Copywrong

This video about copyright law is awful, distracting, and inefficient. Took way too long, reiterated mostly common knowledge, and was impossible to follow or get any useful information out of it. It was not a good use of my time.

Making Movies

The video shows the teacher working with Avid moviemaking software on Mac computers from the early 2000's. It doesn't seem very practical. In my opinion, because these kinds of programs are designed to be extra user friendly, most of them can be figured out by a person with basic computer skills without any instruction. Along those same lines, they often have different interfaces which don't apply to any other programs, so learning one of these inside and out seems like a waste of time to me. The students don't seem all that into it. The instructor is hanging over one of the students like a mother, which is kind of weird. All in all, I don't think working with these programs in class time is an effective way to use time.
Eh, maybe it is. Who knows.

Let's go on a WebQuest!

I like the "WebQuest" approach to a scientific study with students. This can serve as its own type of lab in researching questions and ideas that have been previously studied. Much of science is based on expanding what we as a community already know, and we need to know how to find out what we know in order to expand on it. Research and review in establishing a knowledge base is a huge part of the scientific world and this type of activity is a great way to introduce students to this process. It's not only important in science, but in most fields of study. These students are learning the skills they will use for using technology to expand their knowledge base.

Technology in(stead of) the Classroom

I completely relate to the lifestyle pieced together by dozens of students in the video. It's another blurb, another shock-value statement type video, but one that begs the question: To What End? If this is how technology has changed our lives as students even in the last 10 years, what's in store for the next 10? Are these changes making us dumber, lazier, more ignorant, less aware of ourselves? How bad is it? How much worse can it, or will it get? Heck, is it even bad, or is that a moot point?

When I consider these things, I usually try to convince myself that it depends on personal experience, and depends on what each person does that they find fulfilling. Maybe I spend more time on the computer or watching TV than the average person, or maybe I spend less time, I'm not even sure. Still, I feel like I'm currently at a good balance of how I use technology to maximize my life.

But then... how do I know what's good for me? And regardless, what are the implications to me if others abuse these thoughts to the level implied by the video?


Questions....

What does internet?

We dig deeper into the intertubes to find... what? I'm not sure what to take from this video. I feel like I'm faced with these kinds of "wrap your head around this" blurbs at least every day. I understand that atoms are imperceptibly small, and the universe is unbelievably big, and the internet is too broad to fit anywhere in between. Alright, I get that. So everything is here at my fingertips. But... hasn't everything been somehow accessible that way forever since the dawn of communication, and just been made easier by the internet? How does anyone learn at all about anything? Through experience, through communications, through networking, through digging deeper. Maybe the internet is a tool. And not just a tool, but the ultimate tool, the mega-Leatherman do-it-all-at-lightning-speed for communication of information. But the communication is nothing without the people who make it up.

Did I just make the point I was trying to refute? I'm confused. What a crazy internet this is.

Conference Calls

The instructor in the video shows how to use new internet conference technology. The students are then dealt the task of teaching this information to another party to demonstrate their own understanding, all of which is part of following the Technology Compentency standards. The student doing this demonstration seems to have a very good grasp on the program to set up conference networks. The subject of the conference is diversity issues in Iowa (yep). This technology being shown in the video is the ancestor of distance learning technology, which I was a part of in a type of conference room in high school. The interface we used in high school was not very effective, but this was mostly due to the inability to match curricula and schedules with other schools rather than shortcomings of the technology. It probably works even better now than 6 years ago when I was in high school.

The classroom activity is involving students in creating a yearbook and presentations using a digital camera (in 1999, this is a very big deal). They're putting together collages like one would see on a yearbook page for a group, club, or sports team. This video resembles the other ones in how much of the time is devoted to showing how the teacher interacts with the students and the software rather than a voiceover narrating everything, which is useful. I guess the content of her instruction reflects the time, as the students' computer skills are less than proficient by today's standards... but the teacher does give good instructions and clear expectations about what the finished product should be. Crispy!

Economic Experience Video

The students in the video are using a multitude of media technology applications to explore an economic simulation based on the concepts of supply and demand. The learning activity includes running simulations, designing websites, analyzing data, problem solving, and publishing results. The instructor is doing a good job in making sure the students are well involved in their own mock company's decisions. The narrator is stating how the teacher is meeting technolgy instruction requirements which is important for him to be able to show progress and show that meaningful media experiences are a part of the students' curriculum. I liked the fact that much of the video was devoted to showing the actual classroom and the students' responses to prompts rather than just discussing what was happening.

School News Report Video

The video is showing students using technology to create a school news report to be shown to other students. This seems like a pretty good way to get students involved in using the technology like cameras, computer programs, and the internet for something that is meaningful and fun for them. The video just revaled itself to be a product of the year 2000, which may help to explain a lot of things... for one, the actual hardware that they are using which in this year 2010 looks archaic. Also, the students seem very tenative in their use of the computer, which is something that I rarely see these days as I feel most students are competent in computer use from an early age. However, the concepts of integrating media into a classroom in a meaningful way, as well as having students support other students in the use of technological hardware are still present in all secondary ed classrooms.

Hello, loyal readers! Welcome to my blog. This is the site that you want to come to for all of the updates and happenings that go on in my great and fascinating life, so check it often and it will be a very rewarding experience. My first entry on this blog is being written in class (a quality use of my time), and regards answering the questions related to the list found under the part labelled "A Teaching and Learning Framework for Integrating Technology in Classrooms." This sounds exciting! Maybe next time I will write something about the questions.

Check out the comment space below! Feel free to leave a comment. I like more than anything to know what people think of me (sarcasm?).

-NJ