Flash Slide show maker

I have used a number of web based tools to their potential in teaching-learning practices. All these are free or open source tools.

Flash Slideshow Maker

I can tell you that it is very easy tool to make slideshow than it look otherwise.
http://www.flash-slideshow-maker.com/
ANVSOFT Flash Slide Show Maker is a Flash album creator to make animated photo slide shows with SWF file as the output format. It transforms digital photo collection to Macromedia Flash file format (SWF) which you can share pictures with your students on your own homepage or website. With ANVSOFT Flash Slide Show Maker, one can easily turn a folder full of still images into a stunning Flash slide show with background music and special transition effects. This Flash slide show software allows you to add nice looking animated slide shows to your website in no time! It is a nice tool to share slides/photos with students.
After you have finished making slideshow you can configure your output settings, you can publish your slideshow at once. You can make your slideshow into a CD/VCD or upload it to SkyAlbum (free web hosting). You can even export it as swf movie.
I have created slideshow through this tool and hosted it on SkyAlbum for free and then embedded it in my blog. It is easier than the online tools such as slide.com and slideshare.com. You can watch this at:- http://mygeographylearning.blogspot.com/

Concept Teaching

What is a concept?
Concepts are categories into which experiences are organized and the larger network of intellectual relationships brought about through categorization. It requires some level of critical thinking in order to make associations between words and ideas.

How to go about building concepts?

Recently during my IX class geography period I came across one response form a student. I asked the class to name two island groups of India. Many hand went up but I choose to be selective and asked the answer from the one who was sitting in the last.
He replied Goa!

Then only I took up the concept of Island for remaining 20 to 25 minutes.

I generated pairs of examples and non-examples that exhibit some of the major defining characteristics or attributes of Islands.
For example. I displayed following examples and non-examples on the blackboard.
Examples: Lakshadweep, Andaman Nicobar, Srilanka, Mauritius, Maldives and Havaii
Non-examples: Hyderabad, Delhi, Goa, China, Amritsar and Agra.
I told each student to locate the places given under examples and non-examples in their atlas.
As the students started thinking about each example and non-example I asked them to define what it is that makes the two lists different.
I allowed students to provide additional examples and non-examples for bringing in more celerity in defining characteristics.
Then I asked students to revise their list of characteristics of the concept. Students observed that “Island is a land mass, it is covered with water on all sides, the water body could be sea or fresh water”.
At the end I asked students to write a description of the concept that includes all the key or defining characteristics.
The same student who gave Goa the answer wrote “Island is a landmass surrounded by water on all sides. The water body could be sea or fresh water.”

This is one way of building the concept in the minds of the students.

Animating in the classroom

See the creation of the students:

Google Docs and Evaluation

The emerging technology of google docs has shown the way how learning can be assessed, evaluated and graded using ICT just sitting back in your home. This tool has the ability to engage students and in fact it has been my obsession since I discovered it. I have seen a few teachers using it and believe me none of them are dissatisfied. It not only collects student answers at one single space but also have the ability to show their grades or scores. For a teacher it can be no better than this to have answer scripts of students preserved online at one place. If you want to have a look at what I have done then go to my wiki.

If you have been using Gmail for some time then you must have seen Google Docs also. For a teacher spreadsheet can be used for evaluating students’ learning that too online.

You may be wondering how to go about it? Then follow these procedures.


Step 1: Open a new spreadsheet from Google Docs.
Sept 2: Rename it by clicking the default untitled spreadsheet and then click share button on the right of your screen.
Step 3: Select Fill out your Form and then click start editing your form. Step 4: Write the question in the Question Title “What is your Name?” and fill in any help text (some added instructions). Click Add a question. In this box write “What is the name of your school?” You can repeat this process for your questions. Choose appropriate type of question from Question Text. Once finished click Done.
Step 5: Next choose recipients. You can change custom confirmation message as per your requirements.
Step 6: Click embed button and copy the code and then paste it on HTML widget/post in your blog or wiki. There you can resize it as per your requirement by changing height and width values.
Your form will automatically collect the information filled in the form and save them in the spreadsheet. Do not tamper with your spreadsheet because it is controlled by your form. Now you will have spreadsheet similar to this with name of each student who took the test, his/her school & answers to the questions.


If you want to show the scores then follow these instructions.

Step 7: You can see that A column shows the timestamp, B shows the Name of student and C & beyond show the answers of the students. Suppose the answers end at J column then at K write the score obtained by the students.
Step 8: Now Click Add sheet button on left bottom corner. Go to new sheet and enter formula =SHEET1!B1 in cell A1. Similarly write same formula =SHEET1!K2 in cell B1. This will give you the name of student and his/her score in sheet 2 automatically.

Step 9: See the link Insert Plugin or Gadget near Print button at the top right corner. Click it and select Column Chart draw a chart of scores.
Step 10: In the Range box give range SHEET2!A1:B100 and then give chart title, axis title and then click Apply. You can now see the Column Chart showing scores of your students.
Step 11: To embed it in your blog or wiki you must click the drop down arrow on the chart at top right corner and select Publish. Copy the code given in HTML and paste it in your blog.
By this way whenever there is any entry and you have given a score it will be shown in the Chart in your blog or wiki.
Now Enjoy your class! I have done it at my wiki. Have a look and comment.
exploringgeography

Wiki-centric extended classroom

Setting up a wiki (http://exploringgeography.wikispaces.com/) gave Class 10 Geography students extra opportunities to post and edit their work – lessons, links, handouts, presentations, videos, games – online, thus allowing me and fellow students to provide comment and feedback. The students were divided into four groups:
(i) Q for asking questions,
(ii) A for answering questions,
(iii) E for enhancing/adding to A’s group answer and
(iv) P for paraphrasing and summing up E’s group.
The groupings were changed for each activity to ensure that the students had a chance to take on a different role. The wiki was also used to share day-to-day information and instructions, including a variety of resources provided by both the students and me. Replacing time needed for traditional homework, the wiki enabled the students to concentrate on exploring and learning new concepts.

ICT in my classroom - a reflection

Good evening
Myself Suryaveer Singh Post Graduate Teacher taking Geography at S. D. Public School, Delhi, India. Before I write on my experiences of being an e teacher I would like to quote a small poem: -
“I am a counselor and psychologist to a problem-filled child,
I am a police officer that controls a child gone wild,
I am a travel agent, who takes a child to distant unseen places,
I am a confidante that wipes a crying child’s tear,
I am a banker, who collects thoughts of a child,
I am a librarian showing adventures that a storybook brings,
I am a custodian of child’s faith,I am a photographer seeing a child grow,
When mother and father are gone for the day, I become both,
I am a politician that must do tricks
I am a news reporter updating on our nation’s current events,
I am a detective solving small mysteries and ending all suspense,
I am a clown and comedian that make the children laugh,
I am a preacher when a child strays from values,
I am proud to be these people because…. “I’m a teacher”
Taken from Stacy Bonino
Geography as a subject
Geography is an observational subject which needs special skills to analyze and decipher information. During my teaching career I have realized that there is a general perception that the students in India lack interest in Social Science subject in general and History in particular. The reasons may be many and debated. The Geography as a subject is quite interesting but due to inability of analyzing and visualizing abstract and far away information, it turns out to be a bit difficult to understand and thus it creates a wide gaps between teaching and learning.
Before The advent of ICT in my classroom
Over the course of last 5 years, before I came to know about the role of ICT in education (that was in March, 2007), I use to spend many late nights in developing lessons summaries and Power Point presentations for the students the next day. And during day time in the school I spent most of my regular periods and zero hour periods in re-explaining the concepts which I delivered in the classroom. During those nights and days I realized that I did not get any time to study or re-learn. I was just spending my energies in re-explaining. Then I tried various teaching-learning methods/techniques of engaging students. Although these activities were beneficial but consumed my classroom time. I ran short of fulfilling my academic plans. I wanted to have some ways where I could reach up to each child individually and help them in developing observational skills.
After the Advent of ICT
But the help came from CII Shiksha programme. It was March, 2007 when we came to know about the e-learning through the first workshop held in our school. Then after we were introduced a new set of online and offline tools through workshops held in different schools of Delhi.Now, after knowing the utilities of open source free tools in education, my perception of teaching and learning has changed. ICT has proven it by helping my students in exploring the wonderful world around them. It has worked well and impacted the learning in the children. I think the days of purely relying on classroom model for teaching-learning are now a thing of the past. Now, the focus is on to have a blended approach to the teaching-learning process.Through it I wanted my students to migrate from passive learners to investigative learners. Give freedom to my students to access multiple sources for information/ knowledge instead of depending on just a single source of information. Install character of ‘doing’ and ‘thinking’ in groups. Maintain student’s attention, their attendance, curiosity and achievements in the activities and at the same time protect students from the web-based abuses.
The Last Academic year
The last academic year was full of happenings and event full. I created wiki pages called exploringgeography for class X students and it’s the place in the web where we collaborate together and learn and relearn the geography concepts. Similarly we have a blog called mygeographylearning for class XII students where we share and research knowledge. Students do investigations and gather multiple information to supplement the class room teaching-learning processes. I have also created many offline study material on eXe where I have used mind maps, flash, animation done on different software, voice using audacity, etc. We are learning and sharing through technologies and it all has given us a fulfilling experience. We are now well connected with the students and the world.
I would like to give thanks to every one who supported me through this year and CII Shiksha in particular and Mr. Narinder Bhatia my guide for empowering me.
What next
I have been a bit low recently (which does not go with me and it's very unlike me) just because one thing is bothering me. There is something missing in the manner it has been integrated. I see not many students have computer at home, forget about the broadband connection. It has been very difficult to convince the parents to allow students to use computers at family friend’s home or cyber cafe. Infrastructure at home and school is something to be looked seriously. Still I have stored many things for this year. First of them is using Google Earth, Docs, Spreadsheets, Presentation, and new offline tools.