Comic Assignment with Google Drawings, Slides, WeVideo and Flipsnack

This week I continued our comic assignment with two more parts. (Click here to see how we started the project.)

First, students used Google Slides to convert their comics to a PDF. Then that was uploaded at Flipsnack to turn it into a virtual book.

For the final step, we are converting those same comic images into a video using WeVideo.

The assignments sheets are here:

• Comic Assignment 2 - Creating an eBook
• Comic Assignment 3 - Turning Your Comic into a Video

Here's an example (just four pages) of how these ebooks look on Flipsnack.

And below is the tutorial I created that shows how to use WeVideo to make a simple video slideshow. As explained in assignment 3, there is no audio. Also, there is a table of contents that makes it easy to jump to just the short parts you need based on the steps of the assignment.

Comic Assignment with Google Drawings

Back in April I posted about using Google Drawings to make comics. Since then, I've had a chance to use it in a couple settings. Below I'm linking to the latest assignment I created for our high school Digital Media class.

First, here's the outline:

• We took pictures of two students who posed with a few emotions.
• The pictures were uploaded to a shared Google Drive folder where students could access them.
• The rest of the class looked at the pictures and planned their original stories.
• Using the process shown in a video tutorial, students added word bubbles and thought bubbles to make comics.

You can view a copy of the assignment here. It has a link in the assignment to the shared folder of pictures and the video tutorial.

Follow-up assignments will show the students how to turn the images into an ebook and a video version of their stories. Those additional steps will appear here on the blog after we use them in class.

The Tutorial

If you want to see the video tutorial that shows how to create the comics, it's here. Note that this was for our students, so I refer to the teacher by name in one part. If you're using it in class, just explain your students would share it with you.

How to Be Good with Tech - Part 5

I've been writing this series for a few weeks now and I'm winding it down with three short posts, this being the first. If you want to review what I've written so far...

My previous article (Part 4) was the most practical, suggesting the tip "Move ahead fearlessly". In it, I even went so far to assign a 30 minute activity that anyone could start with.

Prior to that, in Part 1 and Part 3 I addressed some common myths that hold people back. In Part 2 I pointed out that successful people think "big picture" when they use technology, not step by step.

This time, I have this advice:

Tip #6:  Move ahead regularly.

Of course, this goes along with what I wrote in Part 4. To get good with tech tools you have to start practicing and keep practicing. 

When I work with people who struggle with technology, I see time after time that they simply have not developed enough experience with tools in general. When the slightest problem crops up, they have no prior knowledge to rely on. Every tool and every task is new.

In other words, what you start with isn't even that important. As long as you can make some progress with it, you'll begin to form the confidence, conceptual frameworks and problem solving skills that can be applied to other tools you'll need.

Many hesitant learners tell me they are waiting for a trainer to provide direction or an employer to provide time, but my point here is you need to make the time yourself.

I want to share some results of a survey I sent out to educators through Twitter and Edmodo. I was hoping to get data to share with teachers at the start of the school year. I realized that it applied here too. In the end, I had 63 responses. Obviously it's not the definitive study in these matters, but I think it offers some weight to what I'm saying here.

First, I asked respondents to rank themselves on a scale from one (reluctant) to five (innovative) when it comes to tech use in their job in education. A choice of three represented "average in their district". Here were the results:

Then I asked about the quality of professional development or training that they receive on the new tools they use. From "exceptional" down to "we don't receive any", here were the results:

Note that over half the respondents either are not trained or they consider the training to be inadequate. But almost all of them are above average when it comes to tech use?

Well, finally I asked them to choose which of these options that best represents how they learn the new tools:

• From professional development that is provided to them.
• From professional development plus time spent on their own.
• From colleagues and time spent on their own.
• From time spent on their own.

As you might have guessed based on my tip above, the vast majority (over 70%) of these people are not relying on training to use new tools in their work. They're moving ahead with some help from others and time on their own. Here are the results.

Take the informal survey for what it's worth. It at least shows training is not a prerequisite for moving ahead with technology.

Instead of getting formal training, my recommendation is to plan time regularly to just explore a tech tool. Maybe it will be 30 - 60 minutes on a Saturday morning. Maybe you'll make time every night for a month.

Whatever you decide, just like exercise or learning to play an instrument, regular practice will quickly pay off with noticeable results.

Up next, one tip that gives me an edge when I have to work with digital tools.

Recharge Your Inner Artist - Teacher PD 2014

I presented to a group from our ISD this week about integrating creativity and technology into PBL. As usual, my session allowed for time for teachers to explore the tools and work in groups. I ran it as a project-based learning activity for them, in which they chose the content they were learning or practicing.

As I said in the presentation, I like to dump a truckload and let them sort it out.

If you're interested in the resources, you'll find two items below.

• First, here is the website where I housed the lesson the teachers worked through. There is a lot there, since I want my sessions to be useful to everyone regardless of their level of expertise with technology. The lesson is designed to be completed with any computer and possibly an iPad. They had about two hours to get started and most got about halfway through the standard project.

• And here is a copy of my slide presentation. It might not make much sense without me talking, but you'll see the main points. I compiled many ideas from this blog and my Teaching Like an Artist blog.

 

How to Be Good with Tech - Part 4

I've been posting some articles the past several weeks about how success with technology is not just about talent and experience.

Being good with tech is primarily a way of thinking.

In Part 1 and Part 3 I addressed some common myths that hold people back. In Part 2 I pointed out that successful people think "big picture" when they use technology, not step by step.

Now I want to get practical. Let’s look at the best advice I know and a few tips that will help you take it.

Tip #2: Move ahead fearlessly.

About a year after I started my job as an instructional tech coordinator I was helping a teacher learn to use a SmartBoard and student response system. She wanted to show the students an online quiz, gather answers from them and work out the problems on the board.

I spent her lunch period setting it up, then she came in the room with only a short time left before students returned. I showed her the basics of controlling the computer through the board.  I was not an expert on the equipment myself, so we ran into some glitches. I was running a demo and a test at the same time and it was going as poorly as you might expect.

As students were entering the room, I felt I hadn't given her much to work with. I probably had even made it look harder than it was. I told her I could come back later that day or early the next to figure it out. She surprised me by saying she would give it a try as soon as the students were all seated and ready to begin.

That was the first time I realized courage to move forward in the face of uncertainty beats any of the reasons to wait for preparation. After several more years of teaching people to use technology, I’ve seen this over and over...

Getting started makes all the difference. 

Imagine a spectrum where, on one end are those who avoid technology no matter what opportunities lie before them. On the other end are the people who will use it no matter what obstacles are in their way. Almost everyone will be at some point in between, but what matters most for success is which end you’re closest to.

Getting started trumps talent. Don’t think “good at tech” and “bad at tech”, as if those lead to effective use. Think “get started right now” versus “wait until ________”. Skill and knowledge follow getting started, not the other way around.

Getting started at the right time (i.e., as soon as you’re done reading this) makes everything else easier. All those misunderstandings about how hard or easy the tools are? Experience will make them disappear. Developing that big picture thinking? Start exploring on your own and you’ll see it forming in your mind.

On the other hand, have you felt the frustration of trying to get started too late? When the pressure is on, but you haven’t worked through the tipsheet since that training several months ago? Is it really a surprise that the encounter with tech ends in frustration?

Comfortably uncomfortable

The people I talk to who move ahead with new tools right away are not doing it because they’re comfortable, at least not in the ways we might think. The most innovative teachers I work with don’t have all the answers and all the bases covered in the first moment of truth. Being prepared to that level would take forever. When they jump in, they are simply comfortable with being uncomfortable.

It might look like they’re calm and collected, but they’re not resting in the familiar. They don’t know everything is going to work or exactly what they’ll do if it doesn’t. Instead of confidence in what they know, they have a confidence that they can figure it out.

It’s a step back from knowledge on the surface or all the emergency tools within reach. It’s being at ease with adapting and learning quickly, even if it’s in the heat of the moment.

This is a change in thinking, but you can start moving in that direction immediately.

Obstacles to get past

You might still see some looming obstacles keeping you from the first step.

If you’re afraid you’ll mess something up, start with something simple and small. I have my favorite example for easy exploration at the end of this article.

And remember what I said before about the tech being easier now. It’s very unlikely you’ll do serious damage when using a tool as intended. Deleted files can be recovered, crashed programs restarted and the physical equipment itself is built to take a few blows.

If you’re afraid of failing in front of others, practice will lessen this. Also (unless we’re talking tech for brain surgery) fail a few times (or have the tech fail) even when it matters. You’ll see life goes on. The times it does work will be well worth the experience in comparison to those minor setbacks.

Encouragement to move forward

If you still need encouragement, keep in mind...

Flexibility is a good thing. It is an essential skill in our quickly shifting world. Think about all the benefits to being able to deal with change. Obviously it makes for less anxiety, but think about the positive side. Being able to adapt to the unexpected will help you feel better about the situation and yourself. It’s a great relief for me to feel competent with new technology when I’m with people who are twenty or more years younger than me.

And beyond self-image, I’ve seen firsthand how important it is for others to view you as flexible. I work with administrators who oversee adults. I know how teachers view students. Whether we like it or not, flexible people are valued over inflexible. When you’re perceived as flexible and capable of learning it opens up more opportunities for you for growth and success.

I’m sure genetics and personal experience factor into our level of flexibility in new situations, but if it’s a skill, it can be developed. That won’t happen if you don’t start practicing the right thinking and the right actions.

Remember the overall goal. As I stated in my previous article, the goal of technology is not to make things simpler, but to accomplish more amazing things. The quality and quantity of your best work will improve and that’s exciting. Let the promise of accomplishing impressive things overshadow the discomfort of taking on a new tool. The clumsy first steps, the new tools you have to use but don’t care about, those are all just practice for eventually doing something big.

How successful people move ahead fearlessly

Tip #3: Know how to get back. 
Find Undo and locate the Home button. Save frequently or be sure the program automatically saves. We all make mistakes when we’re learning, but if you can get back to familiar state (even if that means rebooting the device) you can explore freely.

Tip #4: Trust the programmers.
When you forge ahead, trust that the people who set up the program did it with some logic. Trust you’ll be able to figure it out. I see some people struggle with new tools because they perceive the first error message or unexpected result as something wrong. It’s that stupid technology or that confusing computer stuff again. On the other hand, those who pick it up quickly will try to understand what caused the “problem”. They know there’s a logic behind it. There’s something to learn and they know they’ll be able to learn it given some time and effort.

Tip #5: Start with something that doesn’t matter. 
The quick studies do this a lot. When the trainer is telling everyone else where to click, the self-starters are zipping through menus and trying out buttons as they make a sample whatever. It almost certainly isn't something they'd use later. They’re not worried about doing it right. They don't feel they're wasting time. They just want to see how everything works. Try it. You might be surprised that you can do all that and still catch it when the trainer points out the real important stuff.* Better yet, do it before anyone even offers the training.

Your first assignment

So as an example of doing something relatively simple that doesn’t matter, I suggest playing around with Pixlr Express to edit a photo.

It’s a great application for fledgling explorers because it’s intuitive. It works on computers, iPads or Android devices. It has useful tools for cleaning up an image, but it's also filled iwth fun tools for adding effects and text. Just in case anyone has already used it, there’s always more to explore, better images to create and different devices to use it on.

So take 30 minutes right now to edit a photo with Pixlr Express. Use it to make something that didn't exist before. For extra credit, stick your results on Facebook when you’re done and tell everyone you wanted to do something new.

I’m not going to link to the site or tell you where to find the app. Just start with Google if you can’t find any other way. I’m resisting my teacher urge to give you a step by step** on getting a picture or importing it into the app. I'm not even putting an example here of a final result.

Your 30 minutes starts at whichever point you need to begin learning. Find the tool and do something with it.

Every minute is an investment for your future success.

Now, GO!

*If you do mess something up or you have to ask the person next to you what the trainer just said, so what? As long as it’s a rare occurrence, laugh it off. Have your impressive experiment on the screen when attention is drawn to you. Say something like, “I learn best by exploring on my own.” Maybe you’ll be an example to those around you.

**OK, I couldn't resist. If after five minutes you are still hopelessly lost, you can watch this short tutorial I made for the teachers and students in my district. Just don't count the tutorial time in your 30 minutes and be sure to do more than what I show there!