Thursday 1 December 2011
Photostory-a fun and easy way to make presentations with pictures, texts, your voice and music.
This is a software program from Microsoft, it’s free to download from their homepage (if you are a Microsoft customer). It’s good if you also have Windows Media player but it’s not necessary.
You can use your own pictures, cartoons or photographs or pictures from samples on internet. You make stories or presentations with the pictures and you can add text, your own voice and music. Then you can decide how the pictures will be showed, details or the whole picture at once or a little bit at the time and for how long. You can also make different kinds of transitions between the pictures.
What you need to make it work.
You need a computer, the program Photostory, a camera if you want to use your own pictures and a headset with a microphone. If you want to show the project as a film you also need a projector.
How the resource can be used by teachers.
You can make presentations when you start a new work or as a result when you finish something. It’s also possible to do fairytales, and other kind of stories. I think this program is good to work with if you have children that don’t like to talk in front of others, they can talk without standing in front the class. I usually use Photo Story with the whole class the first time so each pupil makes their own picture in a project.
How the resource can be used by pupils.
The pupils can make presentations of their work, an actor, an author, their favourite pet, their interest or whatever they like. I think it’s good if the children work in pairs, they can support each other and cooperate. It’s also make them confident with the computer and how to handle pictures both their own and those from internet samples.
Other considerations when using this resource.
It’s easy to learn, you have instructions in each page what to do. The first time you use it with the children I think it’s best to show one or two and then the children can teach each other. Otherwise you can show the whole class at the same time if you have a projector in the classroom. When you have create the presentation you save it as a project which you always can make changes in, and if you have access to Media player you save it as a film.
When I have use this ICT recourse in a class a lot of children want to do their own presentation and though it’s free to download, several of them continued the work at home and came back with a new film to show us! When you have made a presentation with the children they can take it on a USB and show their parents. It’s also possible to e-mail the files.
Ylva Lindberg
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When I read your blog, on how to use Photostory with the pupils, I get a good idea in what ways Photostory can be used and how easy it is to get it. It can be used as you describe.
ReplyDeleteI’ve used Photostory with some of my pupils and find it a good tool that is instructive and with easy steps to follow. The first time we used it, it took quite some time to show the pupils how to handle it. As a teacher you had to be there to help the pupils.
I noticed in the blog that you have the experience, that the children can help each other and the time to finish their project is reduced. I think this is true especially for older children that can work independently and for children that have some computer skills. Others perhaps need much more help.
I think it’s important to think trough how you use the technology in the long run, so that the pupils do not only use the Photostory for presentations and to show their results. When they are preparing their projects with Photostory, they will use a great deal of English. They write and speak. But I think that it’s important to think how the presentations also could encourage a lot more communication between the pupils, so that the rest of the class not only watch and listen. Should there perhaps be some questions to discuss after have shown something with Photostory? If somebody has made a story or a fairytale, should it be stopped before it has ended, so the rest of the group could try and guess the ending? Perhaps there is other ways to get a discussion?
Ylva you pointed out that the children who are a bit shy and don’t dare to speak in front of the class get a support by using Photostory. That is true. The class focus is on the computer/ or screen and on the subject that is shown, not on the person. I have the experience that when children listen to their recorded voices, they find this a bit strange. They aren’t used to listen to themselves on tape. They think they sound very strange. The advantage with Photostory is that you can easily edit and record sounds over and over again, until the pupils are satisfied with the result. They can also listen to their recording, before showing it.
When you are going to use pictures and music in different projects, its’ important to discuss copyrights and what is allowed to use with the pupils. It’s important to know about creative commons and that you should mention where you have got the pictures or music from. Perhaps you can give the children addresses to safe web pages. At these pages they can use pictures and music without worrying that they should do anything wrong. If pupils have been taken photographs, it’s also important to teach the children how to reduce the size of the photographs, otherwise their files get to big to e-mail.
It was very inspiring to read your post about Photostory. I agree with you that Photostory is very user-friendly. Even the first time you use it there are no problems figuring out what to do at each step, at least when you are an adult with some ICT knowledge. However, I think the pupils will pick up the skills quite easy as well. Younger children might need a lot of help, but from my experience there are always a few pupils who know what to do. Once you get started the pupils can help each other. I also think it is a good idea for them to work in pairs, especially while learning how everything works.
ReplyDeleteI think it is great that it is so easy to use your own drawings, as well as photos, when working with Photostory. Copyright is always a tricky part when it comes to this kind of projects. From experience I know that it is hard to find the pictures you like at resources like “Multimediabyrån”. When pupils use their own material copyright will not be a problem.
You made a good point when you wrote about shy pupils. I think they will benefit from presenting a story through Photostory rather than by an oral presentation in front of the whole class. Saving these movies in the pupils’ portfolios would also be a nice way to follow their development in spoken English. It would probably be much more relaxed than if you just recorded a conversation between pupils. As you mentioned, they can always edit it if they are not satisfied with the result. I guess most pupils would be inspired to participate, and understand the importance of doing their best, in a project like this.
I have never used Photostory with my pupils, but I came up with an idea while reading your post. Why not use it for a news broadcast put together by the pupils. This could include interviews and weather reports for example. There could even be commercials between news features. This would be a great way to practice English dealing with different themes. In the new syllabus for art there are several parts that would be integrated with the English subject in a project like this. For example analyzing pictures used in news or for commercials, photography and transference of pictures using a computer program.
It was very inspiring to read your post about Photostory. I agree with you that Photostory is very user-friendly. Even the first time you use it there are no problems figuring out what to do at each step, at least when you are an adult with some ICT knowledge. However, I think the pupils will pick up the skills quite easy as well. Younger children might need a lot of help, but from my experience there are always a few pupils who know what to do. Once you get started the pupils can help each other. I also think it is a good idea for them to work in pairs, especially while learning how everything works.
ReplyDeleteI think it is great that it is so easy to use your own drawings, as well as photos, when working with Photostory. Copyright is always a tricky part when it comes to this kind of projects. From experience I know that it is hard to find the pictures you like at resources like “Multimediabyrån”. When pupils use their own material copyright will not be a problem.
You made a good point when you wrote about shy pupils. I think they will benefit from presenting a story through Photostory rather than by an oral presentation in front of the whole class. Saving these movies in the pupils’ portfolios would also be a nice way to follow their development in spoken English. It would probably be much more relaxed than if you just recorded a conversation between pupils. As you mentioned, they can always edit it if they are not satisfied with the result. I guess most pupils would be inspired to participate, and understand the importance of doing their best, in a project like this.
I have never used Photostory with my pupils, but I came up with an idea while reading your post. Why not use it for a news broadcast put together by the pupils. This could include interviews and weather reports for example. There could even be commercials between news features. This would be a great way to practice English dealing with different themes. In the new syllabus for art there are several parts that would be integrated with the English subject in a project like this. For example analyzing pictures used in news or for commercials, photography and transference of pictures using a computer program.