I love books. I love the way they smell, what they symbolize, and how I know I'm going to be a better person (in some way) after reading it. However, this fashion of book loving has gone away and has been replaced by something that use to be written off as a mystery but nowadays is a tangible and viable source for more information than one book could ever give me: the internet. Streaming, creating, and sharing are typical verbs used in describing the internet because it's applications are endless! Just creating a document on the internet through (oh, let's say...) a blog immortalizes it in a way that could never be done with pencil and paper. Even if my apartment burns down, my blog will still be up and running. It's more organized and easier to read in some cases! "This Is How We Dream" talks about this and many more ways technology has seeped into our lives and has created an irreversible effect on our lives simply through the way we share information. It's true, we're behind, but what better way to catch up than through a proactive approach? Concerning multimedia, I'm not proficient in it yet, but I will be by the time I ask my students to do the same.
Carly Paugh's B.P. #12
Carly's post about how we should create our own YouTube.com playlist is a simple, creative, and fun idea. She outlined what parameters we should stay in, but she's even provided a way for us to still be individuals by saying that we only need to choose five off the list, but need to have at least 10 videos on our playlists. The possibilities are endless and the idea is extremely malleable to make this an assignment for children but with different parameters. I think it's another great way for us to share ideas, especially if we were to group up and watch each others playlists and write a blog post about it. I have even reviewed her playlist and it's up to 57 videos ranging from serious topics about disabilities to not so serious topics about how teachers are people (a Goofey interpretation). Anyone wanting to see her playlist should click here! Also, anyone wanting to read more about her blog assignment should click here! Thanks, Carly!
Videos: "EDM310 for Dummies" and "The Chipper Series"
"The Chipper Series" was about a student and the different ways she thought school should be taught, starting from her experiences as a student and ending with her experiences as a school director. In each scene, it's obvious that this is the typical student's attitude towards school, but as the series progresses she (like many other students) find that it's not so easy to just live without following rules and working hard.
"EDM310 for Dummies" was about the class Edm 310 and how to get through it using a simple guide. I thought the idea was cute, but this is already outlined for us in our "Activities", "Blog Assignments", and "Projects" links. The only way someone can't get through this course is if their pride is just too large, they're unwilling to change, or if they're illiterate. Sorry if I seem crude, but it seems this may have been made for the cute factor, but Dr. Strange has already surpassed its purpose...
Thus far (from these given examples), I'm imagining my video must be about Edm 310. Therefore, my video would be about the ways to get through Edm 310 with understanding the philosophies about the course and utilizing them to their fullest. For example, I would talk about how you don't necessarily have to read into every comment made about your blog and portray it as a personal attack, but instead read it as pure constructive criticism or an opinion that could possibly shape the way you teach or learn. Though this is just an example, the theme would be "Reading in between the lines of EDM 310" where we acknowledge that this course isn't the easiest, but there are ways to mentally defeat it.
Video: "Learn to Change, Change to Learn"
This video is a compilation of distinguished educators who realize what movement we need to take the future of education in. At the beginning, a guy talks about how 55 sectors were ranked on the technology usage and education ranked in the very last spot. Last? Last. We knew education wasn't exactly technology literate, but we're so behind that we're less technology literate than coal miners? Ouch. The rest of the video talks about how we need to change our thought process and advance our horizons in technology so when we bring it to our students, we'll still be the ones they turn to for questions and obtain mental stimulation from our advanced lesson plans. I liked the video because of the resounding census of how far we need to take education. It was a good watch and I enjoyed it immensely.
[On a side note: the background music reminded me of a great video about success. Anyone else seen it? It's a great motivator which has gotten me through some tough times. Here's a link and enjoy.]
Scavenger Hunt 2.0
1) Classroom 2.0 (http://www.classroom20.com/)- This site is a great tool for educators and is just like Blogger, but better. On Blogger.com, one can customize and share their ideas while sharing other's ideas as well, but Classroom 2.0 is more like a forum where blogs, videos, books, and teacher reviewed sites come together specifically as a resource for teachers. It's already saved in my favorites!
2) Make Beliefs Comix! (http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/)- I lean more towards the artistic side in me rather than the mathematical side, so when something comes along in which I can merge the two, I get really excited! Here's a comic strip creator for the creative person in you! Fun and full of possibilities!
3) SmileBox (http://www.smilebox.com/)- This innovative tool lets your creativity fly when creating things from online greeting cards to online slide shows. It seems to be a universally productive site that you can use over and over in the classroom and over and over in your life. This application can be used for phones and be posted to forums like Facebook, Twitter, and Blogger. Great tool!
Hi Alice!
ReplyDeleteI have really enjoyed reading your blog. I enjoyed going back through and reading several of your other posts as well. You have done a wonderful job with your blog and been very thorough. My favorite part of this blog post was when you discussed your version of an EDM video production. You are very right about having to not view comment on your blog as a personal attack, but as constructive criticism. This is very important so that you can take those comments and use them to your advantage to improve your blog. We all have our faults and make mistakes and many times we need other people to point them out for us. Another part of your book could talk about how to write effective comments for classmates, teachers, and kids. You could outline the ways to go about constructive criticism as well. Great job on your blog post and thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Keep up the good work and good luck on the remainder of the semester!
Lindsey Estes
"...replaced by something that use to be written off as a mystery..." used, not use
ReplyDelete"Therefore, my video would be about the ways to get through Edm 310 with understanding the philosophies about the course and utilizing them to their fullest. For example, I would talk about how you don't necessarily have to read into every comment made about your blog and portray it as a personal attack, but instead read it as pure constructive criticism or an opinion that could possibly shape the way you teach or learn. Though this is just an example, the theme would be 'Reading in between the lines of EDM 310' where we acknowledge that this course isn't the easiest, but there are ways to mentally defeat it." Sounds good. Project 16 perhaps?
Thorough, thoughtful, well done!