Blog Post #5- Podcast Ready!

This is my very first experience with putting together a podcast.  Before I delved into the project with my group members, I did as Dr. Strange requested and explored a few sights for some guidance.  First, I looked around at the Eagle's Nest Radio and Class Blog.  I was so impressed with what those third graders were doing.  It reinforces that fact that kids will rise to your expectations.  They are capable of achieving far more than we sometimes think.  I would have been reluctant to give my high school students a project like that and these third graders are producing a quality podcast.  Surely I can do it if they can!

I also reviewed The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom and the Education Podcasting Network.  The first offered some great tutorial podcasts to explore, one in particular for using Audacity.  I especially liked the EPN.  It seems to be a great resource if you are searching for particular podcasts relevant for classroom use.  In my particular podcast, the teacher that I interviewed explained how important podcasting had been to her classes.  She has done several research projects abroad and was able to connect her classes to those experiences through podcasting.  I am excited to have this tool to use with my future classes.

Blog Assignment #4

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?
This post by Scott Mcleod is a really intriguing poem that helps illustrate why we should be letting our kids use technology in their learning.  It is really unbelievable for anyone to think the technology is irrelevant in today's classroom.  Technology is taking over every industry!  How can it not be relevant?  The bottom line is that we can't escape it- it is a part of life, like death and taxes.  So, while Jane Doe keeps her child "protected" from the internet, Dr. Mcleod's kids are getting more and more ahead. 

I do admit that there are very significant dangers out there.  I am in no way diminishing those.  However, we are focusing on the use of technology in educational settings where there is guidance and boundaries.  The competition for scholarships and jobs has never been tougher and I want my kids as prepared as possible.
 
Dr. Mcleod is a leading expert on K-12 school technology leadership issues, a professor at Iowa State, and co-created "Did You Know (Shift Happens)".

The iSchool Initiative
I have to admit this kid is pretty impressive.  First of all, he did an excellent powerpoint presentation.  He comes across as professional and intuitive.  His proposal hinges on the iphone or ipod being integrated into classrooms.  He argues that it would be more cost effective and be greener for the environment.  I think he is certainly on the right track as we are seeing more and more of this technology used in classroom settings.  I'm not sure if it is logistically as simple as he presents, but I do think it is possible. 

He specifically listed about 13 iTouch apps that are currently available and "classroom ready" as he puts it. For the most part I think he is right about the applications already being there.  There seems to be an app for anything you can dream up.  My skepticism is not in the technology, but in the ability of a grade school kid to be a self-motivated learner.  However, with the right instruction and guidance, this type of learning may be an exceptional way to engage otherwise bored or uniterested students.  I hope it works out for him because I think iSchool in some form or another will be a reality.

The Lost Generation
This video was both depressing and then inspiring in the short minute and 44 seconds that it lasted.  I loved the meaning reversal in the essay.  I saw where this video won 2nd place in an AARP contest.  First place must have been incredible if this didn't win.  Her comments are sad to me because I see those sentiments becoming more and more prominent.  However, as she begins to reverse the reading, it is amazing how the negativity is instantly replaced by positivity and hope.  I thought it was really powerful.

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir
Wow, the song was beautiful and the method of recording was incredible.  The ability to compile works of art, music, dance, theater, with the best people available is something I think will change the course of recorded entertainment.  I am not kept up to date with the latest recording trends, but this method is probably being used regularly and I am just unaware.  It seemed to create a flawless work for Mr. Whitacre.  If I were a musician I would be tempted to try and compile my own recording!

Additional Assignment #1

Google squared and WolframAlpha are totally foreign to me. However, after trying out a few searches, I sure wish they were around when I was in school doing research papers! Both searches provide all of your information in an easy to read format. Eduactionally, I think the implications here are that students have access to an organized database of information to help with homework, research, among many other things. For educators, teachers are using this for lesson planning, providing charts and graphs for visual aid, and providing a tool for the students to have for resource. In Wolframalpha, there is already a database of lesson plans by subject. I really wish I had known about these searches! They filter out a lot of the junk you get when doing an ordinary google search and seem more scientifically based to me.

Thinking back to the "Did You Know" film, I have learned already to be skeptical of statistics from my background in studying Epidemiology. They seem to always be skewed to favor one view. It continues to be difficult to decipher the true meaning of many statistics, even though I know to be objective and critical.

Pitcairn Islands Search:

One more thing...
Regarding the "Food for Thought" post, the first thing I thought was how can educated professionals complain about having to learn new technology?  We take too many things for granted.  Think about how the world would change for people in third world areas if they only had access to a computer.  Instead of being destined for a life with no opportunity of knowledge outside their boundaries, all of a sudden the entire world is at their fingertips.  What an amazing thing.

Google Presentation

C4T -Speaking of History by Eric Langhorst

Mr. Langhorst is an 8th grade history teacher from Missouri.  His blog focuses on discussions and podcasts regarding education, technology and history.  This summer, he attended a workshop at Mount Vernon where they studied George Washington.  He has posted several podcasts to help share his experience with others.

I either never knew or had forgotten that George Washington was an innovative farmer in addition to being the first president of our beloved country. Mr. Langhorst was able to study Washington as a farmer at a summer seminar in Mt. Vernon. It was there that he created his lesson plan for students to analyze Washington's decision to switch from the well established tobacco farms at the time to cultivating cereal grains. He has a wonderful graphic organizer for the students as well as a video documenting a lecture from the Mt. Vernon seminar on Washington's "big decision". I feel the lesson was a great way to introduce a new side of one of our country's most prominent historical figures, showing his innovative thinking. Mr. Langhorst's inclusion of the student organizer along with the supporting video and PDF files make this an excellent lesson plan available for any secondary level history teacher.

In addition to enhancing a new lesson for his class, Mr. Langhorst utilized his podcast to help his students connect with the experience.  He posted several photographs taken in the early morning of the same views Washington enjoyed from his front porch overlooking the Potomac. He also recorded a short bit describing how well the grounds had been preserved. The ability to provide such visual aids really helps students connect with a lesson so much more than just reading about it.  Through his pictures and videos, the kids can feel as if they were on the grounds of Mt. Vernon as well.  I commend Mr. Langhorst on his motivation for teaching.

Visit his blog: http://speakingofhistory.blogspot.com

Blog Post #3

A Vision of Students Today- Michael Wesch
As I watched this collaborative film my thoughts were immediately drawn back to my college experience.  I have been out of school for several years so technology was not nearly as integrated as it is now, but it still had a role in some of my classrooms.  Several of the stats nailed my college experience, some did not.  I attended a small liberal arts school, so class sizes did not come near 115 students and you were generally known by name as long as you made an appearance in class. Also, even without the Internet almost completely replacing textbooks, I still paid exorbitant amounts of money for books that I did not use.
True for me even years ago was the average time spent doing various tasks each day, adding to a total of 26.5 hours.  Multi-tasking is a skill I think every college student must master to be successful, and this carries on throughout our lives. School kids today sometimes try to use the availability of technology as a crutch, short-cut or excuse to decrease the amount of work they must do in class. In actually, it should enhance what is provided in class. I think what is missing from this video is the fact that regardless of the presence of technology in our lives, school will always be school- a place to learn, probe, explore, integrate.  It is work.  It is not always easy.  We don't always like it.  Sometimes I think kids are so over stimulated by all of the video games, phones, music, social networks, etc. that it takes away from their ability to sit down and really study, read a book, or listen to a lecture.  I see the value in the old and the new, however I think finding a balance between the two is the optimal choice.

Blog Assignment #2- Thoughts on a few short films

Image via Wikipedia












Did You Know 3.0 by Karl Fisch
After watching this brief film, I feel like I am in a race against technology and there is no way to win.  I remember vaguely a little bit about the internet when I was a senior in high school.  I didn't understnd it or have a clue what "www" meant.  I didn't actually use the internet until college.  Boy have times changed.
This film gave me a sense of excitement at the leaps and bounds that are made daily in technological advancement, but at the same time, I see an uncertain future that is so unlike anything we are familiar with today.  I have to remind myself that this exponential growth cannot be sustained.  Just as in biology, there are limiting factors and we will reach a carrying capacity. There is no way to comprehend exactly what the human mind is capable of, or the computer for that matter.  One thing I firmly believe is that just because it can be done does not mean that it always should.
Mr. Winkle Wakes! by Mathew Needleman:
Hilarious!  This video is really cute and perfectly displays the fact that technology in schools is just NOT THERE!   I taught at a public high school in Mobile and we had one computer lab for about 2000 kids.   You can imagine how many times a class got to use it. It has only been a couple of years since I have taught and I have never used a smartboard in a classroom because our school only had one or two on the whole campus.  We just don't have the resources or funding to keep schools up to date.  However as educators we still have to provide our kids with technological knowledge and tools to make it in this world.
I thought about my grandfather as I was watching this video.  He wasn't asleep for 100 years, but he did live through each of the changes that Mr. Winkle saw, just not all at once.  I don't think any other generation will experience the types of advancements that he did in his lifetime. To me, it is hard to imagine how different things must have been for him as a child.  The interesting thing is that my grandchildren will probably be saying the same thing one day.
The Importance of Creativity :Sir Ken Robinson
I could listen to Sir Robinson for hours.  His insight about how our schools are designed to make us outgrow our creative instincts was very informative.  As a mother, I couldn't help but think about my own children's educational experience, which has been limited to pre-k at this point. I unfortunately can identify with the mindset that mistakes are bad things and my kids are learning that now.  At their ages, I should be encouraging and celebrating all of their attempts, regardless of right or wrong.  They are impressionable and eager.  They aren't yet afraid of being wrong and I hope that I can preserve that fearlessness for as long as possible.  As Sir Robinson said, "they aren't afraid to have a go at it."
I was really struck by his story of the choreographer.  Her experience exemplifies so many cases that we all have come across or will at some point in our careers.  She was one of the lucky ones whose parents were advised by an open-minded, intelligent person.  Some children aren't so lucky, and just get "medicated".  I think as educators, parents, and just plain people of society we should all feel the urgency to try and salvage the creative instincts of our children and not "strip-mine" their minds.
Vicki Davis:Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
This teacher should serve as inspiration for us all.  You don't have to be a technology teacher to adopt the same beliefs and practices that she explains in this video.  I think we all feel the pressure of needing and wanting to know it all before we step foot in the classroom.  However, speaking from experience, you most certainly do not come close to knowing it all.  You will probably be teaching a class that you have never even had yourself in some cases. But, you learn as you go and it works.