Tech Play 3 - Creativity Tools

A creativity tool is anything that allows a student to create or produce something. For this week's assignment, I have explored a few of my favorite creativity tools that I use/will use in my classroom.

Explain Everything

The first app I explored is Explain Everything. It is an easy-to-use design tool that lets you and your students to annotate, animate, and narrate explanations and presentations. You can create dynamic interactive lessons, activities, assessments, and tutorials using Explain Everything's flexible and integrated design. This tool can be used to create digital content. That content can be uploaded to a variety of sites like Youtube etc.

Prezi

The second program I explored is Prezi. Prezi is a cloud-based presentation software program. The zoomable canvas makes it fun to explore ideas and the connections between them. Years ago, I used Prezi a a couple of times to present information about a class I taught. I plan on spending more time getting familiar with the program so I can see if it would work as an alternative for PowerPoint presentations.

Timetoast

A simple timeline organizer that can be effectively used with multiple levels of students to organize their events and ideas. Timetoast is simple. You/your students create a profile for free and add events to make a timeline. Each event can include text, a photo, and a link. The result lets you see information as a sequence, offering insights on how things grow and change over time. I think students in Social Studies can use this tools more effectively to create timelines about past, present, future and share it on the web.

Animoto

Animoto is a cloud-based video creation service that produces video from photos, video clips, and music into video slideshows. With Animoto student can create a video, add music or voice, add pictures and text, and share it with a group of students or teacher. 

My students can use Animoto in my computer class to create book trailers, storytellings, mini videos about the class, and share it with class. The integration of Animoto in the classroom supports the TPACK model because Animoto supports the learning of content in a student-centered learning environment.

Creativity tools are great way to engage students in their learning process. It is student-centered, and students seem more interested when they do an activity by themselves. Students create, edit, produce and share what they have created.