Exploring Fun Teaching Resources

As teachers, we are always trying to expand our tool boxes and explore new resources to keep things interesting in our classrooms. It’s an exciting day when we come across a cool new website and have some time to explore interesting applications and even challenge ourselves with new technologies. I’m sure we’ve all had those nerdy moments when we come across something online or on Pinterest and get really excited about how you can use it in your classroom. It can be equally as worthwhile for students to get the chance to engage in content in new ways and have fun with their learning. Do Ink was definitely an exciting resource to come across!

What is ‘Do Ink’?

I had this chance to try and spice up my classroom using a green screen application called “Do Ink”. I know there are many green screen applications out there and they all have awesome qualities; however, I’m going to talk about my experience using this particular application.

When planning my geography unit on Tourism I thought it could be really fun if, for our final assignment, students could make ‘Travel Commercials’ for the 7 Wonders of the World. To make this idea become a reality, I started looking into filming applications. That’s where the idea of green screening fell into my lap. It was both a learning experience for myself and my students since I had never dealt with a technology like this before. I made a short sample video for them, using a green sheet mounted on the wall, and they were off to the races.

Tips for use

1. The application is very straight forward to use and all you really need is any green sheet and any form of camera (my students downloaded the app and used their iPads).

2. Students should have their background photo or video pre-chosen and film their scene within the app. They should also plan what they are going to film and say before they start. Part of my assignment, I asked students to make a story board. This saved time later on.

3. I would suggest to have your students film themselves in short scenes because it takes time for the videos to convert and the smaller the scenes are the faster it goes.

4. After you have your short scenes, you can download them from the app and upload them to iMovie to edit them. My students added music, credits and other visual effects.

Endless possibilities!

I can see so much potential with an application like this. In History or in English you could have students act, taking the role of historical figures or characters to practice perspective taking. Or for any project where you want to incorporate an element of role playing! The great thing about this technology is that it allows you to have photos as the background, so students can actually pretend to be in a different location or time in history for that matter! They can pretend to be doing experiments, doing a news reports, acting out a scene from a play, doing an interactive art presentation, performing their own written work— the possibilities are endless.

No one is perfect

Unfortunately, it is not a free application however it is not very expensive and was recommended to me by the technology consultant from our school board. Free applications did not have the same options for use, however there are many apps out there. If you are interested in working with this technology you can spend time searching for the app that works best for you.

Find out more at: https://www.doink.com or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlH3h19ablI

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