Aurasmas

Here it comes!!!
While I'm still excited about QR codes and the numerous possibilities and educational applications that they offer, I felt a bit like a dinosaur when I discovered Aurasmas today.  What better way is there to make the physical world come to life if not with music, video and 3D images!  The surrounding world and images become alive and the reality is augmented with a touch of a button.  That is what Aurasmas have to offer and I plan on exploring them in the near future.  In the meanwhile, here are a couple of links that explain what an Aurasma is and how to create one.  And, of course, there is an app for that!

Aurasma links:
http://www.aurasma.com
Demo video

Stay tuned for more!

Using QR codes - Explained!

I absolutely love the "Explain Everything" app!  It is well worth the $2.99 I paid for it.  It is great to have an option of saving the files/videos created with this app but what I like the most is the option of saving the work created in "Explain Everything" as movie files.  This opens up a number of possibilities and lends itself very well to flipped and blended learning models.  The short instructional video above was created with "Explain Everything", next step is to introduce students to this app.

Useful Livebinders

Web 2.0 Tools are great for communication, collaboration and interaction.  This Livebinder contains my favourite web2.0 tools.  I have used most of them successfully in an elementary classroom.  Many of the tools can be used with students in Kindergarten and grade one and do not require individual accounts and email addresses.

Web 2.0 Tools for the Classroom

Last year, I started using livebinders to support students with research projects.  I embed them into student wikis, kidblogs and Moodles.  This binder provides links to resources that support aboriginal studies and can be used with elementary students (grade 3 - 5 and possibly older):

Grade 3 Social Studies

This livebinder is used by grade 5 students and supports the Ontario Science Curriculum:

Grade 5 Science – Human Body