Green Screen

We have all seen the movies where the magic of special effects and technology allows directors to superimpose their actors onto virtual backgrounds, place them over animated digital backdrops or transport them to a previously filmed location.

Now we can do the same in the classroom, this allows students to create presentations/ movies where they are placed in a foreign place or time.

On the iPads:

1. First you need to download the Green Screen App: $3.79

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/green-screen-by-do-ink/id730091131?mt=8

This does not need to be installed on all iPads, as most schools only have one green screen( although a piece of material or cardboard pinned to a pin up board will work fine), a nominated iPad or Teachers device would work perfectly. 

2. Next step is to download an image or take footage for the background. 

3. Set up the iPad so that the Green material covers the whole screen (we used a beaker stand from the science room as a stand.)

4. In the top Line add your background image, in the middle line add your Green screen footage. 

5. Once you have filmed and checked your footage you can export it to the camera roll. Once it is in  the camera roll you are able to add it to iMovie and create titles and headings. 

21st Century Fluencies.

Ever read about 21st Century Fluencies? This is one area that I recommend all teachers investigate when they start working with me.

So, what is the 21st Century Fluency Project? Developed by Lee Crockett, Ian Jukes and Andrew Churches, this project "helps teachers instil values in their students that guide them towards creating a better world for themselves and for others."

With a changing education landscape, the skills that we are trying to develop in our students are also changing. And, of some of us teachers, we need to learn them too! These should be taught to across all years and across all year levels by all teachers.

The skills are broken down into 5 main fluencies:

1. Solution Fluency: In the past, students have been taught to solve problems in a show and tell manner (we show students the problem, and tell them how we got the answer), which has lead them to be dependent on us, rather than discovering it for themselves. However, we must begin to teach students to use their creativity to solve problems in real time.

2. Information Fluency: We live in an information abundant world, so we need to know how to access relevant information quickly and easily, analyse it for it's credibility and apply the knowledge to the situation at hand.

3. Creativity Fluency: This fluency refers to how artistic proficiency can add meaning through design, art, and storytelling.

4. Media Fluency: With communication moving beyond text, there is a need to be able to create media in a variety of different ways. There is also the need to be able to critically evaluate media for its message and desired outcome.

5. Collaboration Fluency: Learning in today’s digital world involves working with others. In today's digital world, there is now the ability to successfully work and interact with virtual and real partners.

This is encompassed by the idea that we want our students to become Global Digital Citizens, where they act responsibly in a real and online world, they show awareness of local and world events, protect themselves and have respect for the environment.

Want to know more? Explore https://globaldigitalcitizen.org

Sharing Students work with Parents

As the term comes to an end it might be nice to share some of the students work with parents. 

As the work is created in a variety of media, printing it out is no longer an option. 

I suggest that you create a student portfolio that piles together the semesters work. Book Creator is a perfect app to compile student work as it holds text, video, images and voice recordings. 

Your options exporting are:

ePub: This format allows the content to stay in a book format but can only be read on a device that can read ePubs. eg an iPad, Mac or through an ePub reader that can be downloaded. 

PDF: PDF will allow the content to be read on any device, however it doesn't allow for any multi media content. Export it as a PDF if you are wanting to print out the content. 

Video: Exporting the content as a video will allow the content to be viewed on any device. The book will automatically flick through the pages and play the Media content. 

Steps:

Once you have selected your format to export. 

- Select "Open in".

- Choose "Dropbox".

Once you have saved it to Dropbox, you can add it to students own files and create a link. 

Once you have copied your link you can share it with parents in a number of ways:

* Email the link directly

* Put the link into Bitly.com and shorten it so that it is easy to type into a web browser. 

* Create a QR code - This can be done through a variety of websites or APPs such as Qrafter. 

Work Flow for creating a QR Code on the iPads.

Work Flow of creating a QR Code:

Firstly create your video.
Today we are using Chatterpix to make our orange speak.

1. Once you have created your movie in any application you need to export it to the Camera Roll ( or you can export it straight to Dropbox if the application has that feature)

2. Open Dropbox - Add the video to dropbox

3. Click the "up arrow" on the right hand side and click "Copy link"

4.  Open the App "Qrafter"

5.  Click "Create" at the bottom of the screen. 

6.  It will create a unique QR code.

7. Press the "up arrow" icon to save the image to the camera roll. 

 8. Insert the image into Pic Collage to add headings, words, pictures...

9. Add the collage into Dropbox and print from your computer. 

Creating QR Codes

Creating QR Codes

On the iPad

1 Drop the videos into a folder in the dropbox app. 

Create A Dropbox Shared Link

1. Sign in to your Dropbox account through the Web (probably easier on computer so that you can print them out)
2. Click on the file you want to share.
3. Select “Share Link” from the action bar across the top
4. A pop-up appears – click on “Get Link”
5. You will then be shown a preview of your file. Copy the link from your browser’s address bar to use when you create your QR code (below)

Create Your QR Code

1. Go to www.qrstuff.com
2. Choose the “Dropbox” data type.
3. Paste the link from Step 5 above into the box provided.
4. Download your QR code. Done!

Example letter I have sent to parents to explain QR codes. 

Dear Parents

At ______ Pre Primary we would love to share students work with you and as many of these special moments are captured via photos, video and audio we have decided to use QR codes to share students work. This will allow you to  download your child’s work right onto your phone/ iPad. 

For those that are unfamiliar to Qr codes don't worry, I’m sure you have seen QR (quick response) codes on packaging and magazines.  What they do is link you to useful information on the web. Therefore rather that typing in a long web address all you need to do is scan and you’re away. 

Phones and iPads don't come with a built in QR reader, so you will need to download one from the app store. There are many free apps that will work fine. 

Next you'll need to find a QR code to scan and open the app. Most Apps will just require you to hold the camera over the square code and it will automatically direct you to the required webpage. 

Our Kindy QR codes will direct you to a form of cloud storage such a Dropbox. From here a download button will appear and you will need to press this to download it onto your own device. 

Online communication with parents

Today we were discussing how to engage reluctant parents or provide digital communication to parents. The use of text message reminders and other forms of communication were discussed.

Fresh Grade might be what you are looking for.  This is an app and a website where you can capture, document and communicate with parents.

The app allows you to take a photo or video, add a comment and instantaneously push it out to the parents app (Parents who don't have smart phones can log on through the web).

This is an example of what the parents would see.

Let me know if this is something you may be interested in looking at further.

Week 1 Term 2 lessons

Welcome back to term 2 everyone,

Todays lessons were great.
Debs class are creating a slideshow of letters in "30 hands". Students are drawing the letters and recording their voice on each slide. Students are building up to be able to do this independently and the aim is to create enough slides to cover the whole alphabet.

Deb -  the App we discussed was "Chatterkids", this is a free app that allows you to add a mouth to an image. The mouth moves when the student adds their own voice to it.

Hayley's class were learning about ANZAC day, students were introduced to "Book Creator" and drew pictures depicting part of the ANZAC story. The next step was to add audio to the page and describe any information they knew about ANZAC day. 

Alison's class also used "Book Creator" today. Students took a photo of a picture they had drawn recounting their holidays and cropped the picture to exclude the writing.  Students then added a typed heading and narrated their recount. 

Sarah's class used "Pic Collage" to explore synonyms relating to emotion. Students took photos of themselves showing a specific emotion and added text. 

These were transferred into dropbox so that they can be printed and displayed around the classroom  as a writing prompt.