I feel like I can’t shout quite loud enough about the resources being developed over at the Mozilla Foundations’s Webmaker space. Here, the philosophy of the “open, remixable web” comes to fruition with a series of projects and tools that invite you to remix and remake in your own light, with tutorials on coding and creating that provide entry points for just about anyone with an interest. Mostly using its Thimble (a webpage-style publishing tool) and Popcorn (a video and digital story tool) platforms, Webmaker offers free and interactive ways to become engaged with digital literacies.
You will need an account with Webmaker to save work (but you can tie it to other email accounts) and I am still navigating the best way for my sixth graders to create work in our environment where they don’t have school emails (ack). But at the very least, you can explore the world of making the web with its remixable templates, and there is the built-in ease of publishing in a matter of minutes just by clicking the “remix” link on any of the projects, tinkering with code and text, and remaking it into something new.
There are also sections at the Webmaker space for how to teach with its tools, where all sorts of “kits” are available for free, and freely remixable for your own situation. You can also use their blank templates for your own lesson plans and ideas.
Go ahead. Remix. Publish. Share. Make stuff and have fun.
Peace (in the open world),
Kevin
Kevin, this is great! Really, really glad you’re finding Webmaker useful with your students.
We’d love some action shots of you using it in the classroom! 🙂
I hope to do a unit later in the spring, Doug. Will post then.
Kevin – It would be wonderful if you might share your lesson or agree to be interviewed after you do the lesson (by me) for a module in the Teacher PD being developed on Making. I have a section on webmaking in it. I and am on the lookout for educators using Mozilla’s great tools. Please let me know if you might want to be interviewed in a google hangout session to add to the training. See http://elearningfaculty.org/tinker-make-learn-proposal/ for more info and tweet me or email @robinwb.