Year 10 Students at Abbotsleigh have been playing, reviewing and creating with Windows 8 Apps. Students wanted to add "Sugar 'n' Spice" to their projects so what better to use that a few of the newest Apps in the Windows 8 Store.
Before beginning their project work, the girls had a lesson where they played and reviewed the apps for their peers, with a view to go back to their groups and report on what was the most useful to them in their current project work.
Collages are very popular with students so there was much excitement about using Phototastic and Atlantas for collages. They were looking to use them to create campaign posters on social issues that they are looking into at the moment as part of their All My Own Work unit studies. Though they struggled sometimes with the inability to change aspects of the collage, they appreciated that this made them very fast to use.
Students also enjoyed editing photos and adding text and other images to make campaign images using Photo Editor and more focused photo editing in Fhotoroom. Again, these are so easy so the students were apply to work effectively in a short time.
ArcSoft Showbiz was also very popular with the students for video editing. It appealed because it was so easy to use and they could put together an edited video in a very short time. Though they accepted that more advanced editing could be done in Movie Maker, when time was short their agreed that they would opt for the App. The girls were trying to create original content and using their web cams to make videos, through the camera feature on their Windows 8.1 machines, they could quickly save to the Camera Roll and then use the footage in the App.
On the planning side, the mind mapping App, NovaMind, allowed girls to visualise their planning for the project as well as get a better grasp on the ideas they are presenting on.
All up their exploration of the newest Windows 8 Apps showed that it is a space to watch for education. Students are searching and looking to create work using fast and efficient new apps to add "Sugar 'n' Spice" to their work all the time.
Also see this Post on Australian Teachers Blog
Before beginning their project work, the girls had a lesson where they played and reviewed the apps for their peers, with a view to go back to their groups and report on what was the most useful to them in their current project work.
Collages are very popular with students so there was much excitement about using Phototastic and Atlantas for collages. They were looking to use them to create campaign posters on social issues that they are looking into at the moment as part of their All My Own Work unit studies. Though they struggled sometimes with the inability to change aspects of the collage, they appreciated that this made them very fast to use.
Students also enjoyed editing photos and adding text and other images to make campaign images using Photo Editor and more focused photo editing in Fhotoroom. Again, these are so easy so the students were apply to work effectively in a short time.
ArcSoft Showbiz was also very popular with the students for video editing. It appealed because it was so easy to use and they could put together an edited video in a very short time. Though they accepted that more advanced editing could be done in Movie Maker, when time was short their agreed that they would opt for the App. The girls were trying to create original content and using their web cams to make videos, through the camera feature on their Windows 8.1 machines, they could quickly save to the Camera Roll and then use the footage in the App.
On the planning side, the mind mapping App, NovaMind, allowed girls to visualise their planning for the project as well as get a better grasp on the ideas they are presenting on.
All up their exploration of the newest Windows 8 Apps showed that it is a space to watch for education. Students are searching and looking to create work using fast and efficient new apps to add "Sugar 'n' Spice" to their work all the time.
Also see this Post on Australian Teachers Blog