Instant Presentation? No Problem: Bubblr! it

In a rush? Lesson does not go as according to plan? Fear not. Bubblr! is on its way to the rescue. 

Bubblr! powered by Flickr

Editor's Review
★★
OK

The good: Bubblr comes with photos from every crook and cranny of Flickr’s world. Get the right tags or users; you will eventually be served with photos from across the globe. Can be used to create instant presentation and comic strips.

The bad: Bubblr’s inability to filter search may result in a mix of unwanted junks, disturbing photos and will cost more time instead of being a helpful tool.

The bottomline: Bubblr is great for instant presentation, create simple comic strips. However, its limitation shadows its ability. Many more rooms to improve.

Bubblr is in fact a simple tool, free and nonetheless to say has its very own limitations. Despite its limitations, it is still a tool worth to be used perhaps as a warmer to a main activity later in your lesson.

Perhaps it is not fair to say that it is worthless. From how it is being developed, PimPamPum’s main attention is obviously to make creating comic strips possible and fast. Yes, the keyword here is fast. Grab few photos from Flickr and fortunately, Bubblr enables you to search for Flickr’s gallery through it. Then add bubbles and annotations. Simple as that.  

  

How to

 Step 1: Browse for photos by tag or user.

 Step 2: Add photos and add more frames by clicking before or after current button. You can also drag the photos towards your current slides and they will automotically appear as later photos.

 Step 3: Add bubbles and annotation.

 Step 4: Click publish. Name your presentation.

 

Step 5: Now you have it. You can get the embed code for your blog or e-mail it to your friend. Don't be scared if you might lost your work because the presentation will be automatically added to the archive.

 

Suggested Class Activities

As mentioned previously, Bubblr! Can be an effective pre-reading activity or acts as the introduction to the main activity.

Comic strips

What is more logical reason for using those bubbles provided by Bubblr is nonetheless is to create comic strips. Both students and you can utilize this tool to produce your on comic strips. The dynamic view as the end product will turn a dull comic into an eye-opener.

Presentation

In a rush to make a simple presentation? Have internet? Need photos? No worries. No head scratching, browse from tonnes of photos and add words to make your presentation meaningful.

Recycle and Edit

Invent and improve your beloved students’ grammar skill up. With Bubblr editing-able characteristics, simply create your erroneous slides and share your slides to your students. Students will be able to access and edit your slides, making formative assessment possible through this underrated tool.

Rationale

Autonomous

It supports autonomous learning. Students like the sense of working on a project and the idea of ‘boasting’ about their products. This idea really appeals students when they can be easily engaged in a task that can give them the sense of ownership.

Technical Limitations

Basically what brings down Bubblr! to have this rating is simply its technical limitations. Fonts are fixed, no emendation is possible to the size, and the type of font making the wording seems like insane scribbles instead of a help to readers. The only way to resize your slides is by adjusting your html codes by replacing the height and width to what your heart desires. Perhaps it may sound less than a trouble to any IT savvy but this ironically defeats the main reason why would someone opt for Bubblr! for a presentation in the first place. Fast and simple.

In addition to this, once you make a decision that a photo should come first, there’s no turning back. Just like the poem by Robert Frost “The Road not Taken”. Bubblr! makes a mess when it is irreversible. Once you make a decision, then that’s it. The only thing that you can do is to delete and start from the beginning. I am sure this will frustrate anyone who is in a hurry.

The photos available on the panel can be too small. I wish they could magnify as you run your cursor across it just like when you’re searching on Google for images. Zoom in is perhaps an improvement that Bubblr! should consider.

Now comes the bubbles. I’m afraid the bubbles can be at some point be pointless. They are not transparent. Solid and if you put wordy sentences in it, your bubbles will just grow into a huge cloud and block the photo. Still on the same topic. It is a plus point since you can adjust the pointy part of the bubble. However, the fact that you are unable to stretch the bubble without adding more words in it, has cost it severely.