RILS Reflection BP8 [links to RILS comments]

For my RILS Project, I choose to use Edmodo.

My student were my case study for the project.

One of the challenges that I had to meet was allowing the student's to initially log in five at a time.  I only have 5 computers in my classroom, and I wanted the students to have their initial introduction to Edmodo during our class period. The students were required to read and comment on a classmate's post, take a quiz on the site, and access an assignment.  I think that they really enjoyed the interface of Edmodo, since it was very much like face book.  The project was successful because, the student's were able to collaborate and share notes for the posted quiz, as well as communicate with students in other class's and other districts. I shared my experience with another teacher at my school.  She also has set up an Edmodo page.

 Follow this link to my comments on DeAnna Martin's page
http://coachdeesblogger.blogspot.com/

Follow this link to my comments on Mrs. Gruber's page http://reflectionsofthegruber.blogspot.com/2011/11/rils-publication.html

 Follow this link to my comments on DeAnna Martin's page
http://coachdeesblogger.blogspot.com/

Follow this link to my comments on Mrs. Gruber's page http://reflectionsofthegruber.blogspot.com/2011/11/rils-publication.html

W4 - Publish RILS to Educator Studio

Educating with EDMODO | Educator Studio

For my RILS Project, I choose to use Edmodo.
My student were my case study for the project.
One of the challenges that I had to meet was allowing the student's to initially log in five at a time.  I only have 5 computers in my classroom, and I wanted the students to have their initial introduction to Edmodo during our class period. The students were required to read and comment on a classmate's post, take a quiz on the site, and access an assignment.  I think that they really enjoyed the interface of Edmodo, since it was very much like face book.  The project was successful because, the student's were able to collaborate and share notes for the posted quiz, as well as communicate with students in other class's and other districts. I shared my experience with another teacher at my school.  She also has set up an Edmodo page.

PE5_Edmodo

Here my students are trying out the quiz I created to train them to use Final Cut Pro editing software. Many of them watched a free video on Lynda.com, and were ready to take the quiz based on that information. Since I only have 5 computers in my classroom, I had to give the quiz in shifts.





















One thing that I struggled with when creating the quiz, was that Edmodo froze up, and I had to log out, and restart to get it to come up again. However, this was only a minor inconvenience. For the most part, everything went very smoothly.

 I think that my students who have had a chance to log on and join the page, and take the quiz, found the interface very familiar. I teach almost 200 students per week, so with 5 computers, I haven't had time to allow all of them to get started. I hope to move more of them towards Edmodo in the coming week.

PE4_Edmodo

In prepartion for creating a my RILS, I was asked to dig deeper into the tool "Edmodo," that I blogged about last week. Over the past few days, I've tried the tool with several of my classes. The first new thing that I created was a quiz for my Introduction to Television students. The students are already using another site to take quizzes and upload current events. However, that site requires that they keep up with a special password to use the features, in addition to their log on username/password. I also learned that I could set up class discussions, with other class periods, as a weekly assignment. I have just started playing around with the calender feature. Under the calender, I can add due dates for projects, post field trips, and add important dates like report cards and progress reports. Students can also collaborate on note taking. This can be done with students in the same class, students in other class periods, or even with students in other schools, states and countries. My students work in groups on major projects. Using Edmodo, students can discuss who will be bringing any materials needed, and communicate with a student who may have been absent. My goal is to eliminate so much usage of paper in my classroom, as well as connect with the student in a fun way.

BP7 One minute video

PE3_imovie

I loved the photo editing function in imovie.  It is quick, easy to use, and super fun.  In this example, I created a project using the beat marker, a Garage Band looped track, and some photos from iphoto.  I simply tapped the beat marker while listening to the track, and added the photos afterwards.  The pictures are just of students in my classroom, and my daughter.  This was a fun, and simple project that I plan to do with my classes. I have learned several new things about iMovie.  One of the very cool things that I learned is the green/blue screen feature.  This is much easier to create than it is in the older Final Cut Pro version.  I like this feature because my students use the blue wall often in my department.    

PE2_imovie

The interesting thing about the latest version of imovie is the ease of adjusting audio tracks.  All things audio from voice-overs, normalization of full project audio, adding sound effects, adding background music, and pinning audio to certain clips, are great features.  Other "professionally" billed editing software have all of these features, but I have not used any that have the ease of functionality that I saw in imovie.

Also, I loved the fact that the imovie interface and the Final Cut Pro X interface are so similar in style and functionality.  I have certainly been more skeptical of using imovie in the pass, because other programs have had move tools, and a slicker looking finished product.  However, I like the new features and functions of this version.

PE1_imovie

 I must admit that I am pretty well verse in the usage of imovie.  Although I don't use imovie in my Television Production course, I do teach it to elementary aged students during the Summer.  The version of imovie that I use to teach is 2008, and  a lot of things have changed since that version.  I thought it would be interesting to go through the tutorial and find out the new gadgets. One of the things that my students still have to do is use taped based Mini DV cameras.  The firewire port has changed since 2008, so I was interested in seeing how different the procedures for loading video is now.