TOOL #2: TAGXEDO
 | ||
| Marvelous Minnesota |
I really like the visual fun a student could have with Tagxedo. We had been using a lot of Wordle images this past year, which students enjoyed, but feel that the Tagxedo is the next step of it allowing for a lot more customization and visual appeal!
I see my students using Tagxedo at the end of a learning activity to plug in words or themes we learned into an applicable shape. For example, after learning about Minnesota, we could brainstorm words together and place them into a final product/image. We have a color printer in our classroom so the visual appeal of creating and printing these excites me!
TOOL #2: TIMETOAST
The other tool I chose to work with was Timetoast. I like the visual structure and order a timeline presents to users. Unfortunately, I feel many of my students have NO concept of time whatsoever (probably nature of their disability). One minute, one hour, one day, one year...all the same in their minds. When we talk about history, it is even more difficult for them to comprehend...things very relevant to our country's history are so far beyond their cognitive reach and are just not meaningful to them, so it is difficult to teach.
I did like the idea of a timeline more relevant to them - such as one on their life or perhaps their daily schedule or high school career. I created this of my son's life as an example.
It took me awhile to figure this one out. I was having ongoing difficult uploading photos and would get an error message for many (but not all) of the photos I wanted to use. Tip to whomever uses this, they need to be UNDER 3MB - so I ended up resizing/resaving my photos to fit those parameters and then they worked! Frustrating until I figured that out.
I did like that there are 2 view options: timeline (traditional left to right, chronological) and then a different text view that is more top to bottom.
When I published this and made it public, I didn't see a way to filter or set privacy so that only certain people could view it. It seems to go public to everyone. While this is ok for an educational thing such as a general history timeline, I would need to be careful not to use it for personal student photos or personal student timelines that would include identifying information.
How else would people use this in their teaching?
That timeline is a really neat tool!! I agree that many student need to work on their concepts of time and this could be a great way to work on that!!
ReplyDelete"Road construction!" Ha, ha, ha. Both of your study tool products are great! The 3MB tip is helpful, thank you! I see the timeline benefiting social studies teachers quite a bit but I hadn't thought about it in terms of biographical info but of course.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of time is so foreign to many students in special education and general education. It might be a good idea to start off slow with how they started their day, you could use it for ADL's (6 AM wake up, 6:15 shower, etc.).
ReplyDeleteI view it as an overall tool that teachers can use for social studies in general, mapping out an important event in any subject, or telling the biography of any person.
You have some compelling ideas!
Now I wish I would have played with Time Toast! I teach Social Studies and think that it really could be invaluable for my students. I can not tell you how many times we have gone over BC/BCE vs AD/CE. Having a big visual like this would be great. I imagine maybe creating a blank/skeleton graphic organizer that they would fill in during a mini lecture.
ReplyDelete