Exploring - Buncee :)

Exploring - Buncee

Date: 10th Oct 2018/Wednesday

This blogpost is inspired from my recent dive into Buncee - a super cool tool for content creation - from creating interactive and animated presentations to digital stories flyers, comic strips, animated cards, tutorials, newsletters and much much more. The blog post will give you a virtual walk through of the important features of this tool called Buncee,  with an insight of how and where could this tool be used effectively and meaningfully to engage learners/educators. 

Lets begin by exploring why do we need to create presentations? Obviously to share information, share ideas, promote a product or launch a new initiative, create awareness, check understanding, to inspire and motivate people, to instruct or teach a topic, deliver a lecture, to engage the audience and so on. Have you ever thought of using presentations to cater to the differentiated needs of the learners in the classroom? Have you ever thought of creating personalized learning experiences for learners in your classroom using presentations? Have you ever thought of giving your learners the opportunity to become content creators and let their creativity shine using a presentation tool? Now is the chance to explore and introduce BUNCEE in your schools and classrooms.

So what's Buncee? a content creation and communication tool accessible online (platform independent - you could download the app on your mobile phone) with enhanced and added features for interactivity, engagement, fun learning, creativity , innovation etc. How to access? Go to the main website and click on SIGNUP in the right corner. The page takes you to the pricing and plans page. There are 3 plans available for you to choose from Premium, Classrooms, and Schools & Districts. I would suggest a 30 day free trial and exploration. You do not get access to all features but will definitely get a flavor of what Buncee has to offer. With a free version you could create up to 3 Buncees, access 20,000 plus graphics in the library, convert text to speech option , create a class, add students etc. 

So what makes Buncee different? Lets begin. Buncee has a completely interactive outlook. You could easily drag and drop different media into your presentation, just click on the plus sign on the right side of your Buncee and new window opens giving you access to insert any form of media into your Buncee. You have the option to add a YouTube video directly into your Buncee, a web link/URL, a web image, Buncee stickers , animations, you can draw something yourself, record a video, upload files from your computer, link with Khan Academy, Create MCQs and so much more. You could always add videos from Khan Academy directly into your Buncee.  Imagine the types of assessments/assignments you could create for your students, imagine the type of presentations students can come up with, Imagine your students emerging as content developers, Imagine your dull boring lectures coming to life with Buncee!

Buncee has a huge library of images related to any area of life beginning with art, books, educations,comic strips, entertainment, flowers, animals, professional development, rubrics, makerspaces, notes and so on . You could insert any type of background image from the library and give your presentations a visually appealing look. Tired of the static look and dull boring features of PowerPoint? then here is something you would really like,  you could resize your canvas by just clicking on the resize canvas option in the top corner and you get to choose from a number of options available which include a square, banner, letter, or customize to any size you want! the power is in your hands. Design and create anything you want.

Another interesting feature that Buncee offers is the Sticting/Clipping slides option. As a teacher or student you could choose to clip and stitch slides from one Buncee to another. You could add clips to a new or existing buncee.  You have to make the buncee copy able - set copyable  on from the share settings above. Once done you would see a scissor icon appear on top of your buncee, you can use this to clip one or all of your slides. You can view clippings in my clippings in your profile. Move to your new or existing buncee turn stitching on by clicking on the settings gear above. Click new slide and choose stitch a slide. You can now choose your clipping and integrate it seamlessly into your new buncee. Once done you could view all work together. Click on the preview option above.

Teachers could stitch different Buncees of students to create one Buncee of all student work. Students can be assigned different parts of a project, could work on different areas and can stitch together the whole project together as one large Buncee. This could be useful for students writing journals, blogs, book reviews (assign different chapters to students, write blogs, create documentaries, make tutorials, quizzes etc).

Another interesting feature is the option to create quizzes. You could create quizzes, share with your students, grade and return back.  Students could create quizzes and share with their peers as well. They could use the built in rubrics in Buncee too. To make a quiz click on the items option and choose MCQ from the list. You would be asked to write a question and add answer choices. Once done click preview to see how it looks. You could share this with your students using the share option. Student

s can even listen to the audio narration. They could even record their own voice too.

What more? You could share your Buncee directly with your students, through class, through email, using code or through social media networks like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or even download  as a PDF file, save as JPG and keep it save. In case you want students to comment on, in the settings tab set Commentable on.

What more? you could use the Pan too to move the objects around on screen with ease, or choose to turn it off. You could zoom in /zoom out, delete page, add page, duplicate page etc. You will find Buncee a completely dynamic tool, opening doors to limit less uses for yourself and your students.

Your turn to explore now, sign up for a free account, dive in and explore the potential this amazing tool has to turn teaching and learning in your classroom into a more dynamic learning experience.

Enjoy Reading till my next blog soon :)

Regards and prayers

Sheeba Ajmal

References
1 Buncee  Accessed Online  October 2018 <https://app.edu.buncee.com/ >
2. Buncee Pricing and Plans  Accessed Online October 2018< https://app.edu.buncee.com/choose-account-type>
3. Buncee Creation - Professional Development 101 Accessed Online  October 2018 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4DWhKQro6A>
4. 27 Tech Tools Teachers can use to Inspire Creativity Accessed Online
<https://blog.ozobot.com/2018/04/19/26-tech-tools-teachers-can-use-inspire-classroom-creativity/>
5. Buncees Newest Feature - Stitching is here (April 2016)
Accessed Online October 2018  https://blog.buncee.com/new-feature-buncee-stitching/
6. 6-8 Buncee ELA Lessons  Accessed Online October 2018 <https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/1C64083710CA48E6B24CAE24BDB37E58 >