- First, you need to upload your first photo. Do so by clicking on t
he Upload Image tab on top, and choose your photo for editing. (NB: Remember to use re-sized versions of photos, and that your photos must be smaller than 2MB).
- Now that your photo has been uploaded, you can start adding speech bubbles by clicking on the Add a Balloon tab. Click in the center of the balloon and start typing your blurb. The balloon can be moved around the screen and positioned exactly where you want it. You may also change the style of your balloon (for example, you may opt for 'cloudy thoughts' balloons, or a more pointy variety to express astonishment, etc.). This is done by clicking on the icons surrounding your new word balloon.
- You can also opt to add a 'sound' effects by clicking on the Add Sound FX tab. This does not actually add a music file to your picture, but rather, it creates comic-book type words such as POWW and KABOOM !! to add more characther to your photos.
- Your photo can have a frame around it, and you can also choose to have a
black, white or grey background for it as well. Both can be modified by clicking on their respective icons on the right hand side of the photo.
- Ready from your editing? Click on the Save Image icon on the top left hand menu bar. The image will be stored as a JPEG, ready to be saved or e-mailed to a friend. Or, if you feel so inclined, you may also opt to visit the Comic Shop, where you can order prints of your Comic Photos, stickers or even T-Shirts (all this obviously at a price).
Thursday, October 29, 2009
SuperLame
Friday, September 25, 2009
Imagination Cubed
Pen: To change the style, thickness and colour of your Pen;
- Shapes: To insert shapers into your drawing. You may change the colour and the size of the shape by dragging one of its corners;
- Stamper: A set of stamps which you can use - once again, you may change colour and size according to your doodle;
- Line: Creates straight lines of different colours and thicknesses;
- Type: Text Tool;
- Background Colour: Change your doodle's background colour and/or texture.
- For collaborative projects, such as eTwinning, Eko Skola, Connectando Mundos, etc;
- For collaboration between classrooms in the same school, especially in the early years;
- For communication purposes between classrooms, to augment a regular chatting session;
- For helping young students with their hand-mouse co-ordination skills;
- For training on Interactive White boards;
- For creating simple animations which can be shared and replayed over and over again...
Monday, September 21, 2009
Using Technology With Your Students: AUP Forms
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And, probably, that is where the problem lies. We are so used to all this technology and information pouring at us from all directions – be it from e-mail, websites, blogs or social networking sites – that we sometimes forget one of the basic rules of digital publishing: that is, never, ever, publish online photos, videos or details of persons without their previous knowledge or consent.
Digital publishing and social networking sites such as Wordpress and Facebook has made photo and video upload very easy – in fact, as easy as sending an SMS from our mobile. The mere fact that this task has become so increasingly simplified it does not automatically incur that the previous rules of Netiquette do not apply or have ceased to exist. On the contrary, since sharing and uploading of information has become so easy and widespread, I feel that we have been bestowed with an even greater responsibility. It is so easy to take a picture and upload it from our mobiles – a mere minute or two of ‘work’. But do we ever stop and think about whose photos we are putting online, and if that person would like to appear online after all?
I think I can safely say that, in this occasion, honesty is certainly the best policy. If there is a problem in your school or classroom – talk to the parents. Some of them are plain afraid of the unknown; others might have been drawn into the fear by other, more paranoid or misinformed individuals. Explain to the parents what are you going to do; where and why the photos will be used, the websites they will be uploaded on, etc. Re-assure the parents about Internet use in the classroom, too.
It is also worth directing the parents to one or two useful websites, such as CBBC’s Internet Saftey News on: http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/find_out/guides/tech/safe_surfing/newsid_1607000/1607213.stm, BBC’s Staying Safe online: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/help/web/staysafe and Kidsmart: http://www.kidsmart.org.uk/. Assure the parents you will be helping their children learn how to use the Internet safely and wisely.
Some important websites to remember:
AUP Forms (Download Form & Explanation for Parents): http://skola.gov.mt/SKOLA/home/aup-qsc/AcceptableUsePolicy.aspx#AUPForm
CBBC Internet Safety News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/find_out/guides/tech/safe_surfing/newsid_1607000/1607213.stm,
BBC Staying Safe Online: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/help/web/staysafe
Kidsmart: http://www.kidsmart.org.uk/
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Mind Mapping: Using Bubbl Us
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- Move: Click and drag to move your bubble around;
- Delete: Click to delete the bubble;
- New Sibling: Create a new bubble under the same parent;
- Connect: Click and drag to connect a new bubble with a directional line. Drop onto another bubble to connect;
- New Child: Click to create a new child bubble;
- Colour: Click to select bubble colour.
- Send a read only link for your friends or collaborators to view;
- Grab the html embed code for embedding your mind-map directly on your blog or website
- Import or Export your sheet in XML format;
- Change the editor's settings for your mind-map.
- before you start sharing, make sure that you have a saved copy of your mind-map in its original state before you open it up to others;
- mind-maps may only be shared with Bubbl Us 'friends': that is, the persons you want to share your mind-map with must also have a Bubbl Us account;
- friends can have different permissions assigned to them: Read Only, which allows viewing but no editing, or Full Edit, which allows full editing control, including re-naming of your mind-map.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Ning
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Getting Started
To start exploring Ning, log onto http://ning.com. You will be immediately prompted to Sign In and to Create a new social network. You can choose a name for your network, and also the network's URL (they don't necessarily have to be the same). The URL is subject to availability.
Once you click on Create, you will be prompted either to log in with your existing Ning account or else sign in for a new membership.
Now you can really start customising your Ning Network. First, describe what your Network is going to be about, and choose a language and country.
Next, you can start adding, removing or simply moving your network's features. Decide on what shortcuts you need to have upon loading, and what comes before and after. Usually, it is advisable that the members' blog posts are visible immediately when one logs onto the network. The Network's latest activity should also be allowed a prominent space on the network. Another important consideration is whether or not you want to allow synchronous chat on the network.
The final stage is to customise your Network's appearance: choose a theme and customise the colours according to your taste. Click on Launch, and your new Social Network is ready to roll!
At first glance, a Ning network may seem less straight forward than say, Facebook, however if you are used to Facebook's interface you will soon get the hang of Ning. On the top there are a series of Tabs which open onto other pages: My Page, Blogs, Events, etc. Take some time to explore each page. But first, make sure to customise your personal page on Ning, by adding details, photos, etc. On My Page, you can also access your Network's Private Messaging (e-mail) and add other network members as friends. To view the other members of the network, click on the Members Tab.
Ning Networks allow easy uploading of both photos, videos and blog posts. Depending on how you arranged your page features during setup, the relevant pages can be found on the top tabs and also on the Main Page. Photos can be added by uploading the actual picture files; in the case of videos, you must copy and paste the video's embed code (such as a video from YouTube, TeacherTube or Vimeo). Each person can have his/her own blog on the network, and blog posts will appear both on the Main Page and on the personal page (My Page) of the person uploading the blog.
How safe is Ning?
Network permissions can be determined by clicking on the Manage tab, and then on to Members to define members' roles, and on Network Privacy to determine who can view and join your network.
The Administrator can also opt to change the tabs at the top of the page: thus re-arranging page elements and accessibility.
Ning Networks in Education
Ning has been used extensively in education, for collaboration purposes and for creating safe, private networks for students to work in. There are a number of good networks which illustrate how Ning can be used within the educational setting, both locally and abroad. Take a look at these two excellent networks, created by educators for educators...
For more information about Ning Networks, go to:
Monday, June 8, 2009
Sharing Resources - Online Slide-Shows
Sometimes we, as teachers, underestimate how much work we manage to cram in during the year - and the re-usability of our resources. For example, this year, for the Creativity & Innovation Projects, teachers were asked to look at any ongoing projects or activities going on in their classrooms - such as e-Twinning, Eko Skola or simply classroom based projects - and adapt their work for sharing or online publishing (I am referring mostly to the Year 5 Blogs Project on Skola Portal). Everyday resources, such as photos, videos or slide-shows can be adapted for online viewing with minimal changes required.
One of the most common types of resources which you might be in possession of are Slide Shows - Picture Slide shows or more traditional presentations or Power Point Shows. Both can be adapted to online uploading and viewing - on a website, wiki or blog - and we will now take a look at two popular services which make this possible.
Power Point Slide-Shows
Power Point Slide-Shows can be surprisingly easy to adapt to online viewing -I am talking,
SlideShare
One thing to remember when using such services is that the uploading part is only one half of the story (the same applies when uploading, for example, a video on You Tube). After uploading your file(s) on the server, the application needs to convert the file to a format that is globally recognisable and embeddable. After the file has uploaded, remember to click on Publish so that your presentation will be converted into online format.
After the Presentation has been uploaded, you may wish to alter Permissions surrounding it. You can also opt to have a private, restricted view or public Presentation. You may also opt to let people download the presentation onto their PCs or not. It all depends on what you intend to do with your Presentation. All these settings can be changed and accessed any time after uploading, by clicking on My Slidespace - where all your uploaded PPTs reside - click on the PPT whose settings you wish to change, and then on Edit. You will be shown up the options page once more, and will be given the chance to do the required edits. Remember to click on Update to change your settings.
NB. Different platforms require different Embed Codes. The Embed Code is basically a piece of script which will allow your newly uploaded presentation to be visible on your Website/Wiki/Blog or Social Networking Site. Depending on where you want your presentation to appear, select the appropriate embed code - usually you will see a little icon symbolising the type of embed - the orange letter B for Blogger Code, the blue F for Facebook, the black W for Wordpress, etc. You may also share your presentation by e-mail by copying and pasting the URL where your presentation has been uploaded onto an e-mail message.
Photo-Slide Shows
Instead of simply sharing photos online, why not put them together and create a movie-like slide show? There are various applications which allow this - the two most popular ones are Slide.Com and Animoto. Both have very similar interfaces and rely on the principal of uploading photos, adding effects and transitions, and finally publishing and sharing your work. Here, we are going to take a quick look at Slide.com; if you are interested in Animoto you may log onto a previous post I created on my blog, http://teachersandcomputers.blogspot.com/2009/03/animoto.html.
Slide.com
To start your first slide-show, sign in with the username and password you have created upon registration, and click on Make a Slide Show. You will be prompted to start adding your photos - either from your PC or else grab photos from other online albums that you might already have, such as Flickr or Facebook (Remember - Re-Usabilty!). Each photo may also be individually named.
While you are waiting for photos to load (in order to shorten uploading times, remember to resize them for the Web!), you might wish to change your slide-show's settings:
- Style: Change the way your photos will appear on the screen - i.e. the transition from one photo to the next;
- Skin: Change slide-show's player as it will be displayed on your website;
- Themes: Add a theme animation to your slide-show, such as sparkles or hearts;
- Music/Video: Add some music from a good choice of tracks, to suit all moods and occasions;
- Background: Change your slide-show's background colour;
- Effects: Add effects to your photos, such as b/w and sepia tints;
- Size: Change the size (in pixels) of your slide-show;
- Privacy: Determine the privacy settings of your slide-show - who will be able to view or download your creation
Author's Note: This post is dedicated to my father, Alfred, who spent the last two weeks in hospital but is now on the road to recovery. He was always a great supporter of my work and is always encouraging me to try and do my best.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Google Maps
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Google Maps forms part of the 40+ freeware applications available from Google Inc.
To get started on Google Maps, watch this two-minute tutorial, produced by Google Support:
This video (which can be found on the Google Maps Support) illustrates very clearly the many features of Google Maps. However, I will now go through its basics, one by one.
Map Navigation: You can navigate through a map by simply clicking and dragging your cursor (which will be in the shape of a palm of a hand) around. The + and - signs will help you zoom in and out of the map, and you can also choose what type of map you want to view: map view, terrain view or satellite view.
Get Directions: Want to go from A to B, and get all the different options available? You will be asked to enter location A and location B, (for example, from London, UK to Sussex, UK). You can choose which mode of transport you are going to use, if you are going to use the car or walk, and in the case of cars, whether or not you wish to take the highway or just normal streets.
While you are getting directions, you can also search for specific businesses in the vicinity, such as restaurants or hotels, or even public places such as schools or bus stations. On the more practical side, you can also search for speed cameras and I was pleased to note that all the latest speed camera locations have already been loaded into Google Maps, and you can even download the POI's into your own GPS.
My Maps: Instead of searching for directions or maps every time, you can save and re-load maps that you have been working on, and in true Google Apps fashion, you will be able to share them with other users. To create a new map, simply click on Create a new Map. Or, if you want to edit an existing map, click on Edit. There is a variety of tools which which will help you to customise your map. An important point to remember is that by default, maps appear to be Public, so if you don't want it so, click on Unlisted. Once again, I have included a short video from the Google Maps team, to illustrate how My Maps work...
- By default, when you log onto Google Maps, you will probably be shown a map or the world or of the US. Your Default Location is basically your Google Maps start-up page, and you can change it according to what you are going to do with your Maps. For example, if you are using Google Maps with your classroom children, it would be wise to set your School or Locality as your default location. Or, if you are doing a project about another country abroad, try setting that as your default location.
- When asking for directions, remember you can opt for different kinds of directions: walking directions or by car. You can also set your findings to either KM or miles.
- Google Maps works rather like a GPS (in fact, Google Maps can be downloaded into your GPS, and iPhones come with Google Maps pre-installed). One important feature of GPS devices and Google Maps is that they work best if you input the correct postcode. Actually, a postcode is the only vital information you will need when searching for a particular location, so make sure you get them right.
- There might be more than one location with the same name. If you haven't got the correct postcode for searching, try to be at least more specific in your search. For example, do not just key in Malta, but Malta, Europe, for more accurate results.
- When you find places of interest on Google Maps, (for example, you might be looking for restaurants near your holiday location) by clicking on the Placemark you will be able to access other options for your location, such as the ability to save it on My Maps or copy and share the map URL with your friends.
This is of course just a very basic overview of Google Maps. Like all other web applications, the more you practice, the better and easier it will get. Linked to Google Maps is another (desktop) application called Google Earth, which offers more features and is available for free download at http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html