Play Tech 3

Discuss the variety of tools you explored, what you liked or disliked about each one and which one you selected one to continue to reflect on.

The tools that I explored were Wordle, Animoto, and Scratch. Each one of the tools that I explored I really enjoyed.  Wordle is my favorite and it is very easy to use. 

Wordle is a Web application that allows users to generate word clouds. A word cloud is a

visualization of word frequency in a given text as a weighted list. It gives significant
importance to words that occur more often in the text. Those words will appear larger
than words not used as much. Wordle is a new and exciting way to display text as art.
Wordle affords changing the font styles, the layout of the text, and the color
scheme. Wordle can be used for a variety of purposes in the classroom. http://www.wordle.net/

Animoto is a video creation service (online and mobile) that makes it easy and fun for anyone to create and share extraordinary videos using their own pictures, video clips, words and music. Simply upload your pictures and video clips, choose your style, add words and music, and click the "produce video" button. Then, Animoto’s cinematic technology does its magic and in minutes brings it all to life with a beautifully orchestrated production you can share with family and friends. http://animoto.com/
Here's my short story: https://email.animoto.com/pub/cc?_ri_=X0Gzc2X%3DWQpglLjHJlYQGu8XBKGT6zeiKcdR2iS0DqRWzaOeBzaKcOVXtpKX%3DWBBBW&_ei_=EseyZ-Mtn2U6u_BfWAsNwzI-ZYBCD1BLpnlu0inkvnxxyaWFwBU-dVgFtzOLZxAiYLnx5N82SLSxCPK_sC-wLJEFqsjnb8sGfH5zJFIKZXIDxU9lsxdqFXbCo3SJ7lIItuBXZQFBQe366HKIqV2_V8PRCvIcNKUpcJqgnP3qr4YAiHoFIaGKbScu6wsli1lFd2mTqgf4yQVYHbapFRHCEHGtH2LvxkRQNmiGjKbigWU_6IwrRrOY24X9yCY8A8yCG0hQ56RqiUdSQFYrQGrd-fgCswIzTSGmrMqcc7slapA.

Scratch is a programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art -- and share your creations on the web. As young people create and share Scratch projects, they learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively. http://scratch.mit.edu/
You can access my scratch here: http://scratch.mit.edu/users/christyloftis16

Describe how this creativity tool that you selected might fit into the TPACK model. Specifically, describe the content, pedagogical and technological aspects of some student work that uses the creativity tool you selected.

Wordle can be used to present information in an innovative way that is engaging to learners in the form of word clouds. A word cloud could be a creative way to introduce a new unit or present a topic. For example, when introducing a new unit in science on living things, the teacher could create a word cloud from the chapter. The students could then be given a copy of the word cloud and discuss some of the things that will be covered in the chapter and how they think it relates to living things. This strategy would be very different from students taking the ordinary picture walk through the text or the teacher telling the students the topics that will be covered. This will grab students’ attention because the information will look different from the traditional text that they are used to viewing. By using Wordle, the students will be engaged whether they are analyzing or creating their own word clouds.

 Identify other ways that students could use the creativity tool you selected.

Wordle can be used as an editing and revising tool. By using the Wordle application, students will have a clear way of seeing words or themes in their paper that occur too much or that do not appear enough throughout the paper. After students have completed their papers, they can cut and paste them into Wordle and generate a word cloud. Students will then be able to see if the main ideas in their papers are standing out. Wordle can be used as a self-correction tool, and students will know that they need to add more details to their paper. If a word shows up too large that is not important to the paper, students could then get creative and use a variety of other words to replace the words that appear too frequently. This will help students edit and revise their own writing with limited teacher assistance.

Wordle is a great tool to use to teach prekindergarten and kindergarten students how to identify their names.  Students will only begin to recognize their names once they have observed it again and again.  Students will become fond of seeing their names in various colors and in bold letters. Ultimately, this will inspire them to learn to write or even try to locate the letters in their names on the keyboard and create their own word cloud.

Why is it important to know about and use creativity tools? What do they offer that other tools (i.e., drill and practice, tutorials, instructional games, etc.) do not offer?

Creativity tools produce creativity.  They add value and make a difference in work.  Whereas educational software makes learning fun, are great for motivating students, and help students remember information.   Creativity tools inspire individuals to invent or discover alternative ways to solve problems.  They enhance the learning process by creating a learning environment that develops higher thinking skills.