From the visual presentation section, I have chosen to explore the features of Educreations Interactive Whiteboard. This application allows the user to create a digital tutorial to explain and visually demonstrate a concept.
Through my own exploration and experimentation and the direct instructional videos provided, I discovered tons of useful features on this app that would be great for teaching! As you choose to create a "New Lesson," a clean, white page is shown. Above your blank "whiteboard" are tool options such as a pen, eraser, color, and so forth. Once the Record button is pressed, everything including audio and visual is recorded. This means that whatever strokes you make on the whiteboard are saved along with your vocal explanation of the concept. Once you have drawn or written something, you have the option to undo and redo the markings. The Youtube tutorial pointed out that this is a great feature for showing the steps of a mathematical equation. The use of the different colored pens can also be good for math problems. For a visual learner, such as myself, coloring and highlighting can help organization to stand out and be easier to comprehend.
Another great feature of the Educreations Interactive Whiteboard is the flipping of pages. After you have filled a page, or have sufficiently demonstrated a concept, you can "flip" to a new blank page. After you have flipped a page, however, everything from the previous page is saved, and once can easily flip back and forth between pages.
This app also allows you to drop pictures into the lesson you are recording. As you search for the desired picture, the recording automatically pauses allowing no time to be wasted as you find your picture. You can take a picture or simply download an image from your picture library. These images, once posted into the interactive digital lesson, have multiple options such as zooming in and out, rotating, or deleting the image altogether. You also have the option of writing on top of an image, which can be useful for circling, underlining, or pointing out the important part of the image.
The lessons created in Educreations Interactive Whiteboard can be saved and titled once completed. You may also add a brief description of the concepts covered in the digital lesson.
As a future teacher I am very excited that I know about this awesome teaching tool! I know that I will use this application as a way to give my students homework help if needed. That way, my students can have my direct instruction when homework gets confusing rather than trying to guess answers. Educreations would also be useful for students who are absent and miss a lesson. Rather than having to reteach the entire lesson, I could have these students watch and listen to my digital lesson instead. This is also an awesome tool to have if I (the teacher) know I will be absent and will need a substitute teacher. Rather than having the substitute try and explain the concept, I can simply have him/her play my Educreation lesson for the class. This takes pressure off the substitute, as well as give the teacher peace of mind that the lesson is being presented correctly.
Good thinking!
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