5 tools to create virtual posters

A Virtual poster is a digital page where you can often display text, audio, video, images, and hyperlinks. It is a great platform for students to present their work in a creative way. Collage makers can also be used to create virtual posters.

The posters created using the app options can also be shared by adding to an eBook using Book creator app.

 

1. Pic Collage  or Pic Collage for Kids

Pic Collage available for iPad, Android and Kindle Fire.
Pic Collage for Kids available for iPad.

These are great free tools to create interesting posters and collages using your photos, stickers, frames, and text. There is the option of using collage templates or free form design. Pic collage allows you to search for images on the internet and add straight to the page. Pic Collage fo Kids- the best and safest visual and photo editor for home and schools! has removed social features making it safer to use with younger students.

 

2. Moldiv

Available iPad and android

This is a great tool for create collages by combining and editing multiple photos. It also provides templates.  

 

3. Canva

Available for iPad and web.

Require a registering for an account. Provide a range of templates and upload your own images and have a choice of free content or content to purchase.

 

4. Glogster edu

Website where the teacher registers and can create student accounts. You can add images, videos, links and text. It also provides a library of images.

5. PhotoScape

Is a free software which is available for Windows and Mac. The software provides a page layout option where you can add your own images, graphics and speech bubbles.

 

Story prompts with colour image search

I am always looking for useful image search tools. TinEye Labs provides a colour search function which searches Flickr images. You can select up to 5 colours and alter the percentage of colour by dragging the coloumns. You can also add keywords as tags to refine the search. When you click on an individual image it gives you information about the image.

 

 

There are many ways to use this website:

 

• generate story prompts
• brainstorm ideas for themes
• look at colour theory eg. complimentary colours, warm and cool colours
• colour symbolism
• fractions and percentages
• useful for design purposes when working within a colour scheme.

 

The site also offers a tool to help you identify the colours from an image.

4 Apps to Create Designs with Words

Creating designs with words can be a great way to reinforce spelling , learning of new words and describing a theme or topics.  Students can create their own designs and use them to decorate the classroom. here are 4 great apps which allow you to design using words in different ways.

Word Collage

Create a collage of words and customise text, colour and layout.

Path on - Swipe to Type

This app allows you to draw a line or choose a created line and the add text to the line.

Typedrawing

Type the text you wish to use and customise font, size and colour and then draw on the device and the words appear.

WordFoto

With this app you can take a photo or use one from the gallery, type in a set of words and the app will apply the words to the image. There are a few styles to choose from and colour schemes.  The effects look great.

Turn yourself into a cartoon!

Here are just a few avatar creators I like to use.  I created this glog for my students who were making a personal profile on themselves and one of the tasks was to create an avatar. For more avatar creators go to http://www.slideshare.net/shend5/creating-characters

Creating Characters Ebook

Wobook address (URL):
http://www.wobook.com/WBIn4uD37Z2L/Creating-Characters.html

Make a Super Hero

Heromachine allows you to design a superhero or villain. This site can be used in many ways. Students can create a character and use it in a story, draw the character, create their own comic, design a poster using the character, use the character in an animation or game. You will need to do a screen shot of the final design.

This site also offers other creators

Another option to create a superhero is the Marvel site

Creature Creator

http://www.magorium.com/toycreator/

This is an application found on the Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium site (from the movie). The site allows you to design your own toy. I like to use it to design creatures.

There are several body types to choose from and parts can be flipped, rotated and the colours can be altered.

I have used this site with Year 8 art students where they created a creature using the site and then used the design to create an artwork. It is great for students who are not confident with their drawing skills but love to create.

Graffiti Creator

http://www.graffiticreator.net/

This site allows you to design Graffiti style writing. You have many options and colours to choose from.


This may be used as a design activity, using text as art or students can design their name and use it in a painting or drawing exercise. You may also like to look at the use of colour schemes, eg. warm and cool colours, etc.

Pivot Stick Figure Animator

Pivot Stickfigure Animator is a fun and easy way to produce an animation. You could use it as a task, introduction into animation, telling a story or to develop design and ICT skills. This is a great program that is free to download.

You can create an animation using a stickfigure or other characters. It can be as simple and as complex as you want it. It can be used from primary school students through to high school.

First I ask students to design a background using a drawing software, usually MSPaint (but any will do). It helps the creation of the animation if the background contains elements which the figures can interact with. eg. Hurdles to jump, diving board. It is also possible to use digital images as backgrounds.

The animation is quite simple to make, simply move the figure using the red points and then click on next frame button. Continue until the animation is finished. There is also the option to add items into the animation which can also move. eg. a ball. The final animation can be saved it as a Gif file. This can then be downloaded into Windows Movie Maker and students can add a title, credits and music or add it to a power point presentation.

I like to choose a theme and make certain specifications, such as, no violence and no one can get hurt.

I found ‘Olympic Sports’ was a great theme to use giving students many ideas to choose from.

You can download the program from http://www.snapfiles.com/GeT/sTiCkFiGuRe.html

Wordle

Wordle is a fun way to play with words and design. The site shows the frequency of words used in text and arranges them in a layout of your choice. This is called a Word Cloud. The larger the word the more it has been repeated in the text. Wordle allows you to apply design techniques such as layout, colour schemes and fonts.

You can copy and paste text straight into the site or type in your own words, however, it is wise to plan first in a word document and then copy and paste. When the word cloud has been created students can produce a screen capture and paste into an image editor, document or power point.

Wordle can be used in many ways in education.

Here are some ideas:

1. About Me:

Learn more about your students by asking them to create a word cloud containing information about their likes, hobbies, interests, favourite shows, movies, music, food, friends, family and personality traits.

2. Classmates:

Create a poster with the names of the students in your class.

3. Subject poster:

Create a poster to advertise your subject or outline aspects of your class. Create your own or copy text from a syllabus or work program.

4. Glossary of terms:

Paste in a glossary of terms related to a topic or subject or generate a glossary of terms.

5. Text analysis:

Analyse the use of words in different texts by copying and pasting into the wordle site. Text may come from an article, poem, novel, play, document or website.

6. Classroom Rules:

Adapt classroom rules to look interesting and focus on the important words.

7. Analyse an artwork:

Students can paste the text they have created about an artwork or paste in an art review found on a website and investigate repeated words and their meanings.

8. Compare texts:

Compare different texts by creating word clouds and investigate the use of different words.

9. Brainstorm a topic:

Students can brainstorm a topic by generating as many related words as they can. It is a useful tool to introduce a new unit.

10. Character Traits:

Generate words related to a character in a book, game, television show, movie or play.

11. Text in Art:

Students can explore the use of text in art by using the wordle format and draw their own word cloud focusing on elements and principles or design. The wordle design can also be adapted to printmaking activities such as screen printing or lino printing.

12. Thesaurus:

Choose a word and then explore and include words of similar meaning.

13. Languages other than English:

Use the site to allow students to generate words in another language or how to say a word or phrase in different languages, such as Hello.

14. Design Elements:

Use as a task to learn design elements focusing on contrasting colours, appropriate colour schemes, effective layout, the importance of background colour and the use of fonts.

15. Song Lyrics:

Paste in the lyrics from a song


16. Own work:

Students can paste in any text of their own such as essays and assignments to reveal words which are important or used too often.