John Travers
- Location
- Adelaide, SA, Australia
- Organisation
- education.au
- Sector
- More than one sector
- Interests
- web2, Digital Storytelling, Aust Digital Revolution, web2ools, Cyber Safety, ednatv, Grassroots Video, me-edu-au, WeavingICT, edna2010
- Blog
- John Travers
The Magic Toolbox
Simplicity the killer app: iMovie 08, Photo Story 3, VoiceThread, Google.....
More and more evidence is piling up that simplicity is the key to successful design of tools, like those listed in the title. Another example is seen in iMovie 08, a simplification of Apple's highly popular iMovie video editing software. This topic may not seem important to non Mac people, but I think it is.
There has been a furious response to Apple's removal of some features from iMovie 08, like multi-track audio because skilled users can't stand to see anything lost, forgetting that they are a small band of relative expert users who's interests are not representative of normal people, that is, people who just want to do a job quickly and effectively. This video shows one of the main features of iMovie 08.
Tags:
web2
imovie
digital storytelling
showme
simplicity
photostory
literacy
creativity
Posted at 03:06PM Jun 05, 2008
by John Travers |
In the Magic Tool Box.... teachers getting excited
I have been delivering a workshop for teachers for the last two days featuring a range of so called Web 2.0 applications. The teacher response was downright enthusiastic. Sadly, I suspect that the reason is not my scintillating presentation, but rather the intrinsic quality of the applications the participants tried out.
The workshop seems to be a good model, having done the same presentation last year. It is a quick drive through as many Web 2.0 applications as can be achieved in the time with discussion on classroom and management implications as we go. The applications tried out were:
gmail |
Google
docs |
The participants were a group of 18 teachers with generally quite good skills in using ICT. It was interesting that only a small proportion had experience in blogging, social networking, video sharing and use of Photo Story. So the power and ease of use of the applications was a revelation to the teachers.
After trying out many of the tools a very lively discussion about how to deal with internet safety issues flowed quite readily, because they had immediate ideas about the value of the tools and needed to think through how to use them safely.
The star attraction was VoiceThread (see below)
because it is so simple to use, but provides a tool for
effective digital storytelling... closely followed by Photo
Story for similar reasons.
What is striking about this is that the teachers were all highly motivated: even some who are very experienced in using ICT. They did not know what was available. A major reason for this is that some of the best tools are blocked in schools without rational explanation.
A powerful realisation for the teachers is how
many of the tools provide for powerful links to a
child's education and parents. They can see how
parent skepticism and fear about the internet will be
swept away when they see how it can work positively and securely.
The family of tools in the Google basket
come across as being very impressive with a single
sign-on to them all.
Tags:
web2
sicta
digital storytelling
staff development
creativity
Posted at 12:48PM Jun 04, 2008
by John Travers |
