I have always felt that children learn best by doing, and computers can engage and motivate students where simple pencil paper tasks will not. When I first tried to get teachers on board with technology, they wanted to purchase “drill and kill,” game types of software. Since then, I have been working with teachers and students, helping them develop 21st century technology skills.  The ease of use and open-ended properties of the Tech4Learning tools make them perfect choices for project based learning and student creativity. 

I first became acquainted with Tech4Learning in August of 2006 after seeing a presentation on WebBlender and using it to help our teachers create their own classroom web sites. Since then, I have used Pixie, ImageBlender, WebBlender, and Frames extensively with teachers and students in grades K-8. We have used Pixie for student writing and art projects, ImageBlender to modify student photos, WebBlender for student electronic portfolios, and Frames for clay animation and digital storytelling. When I look back over the last year and a half, I am amazed at what teachers and students have accomplished.

My focus this year has been on digital storytelling, which is a powerful way for students to showcase their writing across the curriculum. Students at Pepper Drive have been using Pixie and ImageBlender to illustrate digital stories they are creating Frames. It has been a total joy assisting teachers and students this year with their digital stories, and I am really am in my dream job! 

I worked with one of our young first grade teachers and helped her make her first class book in Frames.  We combined photos of each child with their artwork and then had each child record a sentence or two about themselves to create a digital storybook. A few weeks later, she proudly told me she had created two more Frames digital stories! I was really amazed, because last year, she was hesitant to use technology with her students, and this one project really helped expand her expertise and confidence using technology in the classroom.

Another of our primary teachers, wanted to create digital class books about her students’ favorite part of the holiday season.  Students used Pixie to create a holiday illustration. We then took a picture of each child in front of a green screen and used ImageBlender to place each child within their own holiday picture.  Finally, we brought the finished pictures into Frames and each child recorded the story they had written about their favorite part of the holidays.  She then exported as a video, and the result is a digital class storybook.

Now, when I email these teachers about trying a new class book project, they immediately respond “Absolutely!  When can we start?”