How To Download a Prezi.

A common question we seem to get is, how do you download a Prezi you have done so you can share/show it to the class?
The answer isn’t however straight forward. Yes you can download a Prezi, but is it the best option for sharing and presenting if you have a reliable Internet connection?  I believe not, being a web2.0 tool Prezi is best viewed on the Internet for many reasons, here are just a few:

• Embedded YouTube  videos on your Prezi will only display when you are viewing your Prezi on the Internet. If you download your Prezi these videos will not be included in the package.
• Downloading and sharing your Prezi is cumbersome and time consuming. As a rule the files to download for a Prezi are quite large which means downloading them can take quite a while. Alternatively sharing the link of your Prezi with fellow students and teachers via email is both quick and easy.
• The commenting feature on Prezi great for getting students to peer assess each others work.Why not as a homework task get your students to share their Prezi’s and get other students to comment on them on what they have learnt from their friends presentations.

If you would still like to download your Prezi so that you can perhaps view it a time when you don’t have Internet connections here is how you do it.

Click here to download the hand out.

How To Set a Homework Task Using HeuCampus.

Many teachers use email for a way to allow students to hand in their digital homework tasks, although this method does work it can become cumbersome when you receive 20+ emails from students clogging up your inbox and also their email quota.
There is a much simpler way, it involves using HeuCampus, "The Virtual Learning Community is a virtual learning solution with a classroom management system", and takes about 30 seconds to set up. The following tutorial will show you how to set a homework task using HeuCampus as well as downloading the files for you to mark.

Three Ideas for the LOTE Classroom.

Language education is a particular area that can benefit greatly from many of the Web2.0 tools and technology advancements in computing. In-built microphones, web cams and the ability to be able create and share content online, has allowed the language classroom to be more than just the student

regurgitating what the teacher has just said. Here are 3 fairly simple ideas that language teachers could use with their classroom to engage their students using technology.  

1. Get your students to create a Voki of a famous person that resides within the country specific to your LOTE class. Students must then give their characters a voice by using the recording functionality of the Voki application.  Students can then embed their Voki into a a class blog or into a PowerPoint and show it to the class.




2. Get students from a senior class (Year 10) to mentor a lower year level (Year 7)  through their learning of the language.  Read this article about student mentoring for language education. By using a collaborative tool such as Edmodo a teacher could add students from each year level to a group he/she has created. Allowing younger students to ask questions or getting the older students to provide video tutorials or listening comprehension tasks.
3. Using a tool such as VoiceThread get your class to discuss a topic or theme relating to what you are currently studying. For a more advanced learning experience make it compulsory for students to use only the proper language for your class, making sure they have a variety of both written and audio comments on various slides. This page in the VoiceThread library provides a good example of the type of task you could complete with your  students.

Embed Web2.0 content into a PowerPoint.

Thanks to @ShellTerrell for tweeting this link on a embedding web2.0 content into PowerPoint.
http://digitaltoolsforteachers.blogspot.com/2011/11/embed-into-powerpoint.html

I have put together this How To slideshow to further explain how you can do this handy trick.

The Basics of Movie Maker.

Getting students to easily edit together video/pictures, audio and text should not be a daunting task. Windows Live Movie Maker builds upon on the foundation of its predecessor Windows Movie Maker 2.6 by retaining its simplicity, but by giving the user the capability to edit a variety of different file formats, rather than the constraints of just manipulating a standard .wmv file.With the introduction of 'plug & play' video cameras and the ever progressive advancement of mobile phone camera technology, a basic video editor must be able to bring this footage in and allow the user to start editing it immediately. Gone are the days of end users tolerating lengthy conversion processes so that they can work with their content!

A free product like this will never be perfect, however it does what you want it to do, in terms of being able to simply edit together a sequence of visuals with some audio and text. Simplicity is the key, Movie Maker and for MAC users iMovie cannot be compared to the powerhouse software of the video production industry such as Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro. If the tool is simple then it will not take away from what is being taught/learned, however if countless lesson must be spent on teaching a tool then undoubtedly the tool has become the primary learning outcome.

The current generation of students pick up basic computer programs extremely quickly. This quick 5 minute video tutorial on the basics of Movie Maker as well as this hand out should be more than enough to get your students to level of being able to start editing their 'movie' together.

Open 'Hand out for Movie Maker' here.

Welcome

Welcome to the Edu Tech Blog, a place where educators can find resources to help them better utilize technology within the classroom.