New Toys
If I am to become an innovative educator, I must be willing and able to adapt and learn new technologies. As part of my course on digital tools, I recently explored some websites in search for services that might fit my needs as teacher! I chose to explore: www.Vibby.com www.Techsmith.com I was curious about these specific tools as they appeared to offer services similar to EdPuzzle, which I am a fan of. Essentially, both these tools enable users to highlight and share the most important moments of any video. Vibby: Strengths & Weaknesses First, I explored Vibby. Vibby seems to have been specifically designed for the single purpose of highlighting segments of larger videos that you want to capture and then share out. What makes Vibby unique from other sites that offer similar editing and cropping of videos, is that Vibby will cite your sources, thus ensuring protection of intellectual property. This would be very useful for teachers who are constantly pulling videos from a variety of resources. While we teach our students about plagiarism, we often forget to protect ourselves in our search for digital materials. While Vibby did not meet my immediate needs, I can certainly see how this could be a great tool for teaching. By Highlighting and showing portions of video, students could focus on the significant moments of an otherwise lengthy video. Also, students could watch and rewatch the highlight as it is shorter and would not require much time. Finally, it would certainly make content more engaging and accessible for students. My only issue with Vibby is that is rather limited. While it is similar to EdPuzzle, Vibby does not offer any other features. While EdPuzzle allows users to record their voice and insert questions, Vibby will merely crop a video down, and allow you save and share your shortened video. Techsmith: Snagit : Strengths & Weaknesses Next, I explore Snagit through the TechSmith site. Right away I liked Snagit more than Vibby. Of course, everything depends on context and what your needs are. That being said, Snagit offers a variety of functions. Where Vibby is great for capturing moments of video, Snagit can do that and more. Users are enabled to capture and edit an image. You can insert captions in engaging ways. You can build things from scratch or import/export existing images. Very versatile. Finally, everything you capture will be saved in the built in library! video as an assessment tool? I am currently investigating how video might be used to increase students’ metacognitive process. I would like to have students record their thoughts during their work time as well as their reflections afterwards. Additionally, I would like to explore having students utilize video as a means of exchanging feedback and support with their academic peers. So, in a sense, I do think that video could be used as an assessment tool. However, I think it would be tricky with certain contents and more so with what you are assessing. I could easily imagine students creating a video to demonstrate their understanding of variety of concepts. For example, my students create videos to demonstrate their ability to conduct interviews as well as their understanding of the elements of plot. If I were a math teacher however, I am not sure just yet how I would utilize a video as an assessment. Perhaps students could create a screencast recording of themselves while they apply formulas to determine how many materials would be necessary for a specific job. Okay. The more I think it through, the more I think my answer is YES. Video can indeed be utilized as a form of assessment, or rather a medium for response to assessment. I think it ultimately comes down to the creativity and imagination of the teacher. An innovative teacher could find many ways to allow students to demonstrate their abilities and mastery of skills.
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