Chapter 9 Reflection

How can my students use multimedia for their projects? 

As an elementary teacher, there will be plenty of ways to allow your students to use multimedia for their projects.  Ideas on using multimedia for projects include:

• Have students create electronic books with software such as Hyperstudio, when doing a thematic unit
• Create an electronic portfolio- have students choose special individual work they have done throughout the year to be highlighted in portfolio.
• When doing a poetry lesson, have students create a poem and then record it using Voice Thread.
• Create a Wordle using weekly spelling words.
• Do a visual presentation about the Civil War by creating a Prezi

What applications are available for creating a multimedia presentation?

In the growing world of technology, applications that are available for creating a multimedia presentation seem to be growing by the day.  Although some teachers may feel safe by sticking with what they know, it is advantageous to go out and explore to see just what is out there.  Googledocs is an easy-to-use online word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation editor that enables students to create, store and share information and collaborate online in realtime.  No software is required and all work is stored safely online and can be accessed from any computer.  Another application available for creating a multimedia presentation is Microsoft PowerPoint.  PowerPoint is a full featured desktop presentation program which contains graphic tools and many kinds of pictures and graphs that can be imported. A fun idea for a presentation is to let kids create word art using their spelling words.  Once again, VoiceThread is always a great tool to use.  There is so much you can do with this software.  Whether you are teaching about the life cycles of animals or teaching division and multiplication, students will be able to create a presentation using Voice Thread.


Should I place limits on how my students use multimedia?

Using multimedia can be fun for students, which tends to lead them to "go overboard."  As a teacher, it is important to make sure that your students do not lose sight of the message they are trying to get across.  Too much use of multimedia in a presentation can distract the viewer.  Setting guidelines and criteria before students are given an assignment is a good way to avoid this problem.  For example, letting students know that their presentation needs to have a white background, with black text and no more than three images give them boundaries as to the design of their presentation.