BP3_2010011_Discovering Web 2.0 Tools

I enjoyed this section of research. Although it was a bit overwhelming at first. It was difficult to figure out which 2.o tool to actually toy with, explore that could be used in my class as a learning tool. I think that's the part where teachers often times get frustrated with the web; or maybe I'm just speaking about myself. There's so much in formation to choose from and so much to explore that it is difficult to know where to start, and often times, one washes his hands of bloody digital mess yelling madly down the corridors of the school "out damned' spot, out!"

In actuality, it simply takes a luxury that many cannot afford to buy, time. Sitting down with the web 2.0 tools and really exploring what it is they have to offer. I fell in love with one of the tools called Image Spark. It’s basically a digital online version of a concept board. You can create what they call moodboards; you are allotted a total of 2. These moodboards are spaces that you create by uploading pictures to a blank canvas and then using them as in a collage format to group ideas or symbolize a theme to inspire you later. For example, I created a moodboard based around room décor for my new home. I found and selected different photos from their “community” of pictures to create an inspirational palette of home decorating ideas. I will use this moodboard later as a guide for different colors and patterns in my house, and as a first time home owner this really helped me to visualize what I want my space to look and feel like. Colors I didn’t think could ever work together, look beautiful, refreshing, others calming, and others simply invigorating.

So what does this have to do with education? My house or the canvas? Oh, right, the canvas from Image Spark. This tool would be great for many different classes. Take for example a Theatre course, students designing wardrobe or set design could create a moodboard containing images that spark new designs or concepts of period pieces. They can also share their concept boards with fellow classmates to compare designs and choose several different costumes suitable for the production at hand. Actors could use it as a visual storyboard of images that help to define a character they have been assigned to play. Maybe they do not have access to going to a specific country or city to research the character’s background, or can’t afford to actually do some of the things the character might do; with Image Spark uploading and pasting images and text could allow them to visualize a little better the director’s choices for them as an actor giving them something physical to work from when developing their character.

This could also work in Science class for a project. Having students to find images of the problem, the hypothesis and the solution would allow them to have a visual form of the project before they start, therefore giving them a more solid start when creating a path from the problem to the solution, or better yet, it may allow them to see how a few minor changes could help then to have a workable goal.

There were so many ideas that came to mind when working with this tool. I plan to use it in my Theatre and English classes. I would love to use it in my class PowerPoint to illustrate points in the lesson visually appealing to students, in turn allowing my visual learners to view the concept being studied form a different and more concrete perspective, especially because those two subjects require such abstract thought and practice.

There are numerous ways in which this tool can be applied in the classroom, the work place and amongst your own home projects. It just takes a little exploring, but like Lavar Burton always says, “you don’t have to take my word for it.”

Take a look at my moodboard... http://www.imgspark.com/moodboard/edit/5035#

*Image taken from image spark