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Mr. Dulberger's Digital Digest
A Blog for the Progressive Educator

In a world where a textbooks are prehistoric and Elementary students are writing HTML codes to design their own video games, educators must keep up! Students know better than to show up to class with a pencil and notepad ready to record a lecture. Green screen recording, podcasting and real-time collaborative documents have all replaced the multiple choice assessment. Educators who are willing to take risks will help pave the way for the world's brightest problem solvers. Use this blog to help you keep pace with your tech-savvy students and use digital learning to create a risk-taking classroom environment.

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Web 2.0 Tool #7 - iBooks Author

10/18/2016

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Disclaimer: This post is for a graduate school (University of Maryland University College) assignment.

Authentic Authorship with iBooks Author

Have your students ever dreamt of publishing their own texts to the iTunes store? Or have you as an educator ever wanted to create a text that is a perfect fit for your students? iBooks Author is a free app on the Mac App Store that allows you to create amazing multi-touch iBooks. This application is recommended for students and teachers who have already mastered Book Creator or other ePub creation apps. iBooks Author allows students to create a book that goes far beyond a traditional textbook. Students can choose from a variety of templates to get started. They can include various sized text boxes, shapes, tables, charts, images, and videos. In addition to all of these resources, iBooks Author is best known for its’ widgets!
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By default, iBooks Author comes equipped with the widgets shown in the image above. As students or teachers become more familiar with the application, they can implement widgets from outside sources like Bookry. The widgets are what separates a multi-touch iBook from a traditional ePub text book. It is these features that allow students to take their authorship to a whole new level.

Although my students have yet to publish their own iBooks with iBooks Author, it  is certainly in my long range project plans for this school year. As a part of the Apple Distinguished Educator program I published my own iBook using iBooks Author and iTunes Connect. I used several default widgets and out-sourced widgets to make the book more interactive. The book currently has over 160 downloads! Click the link below to download my book on your iOS device!
Coding the Common Core
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Web 2.0 Tool #6 - TouchCast Studio

10/17/2016

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Disclaimer: This post is for a graduate school (University of Maryland University College) assignment.


Mobile Multimedia in the Classroom

TouchCast Studio is the ideal application for mobile multimedia production. The app is more robust than iMovie in its abundance of editing tools and effects. At the same time, TouchCast can be simple and easy to use for a quick video project. The application includes built in templates that allow for awesome project based learning experiences. Students can use the green screen feature to bring themselves to alternate locations. A built in teleprompter allows students to read their script more fluently while still making eye contact with the camera. Students can use the whiteboard feature to annotate the video screen as it plays. Filters and titles allow students to create even more professional videos.
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The main ingredient that distinguishes TouchCast from other Web 2.0 multimedia tools is the vApps. Video Applications or commonly referred to as vApps, allow students to build in a quiz or moving map to their video project. They can include a poll or annotate a primary source document right on the screen. As a teacher I became more fluent with TouchCast towards the end of last school year. The application was eventually one of my students' favorites. Recently, this years students used the tool to complete a news cast report on the Bill of Rights. I created a video using TouchCast to get the students excited about this particular project. Check out the video as well as a student example below. Overall the projects turned out great! We have still yet to take full advantage of the vApps however. This is certainly a goal for my students and I for this school year!
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Web 2.0 Tool #5 - ChatterPix

10/14/2016

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Disclaimer: This post is for a graduate school (University of Maryland University College) assignment.
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Bring a Character to Life with ChatterPix!

ChatterPix by Duck Duck Moose has become quite popular in my school this year. The app is simple and easy to use in terms of steps but still lends itself to rigorous project based learning. The app allows you to take an image of a face and bring it to life for 30 seconds. In other words, students can import an image from their camera roll and animate the image with a 30 second voice recording. A ChatterPix project can be simple where the student uses an open source image from the web of a person they are studying and narrates a quick script. Or more complex (like this project) where a student paints their own portrait image and writes a detailed script to record. I recently read a story to my students called Supergrandpa and created the ChatterPix project below to model how a character faces and responds to challenges.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.3
Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact). ​
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Web 2.0 Tool #4 - Garage Band

10/9/2016

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​Disclaimer: This post is for a graduate school (University of Maryland University College) assignment.
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Turn up the Classroom with Garage Band!

Many teachers struggle to understand their students' tastes in music. Whether a student prefers hip hop, country, punk rock, or heavy metal, all kids have their own opinions on what makes a song worthy of their ears and attention. Apple’s Garage Band application provides students of all music ability levels the opportunity to create music. Whether a student has played an instrument or not, they can easily compose their own original tune with Garage Band. With this Web 2.0 tool, students can upload their songs to iTunes, Google Drive, and many other apps for sharing. Through the process of digital music composition students can learn a variety of skills. Music vocabulary like tempo, time signature, treble, bass, and more are all included in the app. Garage Band can be used as a classroom tools in many ways!​​​
  • Students can import their Garage Band song into an iMovie to add an original sound track.
  • Students can monitor their fluency using Garage Band’s audio recorder.
  • Students can explore and ultimately compare/ contrast instruments from different time periods and countries.
These are only a few ideas for implementing Garage Band into the classroom. Apple even has an a multi-touch iBook that can guide teachers on ways to use this application. This past summer I had the opportunity to attend the Apple Distinguished Educators Institute in Berlin, Germany. At the institute I attended a session hosted by Apple’s Senior Project Manager of Garage Band. Mr. John Danty explicitly modeled how Garage Band can be used to have students create a soundscape. In short, a soundscape provides an appropriate background layer to a reading or narration. A soundscape is defined in more detail in Apple’s book linked above. My students completed their first soundscape project in September. I blogged about this project in an earlier post. Check it out here!

This week my students are writing their research reports on a topic that relates to our Space Systems and Stars unit. I am currently writing my own research report, From Launch Pad to Landing - Legendary Space Missions, alongside my 5th graders. My report is serving as a tool I will use to model various informative writing strategies. This week I decided to transform my lead paragraph and into a soundscape… enjoy!
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Click the image above to hear my newest soundscape!
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Web 2.0 Tool #3 - Hopscotch

10/4/2016

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​Disclaimer: This post is for a graduate school (University of Maryland University College) assignment.
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Make your own iPad games with Hopscotch!

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According to Code.org, “computing jobs are the #1 source of new wages in the U.S.” This is just one of a hundred or more reasons that students should be exposed to coding and computer science early and often. Since 2013 the Hopscotch application has been allowing students to explore block based (or drag and drop) coding as they create their own iPad games. Hopscotch houses the projects in a safe online community that allows users to like and play each other’s games. My students and I have became very fluent with the app over the past few school years. Recently my students engaged in a few challenges where they coded digital compasses to demonstrate an understanding of the cardinal directions and towns/ cities that surround our school. Through the Hopscotch app they can publish their finished projects or games to the online community and track plays and likes. Students can also share their project as a link so other gamers who do not even have a Hopscotch account can still play.
Check out some of the #5thGradeU Hopscotch projects below:
  • Compass - https://c.gethopscotch.com/p/y93xwrgus 
  • Decimal Comparison Game - https://c.gethopscotch.com/p/ya14wqn8l 
  • American Revolution Timeline - https://c.gethopscotch.com/p/xviyem4n1 
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Web 2.0 Tool #2 - Piktochart

10/2/2016

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​Disclaimer: This post is for a graduate school (University of Maryland University College) assignment.

5 Themes of Geography Infographics

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Educators often discuss how simple text is not always enough for teaching students content standards. Multi-touch books, videos, moving presentations like Prezi are continuing to gain popularity in the classroom. Another content medium that students can and should have access to are infographics. Infographics, which often include text, images, graphs, maps, diagrams and more, are especially helpful for visual learners. What is even more exciting than having students study infographics? Creating their own! Piktochart originally allowed users to create infographics from various template choices on the web with only a computer. The new and updated app allows students to create quality infographics on an iPad! Students can choose from a variety of templates and insert photos from their camera roll. The app is very easy to use and connects to Google domains. I spent part of this week working an example infographic (pictured above) that I will be showcasing to my students for a lesson this week. 

As described in the lesson linked above, my students will be working on a Piktochart project this week where they connect their independent novel to the 5 themes of Geography. This is a project I have done with my 5th graders for several years now. In fact, last year one of my students submitted her finished Piktochart to the Maryland Society of Educational Technology student contest. She ended up winning an an award for desktop publishing. Check out her winning Piktochart here!
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    Author

    Mr. David Dulberger is currently a 5th grade magnet teacher at Emma K. Doub, a 1:1 Apple Distinguished School in Hagerstown, MD. He attended Salisbury University where he majored in Elementary Education and minored in Psychology. Dulberger completed part of his student teaching internship in Auckland, New Zealand where he taught 5th grade as well. Dulberger is part of the 2015 class of Apple Distinguished Educators, a 2014 PBS Digital Innovator, a Front Row Ambassador, and a SMART Technologies Exemplary Educator. Dulberger has presented at a variety of educational technology conferences and events such as SXSWEdu and FETC. He continues to deliver professional development for teachers around the world who share his passion for instructional technology. Follow him on Twitter @mrdulberger #5thGradeU

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