The first assignment I did was the presentation software review. I tried a couple of different programs, including GoogleApps but was not satisfied with any of them. Then I ran across 280slides.com. The first thing that appealed to me with this service was its look and layout. It tried to emulate the Mac look and feel, which is something I was familiar with. It was extremely easy to use. It only took a few minutes to create a presentation, insert images, and share the presentation with others. 280slides.com does not have its own sharing built in but they have a link to slideshare.net which I used for sharing. This took the longest time because the slide show had to be rendered between 280slides and slideshare. It took about 3 or 4 minutes to share the presentation.
The next assignment was to create a project in a graphics program. I had heard a lot about Mr. Picassohead but after using it I ran into a couple of problems with sharing. So, I moved on to toondoo.com. This was very easy to use. I created a 3 panel comic strip and shared it within minutes. It has some nice features for working with graphics (flip image, enlarge, shrink, etc.). One of our computer classes currently uses a program called Comic Life to create basic comic strips. This seems to do many of the same things for free.
Overall, I enjoyed these two assignments. We are in the process of reviewing our school licenses. Online software is going to play a big part in this process. Things like GoogleApps and other software mentioned here are nice alternatives to programs that are licensed per machine.
I think it's great that as an IT professional you are willing to think about using Web 2.0 tools. The IT guys in my district don't seem so interested in doing this. You can bet I'm going to try my hardest to change their minds!
ReplyDeleteI also used 280 slides, but I shared my link using their site. It was quick and took absolutely no time. If you use this software in the future, you should use the built in one if you find the rendering time to be an issue :)
Hi Mike,
ReplyDeleteYes, it's been a long time since last blogging, and I was having trouble navigating all of the locations, sites, usernames and passwords! I think that is quickly becoming a mess. Do you have any management tools for keeping track of all this info?
I'm glad to hear that you are looking at Web 2.0 tools too. I know it's tough to gauge if opening up a site is worth the effort...sometime you just don't know what will happen! But, I think we're moving to those online apps, and I really suggest putting a message out the the Wetech listserve. This listserve is for Wisconsin educators to exchange experiences and ask questions like "has anyone used Slide 280 in their district"? Go to http://www.dpi.wi.gov/imt/wetech.html to subscibe!
Later!
Mary
I wish I would have used something other than google docs presentation for the assignment. I am glad you had success with Slide 280 and will take a look at that myself. I am really excited about Web 2.0 tools and all the possibilities they have in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI also used Toon Doo and it was a fun. I made a cartoon of a basketball play that I showed my team. They thought I was a dork.
Good first week!
I too had a hard time with Mr. PicassoHead, but I didn't want to give up since I am teaching cubism in my Art 1 class right now and plan on using this program. I ended up having to paste my entire web view in order to save the image created. With my class, I will have them print it for me to view.
ReplyDelete