Voyage Coetail

What’s an infographic? Before preparing for this post, an infographic was for me an editorial infographic or a data visualization , like a lot of numbers put into a picture to make it easy to read. The value of visualization video really helps me to create my own definition of infographics. [vimeo]https://vimeo.com/29684853[/vimeo] We also know that there is a scientific reason for why we like infographics Why using infographics in education? Using infographics in instruction is an innovative and engaging way to ensure that the message you are sharing is visually appealing and easily digested by your students.  They allow students to comprehend, interpret, and analyze complex information in a quick and clear manner.  This combined with the brain research to support why infographics are so effective gives teachers a powerful new tool to use for teaching and learning. I really like this quote from t he JTH instructional technology blog . And it made me think that I have had my students...

I didn’t want to start this post by the usual “I love stories”, yet I love stories…especially when they’re made digitally in French lessons. En français! I kept on asking my students to talk in French, reuse all the words they’ve been learning, to express themselves in French. Obvious to say that some students are natural-born communicator, always happy to talk and raise their hands even if they don’t know the answer and some others who blush just with the idea of talking in front of the group. However when it comes to use technology in the French class and to record them, the activity becomes fun and even the more shy are happy to participate. I regularly record my students when they‘re presenting, reporting to the class or acting out. I found a nice trick to have everybody excited about the activity: recording their feet! I can still hear them, they can still listen to them and everybody is happy to listen to the recording. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqGSj2EgMl4[/embed] ...

I don't like presentations I don’t like presentations. For me it means a speaker with a monotonous voice reading slides. Actually it’s exactly what Don McMillan explained in his talk “Life after death by power point” in the funniest way ever! [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpvgfmEU2Ck[/embed] Slides presentations are a cause of too many distractions for me. I never know if I should focus on the speaker or on the slides. Presentation Zen It was my idea of a presentation before reading the Presentation Zen blog of Garr Reynolds. Although those ideas and methods of presenting aren’t new, they are for me. And yet most of the principles and methods explained are obvious. In his book “ Presentation Zen, Simple ideas on presentation design and delivery ", Garr Reynolds described six principles under the SUCCES acronym. The six principles are relatively easy to incorporate into messages—including presentations and keynote addresses—but most people fail to use them. Why? The au...

Here is my picture! flickr photo shared by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center under a Creative Commons ( BY-NC ) license What can you see? I bet you’ll answer it’s Italy at night from space. Wrong! That’s the generic of Universal studios according to my Grade 4 students. How disappointed they were when they realized they weren’t to watch a movie but we would talk about this picture. First thing first! As I didn’t make any connection between this photo and the generic, we watched the generic to see the difference between the two. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFa_Lbqgun4[/embed] Visual Literacy strategy in action Then, we went back to our picture. I showed them this picture as we are in the cultures unit and I wanted them to learn about Europe and the European Union. (NOTE: Luxembourg is really in the middle of Europe). I really enjoy this kind of activity where the students do the questions and answers, when they can freely express themselves. Here are some quotes: “It...