Integrating+Web+Based+Technologies

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=Teaching to All Learning Styles= Answer these questions How does the wiki meet the needs of the visual learner? How does the wiki meet the needs of the kinesthetic/tactile learner? How does the wiki meet the needs of the aural learner?

=Adding Podcasts to the Wiki= How cool!!! Here is one way to snag the aural learner...and frankly aren't we all a bit aural? This is easy. Listen to the Podcast and then I'll tell you how you can add a Podcast to your wiki in less than ten minutes. media type="custom" key="135925"

How did I do it? Go to [|Gcast] and register. Within five minutes, you can be creating a Podcast by simply talking into your telephone. Your finished Podcast will appear on the screen in front of you within moments of hanging up. And then...how do you get it on your wiki page? Here are the steps: =Why a podcast in a wiki?=
 * Make a podcast at Gcast.
 * Decide where you want to place the podcast in your wiki and go to that page.
 * Go into edit mode; click on the television icon; a window will open.
 * In another window, go to the Gcast main page and click in the box to the right beneath the big number "2 Listen To Your Podcast."
 * New page opens and to the left of the middle, you will see a box similar to the one above.
 * Just below that, click on "Love this podcast? Add it to your blog or MySpace!"
 * Follow the steps choosing Player Style and Playback Mode.
 * Copy the code at the bottom of the page and paste into the open window on the wiki page.
 * That's it!

Add to this list--
> >> =Bringing Mixed Media to the Wiki=
 * Running Commentary (using handheld recorder) on:
 * field trips
 * school events
 * Class units
 * final project
 * as unit progresses
 * Monthly or weekly newsletter
 * Instructions for completing assignments
 * Book reviews
 * Book discussions
 * Website reviews
 * Movie reviews
 * Interviews
 * with guest speakers
 * in response to guest speakers

Creating a Slideshow
Below, you will see the opening slide of a slideshow presentation compiled with both audio and video through [|VoiceThread], a free online service that offers private and public sites to individuals and classrooms. A special page provides [|instructions on how to create a classroom VoiceThread], and that too, can be uploaded to your classroom wiki or not. You be the judge.

Below is a VoiceThread that I created to show you how the tool works. Easy to use, the video below took about 15 minutes to put together and another 15 for adding the audio. To create your own VoiceThread, you will first need to create an account with VoiceThread and then upload your video narrative into the wiki. That too, is easy. The instructions for uploading the VoiceThread into your wiki are located just below the slideshow. You can upload in two sizes. I chose the smaller just to save space on the page, but the larger size is really cool.

To get the video started, you will need to click on the arrow just below the record and type buttons.

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Embedding a Slideshow
That's it. In the edit format of wiki page, the VoiceThread will appear as a grey box with the word "custom" centered. Don't worry. Save and let the page return and you will see your VoiceThread slideshow.
 * Three easy steps.**
 * 1) Once you have finished creating your VoiceThread slideshow, go to "Options" and make your VoiceThread "Public." Without choosing to make your VoiceThread public, you will not be able to upload to the wiki.
 * 2) Return to your wiki site and click on "edit this page" in the space you want to place your slideshow. Put your cursor where you want the slide show to appear. Move your cursor to the toolbar and click on the TV icon (Embed Media). A diaglogue box will open. Leave it open and...
 * 3) Return to the VoiceThread edit page. Click on "To Go." When that dialogue box opens, choose either the smaller or the larger versions of your slide show and highlight the correpsonding HTML language, click copy and bring it to the Wikispace dialogue box and paste.

Practice
Your turn. Consider your classroom wiki. What kind of slide show could you create that would scaffold student learning, teach them how to do something **or** act as model for expectations of products for future project assignments. Go to VoiceThread and register as a user. Use either your own pictures or pictures found on the internet to create a 5-slide show, complete with audio.

= = = = =Teacher Tube= Where did these videos come from? A [|site for educators] that is essentially created by educators. There are poignant videos, political videos, educational videos and humorous vides, but all are about and for teachers and some for administrators, too. Take a look at these and then go to the website and see what you can find. But...I suggest you don't stop with simply embedding others work. As with the podcst, challenge your students to create their own videos for publication on your classroom wiki. Ideas? commercials, dramatizations, experiments, creative expressions, evidence of mastery....I'll start a list beneath the videos and you can add to it. Oh, you ask, how can these be embedded to your wiki? Come on, now....you show me! media type="custom" key="97443"

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Ideas and links to projects requiring mixed media: Create a link to your wiki site and your collaborative project...maybe you even have a rubric...that's our next topic.