Zamzar is a great tool if you need to convert that PDF into a Word document. It is rather useful and also supports other conversions between a wide variety of different file formats. I recently discovered MergePDF through my co-worker Christine. It’s useful if you wish to convert merge several PDFs into a single one. If you are interested in small, clever apps/tools like this, I have a small list of others here that may be of interest.
I found out about Shape Collage via Twitter (thanks klbeasley). It’s free with a downloadable and online version. I did try to embed my interactive collage here on this blog but it failed. : (
You will have to settle for the screencapture, but if you click it, it will take you to the almighty interactive URL. (The neat thing about it, is that each photo is clickable and the file is able to be imported into Photoshop where each photo will appear as a layer). A tutorial video is included below but it is really simple to use.
Chris Toy was a presenter at our school’s annual BTG conference. He presented on digital storytelling. What’s digital storytelling? View this video and then continue to read my notes on his presentation below.
Title: The First Pedagogy and the 21st Century
Why tell a story?
Goals for this session:
Model sharing of stories
Reflect on why digital storytelling is engaging to an audience
Transfer activities to classroom practice
Change and Leadership: How will you prepare yourself and your school for the 21st century? “You must be the change you see want to see in the world.” (Gandhi) – What do you want from a child? What situations will you put your students in? What choices will you offer your students? How will you empower your students? What sustenance will you provide?
Digital Storytelling is a rich and deep teaching medium
If you had to use a story in your classroom in the next month, how would you adapt it to your use? This is the most challenging aspect for teachers.
Teachers need to make it relevant to themselves and their students
An intro video example on digital storytelling from this Educational Uses of Digital Storiessite
Students become more engaged and learning is more meaningful – ask them to interact within curriculum – Students will become the curriculum
Another form of storytelling is music (ex. Billy Joel “We Didn’t Start the Fire”- social comment from 1949-1989)
Example story of “How Paul Bunyan became a Champion” (photos taken from Creative Commons)
(C.Toy always stops before the end of the story and asks the audience to predict the ending in pairs – He then asks a reflection question related to the story)
Point of View story example from elementary students on The 3 Little Pigs (example was a narrated photo slideshow – some stop motion animation applied with photos – some YouTube examples here)
What are some things or practices that are made of straw, sticks and bricks in our classrooms and schools? (Reflection question related to story)
Musical Stories are another possibility: Social studies example
How might you use music to reach and teach more students?
Chris Toy then concluded with some stories about student work regarding problem/project/challenged based learning
What can you share about your school’s initiatives through Digital Storytelling?
Poetry and the Parable: Blind Man & Elephant example using simply Keynote style
Go here if you need further info regarding the use of video in the classroom. The site offers student examples, lesson ideas and rubrics. I also have some film and video lesson ideashere on my wiki too that may be of interest. But the mother of all ideas may come from Alan Levine’s 50+ Web 2.0 Ways To Tell a Story.
I blogged about my school’s BTG Conference this weekend here where Chris Toy and Kim Cofino are also presenting (I’ll hopefully be able to post on that if I can make it to their session). I myself presented on Essential 2.0 Tools for Teachers and Students. It was kind of tough to narrow the list down as everyone is coming from a different place and are at different IT stages. Most of the tools I suggest are not new and if you are a regular reader of this blog, you have probably encountered them already. I presented using this wiki which I encourage you to look at if interested. Embedded below is the document version provided as a faster reference (also included in the wiki). In my opinion, most of these tools should be standard in classrooms now.
It inspired me to give it a try as I can see this as something my grade 6 or 7 students would enjoy. At times I wish I was still an elementary classroom teacher as I would use this to inspire creative writing (do the art first and then look at it to see what story comes to them).
First create a line doodle and then start looking for images to fill in. My first photo is the original doodle and the second is the completed piece. Click it to take you to the larger Flickr image. I used B2 sized paper (500mm x 707mm) and marker. There’s also a simple video below showing the stages of development.
Livebrush is a free drawing application but a download and install is required. My abstract image above was created in about 3 minutes.
It employs an easy-to-use brush tool that reacts to your gesture. By combining simple motion controls with brush styles, Livebrush offers a fun and unique way to create graphics.
At times I felt like I wasn’t in control but I must admit it was pretty fun. Here’s an introductory video below.
(special thanks to this amazing guy for the find!)
Zamzar is a great tool if you need to convert that PDF into a Word document. It is rather useful and also supports other conversions between a wide variety of different file formats. I recently discovered MergePDF through my co-worker Christine. It’s useful if you wish to convert merge several PDFs into a single one. If you are interested in small, clever apps/tools like this, I have a small list of others here that may be of interest.
I loved the following 
