Journal 6

Inspiration

1. I found this program to be really easy to use, especially with the help of Atomic Learning. It makes brainstorming and organizing fun, which would be an attraction for my future students. There was a wide variety of symbols and animations to be used--much more than a standard ClipArt gallery! It was also easy to rearrange my icons and change the size of things without doing permanent damage.

2. I would use this as a requirement for my students before they write each of their major papers within the class. This would help to keep them organized and stay focused on the topic at hand. For example, if I am asking them to write a character analysis of Pride and Prejudice, they could use a map to analyze each of the characters, which will then guide their writing.

3. I only used Atomic Learning for a few parts of using Inspiration, but it was essential in the areas I did use it. I found it to be easy to find the questions I had, and I really appreciated the fact it was explained step-by-step. However, the rest of the questions I had while using Inspiration were easy to solve by either playing around with it, or using the Help button. I think it would be a good idea to make Atomic Learning available to students, but I do not think it is absolutely necessary.

iMovie

1. iMovie felt a little complicated to me. Editing the clips was easy, but dealing with the audio was definitely more difficult. I think technologically savvy students would love utilizing a program like this, but those that are more basic may have a hard time with it.

2. I would use this as a tool in my classroom as an option for a presentation. Students could use iMovie, PowerPoint, posters, etc. for visuals in their presentations. I would not require students to use this because I understand that some may find it too difficult or time consuming.

3. I am really glad that Professor Heil went over how to do everything, because otherwise I would have been really lost. It was also helpful to be working around other classmates when we all had questions. I would definitely recommend that students practice with this quite a bit before completing an assignment that will be graded.