Final Technology Project

My Project

Here is how you must get to my online storybook:

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  Go to the online website called Tikatok
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  Sign in as me. Here is the login information to my account.
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  Username: JaclynRWilliams
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  Password: tikatok
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  Then click on the title of my book A Little Birdie Told Me.
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  Sidenote: There are 2 ways to view an outsider's book. You may download the pdf file, which I could not upload to blogger, or you can just log into the account of the author. I would have all of my students email me a copy of their book in a pdf file. However, for this project, log into my account to view my book. Then you will be able to see all of the neat features that Tikatok has to offer.

Features of Technology Used and Learned

• Create a storybook online through the website Tikatok:
• I learned how to edit photos and upload them to the pages of the book.
• I learned how to maneuver the Tikatok website in order to create a book, by experimenting with my imagination, text, and media photos.
• I created my own style of a children's book using my own storyline and inspiration.
• Create a video through PhotoBooth and displayed it through Blogger:
• I used PhotoBooth on my mac to create a video describing my children's book.
• I learned to upload the video through Blogger, so that it could be viewed inside of a blogpost.

Issues encountered during the project and how I solved them

When I first started to create my book through Tikatok, it was not letting me add several features that I wanted to my storybook. It would not allow me to add my name as the author, and it would not allow me to upload pictures onto the pages of my book. I thought to myself, "Oh no. I thought that I had done this before, and I remember it had let me. This is not good." It kept telling me that I needed to sign up for a membership. I thought that a membership cost money per month, but when I finally tried, I remembered that a membership is free. This is why I liked the website so much. Students are able to create their own account for free. Then they can start their own studio of books that they created and place them in an online bookshelf on their account. That opens up many different ideas for projects in the classroom. Once I figured out how to sign up for a membership, which was very simple, I was able to add my name as the author and upload pictures to the pages of my book.
When I wanted upload the video to blogger, I knew from the start that I was going to have issues. This is one of the reasons that I chose this technology feature for my project. I wanted to learn how to get a video onto blogger in a blogpost. Since there is no visible link in my tool bar to click as I do to upload photos, I had to find other ways to go about uploading the video.

What the project means to me and how I will use it as a teacher

The inspiration of this project has been sitting and stirring inside of me for quite some time. I have been wanting to find an outlet for students to create a book of their own online. I see the many different ways that teachers have students create class books and how the students enjoy making them. Students love to create something that is published because it becomes a great accomplishment for them. So I have always thought that creating a book online would be a fun way for students to feel a sense of accomplishment while integrating technology.

Here's how it would work in the classroom. Students will create their own storybook through use of the website called TikaTok. This site provides templates to kick-start ideas for students on their book. This is a great way to integrate technology into the classroom. Rather than having the students write up a book on paper, with pencil and crayons, as we all have experienced, children will instead get the chance to develop their ideas in a much more challenging way. It can integrate all units of the curriculum; for example, you can have the students create a book on their favorite animal that was studied in the science unit. Students will have fun researching and getting creative with this assignment.
Then, the students will use Blogger to upload a video on the class blog describing the book that they created. This can include the process it took for the student to create the book, or it can be an explanation of the inspiration of the idea of the book. Students will need access to a video camera and can take time in class to upload the video and edit it before placing it on the class blog site for parents and fellow classmates to see.

Listed below are the NETS for students and teachers that relate to this project and how they can be incorporated in the classroom.

NETS (National Educational Technology Standards)

For teachers:

• Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments: Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS-S teachers.
• Response: This standard is important to me as a teacher because it is my job to provide many different strategies of learning in order to reach each and every individual student. In math, I must provide different problem-solving approaches that lead to the same solution because what works best for one student, may not work best for another student. The same goes in relationship to presentation through technology in learning. Through this project, I am able to customize and personalize learning activities to address students' diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources. Students are able to work on the computer, using many different features and presentation skills through technology. I am also able to provide students with multiple forms of assessment because of the many different folds that this project offers. Students are working with photos, text, video, and imaginative content as they create their project. This gives me as the teacher many different ways to assess each project in order to secure correctness of learning achievement.
• Six ways to work on this standard specifically for this project:
• Students will use the SMART board to present their videos and online storybooks to the class. The will get practice with their speaking skills and be able to work with the SMARTBoard fluently in order to give a proper presentation.
• I will hand students a grading rubric of what is expected of them on this technology project, so that they can know what will be assessed. This will help me get practice with creating sound rubrics that are a good learning experience with technology.
• Students will be turning in their project to me online through blogger, rather than handing the project in on paper. This will give me practice with grading and assessing technology assignments through the online database of blogger.
• I will know and understand the SMART Board and Blogger in order to more quickly and more efficiently assess the students in my classroom.
• I will create and customize my own storybook and video to present on the SMART board as an example for students.
• I am providing different outlets for students to learn.

For Students:

• Creativity and Innovation: Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.
• Response: This standard is important for the students because it will benefit them to have the ability to think outside of the box. Education cannot be handed to a student on a platter. Instead, a student must explore and create in order to obtain knowledge. With this project, students are using their own imaginations to write a storybook. The will be required to think outside of the box by coming up with content for their storybook. They will be the author and designer of their book, which encourages creative thinking. It is important for me as the teacher to encourage students to expand their knowledge through creative thinking, and then to incorporate a hands-on plan for them to produce a product of their thinking.
• Three ways to work on this standard specifically for this project:
• Students will create a storybook on Tikatok that they will present to the class. They will come up with their own storyline, style of text, and illustrations. This gets the students to use higher levels of thinking while using technology because they must produce a product from scratch through technological artistic ability. They will be able to explore Tikatok and construct their thoughts into a book. This will be an original work of the student's to demonstrate creative thinking, construction of knowledge, and the development of a process and product using technology.
• Students will create a video of their very own to display their hard work and creativity on the storybook that they made. The video will tell of how the student was inspired about the storyline and theme of the book and the process by which the student created the book.
• They will then upload the video and the book to the class blog as a post. This will help build skills with technology and understanding how it works. These will be private blogs, viewable only by parents of students in the class and teachers. This project will assess the students' final progress through the use of technology. It will challenge the students to think outside of the box to construct an original page of their own. This assignment will also demonstrate students' creative thinking, construction of knowledge, and the development of a process and product through the use of technology.