For this task, I unfortunately was ill the day the rest of my peers split up into groups to start this project. I was gratefully 'adopted' into a group upon my return to help edit their movie, Elevator Door, with them using the iMovie application on the MacBook.
I was amazed at what this program could accomplish in terms of adding background music and cutting and resizing the video clips. I would definitely use this tool in my classroom in the future and depending on the grade level, have my students create their own videos or pair/group up to collaborate on one large project. In terms of creativity, the possibilities are endless! The sense of accomplishment that one has when watching their movie was so fantastic and I really can't wait to share this feeling with my students in the classroom one day.
Introducing The Elevator Door!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Tech Task #4 - Digital Storytelling
This is exactly what keeps me from diving head first into technology...the fact that I can work days and days on end to get a program to load, then open, then it decides not to save my project...ARGH!! I am really, really frustrated! I see the good of having technology in the classroom, I do but it is so aggravating when you know what you want to accomplish but the technology does not let you do it. To be honest, I have been close to tears with this tech task several times...between PhotoStory 3 loading then not saving my projects to VoiceThread closing for no reason than to give me a heart attack, I feel very drained and not really looking forward to the other projects, if I am going to have to struggle so much to get something finished. I hope I can figure out what I am doing wrong, since I am happy with my end result however, I can't afford to spent probably 5 - 10 hours on a tech task.
Anyways, now that I have gotten that off of my chest. I finally figured out how to work VoiceThread and ended up putting together a digital story of all of the trips I have gone on and one in particular that is yet to come this weekend... I am very happy with the final result and even though I had some troubles along the way, I am proud that I never gave up!
Here is my VoiceThread Video titled Past Trips and Future Adventures:
Anyways, now that I have gotten that off of my chest. I finally figured out how to work VoiceThread and ended up putting together a digital story of all of the trips I have gone on and one in particular that is yet to come this weekend... I am very happy with the final result and even though I had some troubles along the way, I am proud that I never gave up!
Here is my VoiceThread Video titled Past Trips and Future Adventures:
Monday, February 1, 2010
Tech Task #3 - In Class Presentation
1. Are social networks really here to stay?
I believe that social networks are here to stay. Will they always look the same? No, but there is not much in this world that does not eventually changed in one way or another. I believe that we live in a very exciting time for technology (though I bet people before me have said the exact same thing about technology more than once throughout history) and that we shouldn't be afraid of it, wary maybe but change always is unsettling until it becomes the norm. One point in Alec's presentation that really caught my attention was how in Finland it is a human right to have access to high speed Internet. At first I thought, "Wow, That's intense!" but the more time I had to process the possible reasons behind it, the more I found understood their decision since a great major of our time today is spent on a computer or using other forms of technology in one way or another to connect with others, thus creating our own social network. The Finnish government recognized that it would be doing their citizens a disservice not to each and every one of them access to a network which provides so many opportunities. As teachers, we must work hard to make sure that our students are just as enabled as the Finnish are when it comes to access and understanding the social networking process.
2. If so, what do you think schools (and teachers) need to do to prepare? How is learning in the future going to be different?
Currently in elementary schools, how the students learn and what resources they have/should have access to is already very different than when I was going through elementary school. I remember the only time we used computers was to play math games that were on floppy disks. Now, having computers inside the classroom provides such a variety of options for the students in terms of research, completing assignments and presenters from all over the world. As it was stated in the presentation, the future of learning is open, connected and social. What that means for teachers is that we no longer have to deal with the pressure of having to be an expert on every subject since it is possible to connect and collaborate with 'experts' via Skype or e-mail for example which then allows us to learn and discover new things along with the students. No one person knows everything and everything, so I believe that social networking is a great tool not only for teachers but for personal use as well.
3. What are you thoughts on copyright and creativity in a world where so much content is "lifted", remixed, or reused?
My opinion is two sided in regards to copyright. Since I come from a musical background in school, there was more than one occasion that we had to photocopy a piece of music in order for every member of the section to have their own part. The piece only comes with a certain number of parts per section and if you do not have enough, there are two options: photocopy or share. The sharing gets quite troublesome when two tubas try a crowd around the same piece of music and thus, creates tension and, frankly it is just not enjoyable to play when you can't see the notes. Now, I also believe that a composer should be given credit for their work and in terms of band pieces that credit comes in a financial form since one must purchase the piece in order to play it. That in turn, opens up another "can of worms" so to speak since many band/music programs do not have much in terms of budget or funding. So, the decision is to either photocopy whole pieces in order to provide the students with the experience of learning a new piece or not be able to due to lack of funding. Now this scenario is quite extreme since I know a lot of loading of original pieces happens within the band community however, I just wanted to really focus on the question of do you break copyright if it is of great benefit to your students? Or, is it more important to show them that copyright exists for a reason just like any other law?
After seeing what copyright settings are on Flickr in terms of posting pictures, I only wish that more things in life, like pieces of music for example, would have just as many options for their creators to apply instead.
I believe that social networks are here to stay. Will they always look the same? No, but there is not much in this world that does not eventually changed in one way or another. I believe that we live in a very exciting time for technology (though I bet people before me have said the exact same thing about technology more than once throughout history) and that we shouldn't be afraid of it, wary maybe but change always is unsettling until it becomes the norm. One point in Alec's presentation that really caught my attention was how in Finland it is a human right to have access to high speed Internet. At first I thought, "Wow, That's intense!" but the more time I had to process the possible reasons behind it, the more I found understood their decision since a great major of our time today is spent on a computer or using other forms of technology in one way or another to connect with others, thus creating our own social network. The Finnish government recognized that it would be doing their citizens a disservice not to each and every one of them access to a network which provides so many opportunities. As teachers, we must work hard to make sure that our students are just as enabled as the Finnish are when it comes to access and understanding the social networking process.
2. If so, what do you think schools (and teachers) need to do to prepare? How is learning in the future going to be different?
Currently in elementary schools, how the students learn and what resources they have/should have access to is already very different than when I was going through elementary school. I remember the only time we used computers was to play math games that were on floppy disks. Now, having computers inside the classroom provides such a variety of options for the students in terms of research, completing assignments and presenters from all over the world. As it was stated in the presentation, the future of learning is open, connected and social. What that means for teachers is that we no longer have to deal with the pressure of having to be an expert on every subject since it is possible to connect and collaborate with 'experts' via Skype or e-mail for example which then allows us to learn and discover new things along with the students. No one person knows everything and everything, so I believe that social networking is a great tool not only for teachers but for personal use as well.
3. What are you thoughts on copyright and creativity in a world where so much content is "lifted", remixed, or reused?
My opinion is two sided in regards to copyright. Since I come from a musical background in school, there was more than one occasion that we had to photocopy a piece of music in order for every member of the section to have their own part. The piece only comes with a certain number of parts per section and if you do not have enough, there are two options: photocopy or share. The sharing gets quite troublesome when two tubas try a crowd around the same piece of music and thus, creates tension and, frankly it is just not enjoyable to play when you can't see the notes. Now, I also believe that a composer should be given credit for their work and in terms of band pieces that credit comes in a financial form since one must purchase the piece in order to play it. That in turn, opens up another "can of worms" so to speak since many band/music programs do not have much in terms of budget or funding. So, the decision is to either photocopy whole pieces in order to provide the students with the experience of learning a new piece or not be able to due to lack of funding. Now this scenario is quite extreme since I know a lot of loading of original pieces happens within the band community however, I just wanted to really focus on the question of do you break copyright if it is of great benefit to your students? Or, is it more important to show them that copyright exists for a reason just like any other law?
After seeing what copyright settings are on Flickr in terms of posting pictures, I only wish that more things in life, like pieces of music for example, would have just as many options for their creators to apply instead.
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