Chatting Safety, etc. They are also a great way to show understanding of a particular event in Social Studies or Science.
ToonDo: This site is awesome and my favorite for creating comics! Your comics are completely customizable from being able to use your own images to editing each and every character. Character customization is similar to making a Mii on a Nintendo Wii. You do have to sign up to use it, but its free!
http://www.toondoo.com/
ComicMaster:
We use this for creating Anti Cyberbullying Comic Books. The site appears to be down right now but I am confident it will be back up quickly. It is not as customizable as ToonDo. In ComicMaster, the students choose and drag their images, settings, etc onto their page.
www.comicmaster.org.uk/
Creaza Cartoonist
This site even has Google Docs Integration. Very nice site, very nice quality comic creation. I haven't used this with my students, but it is on my "to do list" for practicing before trying to integrate.
http://www.creazaeducation.com/cartoonist
Lego Comic Builder
Probably would be better for Primary Learners, but a lot of fun nonetheless. These comics look like they are straight from the world of Lego!!
http://city.lego.com/en-us/ComicBuilder/mycomics.aspx
Finally, ReadWriteThink.org offers some nice resources for students who are beginning to write comics or for instructors introducing comics in the classroom curriculum. They cover terms, definitions, and strategies for writing entertaining and effective comic books.
They have :
Comic Book Basics
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson9...
Comic Definitions for Layout and Design
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/comic/co...
Comic Definitions for Text
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/comic/co...
Sample Comic Script
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson9...
Comic Strip Scripting Techniques
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson9...
Check out my blog for more Technology Integration Ideas. http://classoftech.blogspot.com/ I think I may post some of these on my blog. Thanks for the great topic as always Med. Good to see you again after the Summer.
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means to others.
"Being able to read and write multiple forms of media and integrate them into a meaningful whole is the new hallmark of literacy."
From the article:
"For centuries, this has meant being able to consume and produce words through reading and writing and, to a lesser extent, listening and speaking. But the world of digital expression has changed all of this in three respects:
* New media demand new literacies. Because of inexpensive, easy-to-use, widely distributed new media tools, being literate now means being able to read and write a number of new media forms, including sound, graphics, and moving images in addition to text.
* New media coalesce into a collage. Being literate also means being able to integrate emerging new media forms into a single narrative or "media collage," such as a Web page, blog, or digital story. That is, students need to be able to use new media collectively as well as individually.
* New media are largely participatory, social media. Digital literacy requires that students have command of the media collage within the context of a social Web, often referred to as Web 2.0. The social Web provides venues for individual and collaborative narrative construction and publication through blogs and such services as MySpace, Google Docs, and YouTube. As student participation goes public, the pressure to produce high-quality work increases."
Jason Ohler discusses how the definition of literacy is shifting now, and comes up with 8 Guidelines for Teachers:
1. Shift from text centrism to media collage.
2. Value writing and reading now more than ever.
3. Adopt art as the next R.
4. Blend traditional and emerging literacies.
5. Harness report and story.
6. Practice private and participatory social literacy.
7. Develop literacy with digital tools and about digital tools.
8. Pursue fluency.
His conclusion:
"Teachers as Guides
Although some teachers are genuinely excited about the emerging nature of literacy brought about by powerful digital tools, others feel overwhelmed—some to the point where they are prompted to leave the profession. It is my fervent hope that they don't leave. Their students need them.
Teachers don't have to be advanced technicians. Their students tend to be fearless adopters of new technology who have the luxury of time and well-developed informal learning communities to keep up on the latest and greatest happenings in the world of technology. What is important is that teachers become advanced managers of their students' talents, time, and productivity. Teachers need to be able to articulate standards of quality and provide feedback that students can use to meet those standards. They need to be the guide on the side rather than the technician magician.
Now more than ever, students living in the overwhelming and often distracting world of technical possibility need the clear voice of a teacher who can help them develop literacies that will be important to them for a lifetime. Now more than ever, students need teachers who can help them sort through choices, apply technology wisely, and tell their stories clearly and with humanity.
My advice to teachers concerned with digital literacy? Focus on expression first and technology second—and everything will fall into place."
I've found this article to be a good discussion starter among colleagues. Does it ring true to you, or seem to be valuable? Do you agree with the points made here? Anything you would add, subtract, or express differently?…
Dear teachers and researchers Curation is Social Media King http://bit.ly/curationKing and new Big Thing around the social web for this reason I want to implemet Curation Restart Education Project . I tried to explain in my chapter what is curation, why teachers must be social media curators and what are my top 10 curation tools who will change research in XXI Century Education . Now when I write this discussion I must told you that European Schoolnet selected me to manage community of practices 2 ,, Using Social Media in schools - whole school approach " and my team has 10 members around Europe and I described here my top 10 Curation startup tools to collaborate and build a PLN in XXI Century Education http://bit.ly/collaborationincop2smile
In XXI Century Education where informatics and science developed spectacular and the use of new online technologies aren’t regarded like a avangardist movement new tools and apps Web 2.0 and socialmedia can bring a new dimension and can reform education around the world because electronic communication helps teachers and students to learn from each other. Last year appear in the online world a new social media king and this is Curation who add value to humans . The Internet Curator’s role is to seek on the web information related to a specificc domain, filter them, select them, organise, share and present them in a unique way .
If you want to discover why curation is Social Media King kindly I invite you to download and read my chapter and if you like share with your PLN .
Lucian Duma - Curation Restart Education Project
I also invite you to comment and add your feedback and feel free to follow https://twitter.com/web20education , contact me http://xeeme.com/Lucianecurator/ if you think we can collaborate to make a platform / website for Curation Restart Education Project https://www.facebook.com/CurationRestartEducationProject/
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mputer they will have immediate access (via a single sign on service) to the following (tentative) list of tools
Gmail (within Apps)
Google Docs
Edublogger
Wikispaces
Library research database
Online Grades
I am looking for examples of similar pages to help inspire me and to show my superintendent. If you have one at your school, would you take a screen shot of it and email (jsowash [at] southfieldchristian [dot] org) or tweet (@jrsowash) it to me? I did my graduate work at Liberty University and they had a pretty good learning portal. Here's what they had and an example of what I'm looking for:
From Blogger Pictures
Thanks in advance for
your help! …
I just got home from a few days in Colby kansas. I always love visiting the schools and educators in this unique city and am energized by the conversations that I get to have. They call me out to be…