Group 4 Digital Tools

The 4th group of ICTs involves simulations and animations to present ideas and information.

This was a bit late in the piece, but I had a shot at ZooBurst to see how it would work.



In order to explore the features of the software, I used the retelling of a Terry Pratchett children's story: Where's My Cow?



The construction of the book was quite simple. Lower grades would have lots of fun adding pictures and then giving the characters lines to say. Positioning and re-sizing images is quite easy. If a premium account is used, it's also possible to insert audio clips so that the characters can actually "speak" their lines. Students would be able to either re-tell their favourite stories, or create books to tell their own original stories.

I showed the book I had created with my daughter Lily. She read out the story, and after a little bit of direction, learnt to click on the characters to read their lines. She loved being able to interact with the book and was immediately engaged with it. When asked afterwards, her favourite part was "clicking on the animals", and she said she would prefer to read this than a "real book".

Cargo Bridge

On a different note, but in the same technology group, I discovered a game called Cargo Bridge. This particular game would be engaging and useful for upper primary students. The goal of Cargo Bridge is to create a load-bearing structure that will allow a man to cross a chasm to retrieve a box. The students can test the bridge and change it as much as they like. There are budget limitations in place, which means that the student must manage their available resources.
When students play this game, they are learning about how to create stable geometric structures that are able to withstand a load, and to operate within a budget. Effectively, they are learning the basics of engineering! The teacher could use this as an incentive to finish work quickly and well, and could set up a competition to see who could build the best structure and finish with the most money still in the bank.