. It is vital for an educator of intermediate grades to review school adopted policies regarding the use of YouTube for classroom purposes. With this particular situation, the facilitator (teacher) should adjust settings to cater to specific account holders (i.e. shared private links for specific student users from the classroom).

It’s definitely a tool that can be utilized in the classroom in variety of ways. YouTube can be a resource for videos that provide a more fun an engaging side of a particular lesson. YouTube playlist can also be created as student assignments or as recommended supplemental resources. The option of recording lectures or class lessons for flipped classroom purposes is something YouTube account users can utilize in education as well.

Confidentiality of Discussion

            YouTube users in the realm of education can use the site to facilitate private discussions for assigned playlists or clips created for specific lessons. Through the use of YouTube’s Video Manager, account holders can choose to make clips and playlists private so only designated users may view through a shared link.

It is a simple process to save YouTube clips as a private video. Simply click on Video Manager to see a list of uploaded videos from your channel. Click on the private option to make videos private. Under private videos, the public are unable to search for private videos. The downside to making uploaded videos private is the inability to post comments. As of August 29, 2016, YouTube announced that private video comments would be deleted and no longer allowed. Private messages may be exchanged between users regarding the content of a private video.

A possible solution for the classroom teacher to facilitate and control YouTube based class discussions would be to utilize Google Classroom to serve as a bridge to connect class discussion with the ability to control discussion visibility for YouTube clips.

A teacher is able to invite students to join a Google Classroom. Once all students are members of the Google Classroom, the teacher may post assignments which give access to various public, unlisted, or private YouTube clips. Within the post, the teacher has the option to allow commenting within the Google Classroom assignment. With a Google Classroom assignment post, the teacher may also have the ability to allow other students to view comments or comment privately.

Transferability

YouTube allows its users to ability to download uploaded videos as MP4 files. The MP4 format is useful for use with other sites such as Google Drive or Flickr. For filmmaking programs like iMovie, the MP4 file can be imported and used for editing.

YouTube also provides its users to delete videos. Users can go to their account pages and click on Creator Studio to have access to Video Manager. With Video Manager, users may select the delete action to remove videos from YouTube. Once videos are deleted, no one will be able to view the video anymore. It may take some time for the video to completely disappear, but little information is provided on the site to suggest the estimated time of video deletion.

Appropriateness of Academic Use

YouTube provides a valuable service to the classroom teacher because of the varying ways it can be applied to grade-level curriculum.

YouTube can be a supplemental tool to provide students with an opportunity with the experience of seeing parts of the world they’ve only read about. Teachers can create playlists to supplement classroom concepts taught.

For the teachers who have implemented the flipped classroom, YouTube is a valuable resource to upload online lectures or to find lectures from other flipped classroom educators. With the heavy volume of educational videos uploaded, YouTube can be a valuable source of information for teachers looking to incorporate technology into their classroom lessons.

It is important to note that YouTube has the potential to play a larger role in education. It is likely that teachers will take this resource and utilize it  for activating more engagement in the twenty-first century classroom.

REFERENCES

http://www.edudemic.com/youtube-in-classroom/

This final assignment provided me with a genuine opportunity to implement an ePortfolio into my Grade 7 class curriculum. It would be ideal for any student to document how they learn, in addition to having a reference point to see how they’ve learned in different academic years. I’ve always wanted to try something of this caliber because I strongly feel that technology and media continue to be a key factor in elementary student learning.  

Two years ago in my Grade 7 classroom, I thought it would be an interesting to see if my students could build a website for their student-led conferences. Because our school runs many G Suite applications and has invested in Chromebooks, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try Google Sites as the platform for these student presentations to their parents.

The feedback from both the students and parents were very positive. Students enjoyed the use of technology and appreciated having their projects available at the click of a track pad.  Parents were keen with how they could have continual access to their child’s projects with a website. Many parents were happy that their child could build a website as well.

Hence, I wondered if an ePortfolio could be created via Google Sites.

With Assignment #4, I learned that Google Sites is very user friendly yet far from perfect. After learning how to somewhat use WordPress, the comment/discussion component was a great tool for questions, comments or opinions. I always thought that commenting was a standard for websites or blogs. I needed a comments section because my ePortfolio project required parent feedback.

The unfortunate reality of Google Sites is that, unless you personally have G Suite and have administrator privileges, you cannot add a comments section to a Google Site. Since I’ve been using my personal Gmail account for this course, I had to find a way to incorporate access to feedback. After spending some time Googling solutions, none were to be found.

I started to look into the G Suite applications and came upon Google Forms. It was here that I could get the feedback. Google Forms allows you to modify, edit or create forms that may be sent via link or email. This ended up being a blessing in disguise because it dawned on me that comments from parents should be discrete. The responses from the Google Form would be emailed privately to the sender of the form.

Creating an ePortfolio was definitely a unique experience. I’ve learned that ideas are only ideas until you put them into play. You learn from the mistakes and have to find a way to make things work.  

Hi, my name is Jose Pascua. I am a husband, father of two sons, and an educator. I am currently a Grade Seven teacher at St. Pius X Elementary School in North Vancouver, BC.

I’ve been teaching at the elementary level for twelve years.  I am originally from Los Angeles, California. My family and I moved to Vancouver, BC about four years ago. I’ve taught in various elementary schools, from pubic schools to the private sector now. I’ve had the pleasure of teaching in the South Bronx in New York City for a couple years. In short, my teaching vocation has brought me to interesting cities and places, with Vancouver being the most current adventure.

I’m hoping to incorporate technology in my classroom in a more dynamic manner, particularly with the new, redesigned BC Curriculum implemented this school year.  I’m looking forward to learning with you and hopefully stealing some great teaching ideas from you.

As an American living in Canada, the experience has been amazing thus far. I’m learning to acclimate to the subtle differences and it’s been a great learning process. 

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