Technology Play Testing 3-Creativity Tools

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Creativity Tools

Creativity tools are an important addition to classrooms.  When students use creativity tools they are exploring, creating, problem solving, and showing other ways to think.  Traditional paper and pencil tasks in our digital world don't offer the "sparkle" or engaging outlets that these creativity tools can offer.   This week's play testing was to explore some creativity tools that you could use in the classroom that allows students to create and produce something.  Here are three apps I tried out:

1.  Toontastic is a creative storytelling app.

LIKES:  Creativity at its finest.  Students can create a cartoon by selecting characters, setting, the problem, and the solution.  There is a wide variety of characters and settings.  The finished product looks more like a movie than a retell of a story!

DISLIKES:  In order to get all the bells and whistles the paid version is the way to go.  Students are very limited with the free version and will loose interest quickly.

2.  Educreation is an interactive whiteboard and screen cast app.  

LIKES:  This is a free app I have used this in my classroom.  First grade students can easily take a picture of work and voice record their thinking about their work.  This is a fun tool to use for feedback between peers or for hesitant writers.

DISLIKES:  Not many bells and whistles (which may not be a bad thing).  Not visually as stimulating as some of the other tools reviewed.

3.    Telestory is a reality video camera where students can record their own TV show.

LIKES:  Quick and easy for young students to learn and manipulate.  Fun and engaging way to tell stories at the click of a button.

DISLIKES:  Story structure may need to be tweaked or written ahead of time to include all story elements and details.

The Telestory app would fit into the TPACK model by embedding it into the content and pedagogy of the classroom.  In my first grade classroom students are expected to leave first grade able to retell a story in their own words with detail.  Using the Telestory app, the learning outcome is for students to retell using detail.  The activity would be to read a familiar story that a child has reread multiple times and can retell without using the book for support.  Using Telestory, the student can create a TV show of the retell using their own props and settings.

Telestory would be a great creativity tool for use in a variety of classrooms.  I can see using it in my classroom for our weather unit and having students create a meteorologist report or using it to report on the development of our chicks in the incubator during our life cycles unit in Science.  The ways to use this fun app are endless!