Tech Play #3

For this weeks Tech Play I explored the following tools: Prezi, Pottery, Haiku deck and Draw Animate.

I enjoyed playing with all the tools. I did find that a few were more practical for the classroom than others.

Perzi-

I liked how user friendly the tool is and how you can be really creative with a presentation. I found no dislikes with the tool.

Haiku Deck-

This is also a presentation tool like Perzi. I found it to be not exciting visually, but I think for a younger audience it may work.

Pottery-

This tool I enjoyed, but it is not really reality when throwing on a wheel. With that in mind I would say it may be useful for students that are special needs working on motor skills. Using your fingers you are able to control/create a piece of ceramics that mimics that concept of the wheel. The free app didn't offer glazing options, so that is definitely a negative.

Draw Animate-

I thought that this was a fun tool to create a quick animation using just a simple drawing, record a movie, and use an existing movie to edit. The only thing I was not crazy about was the share options, it sends off to either your email, Facebook, or your photos. I think it should be instant in the app.

I really enjoy working with Prezi.  In the classroom I have had my students create presentations with Prezi, what makes it so different than other presentation tools is the creativity that is involved.  When using Prezi it involves using content, and how to present that content in a creative way that makes sense to the viewers. The tool offers so many possibilities for creating, the user must think about the whole idea, it is like creating a movie.  

Creativity tools are important to use because they offer a different challenge compared to the other tools such as: drill and practice, tutorials, instructional games. Creativity tools challenge you to create and share. According to Blooms it is the top spot, you take everything that you have learned and then you create with that knowledge.