Some tools would be useful with classes

1.VoiceThread
One of the best ways to enhance student learning, boost student achievement, and improve student engagement is to incorporate digital storytelling as an instructional strategy.

Students can demonstrate their knowledge of content, develop higher order thinking skills, improve their digital literacy skills, and harness the power of visual literacy in digital storytelling projects. VoiceThread is a web-based, interactive digital storytelling environment FREE for educators that is being used effectively around the world to safely publish student work on the global stage of the Internet, as well as PRIVATELY share student work with families as well as partner classrooms located in other states or countries.

*Features*



• Users can create and share multimedia presentations
  
  
• Other users can add content and comments to the presentations
  
  
• Allows for a collaborative multimedia presentation to be created by a group of people in differing locations
  
  
• The Voicethread editor is very easy to use
  
  
• Comments can be added using any of 5 different methods
  It can even be embedded to show and receive comments on other websites and exported to MP3 players or DVDs to play as archival movies.

2.POWER POINT

Why PowerPoint? (or any slide show application?)

Addresses multiple intelligences by using color, images, shapes, sound, music, video (multimedia) etc. to reinforce the important points.

Students can see, hear, or “feel” the concepts etc.

As an interactive tool. (Group or class games to practice or review concepts, i.e. Jeopardy, Millionaire, etc.)

When students share ideas and learning with PowerPoint, they are often more interested in a quality product.

Ways PowerPoint could be used for students to show what they have learned:

creating on-line presentations of directions or procedures (build effects)

visual display of comparison studies

present charted data collected from spreadsheets

creating games with immediate feedback through hyperlinks

*Features*

Useful PowerPoint Techniques:
• Stagger revelations of one idea or statement at a time, or a list (use animation scheme)
• Run a slide show as students arrive
• Capture screens from other applications
• Link to a web site
• Insert a video clip