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"The world has changed. Technology has changed it. We are now able to reach out from our schoolrooms to any place in this world. The only fences are in our minds."
- Singapore Ministry of Education
Introduction
In classrooms across Ontario, individual students and entire classes are posting technology enhanced projects on the web. This article will list some examples and explain how it is done.
Kid Pix
Many years ago I started working with Kid Pix software. We targeted primary students with tasks such as patterning in math and drawing pictures. However, it wasn't until we learned how to place Kid Pix drawings on the web that we were truly amazed at what could be done. We learned how to take a bitmap (.bmp) image from a Kid Pix file and convert it to web page image format. We used the graphics editor Paint Shop Pro to re-save the bitmap image into a .gif. Now we had to learn how to place these images on a web page. We used Netscape Composer to do this. The payoff for the students and teachers was amazing. Now Kid Pix student projects were not limited to the classroom but could be viewed by the world over the internet.
On one occasion, a teacher asked me to help integrate technology in her language arts program. We talked and then decided to use Kid Pix to illustrate idioms she was using in her program. The students were soon cycling through the three computers in her classroom illustrating idioms which the class had brainstormed. Each student, it seemed, was successful in coming up with a "visual theme".
Results of their work can be found at http://www.hpedsb.on.ca/tweed/idioms.htm.
As well, there is an example of Kid Pix on the web from a
primary classroom at http://www.hpedsb.on.ca/tweed/puzzling_pictures.htm
Corel Presentations
Another program is gaining in popularity for its ability to generate a web published slide show. Corel Presentations 8.0 has traditionally been used as multimedia presentation software for students and teachers. A slide show, when completed, can be viewed by a class or group of students by connecting the computer to a computer projector. The slide show is then projected onto a screen or whiteboard in a classroom or multipurpose room.
With the built in internet publisher feature, Corel Presentations slide shows can be published to the web. This allows students to have a wider audience for their work. To post a slide show on the web we opened the slide show, clicked on File> Internet Publisher and followed the on screen wizard instructions to select frame size, navigation buttons and menu bar.
In one classroom, the students were working on Ancient Civilizations research projects. The culminating task was to produce a slide show on various aspects of Mayan and Egyptian life. The students worked in groups to research and put the project together. The teacher and computer resource teacher took the finished products and used the internet publisher feature to make them web ready. The computer resource teacher then uploaded them to the classroom teacher's class web site. Here are the finished products. In each slide show, it was the teacher's responsibility to obtain copyright permission to post pictures within the students' projects.
Note: There is a way to capture the multimedia effects of a Corel
Presentations slide show using a wizard. However a plug-in is required on the
viewers computer to see the full multimedia effects.
Hyperstudio
Hyperstudio is another piece of software which has an export webpage function. Hyperstudio <www.hyperstudio.com> has for many years been a mainstay in many classrooms in Ontario. I have worked with students using Hyperstudio from grade 2 to grade 8. Producing hyperstudio stacks is a blend of using text, images and audio visual transitions. Posting Hyperstudio projects on the web can be done in two ways. The first way is to capture each Hyperstudio slide and convert it to a web page compatible image with a graphics editor. Links are made from slide to slide on each web page.
Using the above method, hypermedia functions are lost. You do not hear sound or see visual transitions, and two plug-ins are required for viewing. One is needed for the Hyperstudio program and the other will be used by the user's browser to allow the hyperstudio stack to be viewed as a web page. Also, Quicktime 4 will is required to view projects.
Here is an example of Hyperstudio on the web. http://grassroots.mediacentre.com/ocdebond9/work.htm
Note: You will need to download the plug-ins to play the slide show on
your computer.
Conclusion
We are just on the edge of great things for multimedia on the web for
students in Ontario. With the addition of broadband internet access to school
districts within the province, the possibilities are endless. From web based
instruction using multimedia, to video conferencing, the Ontario student and
teacher are just a click away from very rich multimedia on-line resources to
support program instruction.
Thank you to the students and teachers of the following schools for permission
to link to their work.
Tweed-Hungerford Public School - Tweed, Ontario
S.H. Connor Public School - Tweed, Ontario
Roberta Bondar Public School - Ottawa, Ontario
Kent Manning is a computer and science resource teacher in the elementary panel of the Hastings Prince Edward District School Board. He is also an instructor for Queen's University, Faculty of Education, Continuing Teacher Education, Computers in the Classroom full distance education.
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