Technology Talk
Do You Know About YouTube Channels?
A channel is the home page for a YouTube account, which shows the name of the user and the public videos they've uploaded. You can also display videos you have liked or “favorited” from other users. In terms of using this for your classroom, you can use this channel as a way to store flip videos and share videos that work with your curriculum. You can also use this for review or remediation, sharing the URL of your channel with students who can watch the videos as many times as they need.
You also don’t need to worry about creating a YouTube account. Google owns YouTube so as long as you have your MPCS Google account, you have a YouTube account.
To create your channel, follow these directions:
Make sure you're signed in to YouTube. At the login screen, enter your Google account information. You can also sign into Google first and then navigate to YouTube.
Go to create a channel (if you already have a channel, the link will take you to it).
Check the details and click OK to create your new channel.
Save the Dates!
S'more and Canva: Two Ways to Create Posters and More Digitally
Both have templates to choose from, with text boxes and layout choices, but after that it is up to the student where information goes and what pictures, colors, and fonts to use.
Beginner teachers and users should start with S’more as this site is more user friendly and doesn’t overwhelm you with options. Creating a flyer is easy as you drag and drop items. You can also upload pictures and videos, make galleries of pictures, add links to other sites, add Google forms and maps and share on social networking like Facebook.
Editing tools in S'more
Adding Pictures and More in S'more
Categories
The really cool thing about S’more though is the ability to see the analytics behind the flyer. If you want to share the flyers, say for an upcoming event, S'more tracks the data to see how many people are viewing your flyers and where they are coming from.
Canva is much more robust with more options to choose from as they market more for social media with templates including facebook covers, cards, posters, invites, and more. You can choose one of these and make it work for your needs, then choose from different options for layouts, backgrounds, and text just by clicking.
While visiting an AP Bio class, the teacher brought up a graphic showing the steps in a certain process. Students could use Canva to explain processes on their own. It could also work for labeling and diagramming other processes or formulas that students need to know. However, some students could become distracted by the amount of choices provided. These choices also include some options you have to pay for and are indicated on the items, so make sure to point these out to students. Anything students make can be downloaded to use in another program or shared on Twitter and Facebook and you do receive a warning about any paid items before this can happen.
Both websites have paid subscriptions you can choose from, but the FREE accounts give you plenty of resources, including the analytics on S’more. Try it out on your own or give it as an option for some students to try!
Here's more info on S'more and Canva.