I liked Google Documents. It seems easy to use and free is always nice. I may use it in connection with my website and the lessons I intend to post there. The other sites wanted me to download other things to use them. I am always concerned about that type of thing.
I checked out each of the picture sites also and found Picknic to be the easiest to use. The grafics and instructions were clear and easy to understand. At 50 I am not as interested in enhancing my pictures as young people would be but being able to whiten teeth, get rid of red eye, and go black and white or gray scale is useful. Of course if I was keeping an on-line scrapbook for a class the boarders and text would come in handy.
As for the reading in Chapter 30, the first take away is the "surface features vs. functional features of visuals." I found it interesting that there was no significant difference in leaning between still visuals and animation. And that line drawings with arrows was effective as a video version. As I develope other presentations I will remember that it is "not the surface features of a visual" but rather the "functional features" and "how well it conveys the intended message."
The second take away is "minimize unnecessary visuals and text." I believe I may be guilty of including "seductive text and visuals" in my presentations. Sometimes there is so much information one can loose sight of the orginal intended instruction. Rather than giving students a boost with the information, according to the text, even the intended information lost out. I will try to remember the "extra" information is for another lesson another time.
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Like you, I was surprised to see that there was virtually no difference in learning quality when using still pictures vs. animation. Often times I have been encouraged to find information that is "visual stimulating" only to recieve video type materials. There are lots of people I would like to show this to, even my students who seem to think that animation and video are the only ways to go when it comes to useful and different ways to learn and practice new things.
I think we all are guilty of trying to teach by impressing. In other words, I too, give a little too much extra stimulus as times. After I read this chapter, I tried some new things in my classroom. I am teaching basic grammar at the moment-subjects and predicates. I used to use comics to help get my point across. The kids enjoyed them and I thought it also taught them something. (at least the ones who got it.)This time I used basic sentences. In fact I used the same sentence and only changed the part I wanted them to focus on. It seemed to work much better. We will see. The test is Monday. I'm very interested to see how this works in other areas of my teaching. I has given me something to think about with my final project, too.
I'm definitely one of those people who is guilty of the "seductive texts and visuals." I have been making a large attempt at creating powerpoint presentations that teach to the points and don't get to the sensory overload point. It's tough to find that happy medium (as I posted on Bobby's blog too). Finding the happy medium of not being bland and not reaching sensory overload is something I work daily on. I'm trying to achieve those "functional features"! Just wanted to let you know that you aren't the only one. I think we all may be guilty of it.
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