I created a screencast about How to change your Profile Picture on Facebook. This was the first time I created a Screencast, so everything was new to me. I learned that it looks alot better if you size your screen right, and I learned that it takes some preparation and planning to sucessfully create a screencast. There are also things that can happen that you cannot control, like when your computer wont load a page or something like that. 

The Link to my project is: http://www.screenr.com/gB5

Tony Vincent created a great video, informing us about Project Based Learning in Hand. This video shows endless possibilities for students and teacher to include technology in the classroom to create projects and presentations.

What was my most significant take away from this video?

I think the most interesting point of this video for me was that mobile learning can happen anytime and anywhere. Portable devices allow us to access information at all times, no matter where we are. I think that with our busy lifestyles nowadays, this is a very very important aspect to consider. I remember we watched a video in class that showed that college students have a 30 hour day, so they are constantly multitasking. Being able to access class information on the go can be a tremendous help. One other interesting point I thought was the fact that with apps and podcasts and websites on everyones individual devices, students can be individual but at the same time connect with everyone in class. It seems like that those two things are very important to teenagers. They want to be individual but also constantly be connected with their friends, be it via texting or facebook or twitter etc.

How do the ideas of this video connect to my own experiences?

What I immediately thought of when I read this question was Tony Vincent´s example about the rubric he uses in his class, and shares with his students at the same time. I think this is awesome, because it shows students what to expect, and at the same they also get to co-create their grading criteria. This method ensures that students know what to do, and are able to fulfill the teachers expectations. I often feel lost with assignment, and i have no idea what the teacher expects. Often, I want to say 80% of the time I never see a rubric or grading criterias until after the assignment is graded and returned to me, which I think is obviously too late. When I become a teacher, I would like to teach in a way that gives my students access to what exactly is expected of them and what they  will be graded on. 

What ideas this video gave me can I incorporate in my own teaching?

As stated in my last paragraph, I´d like to be connected with my students, so I can co-create projects with them and let them know what is expected and be able to give them ideas to push them in the right direction. 
I also believe that students take away most from a class when learning is made fun, and when it is created in a way that suits their generation. I hope that when I become a teacher I will be able to keep up with the fast developing technology and the changes and possibilities that come with that, so that I can create a classroom that students can identify with and where they can express themselves. At the same time, I think it could give me an opportunity to help them to use technology in helpful and good ways.

WHAT IS A  PECHA KUCHA PRESENTATION?

Before you give a Pecha Kucha Presentation in front of an audience, there are many things you have to prepare. First, you want to choose a topic that you will want to talk about. The you can start preparing your Power Point Presentation that will aid you when you give your presentation. The Power Point Presentation in a Pecha Kucha Project contains only images. Our Pecha Kucha had 20 images, and every image shows for 20 sec, before the presentation moves on to the next slide. So you want to select images in an order that will help you underline what you are talking about. 
I believe that a good Pecha Kucha Presentation is achieved  by selecting high quality images that underline your points and thoughts, and by timing your speech right, to where the things you say always relate to the image showing. One more thing that can help create an excellent Pecha Kucha, is speaking fluently throughout the entire Presentation, without long silent gaps and without talking too long about one image. I think it is also important that we use meaningful images that really show the listeners what we are talking about.

WHAT DID I LEARN FROM THIS PRESENTATION?

By creating a Pecha Kucha Presentation, I learned how to select better quality images, and i got to know new websites where i can find many interesting images. I also go to work on speaking in front of an audience, which is always a tricky thing to do. This presentation also had me focus on timing what I say and structuring my presentation not only with words but also with images. 

HOW TO USE PECHA KUCHA PRESENTATIONS IN MY FUTURE CAREER AS A TEACHER:

I would like to teach at a High School level, and I believe that Pecha Kucha Presentations are challenging on many levels so I believe High School is a great age to use this style of presentation. I would like to teach English, and I thought maybe the students could use this tool to present an author or a specific book to their classmates. I think it is a great thing to do, because it is a project that the students could work on, over a longer period of time, at home, but then they still get to present and share it in class, which will help them to be motivated and engaged with the topic they choose. 

I enjoyed making my final scratch project. But I was very disappointed when I found that the uploaded version online is different from my version on the computer. On the online version, the timing is off, and that sort of ruins my project at the end. I tried uploading it again but it did the same thing. I hope it is still a little enjoyable. 

My first and my second Scratch Projects helped me to learn most of what I had to do in my final scratch Project. It was nice to get more and more familiar with the building blocks and the effects they have. 

In my first project I mainly learned about costume changes and the range of motion of the Sprites:

I knew that it was possible to create sprites that appear to be moving, by changing their costumes. What I learned in this project however, is that not every Sprite has costumes, that can help to make it move. I found that to be a bit disappointing at times, because there were many Sprites I liked, but that I couldn’t really use, because they did not have a second costume. 
In my particular case i wanted to make the butterfly to move its wings up and down continuously, to show that the butterfly is flying in the air.  I only needed one costume for that. By creating the effect of movement, I noticed that there were two different options. One simply commands “next costume” and the other one says “move to costume…” and it lets you choose which costume to go to next. I found, that for my purposes “next costume” was much easier and specific enough, since there were only two costumes. That is definitely something new i learned. 

One new thing I also learned, was that there are 3 different buttons who limit the range of motion of the Sprite. The three buttons you can choose from are located next to the x and y and direction coordinates at the top of the scratch program. The first button is an arrow going in a circle, which – if selected – lets your Sprite face in every direction possible. The second button is a a line with an arrow left and right. If this button is selected, your Sprite can only face left or right. The third button only has a little dot in the middle. It locks your Sprite completely, and only lets it face one single way.

In my second project I learned about the use of sound, and the adjustment of size for the Sprites:

In my story, a horse tells the story, and i used the sound of horse gallop when the horse enters the stage. I found the hard thing with using sound, is to time it right with the movement of the sprite. I played with using the repeat block and play the sound twice or even trying it more exact like 1.2 or something like that. I found though, that this didnt really seem to work, so i figured maybe sounds cannot be broken into shorter peaces. I found it easier to adjust the speed of the horse to the sound. 

Another new thing i really enjoyed learning, is the adjustment of size. I had sprites move backwards and forwards in my story, so i tried to adjust the size accordingly. That way it looks like they are getting smaller when they are more distant, and bigger when they are close up. You can use the block “change size to…” and enter an exact percentage for the size, or you can use the block “change size by…” and then enter by how much you want to change the size. I also found that you can change the size to over 100%. You can use 150% for example.

In this last and final Scratch Project, I learned about timing, and how to work with direction. 

The main new thing i learned with this project is timing. I had 5 different sprites and they were all incorporated in the story, so I had to time them all right. The “wait” block is very helpful for the timing lol. I sometimes had to play my project over and over again, to really see where the timing was still off. I often used very exact times like  2.3 seconds instead of just 2.0. it is very nice to be able to make it more detailed. Its awesome that this Program gives you the options to do that.

I also learned how to work with direction, and make my sprites walk into the right direction. I used this with my bee, that i wanted to fly up and down while also going forward. it was very interesting to see that actually working! Its also hard to be working with negative and positive numbers when it comes to direction, and its hard to picture the radius and everything.

My second Scratch Project tells the story of a King who got lost in the dessert, but then his magic carpet comes and rescues him. 

One main new thing i learned and used in this Project is the use of sound. In my story, a horse tells the story, and i used the sound of horse gallop when the horse enters the stage. I found the hard thing with using sound, is to time it right with the movement of the sprite. I played with using the repeat block and play the sound twice or even trying it more exact like 1.2 or something like that. I found though, that this didnt really seem to work, so i figured maybe sounds cannot be broken into shorter peaces. I found it easier to adjust the speed of the horse to the sound. 

Another new thing i really enjoyed learning, is the adjustment of size. I had sprites move backwards and forwards in my story, so i tried to adjust the size accordingly. That way it looks like they are getting smaller when they are more distant, and bigger when they are close up. You can use the block “change size to…” and enter an exact percentage for the size, or you can use the block “change size by…” and then enter by how much you want to change the size. I also found that you can change the size to over 100%. You can use 150% for example.