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Monday, March 28, 2011

Week 4 Thing 9: Got a picture? Don’t just post it…Blabberize it!

Week 4 is all about podcasting in different and simplistic ways.  We are looking at tools that can be used as podcasts with a focus on collaboration and digital images.  Last week, we focused on digital pictures and images-I am sure you have heard the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words”.  Well, the next web 2.0 tool you will explore takes this saying to the next level!  What if I told you a picture can actually say your words?  Blabberize is a tool that allows you to upload a portrait of your choice, select a mouth and record a comment to share.  Go to this link to see it in action.
Here’s an idea: Students can create their own image (in Paint or other comparable software) or can use a photo to create projects which incorporate voice.  You could have your students research an animal, write a first person account and then Blabberize it!  Students could then post their Blabbers to your class wiki, blog or even edmodo.  The class can explore other animals and comment on each other’s work.  Look at the 3rd grade sample below:

Can you think of ESL connections??!!  What a great way to get these students involved…  if you search ESL and podcasting you find SO MANY ideas and uses which only increase learning.  Imagine what the Blabbers can do for vocabulary???!!
As of now, all of Blabberize features are free and accessible without registration.  It sounds like they may be changing this in time.  They seem very aware of the education world and its heavy use of their nifty tool.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope they create a free education version!
 If you do decide to register, make a classroom username and password using your general email account you created for your classroom.  All your student projects will be kept in one place.
Tech-tivity 9:  Let’s Blabberize it!
1.     Go to http://www.blabberize.com/ and watch the cute video introduction!
2.    Register or try it out.
3.    Upload a digital picture or image from your computer.  If you do not have a digital image find one on the Internet and save it to your computer so you can upload it and play.  Just make sure you are going to a royalty free image site like www.pics4learning.com or you orally cite your photos URL in your Blabber.  If you need help with this-watch the “saving an image” tutorial.
4.    Blabberize it!  Use the built in microphone on your laptop or podcasting headphones to record the voice.  Post your Blabber to your blog as Week 4 Thing 9.
5.    Finally, post a reflection on the Junkie Blog below about how this type of podcasting could encourage communication in your classroom.

26 comments:

Nancy Keck said...

I am going to share voki and blabberize with out teachers this afternoon. The two teachers I have already shown are ready to run with it. These web tools are great for teacher-created instruction and student-created content and reflection. We can share these with other schools through tools such as Edmodo. I love the potential to share this information with a wide audience.

Sharon V said...

What a great technology tool. I can see the most timid student coming out of their shell creating a talking object. Having students select specific objects to go with a theme, then gathering facts and recording information to show their knowledge is a great way to provide alternative assessments while also encouraging creativity.

Ms. Rackard said...

I definitely agree with Sharon. Some students are timid about sharing their ideas or self-conscious about thier writing skills. To know that they can allow another object to speak for them is wonderful.

Unknown said...

I have to 3rd the previous two comments. I can just imagine one of my quietest students, who incidentally has a very dry sense of humor, really going to town with this. The funny thing is, someone sent me a link to Blabberize earlier this year and I never took the time to explore the possibilities. Now I definitely will!

Sue said...

Blabberize is a device that could be used by the students to ask questions on a chosen topic. I love the idea of having students use it for sharing research as well.

Meredith Gilbert said...

My students would love doing this to share their writings. Especially their personal narratives, biographies, autobiographies, or interviews!

Holly said...

I can see my students doing animal reports with Blabberize among other things. It's just another great and different way of presenting what a student has learned to an audience.

Mrs. Ripperger said...

I can see my students doing animal reports with Blabberize among other things. It's just another great and different way of presenting what a student has learned to an audience.

Señora Sarasua said...

Students can project themselves into the subject's identity. The animals, celebrities, caricatures, whatever they choose can speak in Spanish in a fun and unthreatening way. This resource provides another way to present and practice a wide range of vocabulary and grammatical structures!

Cyndi said...

I can see my students using this site to create lessons for our preschoolers. With some help drawing the mouth, I can see our "littles" adding their voices.

stageforlearning said...

Students can share what they are learning; however, at the end of a lesson you could ask students to post one thing they learned or a question they still have. Students too often are afraid to speak up so that they don't look stupid in front of their classmates. No one would know who asked the question and others may have the same question.

Mary Jo said...

I can see this tool being used in lots ways, daily routines - lunch choice, announcements, objectives, reports and retelling. I was also thinking it may be useful in conflict resolution. Students could share feelings/problems in a
safe way.
Another great tool, I can't wait to try these out with my students!

andrews3 said...

What a fun tool! I agree with all of the previous comments. There are so many great uses for Voki & Blabberize. I would definitely share it with the other teachers at my school. My first thought in regards to encouraging communication among students was using it with bully-proofing lessons and conflict resolution scenarios. Children who may be too shy to say anything about being bullied or seeing others bullied may be more willing to allow a character to talk for them.

Sherri Callahan said...

I think it would be so fun to post a portrait of an artist and an accompanying artwork and blabberize the photo to tell about the artwork! I hope I can figure out how to make a class website to do this! The students could make self-portrait avatars and do the same thing with their artwork!

Sherri Callahan said...

Also, wouldn't it be fun to have a historical painting blabberized! It's fun for kids to "act out" a painting...wouldn't it be fun for them to each blabberize their own version! Middle school kids would have a hilarious time with it (I think...they are so unpredictable with their likes and dislikes, but it's worth a try!)

Mrs. Jacobsen said...

I love your ideas posted in these comments! Using blabberize for conflict resolution, student reports, recording thematic songs, having historical figures, artists, famous people come alive for students are all wonderful ideas. I think that this tool appeals to me the most. I can't wait to share it with other teachers!

Katy said...

With so many of these web 2.0 tools I've envisioned myself collaborating with the art teachers. I love the idea of the students selecting a "famous" painting to blabberize, voicing what they've learned about various artistic devices such as perspective, proportion, use of color, etc. Sometimes my role of collaborator is not to actually teach the students a particular concept, but to work with the classroom teacher on alternative presentation choices.

Mrs. Stewart said...

Please remember when using these tools you need to cite your sources. We can't be out there stealing images. Use the good advanced search for images to find images you can use for modification. Still need to cite. You can do this orally.

Mrs. Stewart said...

I meant google...blogging on my phone.

Cool Beans said...

Blabberize is a great way for the students to show their knowledge of certain standards related to life science. Since I had difficulty with my microphone, I kept repeating the characteristics of amphibians over and over. I was thinking to myself, "By the time the students finish creating the audio feed correctly, they will have memorized the content!"

Debra said...

Blabberize is a great way for students to show their knowledge on a variety of subjects. It's very quick, easy, fun and exciting.
My only challenge was getting the mouth exactly like I wanted it. I did like the fact you can use the microphone live or have the option of uploading a recorded message.

Sue Shaw said...

As I mentioned on my blog, I was not as excited about this but probably because it wasn't intuitive for me with the mouth! Took some time to get it maneuvered in the right position! That being said, don't you just imagine a picture of George Washington telling a story or maybe the school mascot giving the tip for the day? Too cute!

Mme Augat said...

Blabberizing will allow students to put life in various characters; it will make them speak with care and be aware of using the right pronunciation. It can also allow the teacher to introduce a unit about culture or history with a picture that speaks. Will make it more attractive and also give access to the point of view of somebody/something from that time.

cathy said...

I'm always looking for ways to share guidance content. Voki or blabberize projects could be used for students to share their perspective of Red Ribbon Week in a contest. I also liked and thought about the ideas of using these tools for conflict resolution and bully education as mentioned by others in this class. Career Week would be another great use of these tools. Older students could research and produce vokis or "blabbers" to help younger students to better understand various careers.

Jason said...

It will be great for students to use characters from the stories we read and use them to answer questions from their point of view.

Michelle Deibler said...

Many, many uses for this, but I see a lot of science uses... introducing the picture and telling about it, like the third graders did with the insect in the example.