Sunday, October 24, 2010

PE6_PhotoPeach: A Few Notes

So here's what I've learned in my PhotoPeach explorations; it does give one an iMovie-like experience on a PC. The click-and-drag style of adding images, the manner in which the creator can access music files, the transition effects - all are simple forms of iMovie protocol. However, because of the simplicity and ease with which one can access images and sound, PhotoPeach also allows for opportunities to introduce the idea of ownership and citing sources. I've already talked to my classes about how and where to go for images that aren't copyright-protected, and warned them that finding pictures using Google image search does not give them rights to use the image as their own. For younger children using PhotoPeach, I'd set up a bank of images and sound ahead of time, so that they have a direct source to draw from.


Another way to gather images is to scan children's drawings! One child or a group can create any kind of image or artwork that can be scanned and used for the PhotoPeach slideshow images. I can see a media report on the artwork and culture of a Native American region, or a multimedia Explorer Scrapbook, using artwork, maps and collages created by my fifth graders.


The feature that is not as apparent on the PhotoPeach website is its ability to be used to create a quiz. The video of children at a SmartBoard in PE5 shows the students using a timed quiz following a lesson on painters. This feature offers so many ways to assess knowledge; each child could create their own quiz, which encourages them to review and perhaps do further research, and then take someone else's quiz. You could even put together a quiz that could be used to assess prior knowledge during the "preview" phase of a new unit of study.


PhotoPeach is a deceptively simple Web 2.0 tool that produces polished and diverse results for young children, and even for those tech-resistant teachers who we're hoping to encourage!


Love this one by obregon; one of my favorite Norah Jones songs, and many of my "20 things about me" are on this list, too! 





20 things about me on PhotoPeach

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