Recently when doing some curriculum writing for PE at school we have come to find/be shown some very cool websites that can add to the learning experience of the students.
The first is xtranormal.com which is a website that will take the text of a script and transform it into an animated movie. It then allows you to play director and select characters, scenes, shot types, and even expressions and animations of characters. Here is one i put together in a matter of minutes.
We have decided to use this website as an alternative to students doing a presentation. We will set an assignment that will require students to research a drug and create an informative movie detailing information on its uses and effects but through the situation of a relationship and the social effect the drug has on it.
The other is a website called wordle.net which is a word cloud creating website. It can take any text and create a custom or randomly generated word cloud from the entered words, emphasising any word that occurs in the text more than others. Here is a sample of a word cloud from wordle.net based around the famous Martin Luther King speech – I have a dream.
I can see this website as useful in brainstorming. Brainstorming normally just provides lists of words where any duplicates are eliminated. This allows for duplicates to be emphasised – reflecting its importance.
