Thing 25: App-palooza!

Thing 25: App-palooza!

I am still getting used to the cart of Chromebooks I have in my Middle School library, and still learning about tools that are compatible with them.  I decided to explore this “thing” in hopes of learning more about different tools I can use with my students for projects and presentations.
    To get started, I read through We Put The "Library In Our Pockets" at Van Meter This Week and loved the idea!  Unfortunately the students in our Middle School aren’t allowed to have their phones out during the school day though, so I shared the article with my HS colleagues. Next I checked out Should I Download That App?  to get a nice overview of things to keep in mind when requesting an app be purchased for the District.  I realized I don’t even know how teachers should go about requesting apps for their students - but I intend to find out as I learn more about how to utilize my ChromeBooks!

    While browsing the recommended links, I came across another great article that I don’t think is included in “Thing 25” but might be added: 50 Sites and Apps for Digital Storytelling . It’s a great list of resources that includes brief descriptions so you know right away which ones are Apple or Android specific. A useful site to bookmark for sure!

    I browsed through a few more of the suggested sites to gain an overview of what is out there. My final stop was at the list of App Task Challenges . What a great resource to use when learning new tools!  As suggested, I decided to do a couple of these challenges as my learning activity for this assignment. Like I try to do with most of these Cool Tools assignments, I thought about teacher collaborations I am working on, and decided to re-visit the digital storytelling project I am starting with the 7th grade English classes in two weeks.  The students will be writing their own bedtime stories, and the English teacher has asked me to assist them with somehow digitizing them.  I’ve been thinking about different possibilities (some of which I’ve learned how to do during this course!) and trying to decide what to do.  Thanks to these App Task Challenges, I had the opportunity to try out a couple of new options.

First I looked through the list to see which ones seemed to be related to publishing student writing.  I started with the “My Story” app task challenge. Although fun and easy to use on my device, I was concerned about how well it would work on my library ChromeBooks. I decided to look at another app task challenge before testing them on a ChromeBook.  I immediately LOVED everything about the “Spark Video” app task challenge and the program. I had a student log in using their school google account on a ChromeBook to make sure it worked, and success!! I believe you can view the mini-project I created at the following link:

See my story: Carmella the Therapy Pony

https://spark.adobe.com/video/IhapHLKTi3LuG

I have no doubt my 7th graders will have a great time digitizing their bedtime stories using this program! The educational value of this app is endless: technology skills, writing skills, language arts, collaboration, digital storytelling - the list goes on - and all in an easily sharable / publishable format that showcases student learning.  I can’t wait to use it! Thanks for another great learning opportunity through Thing 25!