A day in the life with your computer

I often wondered how web 2.o is used in the 'real' world. Here are two examples:



http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2223546,00.asp



or

http://visualgadgets.blogspot.com/2008/06/visual-presentations.html

Blended learning leads to education excellence

A must read

http://www.nacol.org/resources/NACOL_PP-BlendedLearning-lr.pdf

A Digital Story Telling project reflection

Like any project, students need to be constantly assessing and reviewing their process with teacher(s). Some students have difficulty creating a story with meaning, mood, and emotion, theme, point of view with images. The transition from just assembling images on a computer to creating a story with the images is an abstract concept. If time permitted I would a project where I would take 12 images. I would put three themes, point of views and mood/tone in a hat to be drawn. For example images of animals would be the images and the students could choose a theme on conservation or pollution with a mood that portends disaster. They would use this info to create a story. Students learn the program MS Photostory very quickly but have real difficulty showcasing their images about their personal life ... or things that matter to themin a meaningful way...or so it seemed.



As a teacher it has been difficult to offer advice on a topic that dealt with death. A rubric is crucial to help with decisions concerning a student who wants to

The goal is to have great interest and sensitivity towards the students feelings about their project. Establishing a working relationship with them is key...just like it is in any job.

Digital Story Telling...visual literacy skills needed as well as how to teach it

"The ability to create content, distribute content, and create a competitive voice that can be heard is an essential 21st Century literacy that needs to be developed in students." A must read: http://strengthofweakties.org/ or the updated verison http://strengthofweakties.org/?p=280
But why not teach/infuse Social networks, blogs, forums and instant messaging environments?
Perform your writing!!
I will create a DST: Digital Story Telling unit. Read: http://newtools.pbwiki.com/dst2 and use Photostory 3.
http://edblasting.wikispaces.com/Digital+Story+Telling to view rough draft of developing the unit.
So I took on a DST unit hoping that this would be an end of year project that would invoke an intrinsic motivator when eveything else this time of year is a distraction. I mean I didn't assign a research paper on a historical person or event that meant nothing to a 21st century student. And the project was still difficult like any project can be. I wondered since this was a project about themselves how hard could it be.
Barriers to understaning; students had a hard time using images for a story with a theme, purpose and point of view - as opposed to a random collection of photos posted in a social network meant to trivialize or embellish their existance.
Students are neither computer savvy nor visually literate as we may think they are. I think they use technology like an adolescent would - to serve their social experience. Sooo... when it comes to visual literacy students are used to aggregating photos aimlessly and recklessly in a way that communicates random embellishments. it's eself-serving. Think about it, posting your images of yourself at a party is self-aggrandizing, egotistical ...and totally appropriate (as far as a developing mind is concerned) for an adolescent. But it shows little understanding of visual literacy principles.
Anyway, using their images to showcase a theme about themselves has been excruciatingly difficult...as abstract as some math concepts. Maybe ppt is to blame? I admit I have considered backing off and asking students to disregard all DST criteria. But we're not creating a scrapbook...or a social networking page.
After three weeks I scheduled mid-project conferences for a DST project. The good news, I see glimpses of the project coming together - signs of students internalizing their story, emotion, mood, and metaphor appearing. I see less randomizing but see incomplete 'stories'. I am unsure how music, text, images, and narration will coalesce -but then again, I am unsure how even teach this in a short 5 week unit??????? We have viewed many DST samples and discussed them. I wonder how well a student can recognize theme and plot in a movie...or a book?

The mid-conferences worked! The start of the fourth week was pure beauty. All students were engrossed and their projects seem to have been internalized. I am glad to see students engaged in meaningful work at this time of the year. I am hoping this project is an ongoing one.

After-School Programs: My list for 08/09

After-School Ideas….and they’re all FREE!!

The Digital Story Telling Project. Visit http://edblasting.wikispaces.com/Digital+Story+Telling

Create GWH student social network in Ning

GWH memory project. Create Hinckley memory project – see flickr, Skowhegan memory project, LOC’s (Library of Congress) memory project teacher lessons

Electronic Yearbook (EYB)

School-based LAN parties

Programming

We have LEGO ROBOTS

Program and make a computer game at http://scratch.mit.edu/ or go to Alice.org for programming http://www.alice.org/index.php?page=what_is_alice/what_is_alice . Or learn programming at
http://www.csunplugged.com/

Note: These days I see a good number of teachers using things like Gamemaker (see lite (free) and pro (20.00)). Read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Maker . XNA to bring game development into their courses so students can have incentive to learn so they can create things that interest them - games.
I also see teachers teaching mobile device programming which is pretty easy in Visual Studio because of built in emulators.

And then there are robots. Programs like IPRE in college and FIRST Lego League in middle schools (usually as after school programs.) There are tools out there.

Or
to play a game visit
http://www.powerupthegame.org/

http://pmog.com/ by searching th web


Digital image manipulation
with gimp, picasa, or photoshop express – http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/site-of-the-week/site/?i=53452;_hbguid=157aa8f2-125b-4a43-ba45-04da38565902&d=site-of-the-week


Or blabberize
Or learn to create in Google Maps and google street view

Mix Music/Mash ups/make recordings (podcasts) with Audacity

Radio station - podcasts

Make an audio book for our elementary students,
TAG the laptop lab
….and just chill?


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