Saturday, December 8, 2012

Blog Assignment #8

This Is How We Dream

In Richard Miller's video series, This Is How We Dream, he discusses the growing world of technology and all of its many incredible uses in education. Technology is being introduced into the classroom now more than ever. In EDM we have learned the many technological tools that are accessible to us. We can collaborate on projects without leaving our homes, we can communicate with educators and other students all over the world with one click, and, just as Mr. Miller says in his part 1 video, we can gather an entire project worth of information without ever setting foot inside a library. Personally, I am a little old fashioned. While I embrace the idea of using technology and the internet in these positive ways, I still feel it is important for students to know how to use a book or magazine as a source as well. I also happen to love libraries. Overall, I think this video series was very informative.


Carly Pugh Blog Post #12

Carly's blog post was wonderful! I love the way she communicated her ideas and admitted that they are often scattered. I think her idea to create a YouTube playlist was brilliant. I think YouTube can be a powerful learning tool, especially for visual learners like myself. I enjoy reading, but I often find it hard to sit down with a textbook and read for hours. Though I may absorb some of the information, much of it is lost on me when my mind wanders, as it always does. The videos Carly chose were fantastic. She did a great job of combining humor with serious and sincere topic like diversity and bullying. I found the whole thing entertaining and educational, so I would say she succeeded in creating a very effective assignment for herself.

EDM 310 Is Different

In the Chipper Series, Chipper is a student who struggles with procrastination. The video chronicles her many misadventures as she fails to abide by deadlines and standards. Chipper decides to create her own school where her students can do their work at their own pace without any due dates or supervision. This kind of school sounds ideal, however, most people wouldn't feel motivated to do the work at all if no one was checking up on them. Chipper eventually learns the value of hard work and responsibility and decides to return to graduate school. I thought Jamie Lynn Miller did a great job on this video.

I loved the video EDM 310 For Dummies. I can definitely relate to their frustrations. And I actually wish that there was a book like that for us to reference. It would definitely make life easier. I would buy this book. I think that should be Dr. Strange's next project. And make it iPad and Kindle friendly of course.

I think if I had to create a video for this class, it would be one that decodes all of the "EDM speak" and gives helpful suggestions for overcoming each maddening assignment. Suggestions that only first hand experience could provide. I would also include a user-friendly Mac handbook because I did not know how much I would be using a Mac in this class, and being a PC person, I tend to get lost and frustrated fast.

Learn To Change, Change To Learn

In the video, Learn To Change, Change To Learn, several educators discuss the revolution of learning that we are currently experiencing. They talk about how children are constantly collecting data and creating through their use of cell phones and social media. They are doing most of their learning through these media, yet these things are banned from schools. I think this video perfectly echos the message of EDM 310. We are learning to integrate technology into the classroom not because it is fun, but because it is absolutely necessary! Technology is what the children of today use. They learn how to use it early. So why not harness this inevitable knowledge of technology?

Scavenger Hunt

For my scavenger hunt in Web 2.0 Tools, I chose numbers 2,3 and 4. The tool used in number 2 is called Prezi. It is an exciting presentation tool that is very cool. Everyone can use Prezi publicly for free. By using the public Prezi you get core features and 100 MB of storage space. From there, you can move up to the "Enjoy" or "Pro" packages. The Enjoy package is $4.92 per month or $59 annually. The Pro package is $13.25 per month or $159 annually. Prezi offers great deals for students and teachers! The Enjoy Edu package is totally free! This comes with 500 MB of storage and enables you to create private presentations. The Pro Edu package for students and teachers is only $4.92 per month and comes with 2 GB of storage space and enables you to create private presentations, work offline, and much more. This is a great tool to take advantage of as a teacher.


For number 3 I had to find a tool to make my own comic strip. The tool is called Make Believe Comics! This was a lot of fun.



Lastly, I chose PhotoPeach. PhotoPeach is a photo sharing program that has very useful classroom features. With PhotoPeach, teachers are able to create multiple student accounts without the students needing to provide email addresses. Teachers can also organize students into groups for photo projects and view and share their finished work with parents and other teachers. Photo projects can be customized with music of your choice and stored in unlimited album space. The best part is, students' photos are never visible on the net through PhotoPeach. If your'e like me and love photography as much as I do, a site like this would be a blast to use in the classroom!






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