When reviewing some of the Web 2.0 tools listed on Larry Ferlazzo's blog, I came to the conclusion that though many of them were fantastic and I have bookmarked them to use in the future - Tripline was my favorite. It is a map-making site that allows you to create a journey across the map using photos and music. I find this to be an excellent tool because it can be used in such a wide variety of ways! It of course can be used in geography, but also in history and English class as well. The students can use this to create the historical path of Paul Revere, or Lewis and Clark, or perhaps something else entirely. It could also be used in English to depict the journey of a character in a book the students are reading. With the tool to upload photos or music, the students could customize each stop on the trail to upload historical photos or folk songs or even photos from the novel, depending on which subject they are working for. This could even be used if the student went on a trip and wanted to share it with their classmates, allowing them to upload photos from their trip with each pinpointed spot on the map.
I think this site is a fantastic site from the standpoint of an educator - especially one in the Special Education field. This site utilizes visual learning, something that many students with disabilities need or rely on. But it also has the audio factor for students who rely on learning by hearing - both amazing changes from the usual text learning. It could not only assist students who need to learn in different, less traditional ways, but it can also make the lesson more fun and engaging - something all students can benefit from.
Playing around on the site myself, I had a lot of fun with it. It's very user friendly and pretty easy to understand right off the bat. The tools are clearly labeled and the directions are clear and concise. This would be incredibly easy for a student to use (especially a student of the Web 2.0 era) even without instruction or help from a teacher. To share an example of my own, I made a basic, quick map of a trip from Buffalo to Disney World - a trip I have taken many a time! You can find that map here. The fact I made this map in just a few minutes shows how easy this tool is and how it could be utilized in our classrooms today (especially when many of us feel rushed to get through material!)
I really enjoyed your emphasis on visual learning. Because this is such a huge tool in special education, this website really allows for a broad spectrum of students to benefit!
ReplyDeleteYou had some very interesting ideas of how to use this tool. I think it is much more interesting and interactive compared to the old "timelines" that most text books use.
ReplyDeleteYou considered some useful features that might help a student with a disability. I didn't see how it was audible, however. You said you were able to hear things too-- I need to play around with it more. The example you shared seemed to just be more of a 'google map' or 'mapquest' example. Are there more features that I'm missing? Thanks.