Blog Post # 8

How We Dream (Parts 1&2)

Mr. Miller's two part video different uses and the benefits of using multimedia for education, with the goal of using the internet not only for research but also for collaboration of ideas. He discusses the importance of sharing ideas between educators to help achieve a greater future for all, and gives many examples of ways to do that using the internet. 

Mr. Miller also showed examples of multimedia that he has been using himself as well as those created by others as examples of what can be done for free online. He made a good point in part two, when he talked about the importance of how he created the video for this proposal. He made it appealing, something that basically speaks for itself about the benefits of the internet and multimedia, something he says can easily be seen from his results. This video was placed on YouTube and yielded a huge response in a very short time, as opposed to what probably would have happened if he had published a book on the topic. 

Using multimedia in the classroom is something that I will definitely be thinking of  as a teacher. It is a great way to keep students engaged in what they are doing, and would make the lesson more fun. Creating something like what Mr. Miller and his collaborators did for their Martin Luther King Jr. piece, for example, would be extremely useful for me, since I plan to teach a history class. Presenting information in this format, with pictures, sound, and video will help students to remember it much better than just giving them a reading assignment or something like that.

The Chipper Series and EDM 310 for Dummies

Both of these videos were pretty funny. Chipper certainly had some interesting ideas about how getting an education should work. She thought that the way that she had always done things, namely procrastination and putting forth minimum effort, would be enough for this class. Wrong! I think a lot of us can sometimes be a bit like Chipper. I know procrastination is something that I have trouble with too. This video is gently reminding students that they need to do the work and do it well, then the class will not be so bad for them. EDM 310 for Dummies was hilarious, and the book is probably a good idea for some people. The class can get overwhelming, especially for those that have trouble with procrastination. I enjoyed both of these videos! The students that put these together did a great job! 

Learn to Change, Change to Learn

This video really makes a good point! Technology, as one pf the men in the video said, is not really a choice. If schools continue to ignore and push out technology, they will turn off kids. Instead of dissuading them from technology, educators should be finding ways to use it to keep kids interested in school and to help them learn. Like Mr. Miller said in his video, there are so many different things that can be used in the classroom to teach students, things that we can assign for them to do themselves or in groups. Students can, and do, create blogs, videos, podcasts, etc in the classroom and are successfully learning at the same time. School does not have to be a technology free zone, and it should not be! 

Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us

The Drive video surprised me. Well, the beginning did not, because I thought it was sort of obvious, if you give a big reward for something of course people will work hard to achieve it. Then when the task became a bit more complex and the reward was great, people failed to achieve the goal and this happened over and over in their studies. His explanation,  "If we treat people like people and not like horses... we can make the world just a little bit better." I think that this quote was so true. People like to be purpose driven, not just motivated by money or other rewards and those who are working toward a purpose are typically happier in their jobs than those who are just in it for the money. 

Blog Post # 7

The Last Lecture

I would first like to say that Randy Pausch was an incredibly inspirational man. He knows that he is dying from cancer and still has a better attitude than most anyone that I know. Most people in his situation would not be nearly so energetic or generally happy as he is. I love that he was using the time he had left to get out there and inspire people.

The way that he went through his childhood dreams one by one and explained how he managed to acheive them all was inspiring. I liked what he said, "the brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it enough". He certainly didn't let anything stop him!

 His "head fake" strategy, teaching someone something while they think that they are learning something else, is an interesting one. I agree with what he says, that most of what we learn is learned indirectly. His program uses this to teach students to use complex computer programing while they think that they are creating a game or a movie. This lecture was sort of a head fake in itself, at least for me. I thought it was going to be another lecture about why technology should be in the classroom or something along those lines. It ended up being more about how to live life and be a better person. He encourages you to be creative and earnest, to dream, to take criticism and cherish it, and to try and find the good side of everyone.

My PLN Progress Report

For my PLN I chose to use Symbaloo because I liked the way that everything was laid out. I like that you can decide where everything goes and have been having some fun playing around with it. I have only scratched the surface for what my PLN page will be so far. Right now, it contains my facebook and twitter accounts, my gmail account, a link to my blog and the class blog as well as google docs. There is still work to be done on it, but I am liking what I have so far!  

C4T # 2 Summary

My blog assigment, Classroom Chronicle, is written by Ms. Henrietta Miller, a fifth grade teacher in Sydney.
The first post that I read of hers was on the generosity of educators and can be found here. My response to this post was:


"Hello, I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I was assigned your blog to read for my edm310 class with Dr. Strange. I completely agree with you about the generous nature of teachers. Looking back over my time in school I can think of countless teachers that went above and beyond for their classmates and their co-workers. They were truly an inspiration to see. I also agree about all of the resources that can be shared through social networking and other internet tools. Those who are “too busy” to use these mediums should really look into it."


The next post I read was entitled persistence and can be seen here.
My response to the post was:

"Thank you for this post! I hope that the child you were talking about on the monkey bars and other students like her will keep that persistence and not become discouraged! I also hope that you will persist in your efforts to make the “square pegs” fit into the “round hole” that is school. You’re right, it’s difficult to find ways to do this for some students."

Project # 11

Summary Post of C4K 1,2&3

My C4K was a student named Patrick who was blogging once a week about a different "Monster of the Week". Some of his monsters included Sheldon from the TV show The Big Bang Theory and the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street. In these posts, Patrick would give some background information on each "monster" and tell a little bit about each one. I commented on his post about Sheldon, telling Patrick who I was and telling him how much I enjoyed reading what he had to say about Sheldon because I am also a fan of that show and Sheldon is my favorite. I also encouraged him to keep up the good work on his blog.
Patrick also made a post about an earthquake drill that took place at his school. He wrote that it was kind of scary, but it was good because, even though it wasn't real it was good practice for if there every really was an emergency. I commented that I agreed, it is a good idea to practice so we all know what to do in an emergency, and told him I was glad that it wasn't really one.

Blog Post # 6

The Networked Student

This video is a great example of why we are doing what we do in this class. Learning is not just about reading a textbook or about doing assignments in the classroom. It is also about taking some initiative and using resources that some of us might not have realized were available to build up a knowledge base. I did not know about a lot of the programs or sites that were mentioned in this video prior to this class and still have not fully explored each of them, but they are useful tools not only to learn but to help others to learn. Networking with other students and professionals in the field is so useful to education. 

Why does the Networked student need a teacher? I thought it was very good of the video makers to address this question, because it is one that I think a lot of people have. Teachers are not just around to spout off facts for their students to make sure that they can spit it back out on a test. They are there to encourage, to motivate, to help, and to inspire. Not all teachers take on this role, but those that do leave lasting impressions on their students' lives, rather than just a basic knowledge of math or science. Teachers like Ms. Drexler and our own Dr. Strange are actually preparing their students for the future by teaching them to do things for themselves. This is important, because there won't always be someone there to point out to us what to read and how to find things that we may need. Through this class and others like it we are building our own network of knowledge. 

Am I ready to be a teacher of a networked student? I think I had better be! Through a lot of the reading we have done for this class, I have seen that things are really changing in education. From the use of iPods in the classroom to students creating their own podcasts, technology in the classroom has come a long way in the few short years that I have been out of school and it will only continue to do so.

A Seventh Grader's PLE

It was really interesting to see the resources that this teacher is using in her seventh grade science class. I enjoy checking out this type of assignment because it gives me ideas of how to use technology in my own classroom. Through her PLE, these students were able to get into contact with scientists around the world as well as read up on things that interested them, like this little girl did with the box jellyfish, and create projects based on their findings. This was a great way to incorporate technology into education! 

The Smart Board Debate

Both of those who were against Smart Boards in the classroom cited that they were basically more expensive versions of equipment that is already available to teachers at a much lower price. Some examples included overhead projectors, transparencies, and scanners. The other site, which is pro-Smart Boards, explains their many uses. One great benefit of the Smart Board is that they seem to get students attention and encourages their involvement as well as makes them more acceptive of technology in the classroom. 

Each of them make good points. When I was doing observations last semester, I was in a school that had a few Smart Boards. As far as I could tell, they were only being used like a regular white board and I really wasn't sure why someone would want to spend so much money on one if that was all that it could do. I suppose it really depends on the teacher and the amount of work put into making the board useful to their lesson plans. 

My sources for the debate : 

Why I Hate Interactive Whiteboards

Why Smartboards are a Dumb Initiative

Benefits of using Smart Boards in the Classroom