Technology: a Tool for Modern Teacher

2

EDITION 2011 EDITORIAL Gutiérrez Editions AUTHOR Velvet Gutiérrez COUNTRY Guatemala Copyright: all rights reserved, this book can be download, copied, shared and use for teaching purposes without the written permission of author.

3

I dedicate this book to: My children, my three kids: Valery, Victor José y Ana Paula, who are the source of my inspiration. And my beloved students, who have taught me how to be a better human being.

4

CONTENT PAGE About author 5 Prologue 6 PART 1 Chapter 1 Multimedia projects 7 Chapter 2 Some multimedia project types (for schools, for, industry, magazines, reports, newspaper, commercials, etc.) 13 Chapter 3 Critics circle project 17

Chapter 4 Technology and multimedia 22

Chapter 5 Principles of good practice in technology 26

PART 2 Chapter 1 Visual cues and importance of high quality 30 design. Chapter 2 Some important programs that support teaching with multimedia (flash, prezi, power point, and others…) (how can we include them in the teaching process?) 35 Bibliography and e-graphy 39

5

Velvet Sujjey Gutiérrez, me, the author of this book, was

born in Guatemala, Guatemala, from a humble but loving and

caring family, I was raised with the idea that to succeed in

life the most important thing is to keep the values and

principles taught at home and to work really hard to

accomplish goals.

I was raised in Sanarate, El Progreso, and went to Guatemala

city to study to become a Secretary. Some years later got

married and had three kids, after that I decided to come back

to school, I began to study to become and English teacher at

Universidad Mariano Gálvez, Campus Central, there she learned

how to be a good teacher, what a good teacher is supposed to

do and how to involve in students´ lives at a level where you

can change, how to become a mediator.

After finishing that stage, I decided to go for a degree in

Education, that is why I chose to become a Licenciada en la

Enseñanza del Inglés, with a specialization in Technology to

Teach.

6

This book was written because the author had the vision of making a summary of various tools to help modern teachers to use technology as it is, an important tool, that teachers must take advantage of. It is compound of various important documents gathered along Multimedia and TIC´s course in Licenciatura en la Enseñanza del Inglés y Tecnología in Mariano Gálvez University. Documents that are relevant to the teaching and learning process using technology and that constitute a portfolio for the author since they have key information.

7

CONTENTS

� Using multimedia � Students´multimedia projects � Steps to créate multimedia projects using the internet � Helpful resources when using multimedia and internet � Resources for teachers in the world wide web

OBJECTIVES:

� To apply multimedia elements to projects oriented to teach in a more meaningful and authentic way.

� To get the best use of

these elements, so the projects have coherence and meaning.

8

MULTIMEDIA PROJECTS USING MULTIMEDIA Most teachers have used multimedia without even be aware of that, every time a teacher uses a sound tape, video tape or a game to introduces a topic, to present content, to review it or assess it, is using multimedia. Multimedia projects are presentations by using the computer to combine text, images, sound, animation and video, these presentations allow the teacher to present information in a meaningful way rather than just presenting a written note or giving a lecture. STUDENTS´MULTIMEDIA PROJECTS Students can also prepare multimedia projects, they follow certain objectives such as: show progress in learning, share knowledge with partners, demonstrate knowledge acquired, provide real assessment or evaluation, get skills in search and find useful information from many sources. In order to present a professional looking project a student can use applications such as: Powerpoint, Flash, Clariswork, Kidpix, among others, these applications allow student to combine multimedia elements in a relatively friendly way. Also students can use digital cameras, scanners, download images or video, sound or record their own sounds, or even draw and create original images. STEPS TO CREATE A MULTIMEDIA PROJECT USING THE INTERNET In order to create a successful multimedia project be sure to follow the next steps:

1. Plan your objectives for your students, keep content in mind, create guidelines, gather your information sources, and then use the internet.

2. Choose the software that meets your project needs, some factors to take in consideration: type of graphics, easy

9

adds sound or video, target audience, linear project vs. interactive project.

3. State aspects to assess and evaluate.

4. Give written directions to students, also include useful links as a help.

5. Have your students´ abilities and skills in computer use in mind.

6. Set the standards for publishing the project. HELPFUL RESOURCES WHEN USING MULTIMEDIA AND INTERNET Internet provides teacher with a wide range of tools to help preparing interactive multimedia projects, one of the most useful applications are: search engines, (e.g. Google, Altavista, Lycos), these allow teacher find resources by just typing the name of the search. Another useful tool are software application websites, these sites provide support when using an specific software, teacher can find help to create PowerPoint presentations, slide shows, hyper studios, quick time video, free copies of programs, samples of multimedia, free images, sound or video. IDEAS TO CREATE MULTIMEDIA PROJECTS USING THE INTERNET

1. Biographies, they refer to famous people, artists, scientists, politicians, writers, etc.

2. Games, interactive books, simulations, etc.

3. Magazines and newspapers, containing, art, essays, stories, reports, current events, deadlines etc.

4. Portfolios, class documents, individual work to show progress.

10

5. Surveys, getting information of interest and presenting the facts using multimedia.

6. Timelines can be about a specific topic of fact.

Resources for Teachers on the World Wide Web http://users.erols.com/allnutt/www.html

*WWW Yellow Pages - http://www.yellow.com/ Cyberbee School HomePage Workshop - http://www.cyberbee.com/ Cybersoup - Theme Park - http://www.cybersoup.com/index2.html Zap Me with newstand, homework, information - http://www.zapme.com/net/public_net *ShareWare - http://www.shareware.com/ Tenets of Effective Web Site Design - http://www.bham.wednet.edu/homeswee.htm *Clip Art - http://www.nzwwa.com/mirror/clipart *Clip Art II - http://www.iconbazaar.com Publishing Free Homepages on the WEB - http://www.virtualfreesites.com/free.homepages.html Ways to Enhance a Web Site - http://www.gwu.edu/~etlsl20/unit14_enhance.htm Yahooligans! - http://www.yahooligans.com/ HyperStudio - Macintosh Stack Library - http://www.hyperstudio.com/ www.cardmaster.com - http://www.cardmaster.com Britannica Research Workstation - http://www.britannica.com Using the Web for Changing Careers, Finding Jobs, Researching Grants and Fellowships - http://www.gwu.edu/~etlsl20/unit10_jobhunt.htm Teachers' Guide for the Professional Cartoonists' Index - http://www.cagle.com/teacher/ Eplay for Elementary School Teachers - http://www.eplay.com CNN Web Sites Of The Day - http://allpolitics.com/1996/analysis/web/sotd.html ALA - 700+ GreatWebSites - http://www.ala.org/parentspage/greatsites/amazing.html TekMom Anne Savage's Internet Resources - http://www.tekmom.com CollegeNet - http://www.collegenet.com Alphabet Superhiway - http://www.ash.udel.edu/ash/ CNet Resource - http://www.cnet.com/ Welcome to Thinking Fountain! - http://www.sci.mus.mn.us/sln/

11

Internet Citation and Copyright Resources - http://www.tenet.edu/library/citation.html Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley - http://www.lhs.berkeley.edu/ Children's Discovery Zone-Norfolk Schools - http://www.norfolk.k12.ma.us/children/childzone.html Virtual Free Home Pages -- Plus... 3,000 of the Best Free Offers on the Internet - http://www.dreamscape.com/frankvad/free.homepages.htmlhttp://www.dreamscape.com/frankvad/free.homepages.html Girl TECH Home Page - http://www.crpc.rice.edu/CRPC/Women/GirlTECH/ Children's Stories, Poems, Pictures and Sounds - http://www.comlab.ox.ac.uk/oucl/users/jonathan.bowen/children.html#museums Surfing the Net with Kids - http://www.surfnetkids.com/ Global School Net - http://www.gsn.org/index.html Surfing the Net with Kids: Creating a Web Page - http://www.surfnetkids.com/webpage.htm ILTweb: Advanced Media in Education Project - http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/eiffel/index.html Miami Museum's Internet Island - http://www.miamisci.org/ii/ 660 Searchable Lesson Plans on the WWW with T & L Magazine - http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tl/index.html WEB Listing of Schools with Homepages WorldWide - http://web66.coled.umn.edu/schools.html Tutorials on the Web for Help in Building Webpages - http://users.erols.com/allnutt/tutorial.html Louisiana Training Site - Monroe City Schools on the Web - http://monroe.k12.la.us/mcs/training/ Kidlink Projects to Join - http://www.kidlink.org/KIDPROJ/projects.html#coming HighWired for School Newspapers - http://www.highwired.com Pati Terry's Website Evaluations - http://members.whro.org/~pterry/sd/schoolweb.html Blackboard.com for collaborative webpages - http://www.blackboard.com Kids Click Web Search by librarians - http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/KidsClick Study Web Directory from Lightspan - http://www.studyWeb.com Track Star directory from South Central Regional Tech Consortium - http://scrtec.org/track Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators - http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide Angelfire Webpages and Site of the Day - http://www.angelfire.com

12

Mediabuilder for Gifs and Photos - http://www.mediabuilder.com Electric Schoolhouse with Quizmaker - http://www.eschoolhouse.com

13

CONTENTS

Multimedia projects (some types)

� For schools, � For industry, � Magazines, � Reports, � Newspaper, � Commercials,

OBJECTIVES

� To differentiate among different type of multimedia

projects, their uses in different environments.

� To apply different uses of multimedia projects in the

various aspects of society.

14

SOME MULTIMEDIA PROJECT TYPES

There are a wide variety of multimedia projects which are classified according to who prepare them. Organizations, schools, editorials, industry and commerce among others are quickly getting to know all advantages provided by multimedia when creating projects.

Teachers can have their students decide among the three types of multimedia project existing:

� Self-playing presentations: can be done in PowerPoint, in this type of presentations slides go automatically, there is no need of manual playing, the whole project runs from beginning to ending alone and the project performs like a show.

� Non-interactive presentations: In these presentations there is need of intervention since the project advance with the click of the mouse, there is also need of student´s intervention explaining orally the slides, they can be used to present biographies or historical facts or events.

� Interactive presentations: the front page or menu contains links that lead user to other slides as the user wishes, these type of presentations should be carefully prepared and structure since the user should be taken from hand through the whole project without getting lost, these presentations contain also buttons which lead to certain actions and they are useful for topics such as: parts of a whole, subject projects, processes etc. Also presented can lead with an oral speech and users can dive on it interactively.

Teachers can make a good use of these type of presentations to present new information, to review certain topics or assess and evaluate in an interactive non-traditional way, each slide should contain buttons that allow the user to move forward or come back to previous slide as well as the home page, can have wrong and right answers slides and also the possibility to observe score in answering tests, they can include

15

sound, video, slide shows, etc. all of that activated by buttons created by creator of project.

Multimedia projects can be divided into the following category:

� For schools This category includes all multimedia projects created by students for their own learning process, by teachers who created them for their students to acquired knowledge, to practice it, assess or evaluate it, and review it, or also by the school itself to have pedagogical resources for its teachers.

� For industry Industry creates multimedia projects for many uses some of the common are: to help train new workers, to show processes that cannot be showed in real time, to learn procedures in a meaningful way.

� Magazines Editorial houses are doing the crossover from printed magazines to electronic magazines and here is where multimedia projects offer the necessary tools to present information in an interactive way, readers can go directly from their homes to the magazine just by a click.

� Reports The times where all reports must be presented in a printed way are quickly passing nowadays reports can be presented using multimedia, some of the more common applications for these purposes are: PowerPoint, Flash and Prezi presentations, just to mention a few.

� Newspaper Many people have no time to go through the printed pages of a newspaper, they do not even have the time to go out and buy one, that is why newspapers are now creating web sites with all sections of their newspapers, multimedia takes a leading role in this process, readers can easily go through the pages of a newspaper just by typing the address and clicking.

16

� Commercials, Publishing industry has always been a step ahead, they have always used the most modern technology to attract buyers and get their interest in their products or services, multimedia now is making this task easy providing publicists with all kind of applications, tools and opportunities to gain interest by presenting more eye-catching advertisements.

As it can be observed from the previous category the uses or applications of multimedia projects are endless, the imagination and creativity are the limits.

17

CONTENTS

� What is a critic´s circle � How to develop a critic´s circle � Steps to create a critic´s circle

OBJECTIVE

� To learn how to develop a collaborative project using multimedia elements to develop it and to present it.

WELCOME TO

CRITIC´S

CIRCLE

Please select t a

critic!

SUMMA

18

CRITIC´S CIRCLE

WHAT IS A CRITIC´S CIRCLE?

A critic circle is a multimedia project, developed in one of the applications mentioned in previous chapters, where critics (students) have the opportunity to critic a movie of their choice.

The project is supported in multimedia elements: images, sound, video, text and animation, providing the creator with important material to work with.

Involving in this project have students using high order thinking skills and give a wide spectrum of different opinions about the same subject, it also requires oral and written skills in English language from students, specifically this chapter exposes the points of view of three students (critics) about a movie on their choice.

HOW TO DEVELOP A CRITIC´S CIRCLE?

Teacher begins the critic circle by dividing the class into groups; each group selects a movie based on their own criteria about what they would like to critic about their movie.

Then, the group of students has a roundtable discussion about all aspects of movie and they choose three members of the group to be the critics.

Each group modifies a template provided by the teacher to create their own design using multimedia elements. Each template contains a menu with buttons and pictures for each critic, when the user links into a button of a critic the template takes him/her to the opinions or points of view of this critic.

Each critic´s picture is not only an image but also a button which takes the user into the recorded voice of each critic, and each critic has their own menu, buttons that tell the computer to start recording, stop and play back the content. At the end each group has to include a written summary of their critic.

19

STEPS TO CREATE A CRITIC´S CIRCLE

� Teacher prepares Teacher selects the goal or objectives of project and help students achieve their particular ones, also orient students in equipment usage. Required equipment might be: text and data, graphics, images, sound, video (digital slow and full motion), media, and a computer for each group. If there no availability of audio adapter students can use a tape recorder, then the project should have text on it with clear directions to manually change cassettes or CD´s at appropriate time. The same happens with digital video, students then use photographs along with written directions again. The main goal of the activity is the language usage not the use or availability of hardware or software.

� Teacher assigns project Teacher should emphasize that each group produce an engaging show, one that exhibits a wide range of viewpoints. Since the target audience I varied critic´s circle should provide many different opinions so audience would find entertaining and enjoy hearing them. Time management is another key component so teacher should tell students about how much time do they have to accomplish the project and coach them to distribute time into the tasks to complete. Also teacher can show a finished critic´s circle in order to have students observe what it is required from their project, but just in case students get stuck in the middle of the road. Teacher should have a detailed list about who are the members of the group, which equipment they are using and what their project is about.

20

Academic goals cannot be told at the beginning of the project especially in elementary grades, this type of discussion can be done at the end, when is more effective.

� Students create project Teacher can facilitate a class discussion that leads to an agreement of steps that each group has to follow as well as a time frame in which they have to accomplish each step. Some of the possible steps are:

Group discussion Selection of critics First talk of critics without recording them Decisions about what graphics to use Record on each critic´s opinion Replacement of sample images with critic´s pictures Discussion of what issues to include in the written summary.

Assemble of the whole project and be sure that the whole project in friendly with user

Continuous improvement of project

Teacher may suggest also:

To add a title To add background music To add illustrations to summary To create links to particular critic´s pages

� Reflection The groups should have time to reflect on their own projects and observe others´ work. Assessment can be done by asking and answering the following questions.

Did the group achieve project´s requirements? Is the project attractive, appealing, entertaining and convincing?

Are the comments at an appropriate level for students?

How the project can be enhanced?

21

Reflections on project can be part of students´ portfolios in order to have a source of future comparisons to note improvement; teacher can lead a discussion about the entire activity, the process and content, also find contrary points of view, and base the project in the doing to produce more learning. Since this is an activity that includes the usage of sound and images, it requires producing icons, speech and written summaries, it involves deep thinking and it can be used as a culmination of unit or a stand-alone event.

AUDIENCE

The target audience of project can be formed by: teachers, staff members, parents and of course other students. They listen and analyze critic´s opinions about movie and read the final summary of it.

Project has to be friendly with user, experienced users can navigate through whole project without much orientation but beginners might need the aid of a template to complete the task and group should provide this for their audience.

THEORY INVOLVED IN PROJECT

By completing this kind of project teacher can pursuit serious objectives because the project requires a team effort that leads to a presentation in front of whole class, differences in opinions fade in significance with effort put together in accomplish the whole task.

Project must match curriculum competences or objectives; it calls attention for communication skills, production, and attention to others. Students go through a process that can include: brainstorming, exposition, writing, editing, publishing, performance and assessment.

AN EXAMPLE OF A CRITIC´S CIRCLE

Right now the author is developing a critic´s circle project along with another two partners the three of them are going to be the critics and they are going to develop the project in Flash program, the movie to be critized is Karate Kid, the process in approximately in the middle stage.

22

CONTENT

� Technology and multimedia � Multimedia and technology � Multimedia in the classroom

OBJECTIVES

� To integrate technology to teaching and learning process through the use of multimedia projects to enhance the mentioned process.

23

TECHNOLOGY AND MULTIMEDIA

Before going inside the hindsights of technology and multimedia it is important to define both of them. The term technology has a broader meaning and it also has changed throughout the years, we can define technology as instruments developed by humans and also the techniques or methods to use these instruments. The term comes from the Greek technologia, “techne” = craft; and “logia” = saying. These days the term refers to high technology instruments like: cell phones, computers, spatial devices etc. Now, the term multimedia was a term introduced by the advertising industry to refer to buy something on TV or radio, the term also was used by the PC industry to refer to a computer that could display text in 16 colors also with a sound and video card. So the term multimedia refers to: any object or system which uses expression media (physical or digital) to present or communicate information. In modern teaching techniques teachers have realized that in order to make their job easier, more meaningful, and even funnier, they had to integrate technology to teaching. Technology makes teachers´ job a less thing to worry, teachers now have the opportunity to teach using not only the traditional TV or play recorder, but a wide range of technological devices that go from a lap top computer to interactive software to smart boards. If a course is well planned and carefully oriented to curriculum competence developments technology is seen as an aid, some kind of tool not the core of the course, technology is just a medium to acquire the knowledge or develop the skills and abilities set in curriculum at first. SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR TECHNOLOGICAL DEVICES TO TEACH:

� TV � Play recorder � Cassettes, CDs, DVDs, � Digital cameras (photographs and video) � Computer � Laptop computers � Scanner

24

� Projector � Smartboards � Internet and various applications � Especialized software � Smart phones � And much, much more

MULTIMEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY A way to integrate technology into teaching in through multimedia projects, as stated in chapter 1 effective multimedia projects can give teacher the opportunity to develop a more meaningful teaching and learning process. MULTIMEDIA IN THE CLASSROOM The uses of multimedia in the classroom are varied, teacher and students can perform a lot of important tasks otherwise would be not as meaningful and entertaining as with the use of technology. Multimedia elements which are:

� Text � Audio � Video � Images (still and animated) � animation

Also teacher can support the implementation of technology in the use of software such as the following:

� Word or other word processor � PowerPoint, Flash or Prezi � A web editor as Wix, Dreamweaver, Netscape composer etc.

Students can use multimedia to develop more authentic projects such as it follows:

� Slide shows In this type of project a varied range of information can be presented they used images to present information and few text to help visual learning style students.

� Multimedia presentations

Projects of this type can help teacher to introduce a topic, make a different type of test or evaluation

25

activity, they allow students to present works other time would be presented as an essay or report.

� Electronic portfolios Instead of gathering all papers presented during unit, making copies or typing content, electronic portfolios allow students to have information in an electronic device, adding multimedia elements to make it interactive and dynamic; also links can be included to lead students to interesting pages.

� Research presentations The times where the only way to present a research was a written report are quickly become old fashioned, nowadays, a PowerPoint, Flash or Prezi presentation is the most appealing way, since they are interactive.

� Virtual tours, books, yearbooks There are some projects that because of their nature are excellent opportunities to include multimedia elements and create a multimedia project to develop them, just imagine typing the information, then draw or cut and paste images, try to make some cute decorations using different color papers, now think in the same project but using a computer, have the possibility to include images, to change appearance etc. and etc. and etc. the imagination it the limit.

SOME IMPORTANT ASPECTS TO REMEMBER When working with multimedia and technology teachers should be very careful in order to get the bets from them but not forgetting the main aspects of education that is why teachers should:

� The most important aspect is pedagogy not technology � Try every software program yourself at first � Do not make assumptions about your students´ abilities

or skills. � Avoid using expensive software there are many free

options available � Make use of available proved resources � Technology and multimedia comes after curriculum

competences or objectiv

26

CONTENT

� Seven principles in good practice OBJECTIVE

� To be aware of important issues to consider when teaching with technologies, the main concerns, the key considerations among others.

27

PRINCIPLES OF GOOD PRACTICE IN TECHNOLOGY

In teaching and learning with technology there are some principles to follow, principles that are oriented to make the best use of technology, since technology develops at a vertiginous rate, it is important to keep in mind the basics of technology uses and features. When working on a multimedia project using technology keep in mind the following seven principles developed by Art Chickering and Zelda Gamson:

1. Good practice encourages contact between students and faculty: If students have access to faculty members they can get more involved, feel more attached to faculty, technology gets teaches and students closer and it is so important for shy students who maybe do not feel comfortable to face teacher directly. Technology plays an important role in interaction nowadays, since now it is not necessary to get to campus when it is just a matter of entering the university platform and get what is needed. Also chat rooms, forums and mail provide student and teacher a source of interaction never dreamed before the development of these tools.

2. Good practice develops reciprocity and cooperation among

students: Good learning is not a solo race, is not isolated and competitive, good learning is social, cooperative and collaborative, if a student has the opportunity to work with others has more chances to learn more, share knowledge, get other ideas and points of view that derives in a better understanding and learning. Computers provide the medium to perform this type of interaction, chat rooms, social networks and mail provide students with the interaction necessary to learn in a collaborative-social-cooperative way, and with the development of smart phones these tasks are even easier,

28

since phones can connect to internet, chat, send mails, have access to social networks and allow students to travel with a channel of communication.

3. Good practice uses active learning techniques:

The days in which a teacher just stood in front of his class and lectures are no longer an effective technique, students nowadays need to learn by doing, to construct their learning, to play an important role in their acquisition of learning, and resources provided by technology make this task less complicated. Students need to have internet access whenever is needed, better if it is a Wi fi connection, modern laboratories, virtual libraries, studios, to expand their opportunities.

4. Good practice gives prompt feedback

Students need to reflect on what they are learning, they need to be conscious about what progress they are making, and where they need to practice or reinforce more, technology offers the tools to do so. Teachers can use technology to give instant feedback in their own web pages, through the chat, mail, with a video conference, sending tutorials or videos to help novice students etc. Evaluation and checking tests were too tedious activities but now teacher can evaluate and check in instants with the use of platforms or specialized programs.

5. Good practices emphasizes time on task

Time flies and in the modern life time is a limited asset; people have no time to loose, so technology makes the best use of time by making easier some tasks or activities otherwise were time consuming like going into the campus to deliver homework, or for some class material. People nowadays work and study at the same time, and they can do that from their houses or take classes after

29

work just by connecting to an on-line course or video- conference using tools like Skype, live messengers etc.

6. Good practice communicates high expectations

Teacher should set high expectations for his students no matter they are all equally motivated, in order to get more from them. New technologies can communicate what is expected from student efficiently and immediately as well as provides with learning tools to get the best from learning. For some students knowing that they are going to be published on the web when they accomplished a project is enough motivations to work enthusiastically on it.

7. Good practice respects diverse talents and ways of learning Not all student learn in the same way, that is a fact that teacher must take into consideration, also that student have different talents, some can be good with theory, others with practice and the others with both of them. Technology resources provide with different opportunities to show talents, skills and abilities, if students are exposed to different tasks in which they have the opportunity or chance to be the best they will feel more motivated to go on.

Finally teachers have to keep in mind that technology is just the medium, a tool, to acquired knowledge, pedagogy, teaching techniques and teacher experience come first, teacher is still necessary to achieve the best from the teaching and learning process, but teacher has to become a mediator between his students and the wide range of opportunities technology can offer.

30

CONTENT

� Cues � High quality design

OBJECTIVE

� To know about visual cues and their valuable use in designing.

� To understand the importance of high quality in designing.

31

VISUAL CUES AND IMPORTANCE OF HIGH QUALITY DESIGN Visual cues help the user perform some tasks that are important for a project to go on and do what the user wishes, they allow user to save time in performing these actions since it would be necessary to go to the window menu and select from different options the one that user wants. In order to make this type or operation is necessary to have some sort of sign or signal to show the user the path to follow in order to make the task easier and time saving as stated before. Some of the more common “signs” are:

� POINTERS By downloading some applications for this purpose, creator can change the look of the pointer of the mouse, and also put some hidden information so the user can find it, in fact the user has to move the mouse over the project to find the hidden elements but it is fun to get there and click and be taken from a slide to a menu, a movie, some sort or audio or images.

� HOT TEXT

32

In this case there are some words that lead the user to a menu or multimedia elements or even a link to a useful web page, in this case the user is aware that the text leads to something else because when the mouse is over the hot text, they can change shape, color or even font, and user just click on it and perform the hidden task.

�

� BUTTONS Probably the most common example is buttons, creator can create a shape as wished using elements in word processors, or other specialized programs and convert them into buttons which lead the user to an specific task, buttons allow text, images and using creativity can become in a work of art, the recommendation is to be consistent along the whole project, by using the same format for all buttons or the same concept.

�

� HIDDEN WORDS OR MENUS

Another variation of hot words is hidden text, in this case the text is hidden, just when the user moves the mouse over the slide, realizes that there is something there, in this case they can be used to show menus that lead to specific tasks.

�

� LINKS

MENU

33

Links are the most useful, easy and common way to direct actions to web applications, links can be text or images that link a slide or project to web pages of interest, it is interesting to go from a simple slide to an important source of information like a platform, web site, etc.

HIGH QUALITY DESIGN When working with multimedia elements it is vital to consider many aspects and probably one of the most important is design, designing is not just put some nice things together, it has to do with the conscious decisions the creator has to make in order to accomplish a project that is consistent, appealing, functional and of course meets the objectives of project. All excellent projects have some things in common: they were carefully planned, developed making the right decisions according to curriculum objectives and of course followed elements of designing. Here are some practical tips to consider in order accomplishing a professional look project:

� Plan carefully A well-developed project always starts with careful planning, planning can be summarize in knowing when to start and be conscious where to finish, what to accomplish, in order to make a conscious planning consider the following:

Audience: to whom am I working for? Am I fulfilling their learning needs? Am I considering their special needs and learning styles?

Time: Do I have enough time to finish everything planned? Is it practical?

Software: choose software objectively, consider this: Do I know enough of this program to work with? Is it practical, functional?

34

Keep intended message on mind: have on mind what was your intended message is so important since it leads you through the project, you are not wandering without knowing what to do, you have a map a plan to follow.

� Have a written plan

Write your next steps: that simple action shows the route to follow, the path to continue your project, do not rely on your memory this important task.

Have some documents to help you in the task of developing a project: some of these documents can be: a script (line by line speech to present your project), some notes or reminders when presenting, no more than 25 words, make sketches or drafts of videos or slides to make your work easier, develop “hot lists” they contain all elements needed to help you remind everything.

Enjoy your project: if you are doing what you like and wish to do you will be happy developing it, so enjoy it, the result will be better for sure

35

CONTENT

� PowerPoint � Flash � Prezi

OBJECTIVE

� To know the most used programs when developing and

presenting multimedia projects, their main features and

a brief explanation on their uses.

36

SOME IMPORTANT PROGRAMS THAT SUPPORT TEACHING WITH TECHNOLOGY

Once a Project was carefully planned, and all elements are

taken into consideration the time to choose the right

software has come, in order to help teachers take this

decision here are some programs that can make your project

look as professional as desired.

POWERPOINT

This program´s name is Microsoft PowerPoint, usually know

just as PowerPoint it is part of Microsoft Office and runs in

Windows operating system.

PowerPoint presentations consist of

slides which makes reference to a

slide projector. Slides can contain

text, images, links, animation;

creator can change the background of

the slides, personalize them, change

the font, colors and add sound or

video to them.

Normally PowerPoint presentations are

projected on a projector for large

audiences, the program also provides the user three movement

options:

� Custom animations � Transitions � Story boards

FLASH

It is a multimedia platform used to

integrate video, sound, animation and

interaction and make dynamic web

pages. Some of its common uses are:

37

advertisements, interactive games, simulations and

animations.

Flash provides animation for images, drawings and text; also

it is friendly to the implementation of sound and video, in

the action script the creator can create script and develop a

movie or motion picture.

Maybe at first the program seems a little difficult to work

with but with a good practice and time to invest creator can

be if not an expert someone who can work on the program.

PREZI

It is an online application, a

unified presentation instead of

separated slides, text images, video

and other objects are put together

into a single slide ordered and

presented in an interactive zooming

way. This unified presentation allows

the users to create a visual map that

defines the path to the objects and

frames in our presentation according

to creator´s desires.

The final presentation takes place in an on-line window in a

web browser, but also can be seen off-line downloading the

program.

Prezi users can edit, show and download works from the web

application and users can pay a fee to create, share and

download files. Prezi also offers free features as well as

features for teachers and students.

38

Class documents, Multimedia 2, UMG University, Campus Central

Guatemala, Licda. Silvia Sowa de Monterroso

Www. Wikipedia.com

Stephen C.Ehrmann

Updated January, 2008

http://www.epi.edu/academics/ATC/Collaboratory/learning/MMP/mmp-tips.html

http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/ATC/Collaboratory/Idea/mm-why.html

http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/ATC/Collaboratory/Idea/mm-why.html

• SMS: contact Gary Mote, Manager ([email protected]) or visit the SMS website at: http://www.library.kent.edu/

sms

• FPDC: contact Jeffrey Pellegrino, Asst. Director ([email protected]) or visit the FPDC website at: http://fpdc.

kent.edu/

Ash, L. E. (2000). Electronic student portfolios. Arlington Heights, IL: Skylight Training and Publishing, Inc.

Carroll, J. A. & Witherspoon, T. L. (2002). Linking technology and curriculum: Integrating the ISTE NETS standards into teaching and learning (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc./Merrill Prentice Hall.

39

Cunningham, C. A. & Billingsley, M. (2003). Curriculum webs: A practical guide to weaving the web into teaching and learning. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Roblyer, M. D. (2003). Integrating educational technology into teaching (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc./Merrill Prentice Hall.

Schipper, B. & Rossi, J. (1997). Portfolios in the classroom: Tools for learning and instruction. York, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

http://users.erols.com/allnutt/www.html

40

Is a practical description of the most

common and used features of technology

when teaching it is based in some

documents studied in course Multimedia

2, in Licenciatura en la Enseñanza del

Inglés con Especialidad en Tecnología

Educativa, in Mariano Gálvez

University, in Guatemala.

It is based also in valuable sources of information gathered

along the course through author´s experiences, and her search

for the best resources to be a better teacher, a mediator

between knowledge and her students.