New Digital Tool: PicCollage

Pic Collage

This week I downloaded and investigated a "new to me" digital tool. I decided to explore the PicCollage app because I was so inspired by it's use in the active learning lessons I looked at a couple weeks ago!

Image from PicCollage.com

Pros: 

  • The app is free! 
  • This is a fun and easy to use app that would give students the opportunity to make picture collages. 
  • This is a very flexible digital tool. Students from kindergarten to high school could use PicCollage to create projects. 
  • The ability to add text allows us to differentiate projects. 
  • Students can be creative with various backgrounds, fonts, stickers, using the drawing tool, etc. What could be a boring picture collage is now more creative and engaging for students. 
  • There are school settings in the app settings to disable social media icons and web images. 

Cons:

  • One negative to the app are all of the pop up messages to download additional items. I think this would be pretty annoying for any child to have to deal with while they are creating. Also, it would be very easy for them to press the wrong button. 
  • The extra backgrounds and stickers for purchase are very alluring and distracting.

Screencast

Check out my screencast to see me showcase the app and give an example of how you could use this in a primary classroom!



Additional Resources:

Comments

  1. Fran BuckinghamOctober 1, 2019 at 1:16 PM

    Hi Laura! How fun! This definitely sounds like an active learning tool. I would love to use this tool for myself so I Can see how student would have fun with it. This is something the children can do at home or at school. I feel like it opens up a creative map from them to be able to explore. I can relate to getting frustrated when pop ups, etc get in the way when on the compute. Maybe its a good lesson of patience for them : ) I know that I am still working on that. Thank you so much for your post! I plan to look into this app for my students.

    ReplyDelete
  2. NMZumpanoOctober 2, 2019 at 8:51 AM

    Great blog post! I really liked the way you listed the pros and cons even before I watched your demonstration. The example you showed for an elementary classroom was well done and definitely something that can be replicated.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jessica VelezOctober 2, 2019 at 7:18 PM

    Laura,
    Our school as recently been reevaluating how we assess our students and one main component we keep coming back to is the DOK (Depth of Knowledge). We are addressing how we can get our students to that level four of thinking and then how we evaluate it. I love how using this app our students are able to CREATE a collage on their own about their learning! This is a fun and engaging way for students to showcase their knowledge and challenges them to create their understanding! I cannot wait to bring this back to my colleagues and get their advice as to how we can try and incorporate this into our lessons.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Triple E Framework

Image
What is Triple E? The Triple E Framework was created by Professor Liz Kolb at the University of Michigan in 2011. The goal of the framework was to address the need for research based information about teaching with technology. The focus of the Triple E Framework is on effective teaching practices and learning outcomes, not just using fancy technology. A lot of research went into the development of this framework. For example, the research  explored the importance of active engagement, quality vs. quantity, the social aspect, and the importance of instructional strategies and authentic contexts. You can read more about the research at the Triple E Framework website here . This framework will help teachers assess if technology use is going to help students reach the learning targets. The E's stand for: Engage, Enhance, and Extend. Does the technology engage the students, for example motivate students and allow for active learning opportunities?  Does the technology enhance t...
Read more

All About Me

Image
Hello, everyone! My name is Laura Rzewnicki and I'm a first grade teacher at a public school in Northbrook. This blog used to be titled "Techie in Kindergarten" but since I now teach first grade I decided to change it to "Techie in Primary." I have been teaching at the primary level for 13 years. I've always wanted to be a teacher and consider myself a lifelong learner. I'm really passionate about providing developmentally appropriate learning experiences to young children and fostering a love of literacy in all. A few years back I started teaching in a 1:1 device setting and that inspired a love of teaching with technology (which is sometimes easier said than done with kindergartners and first graders). I'm really excited to be taking my ninth educational technology class at Dominican University. I started this journey with the intention of getting my technology specialist endorsement but decided to keep going and earn a masters degree. I have my cr...
Read more

What does it take to be private in today's online world?

Image
" data privacy "  by  stockcatalog  is marked with  CC BY 2.0 . This week I've been exploring the topic of privacy. I don't know anyone who is not online in some way. For most of us, the online world is an integral part of our every day lives, whether we are using Google Maps to safely arrive at a destination, checking in with loved ones on a messenger app, or receiving an email from work. Whether you grew up on the internet or not we all need to be aware of what happens when we step foot online and give away information about ourselves. As an educator of young children I feel it is my responsibility to teach my students digital citizen skills, which includes navigating online spaces safely. These will be lifelong skills for this generation. It is also my responsibility to keep my students' data safe while they use school devices. This year we actually came across a problem with a popular literacy app called EPIC! not following Illinois'  Student Online Person...
Read more