Sharing Student Work – APPSOLUTELY APRIL BLOG

Guess Who?

Here’s a super fun project that allows students to creatively use technology as a tool to get to know their classmates. In this project, I will show you two of my favorite things…photo editing and CheckThis. I’ve blogged about CheckThis in the past (click here). It’s a free web application where students can create online posters with so many cool tools…a great way to share learning, create quizzes for classmates, and create quick posters on learning concepts. Best of all, it’s easy and students do not need an account to create! Here’s how it’s done:

Using PhotoBooth on a MacBook, iMac, or iPad, have students take a picture of themselves with the built-in camera.

Click here and click on EDIT. You don’t need an account for this project (this is why I love this site).

Click on effects and choose the Focal Pixelate option. This will allow the user to pixelate their photo in order to disguise who the person is.

Another option is using the Skitch app on the iPad to pixelate the photo. Once your photo is Pixelated, then save it to the Camera Roll (iOS) or take a screen shot (OS X) (Command, Shift, 4).

Open up the CheckThis web app. Click on Create New Post and then click Create a Post Online.

Now, students can title their post. They can delete unwanted elements by clicking on the trash icon. Additionally, students can re-order elements by clicking the gear. To add additional elements, students can click the + sign. For this particular project, I had the students add a title, pixelated photo, 5 descriptive sentences detailing something about themselves (nothing personal), and then poll the audience to see if they can figure out who the person is.

Once finished, students can personality to their post by changing the colors and fonts.

Additionally, you can add a custom background and fine-tune who can see the link. I always have the students hide the link so that it’s only visible if you have the links. Then, click publish…no edit.

You will now have your own URL to share. I usually collect all the URLs via Google Docs and share them with the students the next class period so that they can visit each other’s sites and vote on who is who in their class. Finally, I have students create a QR code as a nice way to showcase this project when they return home from school and show their families.

Here’s an example of my finished poster! Click here to see the live link with the polling feature active. Have fun creating these with your class! The possibilities are truly endless!

Guess Who Project by April Requard

Happy creating!

April

Have you ever used Checkthis? It is an amazingly easy way for students to share information with others. Checkthis makes it very easy to create and share colorful text and images. Students can write-up a quick reading response, an explanation to a math problem, a quick report on a topic, or even their own multiple choice quiz for a unit of study (using the poll feature). The fun part for kids is being able to read their friend’s posts. The thing I love about this site? NO LOGINS! No need for a user name, password, or email address. Don’t be fooled when you go to this site and it says “SIGN UP”…just click where the plus sign and then click create a post online. Below are some samples of my kiddos trying out Checkthis for the first time. For this, I just wanted them to experiment with the format, so for this purpose, it was a topic of their choice. When students are finished showcasing information, creating a quiz, or creating a digital report, then they can publish their site and receive a link to share with others. Normally, I will write down all of the links and upload them into a Google Doc so that I can email that document with the links of the entire class out to the parents. It is great for parents to see what their students are doing, especially utilizing amazing technology resources!