The idea that when students create for a real-world audience online the quality of the work is better, got me thinking about what were some other ways to tap into this world.

Last year we published folk tales students had written as audio files.  Those files were posted on a blog and the students could then share those stories with friends and family.  How powerful to have a student that proud of their work that they wanted relatives who lived several states away to see what they had done for a school project!

I thought I would dedicate a few postings to ways we can share student work outside the walls of the building.  My last 2 postings talked about blogs and ways to share the written word, this post will concentrate more on non-writing assignments -  thinkart work, collage, poster, powerpoint, etc.   As always – be careful about protecting identities and make sure you have permission for work to be posted before proceeding!

Powerpoints

In previous posts I have shared two online sites for uploading and sharing PowerPoints,  SlideShare and Slideboom.  Slideboom I liked for the ability to add narration to the powerpoints and keep it intact in the upload process.

In both of these programs users could leave comments on the presentations.  So mom or dad could take a look at the powerpoint that the student turned in and make a comment about the work, or ask an extending question to their student.   This would be a good way to do a gallery exhibition as well to have students watch each other’s presentations and leave comments about them.  Please be sure to go over with students what makes a good comment and what expectations your have about that activity.

Photo Sharing

Places like Flickr and Bubbleshare allow you to upload photos and allow you to provide written comments on those photos.  Videos or Photos can also be embedded into your blogs, wiki, or other web page.  Settings can be done to private, but always keep in mind what is on the interent is not always private even under the best of circumstances.

Play around with leaving comments if you like on some of my family photos.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/52767672@N00/

Voice Threads

If you want to see what it looks like on the web page: http://voicethread.com/#u179553.b220782.i1152354 Please leave a comment on the photo and add to the conversation.  Comments can be audio files, web cam shots or typed text.  You can also add video and stop to doodle on it or make comments.  Comments can be moderated.  They also have an education spot for teachers to use.

Coming Next- Google Docs.

Tags: flickr, pictures, powerpoint, sharing, slideboom, slideshare, stduent work, voicethread