Instagram, Vine, and Screencasts

Technology is fun, exciting, and something that isn't widely used in the classrooms. It may seem intimidating and a strange concept to someone who has never used it before, but the tools and apps mentioned below are a great way to integrate technology into any lesson.  

Instagram

Instagram is just one great way educators can use social media in the classroom and library. This generation of students are already familiar with Instagram and know how to snap and add photos of things that you assign for them do and add to the popular app. This app can be used in a number of different ways as there are other apps that can be used with it to use text and music. Instagram can be used to keep parents up to date on what is going on in their child’s education. Teachers are able to post assignments or activities that they have completed, can use it to spotlight student work and achievement, and use it for classroom lessons. Librarians could use Instagram to promote the library happenings, showcase the book fair and other community events, entice readers with new books in the collection, and more. The schools could use this to post photos of school events and programs like Awards night and Black History Program. Instagram is a great tool and I enjoy using this app from time to time especially around the holidays to share pictures with friends.Above you can see how the school librarian used Instagram to generate a buzz and show students teachers read too!  Here is a photo that I posted to my Instagram over this July 4th weekend.

Vine

This is a site that I have heard several of my students talk about and actually seen post videos to, but have never taken the time to actually understand it.  I knew that the app allowed for the user to create and share short videos that were comedic, entertaining, or informative.  This app was not difficult to sign up for and only asked me to use my email or Twitter. I think the app itself will be great for educators to use and share with students, especially to give them something different to view and a new method of learning. This app would be great to use for a hook or attention grabber to a lesson because of how quick the videos are. Students could take information they learned and make a video as an exit ticket to summarize what they took from a lesson. It is easy and to learn and a great way to showcase work, use with a vocabulary lesson, and bring attention to the library collection.  The only thing I might be wary about is the type of videos my students find as there is a vast range of videos and no true filters. Here is a video I made to showcase books that students chose during the school year to checkout in class or the library. 

Screencast-O-Matic

Screencast-O-Matic is a tool that allows users up to 15 minutes of recording time. Considering kids have a short attention span, I found this to be plenty of time if I am using it to help teach or instruct kids. This would be an excellent tool for teachers to post step by step videos for students, other teachers or parents. It could be used to show parents how to access an online site and especially at the beginning of the year after open houses, so they can access the Student Handbook and AUP forms, or test links. Students can view videos for homework, so they have a tool to reference that covers the lesson taught that day or catch up on something if they were absent. It also can be helpful for other professionals who may have missed a faculty training or need a reminder or a new educational app. It did take me some playing around to get the hang of talking and navigating and I still have a lot more learning to do before it’s perfected. I decided to do a video of how to navigate the districts databases for the upcoming school year as I had several students this year forget where to go and their log ins. Here is the video I made to hopefully use this school year and save me the headache from repeating myself.