ZombieMe: Zombify Yourself

Warning: If you're easily grossed out, look away now!

As I was researching resources for a unit based around 'Horror', I came across ZombieMe which allows you to upload a picture of yourself and then add scars, necrosis and other zombie features to create a picture you can use however you choose. Definitely not one for the younger learners, but with the recent trends in the zombie genre, perhaps this would allow your learners some creativity in the classroom?

Integration:

• Learners could create zombies for their own horror photostory
• Use creations to inspire creative descriptive writing
• Use as a lead-in for Biology lessons looking at decomposition; a zombified teacher will certainly capture their attention!

Get More out of Google

A conversation with some of my learners surprised me as I learned that they had zero knowledge of search operators, even the most basic ones such as '+' and '-' preceding search terms. Coincidentally, this infographic on searching effectively came to my attention via a NY Times lesson plan on research the same day.

If you want to create a display using the infographic, you may have to fiddle with your page settings to prevent split text, but this one's certainly worth going through with your classes, even if only to make them aware that operators and Google Scholar exist.

Google provide the html to easily display the infographic on your site, so it could be published to your library's or subject's VLE, wiki or blog page for future reference.

Although Google has produced the infographic, the operators will work with many other search engines too.

Created by: HackCollege

Be Funky Photo Editor

In the wake of the sad news that Picnik is to be no more, the hunt is on for viable alternatives. There are quite a few photo editors out there, but what I loved about Picnik was the no-registration, easy-to-use interface. Be Funky provides something very similar. As with Picnik there are premium options you can pay for, but the basic free version allows you to be experimental with your uploads and still do an impressive job. Here's a picture that I edited for our reading blog. Click here to visit Be Funky and get creative!

Cartoonize.net

There are quite a few sites out there offering a service to create cartoons of yourself but this one (click here) allows you to upload photos and then it 'cartoonizes' them. The few samples that I tried came out really well. You can upload from your computer or from a url for easy usage.

Integration:

• For security conscious schools, this tool allows your learners to create photo-stories featuring themselves which can then be stylised using Cartoonise.net; the photo-stories can be used to illustrate scientific concepts, historical events, literary adaptations, mathematical explanations - the possibilities are numerous
• Learners can create recognisable avatars for their online presence, safe in the knowledge that they'll be unlikely to be identified on the street from them

If you like this, check out Be Funky too!

Bitstrips

Bitstrips is a very simple and visually-appealing comic strip creation tool. You can create characters and then place them against a range of backgrounds to start your story. There is a subscription-based school version that offers collaborative features but the standard version is free.

Integration:

• Create your own strips to introduce a topic or place static messages on your VLE, blog, wiki etc.
• Use strips from the gallery as story prompts or create your own
• Learners can explore characters, historical figures, scientific discoveries etc. by creating their own comic strips enacting scenes from literature, history etc.
• Use as an assessment tool where learners creatively demonstrate their understanding of a topic by creating a strip to show what happened / what the character is like / how to solve this problem etc.
• Present Math problems in a visual way as in this example
• English teachers can encourage writers to create multimedia stories using strips to move the story along
• Learners can create characters and stories for the school magazine or newspaper, using episodes to keep their readers coming back for more

Like this? You might also be interested in MakeBeliefComix.com

Blockposters

Blockposters allows you to blow up any image and then print it out and whatever size paper you have available to create a 'jigsaw' of a massive poster. There's no need to worry about your picture file being too small as they actually encourage you to make it as pixelated as possible as they reckon it looks even better when on the wall. Download the files as pdfs, print them out and stick them wherever you like! A4 is fine but you can choose your paper size from the options available. This literally takes less than 2 minutes to do so very quick and easy.

Integration:

• Enlarge a class photo to stick on one wall; learners can jot notes in between or stick post-its with targets for learning on the poster.
• Create fantastic classroom displays - life-size cut outs of characters from a book, or historical figures. (Think eco - don't laminate, use cardboard backing instead! You can always print more next year.)
• Use to make sets and scenes from books or topics that you're studying.

Add any more ideas to the notes below!