Instagram, WeVideo & EduClipper

For my Internet Tools for Teaching Master’s class I’m taking this summer, I was asked to evaluate a SOCIAL, CREATIVE, and CURATION website. All three of these categories are designed for anyone to use, not just teachers. My goal was to see how a teacher might utilize a website from each category to enrich their professional growth and enhance learning in the classroom. (All of the sites I evaluated are free to use.)

A SOCIAL site is where people can share resources, ideas, quotes, media, personal experiences…anything they want to with the world (or just their ‘friends’). For teachers, this can definitely work to our advantage, because we naturally share what is or isn’t working in our classroom, and love to gather anything that will help us and our students! It is also a great way to connect and collaborate with other teachers around the world in order to take learning much further than the classroom walls. Since I have already used Edmodo, Kidblog, TodaysMeet, and currently use Facebook and Twitter, I decided to check out Instagram.

FIRST IMPRESSION

·      I have to disclose the fact that I actually listened to a podcast about how Instagram was founded a couple weeks ago before writing this review. At the time, I had no intention of signing up with Instagram though. I was just fascinated with their story (among many other startup stories). However, the podcast helped me understand the main premise of Instagram, or what sets it apart from others – to provide quick sharing of photos or videos taken on a mobile device, with filters to apply to the images.

·      Instagram’s website isn’t much to talk about, but obviously so because it is an app-based program. So when I downloaded it from the App Store, I found the app nice, functional, and simple to use and connect with others.

USER FRIENDLINESS

·      Once your account is setup, using the app was pretty simple to figure out. I didn’t need any tutorials, and just messed around with the menu buttons at the bottom of the screen to see what they did.

·      Some of my former students use Instagram regularly, so I’m sure they would agree that it is easy enough for anyone to use who likes to view up-to-date media from people you care about and also share your own with the world.

HOW EDUCATORS ARE USING IT PERSONALLY

·      Educators, just like anyone else, are using Instagram to share snapshots from their personal and professional lives. Just like Facebook and Twitter, Instagram is an easy to view and post app that can turn into a black hole that you lose track of time and space in.

HOW EDUCATORS ARE USING IT TO ENHANCE STUDENT LEARNING

·      Hannah Hudson (2016) has 10 great ideas for using Instagram in the classroom, which you can view on WeAreTeachers.

·      One important thing that all teachers using Instagram in the classroom have stated is the necessity (for common sense & liability reasons) to make sure administration & parents know why you’re using Instagram with students, and to use a private account to prevent access to inappropriate material and to exclude any person from viewing the class’s account.

·      Most teachers using Instagram let students post pictures or video of their creative work for their following parents to view. Teachers also do that. Basically it’s a way for students to publish their work to a wider audience and for parents to see what and how their children are learning at school.

AM I GOING TO USE IT?

·      Probably not. I still want some time (this summer) to explore the potential of the app and think more deeply about how it could be used in my classroom with my 4^th graders. Right now, I don’t see it as necessary or helpful, and don’t think that enough of my students’ parents use it anyways to want to follow a classroom account. Maybe my opinion will change later though, we’ll see…

A CREATIVE site is where people can use software to create an original product like a video, slideshow, poster, song, etc. This kind of site is perfect for the classroom because it empowers students to tap into their creative side to demonstrate their learning, inspire others, and even entertain their audience at the same time. Teachers can just as effectively use it to create more engaging lessons for their students, which can be accessed anytime and anywhere a student has wifi. I chose to review WeVideo, since I have heard a lot about it but have never given it a try.

FIRST IMPRESSION

·      Professional, fun

·      clear, simple explanations for use

·      disappointed in the free version’s lack of features

USER FRIENDLINESS

·      easy to use and navigate the site

·      signing up was easy because I could just use my school Google account to do so with a couple clicks

·      right after signing up, I encountered a problem with running the software (computer issue), but WeVideo had an option to run the ‘old editor,’ so I was able to still use the software

·      right off the bat I was shown an introductory tutorial video and given tips on how to use the software to make a movie, which made using the software quick and easy to learn

HOW EDUCATORS ARE USING IT PERSONALLY

·      I couldn’t find any teachers using WeVideo without their students, so I would suspect that they would use it just like iMovie is used – for documenting family experiences and vacations, or sharing ideas for other teachers to use.

HOW EDUCATORS ARE USING IT TO ENHANCE STUDENT LEARNING

·      Since WeVideo doesn’t have a library of user-created videos to explore on its site, I looked up “#wevideo” in Twitter to see how teachers are using it in their classrooms. There is a variety of things teachers and students are using it for, including music videos, multimedia presentations, coding assignments, screencasting for tutorials and demonstrations, and even random videos just to become more familiar with the software and video creating & editing in general. All the teachers expressed how much their students loved making videos.

AM I GOING TO USE IT?

·      Maybe. Being an experienced user of YouTube’s Video Creator software and iMovie on my Mac, I was skeptical about WeVideo’s features, but after dabbling with it and creating a short video, I was impressed! It even has a couple features that I’ve always wanted with the other software, so I will seriously contemplate using it. The main hiccup is the cost factor. The school account for WeVideo costs $200 for the year. And I don’t see the free account as being worth the trouble for each student because of its lack of features and watermark (and closing clip) that de-personalize it. My students use Chromebooks and have Google Apps for Education accounts, which means that they could use YouTube’s Video Creator software for free, which has adequate features. If I want the unique features in WeVideo (green screen, screen-recording, collaborative nature, and teacher dashboard), then I will seriously consider paying up for it.

A CURATION site is where people can virtually collect, organize, and publicly display ‘treasures’ they find online. Another term used to describe this is “social bookmarking,” because it enables other people to view and access what you have found (highlighted in a way) to be most interesting and useful online. Although I am an avid Pinterest user and have a positive experience with Diigo, I chose to evaluate educlipper, since I have never looked at it before.

FIRST IMPRESSION

·      professional

·      visually appealing

·      easy to find what I’m looking for

·      purpose is clear

USER FRIENDLINESS

·      easy to navigate

·      signing up was easy because I could just use my school Google account to do so with a couple clicks, however it didn’t recognize my school when setting up a classroom L

·      I had trouble figuring out how to use the educlipper bookmarklet, and had to find a tutorial video online myself for how to do it. I found other users also venting their frustration about this and how they would have preferred a web browser extension button like what Pinterest and Diigo provide.

HOW EDUCATORS ARE USING IT PERSONALLY

·      While exploring the site I noticed that one teacher posted a bunch of clips about how to ‘root’ or hack various smartphones. Another teacher clipped a bunch of reading websites to her improve her reading instruction. Another teacher ironically clipped Pinterest.

HOW EDUCATORS ARE USING IT TO ENHANCE STUDENT LEARNING

·      In looking at the educlip boards, teachers are clipping online math & reading activities for students to learn on, as well as educational resources like TeacherTube to supplement classroom instruction. According to the creator, Bellow (2013) says that, “Teachers and students can…use the tool independent of each other. But as an educator, you can create student accounts that allow you to monitor, moderate, and manage their content.” Educlipper also makes it easy for students to cite their sources when curating their own resources, and can even create personal digital portfolios within their account.

AM I GOING TO USE IT?

·      No. I find it to actually be outdated, having noticed that the most popular clips are 3-4 years old, made by the founder of educlipper, Adam Bellow. Also, when I searched for California missions, an important topic in my classroom’s social studies curriculum, there were no relevant results. When I did a comparative search on Pinterest, I found a plethora of media and sites on the topic. And as far as the user friendliness for me and my students, it just didn’t quite seem worth the effort of using it.

Sources

Bellow, A. & Dembo, S. (2013) Untangling the web. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Hudson, H. (2016) 10 surprising ways to use instagram in the classroom. WeAreTeachers. Retrieved from https://www.weareteachers.com/10-surprising-ways-to-use-instagram-in-the-classroom-2/#.WVPx9FMrLOQ

Interview With Technology Director

To help me better use Web 2.0 tools, I reached out to a friend and fellow teacher of mine, Aaron Koleda, who I have learned many technology ideas from. Aaron is a technology director and 5^th-8^th grade technology teacher at a private school in Michigan. His Twitter handle is @aaronnkoleda, and many of his technology ideas can be found on his blog, edtechjunkies.com.

Here are the questions and answers from our phone interview on June 27, 2017.

1.     How did you decide which Web 2.0 tools to use with your students?

a.     I heard about other teachers’ projects and tools on Twitter. I found teachers that did projects I was interested in doing, and then used the same tools that they used. I also spent many hours exploring tools that I heard about to see if they would work in my classroom setting. I looked for tools that my students could easily use and navigate without much difficulty. I also looked for tools that functioned similar to other tools we had already used in class so the introduction would be smoother. I also made sure the tool had appropriate content.

2.     What obstacles did you experience and overcome to obtain permission to use such a tool or do such a project?

a.     My principal and I have a great relationship, and she trusts me enough to pretty much let me work autonomously. She has never really shut down with one of my ideas, but I still communicate my ideas with her to work through potential problems together. Although, when I or the principal have any hesitation or concern with using a particular tool with the students, we make sure to communicate ahead of time with the students’ parents to inform them of what the school plans to use, why it is valuable for their learning, and how they are going to use it to complete learning objectives. One time a parent didn’t want their child to use the tool I had chosen, so to accommodate that request I simply gave the student a different tool or method to show their learning. I always made it a priority to include parents ‘in the loop’ to the technology plan and worked with them as a team, rather than exclude their input.

3.     What advice would you give to a teacher that is interested in using the tools you’ve used and/or doing the online projects you’ve done?

a.     I recommend that teachers find and choose just one technology project that they would feel comfortable with experimenting with in their classroom. I say this because of how daunting the plethora and depth of web 2.0 tools is. I believe that the benefits from using at least one tool is much greater than the fear or lack of using it. Once a teacher is able to make one project happen, it will give them the confidence to do another successfully. I also recommend connecting with other teachers online that have successfully used web 2.0 tools, and reach out to them for help if necessary. I have had other teachers online walk me through technology challenges.

After the interview, I thought about what Aaron said and knew he had given me golden advice once again. He is actually the one that really inspired me to start using Twitter, and he was definitely right about its potential to connect me with talented teachers and amazing Web 2.0 tools for the classroom. Most of the Web 2.0 tools I currently use have been found as a result of a tweet or blog or email from a teacher using them in creative, effective ways in their classroom. Teachers trust teachers, especially ones that present at technology seminars! And the Internet (and especially Twitter) make it easy to get first-hand, up-to-date information from each one of them.

I have had the same challenges with implementing new Web 2.0 tools in my classroom as Aaron has. My current principal and technology director are very supportive of all my wild ideas, but help me think things through without rose-colored glasses so we can anticipate and mitigate any potential problems.

Aaron’s last point of trying out just one Web 2.0 tool is great advice, because every teacher is strapped for time, and we need to be careful what gets our attention, both for our health and our students’ benefit. Throughout the year I come across many great ideas and tools, but am very careful in choosing what and how many to implement in my classroom. It’s much easier to focus on one new thing each quarter or year, rather than overwhelm yourself with too many new things. That way you can build confidence in a tool and ultimately use it to its full potential in the classroom.