Easy to Use Image Editing Tools

I have come to realize that image editing tools are much more user-friendly than I recall! I had some fun experimenting with different image manipulation tools, and here are a few that I found to be particularly great for multiple reasons.

http://picasa.google.com/

1) Picasa is a free online image editing tool from Google. Picasa is very easy to download, and works on every operating system. I found this to be a bonus, as some of the other software I investigated could only run on either Windows or Macs, not both, like Picasa. Upon download, Picasa uploads all of the pictures from your computer. Picasa’s purpose is to edit and touch up photos. Since an abundance of pictures can be uploaded to Picasa, a nice tool that it offers it to edit a ‘batch’ of pictures, in which you can edit or add effects to a whole group of pictures at once. You can also make slideshows, and Web Albums, that make pictures easy for sharing.  There are also multiple editing effects to choose from like straighten, red eye fix, sharpen, black and white, comic book, pixelate and more. Additionally, because Picasa is associated with Google, it makes photos very easy to share on Google Plus. One feature of Picasa that caught my eye, was side-by-side editing, in which you can compare the original photo to your edited one side-by-side.  Overall, Picasa is an easy to use basic image editing software, that is best suited for teachers and students who are performing basic editing on large sets of image files.

http://fotoflexer.com/

2) Fotoflexer is an image editing software that does not need to be downloaded to your computer. You can simply upload a photo that you wish to edit right from the FotoFlexer website. This is a convenient feature as you can use FotoFlexer on any computer with internet access. Photos are uploaded from your computer, from social networking sites (Facebook, Photobucket, Picasa, etc.), or you can even upload a picture from the web by entering the URL.  FotoFlexer’s tools are well laid out for the users in tabs.  Some of the basic functions include: auto fix, fix red eye, crop, and more. There is an effects tab, in which you can have the choice to add various effects to the photo, including, colour splash, blurred edges, comic, neon, grey-scale, and more. FotoFlexer also has the option to decorate your photo with text, stickers, borders, and other fun decorations. Another neat feature of FotoFlexer is that you can add layers to your picture. I like that with all of the effects and tools, you can click on them, and they are applied to the image so you can see if you like it, but you can just as easily click cancel and the image will set back to it’s original. This gives the user the flexibility to ‘play around’ with the tools available to them. When saving the photo you can save it to your computer, or the user can save it to a social media connected to FotoFlexer.  


Below is a picture I edited while experimenting with FotoFlexer:

5 Audio Activities to Use in Your Classroom

Here are 5 practical uses of audio tech tools that you can use in your classroom!

1. Reader’s Theatre: Students can create great Reader’s Theatre audio files.  Reader’s Theatre can be done either using a basic audio tool like Podomatic or Audioboo, or using a more complex audio tool like Audacity, where students can edit their audio tracks, can add sound clips and create multi level tracks.  The teacher can create a model reading blurb first reading something with no expression and then reading the same script with a lot of expression.  Students can practice their scripts on their own first, just to get a hang of using audio technology tools.  When ready, they can record their performance with their groups.  Students can then upload their performances to the class blog, where their peers can listen to their performances.  Reader’s theatre using audio recording tools is a fun way for students to practice reading out loud, build fluency, and practice expressive reading.  It also  integrates reading with writing, it is engaging, and it fosters cooperative learning.  From my experience with using Reader’s Theatre in class, students tend to really enjoy it!

2. Advertisment: Students can create an advertising audio podcast, promoting people to travel to a certain place of study. Students will have to research this country or city, and it’s main attractions.  Students can create a brochure of their place, and can also create a podcast.  Creating a podcast will be fun for the students, and will also give students a chance to explain, using words, what they studied about that place.  Using a podcast to advertise for a certain place, will give students the opportunity to practice fluency, tone, and expression.

3. Formative Assessment: Teachers can use audio recordings to ask students about particular topics that they are learning about in class. Just as a simple exit slip or a review about whether students understand their topic. Teachers can ask students a particular question, for example: “What happened on Jacques Cartier’s first voyage to North America”, and students will create a quick podcast answering the question.  Students can then copy and paste the link into the classroom blog, or on the classroom ‘delicious’ bundle, or on the classroom twitter account, and then the teacher can review the podcasts to ensure student understanding of the particular topic in question.

4. Book reviews using audio recordings. Just like a book report, teachers can ask students to record a review on a book they have just finished reading as a class or individual book reports.  Students can discuss the characters, plot, setting, problems, and solutions of the book.  Students can then review whether or not they enjoyed the book, and whether they would recommend it to others. This activity can be extended by providing the students with a certain scenario, and discussing how this scenario would be solved from the perspective of one of the characters in the book.

5. Google Presentation or Powerpoint Presentations.  Students and teachers can add audio files to their google drive presentations and to their powerpoint presentations.  Whether the presentation be on the Solar System, on the human body, or the Government of Canada, etc., students can add audio files explaining their projects.  Some students have trouble speaking out loud to their classmates, so it could be a good option for them to pre-record their comments about their project.  This can be accomplished by creating an audio file using an Audio technology program that has easy sharing privileges, like SoundCloud or Podomatic.  Once the audio file is created for each slide, teachers and students can copy and paste the link into the notes section of the slide.  

Source: Caitlin Tucker's Blog

Also with Google Drive voice comments, teachers can leave voice comments on student’s work.  You can connect a voice comments app to your google drive, (the one I use is Kaizena), and when you open a students document, you click ‘open with’  Kaizena. You can then highlight sections that you wish to add a comment, and then click record. I think that this can be a very useful tool for teachers and students. For teachers, it is much faster to record their voice, than to write out every comment.  For students, hearing voice comments can be more effective, because too often enough, when receiving a project back, students tend to just look at the grade, and do not focus on the comments. I also believe that voice comments on text documents, is a much more personal way for students to receive feedback, and I believe that students will respond better to voice comments than to written comments. 

Source: Caitlin Tucker's Blog

I recommend checking out Caitlin Tucker's blog for step by step instructions on how to use voice comments.

Audio Tools Review...Podcast Style!

Hi everyone,

 So here it is, my very first podcast!  I had fun testing out 3 different audio tools that can be used in classrooms.  Have a listen and let me know what you think!

 I reviewed the following audio tools:

1) Audacity
2) Podomatic
3) Audioboo