This week's assignment has been to explore creativity tools. To begin my search I just Googled the term "educational creative tools." I found an amazing website Top 9 Free Web Tools to Develop Students Creativity. This website categorized the web tools by classroom use. The name of the website isn't really correct, while there are 9 categories (Blogs/Wikis, Comic Strips, Mind Mapping, Infographics, Video/Audio, Storytelling, Games, & Creative Writing) each category lists countless technology tools a teacher can use in his/her classroom. While checking out the tools I picked the ones I believe would benefit my kindergarten students. Here are my favorites.
Animoto - This free tool allows users to create short videos using pictures/slides. I believe my class could use Animoto as a way to reflect or even assess their learning. An example would be at the end of our unit on shapes to assign each group or individual a shape, give them a camera to capture different shapes inside or outside the school and have them create a shape video.
Storybird - Another free tool that allows users to publish digital books. I love this idea because it allows students to share their creations with families. We could create class books and students could create their own.
Voki - A free tool that allows users to create talking avatars. The avatars can be imbedded in websites or blogs. I also love the idea of students creating a talking avatar. I could use their creation on our classroom blog. Ideas for its use could be reflecting on a field trip, a lesson or school experience.
I really enjoyed exploring creativity tools. I knew there were a lot of tools out there but I've never really sat down and thought about how I can incorporate them into my classroom. I think my students would love being able to use them and they would make learning a whole lot more fun.
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