Paper free excursion: Sonicpics

Buddy Holly
Photo Credit: Eric May via Compfight

Subject: Digital Technologies

Year Level: 5-8

Strand: Digital Technologies processes and production skills

Sub strand: Managing and analysing data

6.4 Acquire, store and validate different types of data, and interpret and visualise data in context to create information.

8.4 Collect and acquire data from a range of sources and evaluate its authenticity, accuracy and timeliness.

Link to the resource:
http://www.sonicpics.com

Cross curriculum priorities and general capabilities:

  • Critical and creative thinking
  • Personal and social capability
  • Information and Communication Technology
  • Literacy

Links to other learning areas:

  • English
  • Science
  • History
  • The Arts
  • Geography

A classroom activity using this resource:

This is a great digital application to upload on your students iPads for excursions. You no longer have to worry about students either not writing down notes, not listening because they are writing down too many notes or loosing them when they do. Using the SonicPics application everything will be saved onto the iPad.

I have used this digital resource on an excursion to an Art Gallery and it was very effective! The students were given an iPad each and were asked to take photos of the artwork that they had been educated on throughout the day. At the end of the guided tour of the Art Gallery, we took the students to the learning room. Here I instructed the students to take out their iPads and collaboratively discuss the photos they had taken. Once the students felt that they had learnt at least five facts on each artwork they were each instructed to record their learning and their personal interpretations over the image. The steps taken were as below:

How to use this resource:

Step 1. Find the SonicPics APP on your IPad and open it
Step 2. You will see on the screen: Projects and a + in the top left hand corner – click on the + as you are adding a new project
Step 3. Click on Title – here you will be writing the title – write “Art Gallery Excursion”
Step 4. Click on Description – here you will be writing briefly what the images are about – for example ” Artworks created by Jimmy Pike that represent his culture, history and capture the landscape of Australia” – click done
Step 5. Click on Add + next to Images then select all the images you took of the artwork – click done
Step 6. Click record – here you will tap the red circle and speak aloud as you record what you can see in each image – use your finger to flick to the next image – click the pause symbol to stop recording
Step 7. Click on the arrow in the bottom right hand corner – click save
Step 8. Click share – then click email
Step 9. Click next with the To: column (write in teachers email address)
Step 10. Click send (this will then be sent to the teacher’s email address, who can collaborated the clips so they can be viewed one after another)

Click below to watch a youtube clip for  instructions:

MystoryApp: Let your story come to life

Mystory

Subject:  Digital Technologies

Year Level: Years F-2

Strand: Digital Technologies processess and production skills

Sub strand: Using digital systems

2.4 Identify, explore, and use digital systems for personal and classroom needs

Link to the resource:
http://mystoryapp.org

Cross curriculum priorities and general capabilities:

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures
  • Sustainability
  • Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia
  • Critical and creative thinking
  • ICT
  • Literacy

Links to other learning areas:

  • English
  • The Arts
  • Science
  • History
  • Geography

A classroom activity using this resource:
This application allows students endless opportunities to become creative when constructing a story. I like to use this application for students who find it difficult to retell, whether it be a story, their day at school or a movie they watched. It aims to show them that they all have a sequence of events, that there is always a beginning, middle and end. Some students find it easier to write what they remember, some draw and some communicate it. This application provides students with an opportunity to use their preferred multiple intelligences, in combination with ones they may find a little more difficult.

An example of using MyStory Application was with a Grade 2 class. I discussed the features of a book. That it begins with a cover that includes a title, author and illustrator, then the story has a beginning, middle and ending. I then told the students to listen to the story and try remember the sequence of events that take place. After reading 3 quarters of the story to the children, we discussed as a class the sequence of events so far. I stopped reading just before the ending allowing the students the chance to expose their creative side and decide on an ending they felt seemed appropriate. It was now the students turn to re-tell the story with their own ending through illustrations, text and audio.

The great things about the MyStory application as well is that once the students had finished their re-tells, they then selected to share their stories on MyStory and it sent it through to my  email.  I could then open the students stories up onto the interactive whiteboard to share with the class.

How to use this resource:
Please view the youtube clip below for instructions: