Final Project Reflection

Whew!  It got late too fast...

At last I've finished my final project and it's time to reflect.  I ended up creating two lesson plans and a training for Diigo.

My first lesson plan is on the Columbian Exchange and students will use Voicethread to answer questions about the Columbian Exchange in their Social Studies Class.  I have been and will continue to work with our Social Studies teacher on this project.  This is the part I like the best about my job, when I can work with a teacher and build a great lesson!  We are a bit frightened as this is the first official Voicethread project ever at our school.  I'm also a bit nervous about our bandwidth, but either way, we'll learn from at and have challenges to overcome.

The second lesson addresses my frustration of not having a good lesson to teach students about Google Docs.  Our 7th and 8th graders all have school gmail accounts and I really want them to use this wonderful tool.  My hope is they'll use it in all of their classes at our school and beyond.  The lesson has them collaborate writing a poem online.

I've never taken education classes, so I'm hoping I've done my lesson plans the "right way".  That's one of the reasons I enrolled in the program.  I've got some "street smarts" from being a tech coordinator for nine years, but I have a lot to learn still.

My final piece of the project is creating a lesson plan for an hour long Diigo presentation during a staff development day on March 21st that  I've volunteered to do.  I'm just learning about Diigo, but preparing a lesson drops you right into it!  At the very least, I'd like to be able to share exciting discoveries I make on the web with some of my colleagues who get into a neat website as much as I do.

Thanks to Holly and the class for a great experience!

Marty

Teaching Tech-Savvy Kids - Chapter 7

Chapter 7 is entitled "Remix Culture".  The basic idea is to take something in its original form and alter it to your own tastes and preferences.  Reading this chapter made me really wish I had this technology when I was growing up.  Cutting edge for me was going from a reel to reel tape player to cassette tapes!

I know kids today love this, because I see it in my classroom.  Several of my 8th graders are creating elaborate musical pieces using GarageBand as an independent project and they are teaching me quite a bit!
 This chapter discusses the role of the teacher and it's something I'm still getting used to..."We have to participate  as well as produce alongside our students and to become facilitators of their learning...It is not about providing all the answers or giving them specific directives but instead giving our students a map for them to achieve (p. 159)." I've been leaning this way in my thinking and I'd really like to explore this approach some more.  I'm so used to being "the resource" and it seems the adult and kids in our school are happy to keep relying on me for help.  I know my students will be better off if they learn how to "figure things out" but I'm not used to it and easily slip into providing too much help when asked.  It's a tough shift and I'm trying to work my way through it. 

The author raises the legal issues remixing brings up.  "Remixed creations use material that has some type of copyright from the original author; however remixes recontextualize the original source and create new meaning and are highly eligible to be a fair use of copyrighted material (p. 155)."  I feel I would need to understand this issue better before diving into remixes in my class.  I'd need a better sense of how to balance copyright protection and fair use.  Who decides if it's recontextualized enough?

I found it interesting that two thirds of online teens are content creators.  One thing this book does very well is give us information on what kids are doing online now and tries to help us connect learning to their passions!  A great ideal to strive for.  I look forward to checking out some of the links in the chapter to learn more.  

Teaching Tech-Savvy Kids - Chapter 6

Virtual Worlds

The last chapter was about role playing and this chapter is about virtual worlds.  I can't help but wonder if the author is an escapist or something?  Did she grow up with her door closed reading novels and not socializing anymore than she had to?  

As I read the first description of virtual worlds, the author states, "Virtual environments are places, accessible by the internet, where people can discover, exchange, or share information opinions and ideas (p. 114)." Again, I'm slow to embrace something that distracts people, especially children from reality.

"Kalipea's Journey From Novice to Veteran in Final Fantasy XI (p. 116)" was frightening to me.  We have a shy young girl who takes to a fantasy game and is immediately immersed for twelve hours.  The author touts her engagement as a positive, confidence building thing but what happened to the real world she lives in?  What happens when she naively becomes friends with a sexual predator?  I have never been an online gamer and I acknowledge my skepticism may be tempered with some gaming experience.

However, I did a paradigm shift on gaming when I read the description of Quest Atlantis.  This is an online game simulating an ecological disaster in a fictitious national park.  Students interview different characters, analyze data they gather as well as historical data, consider socio-economic implications, and make recommendations to solve a water pollution problem.  They are then transported into the future and they get to see how their recommendations panned out.  Critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, communication...it's all there...engaging and based in reality.  I can see a realistic game like this as a great teaching tool that both students and teachers would thrive doing. 

There is a place for fantasy where someone's imagination and creativity can thrive.   I just worry about it being safe and healthy.  I wouldn't want my kid "checking out" for twelve hours in an online game.  It's a big world out there and I'm always concerned about encouraging students to meet strangers online.  Maybe they already are and I shouldn't worry about it, but I do...