Lesson 5 in Review

This week focused on visual literacy.  We were assigned four technology explorations and several resources on visual literacy. This weeks technology explorations were Prezi, Spicy Nodes, Edmodo, A Math Dictionary, Glogster, JIng, YouTube for Education, SchoolTube and TeacherTube.

Technology Exploration 15:
Prezi and Spicy Nodes: Prezi is a cloud-based presentation software that can be used to create unique presentations. There are multiple resources available to help explain how to use Prezi.  This is a great resource for teachers and can be used for any subject area.  Spicy Nodes is a site that gives visitors a visual guide through a website.  It helps organize information and makes searching for materials easier. This resource could be used on a classroom website.

Technology Exploration 16:
Edmodo and A Math Dictionary: Edmodo is a site that is similar to Facebook for educators.  It is a place where teachers can share information with students, parents and guardians, as well as other educators.  This site has actually been recommended to the teachers at my school.  It can be used in any classroom to help keep students up to date with school work, especially if they were absent that day. A Math Dictionary is a wonderful resource for educators and students.  It provides students with definitions of those tricky math terms that students sometiems struggle with and provides examples that students can work out.  This site is great for educators that have a SmartBoard and could use this as a form of interactive technology for students to practice problems.  It could also be used as extra practice and for tutoring purposes.


Technology Exploration 17:
Glogster and Jing: Glogster was created as a resource for digital expression and as an alternative to offline boards, posters and web tools.  This provides educators with a resource that students can use to create artwork to express themselves.  I could see this being incorporated into a writing assignment where students have to create an illustration portraying their story. Jing allows users to take a screenshot and capture an image that you see on your computer.  You can also record comments and video for up to five minutes.  This resource can provide educators with a way to grade students writing assignments and record their comments for students to see, allowing for them to see what they need to correct or work on.


Technology Exploration 18:
YouTube for Education, SchoolTube, and TeacherTube:YouTube for Education provides high-quality educational content while blocking those sites teachers don't want in the classroom.  It provides teachers with videos that can be related to the material they are covering in class. SchoolTube is a site that provides teachers with a safe sharing environment. This resource also provides educators with a place to share lessons and projects with others. TeacherTube is a place for educators to view and share videos, photographs, documents and audio files.  


All of the resources from this weeks Technology Explorations were great resources for the classroom.


We also explored several resources on visual literacy. One thing that really struck a cord with me was looking at the wiki space and the Ten Most Confusing Traffic Signs that I looked at.  This really showed how some visuals can send mixed messages.  This made me think about the directions I may have given my students in the classroom in the past and how some of those directions may have had multiple meanings depending on the students interpretation.  I started thinking that as educators, we need to be sure that we are clear with our expectations and directions for our students.  This wasn't something that was completely new to me, but it made me think about how we perceive the intended meaning of our directions compared to how our students may interpret them a little differently.

The information gained from this week can help me make better judgements about how to give students clear explanations, how visual literacy affects students learning. Our students are surrounded by visuals everyday, from TV commercials, videos, and shows, to the Internet ads, and billboards.  Students are exposed to visuals at such an early age now and this truly has an effect on their learning.