The document discusses and reviews several multimedia tools for use in the classroom, including photo sharing sites like Flickr and Photobucket, audio tools like iTunes and Voicethread, video generators like Animoto, and video editors such as Windows Movie Maker and Jaycut. It finds Animoto and Voicethread particularly easy to use and useful for engaging students and sharing information with families. Moodle online classes are praised for their flexibility and ability to improve teaching through additional learning opportunities.

1. Multimedia in the Classroom March 2011 By Laura Bullard

2. Photo Sharing and Publishing Flickr Slightly confusing for someone unfamiliar with photo editing/publishing Uncomfortable to navigate Photobucket User friendly Many different editing options to allow you to modernize old photos, making them more clear, or to age NEW photos—that was one of my favorite applications for this tool Some pop-ups, but not enough to discourage me from using the site again

3. Using Audio and Web Streams iTunes from Apple Had already used this before and it is VERY simple to download and listen to Voicethread Easy to navigate Teachers can utilize in the classroom for various presentations based on different subject areas Students can create their own presentations to share in their classrooms as an alternative to poster boards and Power Point—ex. Have students document through pictures and narrate the steps, events, progress, etc. of their science experiments. Presentations can be posted on online classrooms to be shared with parents, students, classmates, etc.

4. Creating Videos with Generators Animoto Easy to navigate and user friendly All that is required of the user is some uploading of pictures and then a few clicks to select background, format and music This tool does the work for you and in only a few minutes, promising to never create the same video twice! A great site to upload pictures and create movies for students on various topics/subjects or to document important events or activities in your classroom to share with parents, colleagues, etc. *This was my favorite tool! I upgraded my membership AGAIN so that I could use it more frequently for my family photos.

5. Posting Original Videos Jaycut Seemed fairly easy to use Did not require any program be installed on your computer and was free to use Windows Movie Maker Requires that you have Windows installed on your computer Confused at first because it prompted me to upload Windows Live (which I did), but I’m not sure if that is required to run the program Very easy to use Step-by-Step instructions listed in the left margin that can be used as a checklist to make sure you’ve done all you’d like to edit your movie or add special features I struggled getting it onto YouTube with the music—I could not figure out how to cut the song shorter on YouTube

6. Moodle and Online Learning This was the second online class I took because I loved the first class so much! Tangible tools that, again, I can REALLY use in my classroom with my students and personally with my family Provided ideas for even more ways to communicate with families and let them see what their children are experiencing and creating here at school Online classes seem to offer more opportunities for classmates to share what they know, offer suggestions of what works and what doesn’t Most importantly to me, that I included in my thoughts about Moodle for the last class—this process of learning is so flexible! With my hectic schedule at home, I enjoyed being able to work on projects when it was convenient for me and my children, rather than having to make my family adapt to MY schedule! It also makes it possible for me to take MORE classes, therefore, improving my teaching!

7. Collection of Work Photo Sharing Photobucket http://s1082.photobucket.com/albums/j366/lav620 Audio and Web Streams Voicethread https://voicethread.com/?#u1743100 Creating Videos with Generators Animoto http://animoto.com/play/uKrhrRRw9c4Sg8wU7TDfog Posting Original Videos Windows Movie Maker and Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw3VsHvaSgM Thanks for another great class, Rich!