Session 8 Reflection

The two applications which I have tried are Adobe Spark Video and Screencast-O-Matic. These two applications can mainly help teachers with making the digital visual and audio resources.

Adobe Spark Video is quite user-friendly for teachers or even primary school students to manage the production of a video. Since the users may just pick some photos, the suitable layout and music, they can out them together and generate an attractive video. The most convenient thing of  Adobe Spark is that the users can read aloud and record them simultaneously. The sample, My Amiable Rabbit, created by a P4 student surprised me due to the students' angelic voice and lovely presentation ,and I think my senior form students can make one like this as well. On top of that, if the teachers want their students to write a story, they can change the presentation of their stories from a written one to an animated one. This can encourage students to write more and on the other hands, it is actually a speaking training for students because they need to record their stories. I suggest teachers can collect the videos and make a video collection for their class, the feeling of making a video successfully can definitely motive students' learning of speaking and writing.

Screencasting with Screencast-O-Matic is another free but noteworthy tool that can help teachers to explain their thoughts and the teaching contents to students. The most important function of this application is that all the things that have been shown and taught by the teachers can be recorded. With the video of the teaching content recorded by the teachers, students can review at any time such as revising dictation, explaining grammar rules, and analyzing difficult points of the tests. Furthermore, I believe this tool can be used in students' reflection or presentation as well. Apart from writing journals, reflections or lecture notes, teachers may ask students to take turns to make screencasting reflections so teachers can check students' understanding and also train student's metacognitive skills, to evaluate their learning by themselves. What teachers need to do is just check their screencasting, give marks or comments.

Teachers can use the applications very freely and flexibly. It reminds me that the new technology brings about the infinite possibilities for education; they are all beneficial to teachers and students if they can utilise the tools well.