This week's class was mainly a focus on seeing different methods of intertwining technology into the existing curriculum. We were asked to come up with lessons that addressed the multimedia standards existing today, and to see which ones best fit into our current teaching situations. I always find these lessons interesting, for as I've said before, I'm in favor of anything that promotes enthusiasm and creativity in and out of the class. I presented 2 of my ideas with the motivation that I would actually use them in my class. I've been out for almost 6 weeks, and when I come back into the room, one of the projects that I want to do is a digital story. I think that there are a lot of fantastic stories out there waiting to be told, and this is a way to do that.
We also went into assessing these, and I feel that it's important to assess the whole journey, not just the end product. It's nice if the students create a fantastic piece of art, but it's key to assess them the entire way, not just at the end of the unit. This helps to see those who maybe had grand visions, but just couldn't get them off of the ground. In other cases, you can encourage someone to inspire to do better, to not play it safe, but rather to take chances.
Finally, we're working on our own final digital story. I am spending time this weekend organizing everything, and hopefully I can upload it onto this blog when it's all said and done.
Well, overall, I've been interested in this class (no, not sucking up...) There were some nice ideas, and I plan to use them, unless I really want to engage myself in another 50-plus reports on Power Point where everyone reads off of the slides. Pain inducing, to say the least...
Friday, March 27, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Podcasting
This week's class dealt with podcasting, and that provided quite a bit of interest for me. As background, I download a ton of podcasts, which I listen to on drives, when working out, or working in the yard. I tend to aim towards the entertainment field, as I enjoy listening to a bunch of people debate how good or bad a movie is.
With that in mind, I'm more than happy to try to incorporate podcasting into the class. The key is, how do we use it? A few ideas are below:
1. Group Discussions about stories, poems, or novels. This could be an interesting way of having people summarize.
2. Forensics/Debate/Drama-This is a great way of having people practice presentational skills; I've had kids who could read for years. The issue has always been interpretation, speed, and the like. This could help with that.
3. Notes for the Class-I could put notes on a podcast, which the students could then review by listening to on their mp3 players.
4. School News-Another way to present news. The students could create a podcast and use it to display important events for the week in the school and in the class.
I think the ideas are definitely there. I think what I need to go into is what sites or tools are the best for podcasting. For example, I don't think that I'd have access to cell phones, so gcast is not a possibility. Audacity is a possibility, but I'd like to look into tools that allow for multiple voice.
Well, that sums up my views for now. If any of you regularly use podcasts, I'd love to hear your suggestions.
With that in mind, I'm more than happy to try to incorporate podcasting into the class. The key is, how do we use it? A few ideas are below:
1. Group Discussions about stories, poems, or novels. This could be an interesting way of having people summarize.
2. Forensics/Debate/Drama-This is a great way of having people practice presentational skills; I've had kids who could read for years. The issue has always been interpretation, speed, and the like. This could help with that.
3. Notes for the Class-I could put notes on a podcast, which the students could then review by listening to on their mp3 players.
4. School News-Another way to present news. The students could create a podcast and use it to display important events for the week in the school and in the class.
I think the ideas are definitely there. I think what I need to go into is what sites or tools are the best for podcasting. For example, I don't think that I'd have access to cell phones, so gcast is not a possibility. Audacity is a possibility, but I'd like to look into tools that allow for multiple voice.
Well, that sums up my views for now. If any of you regularly use podcasts, I'd love to hear your suggestions.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Audio Downloading, or How is This Legal Again?
This week we explored the aspect of downloading audio bits, and I'm left a bit confused. We'll into that in a few.
We'll start with what I aleady know. For me, I've been downloading for a while. Right now, I mainly go through iTunes. I've purchased music from there for a while. I guess my budget got sick of buying CDs for only 1 song, and the option of buying one song for 99 cents seemed a tad smarter. As of late, I've mainly been downloading podcasts. I'm a movie enthusiast, and I love to listen to others' reviews of movies, horror in particular. It keeps me entertained when driving to work or working out, although I tend to laugh out loud, which makes for awkward situations. So, in that aspect, I understand the usage of podcasts.
Here's where I get confused. The other part focused on music downloads. That way, we can incorporate them into presentations. My confusion hits on the fact that I checked out several different websites that promote free downloads, and not just of waiting-to-be-discovered artists. I'm talking major artists, with song selection that points out their hits, not the B-sides. My question is, how is this different than what Napster was doing 10 years ago? I don't see a difference. It's still out there, it's still being shared free of charge, and it's still happening a lot. How is this different? I'm not throwing that out there to get a conversation going. I HONESTLY DON'T KNOW HOE THIS IS LEGAL 10 YEARS LATER!!!
Please feel free to share, because that's something I need plenty of this week...
We'll start with what I aleady know. For me, I've been downloading for a while. Right now, I mainly go through iTunes. I've purchased music from there for a while. I guess my budget got sick of buying CDs for only 1 song, and the option of buying one song for 99 cents seemed a tad smarter. As of late, I've mainly been downloading podcasts. I'm a movie enthusiast, and I love to listen to others' reviews of movies, horror in particular. It keeps me entertained when driving to work or working out, although I tend to laugh out loud, which makes for awkward situations. So, in that aspect, I understand the usage of podcasts.
Here's where I get confused. The other part focused on music downloads. That way, we can incorporate them into presentations. My confusion hits on the fact that I checked out several different websites that promote free downloads, and not just of waiting-to-be-discovered artists. I'm talking major artists, with song selection that points out their hits, not the B-sides. My question is, how is this different than what Napster was doing 10 years ago? I don't see a difference. It's still out there, it's still being shared free of charge, and it's still happening a lot. How is this different? I'm not throwing that out there to get a conversation going. I HONESTLY DON'T KNOW HOE THIS IS LEGAL 10 YEARS LATER!!!
Please feel free to share, because that's something I need plenty of this week...
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Digital Stories-The Sequel
This week, we continued on with working on digital stories. Our group had decided to go on a humorous route, and we created ours on the day in the life of a cat. We then met in class, and put it all together. As we did this, I learned a few new things.
1. Record by yourself-It's a lot more difficult to get good sound quality when 4 other groups are doing the same thing as you do.
2. Be prepared, and then some-We had the photos on box.net, which we couldn't download onto voicethread.com. We had to pull the photos off of box, throw them on a flash drive, and then put them on voicethread. Guess I should've used flickr...
3. Practice, practice, practice-We went over the script several times to get the time of the presentation down. We currently time out at 3 minutes, which is the maximum. Also, we edited the script several times, as there were many things that didn't work when it was time to perform.
4. Save your work OFTEN-It's very easy to lose your work on voicethread if you haven't navigated it before.
Overall, though, it went well, and we got it done. I attempted to embed it in my blog; feel free to take a look if you'd like.
As for this week, the idea that got planted in my head is the idea of creating a "Create Your Own Adventure." I used to remember reading those as a kid, and what stopped me from creating them was the complexity of trying to organize one. Nowadays, you can get a website for free in many spots, and you can organize an open-ended adventure through the website. I'm going to try to create one on my own, and if it proves successful, I'm going to expand this to the students.
Complex, huh?
Well, that's all for now. Please comment if you like.
1. Record by yourself-It's a lot more difficult to get good sound quality when 4 other groups are doing the same thing as you do.
2. Be prepared, and then some-We had the photos on box.net, which we couldn't download onto voicethread.com. We had to pull the photos off of box, throw them on a flash drive, and then put them on voicethread. Guess I should've used flickr...
3. Practice, practice, practice-We went over the script several times to get the time of the presentation down. We currently time out at 3 minutes, which is the maximum. Also, we edited the script several times, as there were many things that didn't work when it was time to perform.
4. Save your work OFTEN-It's very easy to lose your work on voicethread if you haven't navigated it before.
Overall, though, it went well, and we got it done. I attempted to embed it in my blog; feel free to take a look if you'd like.
As for this week, the idea that got planted in my head is the idea of creating a "Create Your Own Adventure." I used to remember reading those as a kid, and what stopped me from creating them was the complexity of trying to organize one. Nowadays, you can get a website for free in many spots, and you can organize an open-ended adventure through the website. I'm going to try to create one on my own, and if it proves successful, I'm going to expand this to the students.
Complex, huh?
Well, that's all for now. Please comment if you like.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Digital Storytelling-Initial Post
In addition to what I wrote earlier, this is my initial response. Read and enjoy...
"I see a few uses for digital storytelling in the class. In Social Studies or Science, it could be used as a different way to present information, such as a biography on a person. It could also be used as a way to summarize events from the past; I think it could be very interesting to present it almost like a documentary, where the story connects to the images in a way that the students aren't used to presenting. In terms of writing, I think it could easily be presented as a Creative Writing piece. It would really allow students to become creative with how they want their story to be presented, and the boundaries of the piece are almost limitless. It could also be of great interest to those interested in a career in television, radio, or journalism. That sums up possible uses of digital storytelling for now, but I'm sure that there will be more ideas down the road."
"I see a few uses for digital storytelling in the class. In Social Studies or Science, it could be used as a different way to present information, such as a biography on a person. It could also be used as a way to summarize events from the past; I think it could be very interesting to present it almost like a documentary, where the story connects to the images in a way that the students aren't used to presenting. In terms of writing, I think it could easily be presented as a Creative Writing piece. It would really allow students to become creative with how they want their story to be presented, and the boundaries of the piece are almost limitless. It could also be of great interest to those interested in a career in television, radio, or journalism. That sums up possible uses of digital storytelling for now, but I'm sure that there will be more ideas down the road."
Digital Storytelling
This week's course covered the idea of digital storytelling. For me, this is a very interesting concept, and something that I want to instill in my class before the end of the year.
Right now, that's a difficulty. Not because of the kids, not because of the equipment, and not due to anything negative. Simply put, right now I'm a "stay at home" dad until April. As a result, I can't put these goals into motion just yet. However, this time can be effective and important.
First and foremost, I'm using this time as a method of experimentation. Before I go off and assign this to my students, I want to run though it to see which roadblocks the kids will have to overcome when it's their turn. For right now, I need to make sure that my school can access a photo sharing website (my district blocks anything deemed a "social" network), or they may need to have a flash drive to contain their photos. Also, they will need access to a site that may help in designing a digital story. We're working on that in class right now; again, I need to make sure that I can download it and use it on my school's computers.
Finally, I need to practice what I preach; if I want the kids to plan ahead, then I need to do the same. That's what I'm doing this week for my epic story of the day in the life of a cat. Compelling, huh? Anyway, I'm busy as can be trying to get all of this done while taking care of my 2 month old son. That way, if I can accomplish it, I know that my kids can, too.
Why do this? Power Points can be repetitive. Before I went on leave, we went through inventor presentations with the 6th grade. By the 3rd day, it became pain-inducing, and I was the teacher! I wanted to make sure that the students get opportunities to present something original and creative. This is their chance.
Overall, I'm looking at this class with a lot of enthusiasm. No, I'm not brown-nosing! This is why I went back to get my Masters. I want to do things that I don't know how to do, and this was one of them. I'd love to talk more, but I need to get a shot of a cat's POV on napping. Hmmmm, what did I get myself into....
Right now, that's a difficulty. Not because of the kids, not because of the equipment, and not due to anything negative. Simply put, right now I'm a "stay at home" dad until April. As a result, I can't put these goals into motion just yet. However, this time can be effective and important.
First and foremost, I'm using this time as a method of experimentation. Before I go off and assign this to my students, I want to run though it to see which roadblocks the kids will have to overcome when it's their turn. For right now, I need to make sure that my school can access a photo sharing website (my district blocks anything deemed a "social" network), or they may need to have a flash drive to contain their photos. Also, they will need access to a site that may help in designing a digital story. We're working on that in class right now; again, I need to make sure that I can download it and use it on my school's computers.
Finally, I need to practice what I preach; if I want the kids to plan ahead, then I need to do the same. That's what I'm doing this week for my epic story of the day in the life of a cat. Compelling, huh? Anyway, I'm busy as can be trying to get all of this done while taking care of my 2 month old son. That way, if I can accomplish it, I know that my kids can, too.
Why do this? Power Points can be repetitive. Before I went on leave, we went through inventor presentations with the 6th grade. By the 3rd day, it became pain-inducing, and I was the teacher! I wanted to make sure that the students get opportunities to present something original and creative. This is their chance.
Overall, I'm looking at this class with a lot of enthusiasm. No, I'm not brown-nosing! This is why I went back to get my Masters. I want to do things that I don't know how to do, and this was one of them. I'd love to talk more, but I need to get a shot of a cat's POV on napping. Hmmmm, what did I get myself into....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
