storybird me!

What is it all about?

Storybird is a fun new collaborative storytelling website.  Storybird makes it easy to create and tell stories digitally.  Students and teachers can create stories together by combining imaginative artwork and text.  The final product can be printed, watched on screen, played with like a toy, or shared in an online library with the world. In short, it is a free online tool that helps you make short, art-inspired, stories that you can share, read, and print.


How to use it?


1. Firstly, once you have entered www.storybird.com, please select 'sign up' where you need to create your own account.

2. After confirming your email address. Select 'Jump in!' to start creating your own storybook.

3. The first step is to select an artist. Here we get a chance to see some of the artworks you have chosen.

4. Here we get a  Select “Start a Storybird”.


5. This is the storymaker. Drag illustrations onto the canvas, & then write the story in the text boxes. You can add additional pages at the bottom.

6. When you’re finished, select “Menu” & then “Publish this Storybird…”

7. Before publishing you can write a short summary of the book and select appropriate age range. Make sure to set the story to “public”. Then select “Publish”.

11. You have now finished and published a Storybird!



How can teacher benefit this tool in the classroom?

Teacher could initially give out a topic and ask students to brainstorm the idea together. For example, the topic of 'my family' and teacher would ask students questions like 'how many family members do you have?', 'what do you do with your family during leisure time' and etc. Then, teacher would demonstrate the storybird tool to the students. Firstly, teacher could start by selecting pictures that suit their description. For example, if the students say 'My family loves fishing', then teacher would choose picture of a man holding a fishing rod. Then, students are asked to be in pairs. Then, they could continue the topic by collaborating the stories with their partners.




Why is it good?

1. It creates a sweet memory with friends. Later on, even when they have graduated from school, students can still read the stories they have created online.

2. Teacher can use the great artwork and share them with other students not only online but also in the version of hard copy. Yes! The book can be printed out.

3. The tool has an intuitive interface and beautiful illustrations. It provides whole collections of artwork around a theme or topic. The artwork is by amazing artists and the collections are linked. So all the pictures have the same ‘look and feel’ and can be easily fitted together to create a very professional looking story.

4. This tool helps students who do not write well in language.  They will have to carefully select their own pictures before writing the stories, this will help them with the writing process because when selecting the pictures, they are actually building images and builds the story line in their mind. This will make them ore excited.




The weakness of it..

1. Time-consuming and it is not easy to have a collaborative story telling. Different students may want their stories to be told differently. My friends and I created a story together and ended up disagreeing with a lot of matters, for example, the name of the characters, the ending of the stories including the plot of the stories. It is very complicated to work with if you have a difficult partner!

Record your voice using Vocaroo!

What is it all about?

Vocaroo is a tool where you can record your voice and then save it in your computers or upload it online. Users do not need to create or log in or install any software in order to use it. Therefore, it is a very convenient tool to be used for students who hate the hassle of creating a new account.



How to use it?

First of all, you need to have a microphone. You can use the microphone built into the laptop to record. Then, click the record button and start talking! After completing your recording, Vocaroo gives you the choice to publish it or to scrap it and try again.

How can teacher benefit this tool in the classroom?

Teacher can start a topic about 'Myself'. Here, teacher would first tell the students about herself and then asked them to be in pairs and start telling their partners about themselves. This phase is important as it helps students to brainstorm the details about themselves. Then teacher would show students a podcast she made about herself to the class using Vocaroo. Teacher would then make it as a homework where students have to record their voice using Vocaroo and upload it into their class blog.


Very interesting idea from Kathy Cassidy has for students to practice reading smoothly (reading fluency) and record and learn from listening to themselves read using Vocaroo. Students can hear if they are reading fluently or not and compare it to what fluent reading should sound like. I think this allows students to take a bit of responsibility of their own learning and be able to identify their own growth. The program that she used to help her grade one’s improve their communication skills is Vocaroo, so it shows that using Vocaroo as a tool to improve communication skill is not a fiction! High five!



Here's an example my own recording describing myself. 

Audio recording software >>



Why is it good?

1. Users can use this recording tool without installing software.

2. Vocaroo provides the embed code for users, this provide an option for users to embed the recording anywhere.

3. Simple way of practice pronunciation skill. I think that since it is free, simple and easy to use, teachers could use it as a center for students to practice their reading independently and  to listen to it later on to assess their communication skills.




The weakness of it..

1. More suitable as a homework. It is quite difficult to use this tool in the class as everyone need to have a microphone. Without a mic, no recording can be made.

2. Only 5 minutes of recording!

3. Require internet connection.

4. Cannot edit the recording, you have to record everything from the start.

Mybrainshark; the coolest presentation tool!

What is it all about?


This tool is utterly amazing and I can assure you that you will never regret trying this out! Brainshark is a tool that allows users to turn PowerPoint slides, Microsoft Word documents, video and photo album into voice-enriched presentations. It is working absolutely fabulous for discussion since students can add their voice into it. It is so sophisticated that users could upload picture + powerpoint + video + background music into it.


How to use it?


After uploading the file, users may narrate and record their voice by the voice recorder. At this point, users could narrate on the particular slide they want. The best part is that you could redo the recording if you are not satisfied with your existing narration. You can also add background music of your liking.



How can teacher benefit this tool in the classroom?


1. Teacher could benefit this tool by asking students to produce a presentation about their family, hobbies or favourite food in a PowerPoint slide.

2. Students are asked to insert pictures to make the presentation more interesting. Then, teacher will ask students to add audio files or record their own voice into the presentation.

3. Students are asked to upload the presentation to their blog and later teacher will leave comments.


this is my example of using this tool :







Why is it good?

1. It  benefits both teachers and students in making presentations. In a way, it reduces students' stress when making live presentation.

2. Students could use it at home and it is like you have an online class going on. Since it is the combination of  both audio and visual presentations,  it is like we don't have to come to class any more. I would say it is a cool way of virtual learning.

3. Teacher can use this tool as a way of assessing students formatively. It can keep the presentation as the record to assess learnrers'progress in learning

4. Sometimes, we forgot about the lectures that we had an it is nice to listen to those same lectures again, especially during the examination. It can be an online notes for the students to refer back to.

5. Students have more time to practise on their own, and less intimidating as there is no real audience



The weakness of it...

1. In Malaysia context, it is hard to get students to use this tool as most students do not have internet connection at home.

2. Some students might face difficulties dealing with the tool
as it may be quite complicated for some students who are not good with computer.

3.  If teachers record their lessons in class, students may no longer pay attention during lessons in classroom as they think they may refer back to the presentation in the brainshark