ZodSpot

Educ 482 - Thanks for all the Fish

2009-07-20T01:35:00.000-07:00

Its been a long and perilous journey but here we are, at the top of the designs for learning mountain. There have been many encounters along the way: our google doc, the Alice presentation, a digital story, and a wiki article.

These are just examples of physical products that have been created while on the course of this semester. There are many more programs and websites that were encountered and learning grew. Using this blog for example, 11-12 entries later documents learning that was encountered. Delicious and the many new bookmarks that are up on that. The infinite power of Google and their labs and other softwares.

Its been a good journey, many laughs and discussions about technology ensued. As the time has past so quickly, I'm fairly glad I took this class. How have my eyes been opened to the wonders out there waiting for us teachers to use it in our classes. It is up to use to continue our learning and to create meaningful lessons that integrates technology in a meaningful way, not just using technology because its there.

Let us hope that the future is as bright as it was during this summer.

Educ 463 - Multimedia in the Classroom

2009-07-17T21:48:00.000-07:00

For my tenth and final blog post I want to just touch upon multimedia in general in the classroom. There are many positive reasons to include multimedia projects in the classroom. Not only does it make learning content fun it engages students in the process. An excellent, albeit old, article by Hill and Novelli present a compelling argument to use multimedia in classrooms. Not only can multimedia address requirements with the curriculum, but they can also develop other skills indirectly. This includes reading and writing through story boarding and script preparation as well as delegating work with other students. Also, when using such technology high level Bloom's taxonomy and Gardner's Multiple intelligences can be addressed.

Not only is multimedia powerful but it is extremely flexible. Everyone instantly thinks of movies and youtube as multimedia in the classroom but there are many more variations of such multimedia. An excellent book by Green and Brown titled "Multimedia projects in the classroom." This book reviews many projects including yearbooks, school newspaper, power point, Macromedia's flash, etc.

There are so many ways to incorporate technology into learning that the only barrier to accessible computers and software. Ideally there would be computers in every classroom, with a 2-1 student/computer ratio to allow students to collaborate when creating projects. Not only must there be computers in the classroom but there must be a similar support structure in the computer lab so that students can do self directed work.

Finally, multimedia can not be instituted in the classroom haphazardly. Care and thought must be used to properly create lesson plans that promote active learning which is focused primarily on the students. Such aids as here and here give teeming insights on how to incorporate and design multimedia centric.

Educ 482 - Wikipedia Action

2009-07-12T13:06:00.000-07:00

Wikipedia. Synonymous with information and encyclopedias. Wiki has grown over the years to become a major source of information. Due to the crowd mentality, many articles are published on many different topics which are surprisingly accurate. The ability for anyone to edit documents allows errors to be readily fixed. As with any publish space, there are instances of vandalism and mischievous behaviour but the crowd does rectify such issues in the end. Due to the strict requirements of references, most of the material is truthful.

What is particularly interesting is the animosity of citing Wikipedia in research paper. Many people feel that Wikipedia is a great place to start research as one can get a feel of the topic and various information quickly and accessibly. But no matter how common sense or obvious a piece of information is, a student cannot cite the source as Wikipedia due to this inherent stigma related to this encyclopedia. It is ironic that Britannica, written by experts and with more errors per article than Wiki, is an acceptable source while Wiki is not. Only time will allow such preconceptions to dissipate.

Educ 463 - Games and Learning

2009-07-12T02:49:00.000-07:00

In this class we have focused on many multimedia techniques to improve and encourage learning within the classroom. Video, Music, websites, and the web are all awesome ways to improve the atmosphere within the classroom. But I think there should be some discussion in regards to gaming and learning.

There are two possible ways to view games for learning: the first is games designed specifically for learning and the second is learning as a product of engaging in gaming. James Gee argues about the benefits of the latter as secondary learning. He argues there is a ying-yang relationship between content and learning. The more learning centric the game is the less content there is -usually leading to a boring experiences.

So playing games such as Civilizations and Sim City is predominately gear to an entertainment value. But what player do not realize they are learning -albeit skills and cognitive thought. Players are developing strategies to maximize their cities or learning how civilizations grew and developed covertly. These games do not explicitly focus on these ideas but present them in an engaging way such that players must think critically about their actions.

The other spectrum is games that are learning focused. Some of these games are particularly well done such as Carmen Sandiego and the Oregon Trails. Most games are rather mundane, attempting to instill a certain skill such as reading or typing. Reader rabbit is an example such a drill and kill type educational game. Few if any kids would find this game fun as it focused so strongly on reading that there was little room for any enjoyment.

Educ 482 - Illuminating the web with ebulliance by Elluminate

2009-07-05T15:53:00.000-07:00

This weeks installment of the weekly blog is the recent class that used Elluminate. The details are fairly simple: Elluminate is an extremely advanced version of MSN where people enter a chatroom like atmosphere but anyone can type, talk (in turn), or get on a web cam to show their face while talking. If this technology ended there it would be pretty boring. But wait, there's more. A moderator can bring up pictures, files, projects, and have the rest of the users view it and modify it. This holistic approach to interaction is much more powerful than systems such as Firstclass, Webct, or Blackboard.

After the online class there are some issues as well. For starters the free reign chat got out of hand while the Moderator (Kevin) was talking. Thankfully it was still on the topic of assessment but I'm not sure how relevant it was to what was being said. I also noticed that it was much much easier to get distracted on the online class. I was writing a paper while listening to the class which I could not readily do in class; or if I was a home cookies and other little treats are very real distractions. I suspect that due to our first use of this system many of us were not in the proper mindset. I saw a hand was raised a few times but paid no attention to it. I, myself, am not a big fan of microphones online. If I have a text editor I am more inclined to use it as I can think of what I want to say before I press enter.

Although we didn't use the white board/editing features that much I can imagine it is a very powerful tool to augment learning. If the entire class is focused on a single document or entity it might help concentrate the learning. But the best part is definitely how the class can be recorded and review at a later time. Hence, an important idea or concept can be review on my own time. This is multitudes more powerful than reviewing my notes as I can listen to what the instructor is saying while I look at the image or concept.

One last thought: As it is completely online, I can fulfill my dream of going to class in my underwear. Just have to cover the camera just in case =)

Educ 482 - Jing and its many wonder

2009-07-05T15:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the late blog post -too busy writing papers ~_~

For this blog I want to explore in more depth the idea of Jing. The screen capturing ability is extremely puissant. Not only can the the desktop be captured to create a tutorial but also text, audio, and other similar examples of a project can be opened and described. The power of this software is that it can work as an assessment tool and as an in class project tool. Curtis nicely presented the assessment aspects so I will explore the projects aspect.

Simple instructions can be made to teach students how to use websites, such as in this example. Student's can watch a movie, listen to a song, or watch youtube and critique it at the same time. Some may ask how does this differ from taking a screen shot of your desktop and editing it in programs like Gimp and ms paint. Once a screen shot is taken with Jing; shapes, highlights, arrows and a text box can be added to the photo. Done much more simply on in Jing than other pieces of software.

Educ 463 - Movie Making in a different light

2009-07-05T14:21:00.000-07:00

When someone mentions stories we automatically think a picture book, novel, or movie but there is a new branch of story telling. In essence, a student is asked to create a comic using text and images. Such programs are out there such as comic life, pixton, and mashon (an online comic creator). The great thing about these programs is that creating a comic is ridiculously easy. Drag and drop pictures, add text, and book a comic is complete. This is merely half the steps required to explore story telling in the digital age.

For a more clear definition of this genre check out Jason's site for ideas. Basically once the story is completed, it is encoding into a movie where the author voices over the story. They might act as a narrator of the story or simply tell their story with images in the background. It is a very novel and powerful tool to get kids to create stories. For those who are too shy to be on camera, this tool is a great way to let them play with technology and bring their stories alive.

Some examples include: This, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfF3VQ_xHBU, and this.

2009-07-03T14:35:00.001-07:00

Hi Sara this is an awesome blog of awesomeness.

Educ 463 - Websites by Teachers

2009-06-26T01:19:00.000-07:00

Integrating a website for a class is an excellent to keep all the students informed and involved. Assignments and notes can be put on online for those students who are sick or go on field trips. Paper can be saved as the students are responsible for printing or reading the information online. Blogs and postings can be added and have students respond and engage in discussion. But for such things to be possible a site must be made. There is the usual google sites, but if a teacher puts in a little effort, they can create a cool custom built site that does almost everything they need.

First there is html itself. There are various sites to teach html and its various tags. This is the old and antiquated way of learning html. These days we can create web pages in office or in various programs such as nvu or the various online html editors.

This is the first step. Next is to jazz up that site. There are many free sites out there that makes buttons such as cooltext and buttongenerator. There are also logo makers and banner makers out there as well. Finally there is pics4learning which gives free, un-copyrighted, pictures that you can use on your website. With these tools a website can really take form.

Once you have passed this level, you can get advanced and learn css using the various tutorials. As I have done a site using templated html files as my basis site, it is definitely not fun trying to edit each and every page to make some update. CSS nicely gets around this by creating a common layout that can be altered using a config-style file. Very handy when the pages get out of hand. Secondly there is php - tutorial to really make websites come alive. This is for expert users as it requires much time and dedication to learn. Then there is Web 2.0 to worry about. Needless to say, starting with the building blocks can really leads us down some extravagent paths.

As educators, we should be able to use such simple tools to really create and customize the internet. If we can mold it into something useful and our own, the students can really benefit; assuming of course we properly integrate it into our classes.

Educ 482 - Clickers, Stories, and Alpha Wolves

2009-06-21T13:15:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, I had to miss this weeks class due to an error on my part. I knew and expected to take my mum to the airport but for some reason I thought it was on Friday. Many times I was reminded, yet it clearly shows that I did not pay too much attention to such ramblings. In short, she was to leave Thursday morning so basically I hooped myself.

Anyways, self directed learning through the awesome class notes helps those who are in a bind. After review the various technologies, Carrol's presentation seems more interesting. This clicker technology is particularly neat since it allows each and every student to contribute to the class without saying anything in particular. Feedback is nigh instant and individual responses can be tracked via excel so that students who are consistently incorrect can receive extra help at a later time.

The important thing to remember when using this technology is how to structure the questions. Since the questions are multiple choice, the best way to deal with this problem is to ask the STUDENTS to generate the question and then have them vote on it. For example: ask the students how they think electricity works. Write down their response on the board (typing is nice here) then have the students vote. Misconceptions can then be addressed or responses can be discussed in groups.

What is nice about this technology is that it nicely introduces technology in the classroom. The teacher requires a laptop and projector and the students have their own engagement tool. The only problem is the excessive cost of the clicker itself. If multiple students can be registered to a single clicker, a class set can be used for 7-8 different classes to save money.

Educ 463 - Websites of Craziness

2009-06-19T22:57:00.000-07:00

After finishing those crazy movies it is time to move on to more craziness, Websites! I have once done a website many many years ago in what was the most novel method at the time. Notepad and your imagination. Needless to say, trying to create really awesome sites using tags was extremely difficult. The time spent on doing such simple and trivial things is astonishing.

Fast forward six years and it appears that I am face to face with the beast once again. Thankfully the world has modernized a bit and the likes of front page, word, and my favourite little coding program Textpad has been developed. Using these and other online editors easy html pages can be created.

Of course creating a site is only part of the equation, the other part is creating a website that is actually useful AND functional. This is where other ideas come in. A favourite site of mine, done by a Mr. Ratcliffe illustrates how a classroom site can be used. It uses Google docs but does illustrate some ideas that we can use in our own websites. Unfortunately it hides many features to the user so truly customizing it is particularly difficult. By the time we are done with this area, I think we should be more than proficient in the world of web authoring sites.

Educ 482 - Google Sites

2009-06-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

The discussion by Jeremy brought up some interesting points about Google sites. In the passed I have created websites myself [Here and here <-- now antiquated]

Back when I did these I had learned and mastered the art of html coding. Luckily I was coding in textpad (an awesome that coding program) which nicely colour codes the syntax so I know where and how certain tags where missing. This was especially handy when creating the above website in tables without fun things like Dream weaver or the new program on the block.

Unfortunately, creating websites in this style was VERY time consuming. In fact, updating the site is an absolute pain in the ass. I have been meaning to recreate the site but I don't have the time or the inclination to redo everything. What is worse is that html is now ancient and outdated. To keep up and seem professional I need to learn php and css to be competitive. As a new teacher, time is a precarious element which seems like there is never enough of. If I wanted to create a site for my classes I wouldn't be able to exert enough time and energy to create a site that informative and uptodate.

Google sites allows one to create a slick professional looking website in mere minutes. Not only that, it can be updated and CUSTOMIZED to meet your every dream or desire. This is the critical and best part of Google sites. Ease of use is number 1.

Also, Google sites can be linked to Google apps to add widgets and other little doodads. Messaging and calendars in my website? Oh my.

I must thank Jeremy for bringing to light such an awesome resource.

Here be some sites: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Educ 482 - Alice, The Story Telling Version

2009-06-09T02:07:00.000-07:00

Since I did not (nor will I) have time to discuss Alice story telling in detail in class, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss it here.

Alice Storyteller is basically a spin off of Alice where Caitlin Kelleher centered his PhD on creating story creation system based on the Alice framework. Geared for middle school girls to introduce them to the concepts of programming under the veil of creating a 3d movie/animation.

Since the core system is the same Alice and Alice storytelling users can easily jump between platforms. The difference between these two programs is under the hood. In Alice storytelling, there are many more scenes and characters, as well as many more premade methods that each character can do. since the emphasis is on creating stories, the components are focused here. Hence, there are many more scenes that one would encounter in everyday life as well as many more characters to span the many possible characters that a student could dream up.

This freedom allows students a greater flexibility to find the right character to fit in their story. The best part is they are still learning the fundamental ideas of object orientated programming.

For more information check out alice storytelling and this tutorial for more information.

Educ 463 - Pre-Emptive Blog Post Since it refers to Videos one last time

2009-06-09T01:40:00.000-07:00

After spending a light weekend on my video project a few questions cropped up. In particular my video was purely experimental as I never created a video that required after shooting editing. For you movie moguls out there, planning really does help stream line your movie. I planned out my movie three weeks in advance and I still found I was still shooting a few minutes worth of footage to augment and awesomafy my final movie.

Anyways, once the movie was completed I found that the lack of sound and music created a boring product. I really did not consider this issue earlier but I think, upon reflection, it is worth taking a look. Mainly, I'm looking at the copyright issues surrounding sounds and music.

To find sounds that really fit into the mood and atmosphere of your movie it makes absolute sense to create your own. Unfortunately not all of us are audiophiles so this is a bit tricky. Hence I was at the mercy of finding sound fx online. Luckily I found a few sites that really helped out here. This includes soungle, flashkit, SoundSnap, and FindSounds.

Not only are these sites royalty free, but they are free to download as well. This means a plethora of sounds to use in your movie. Of course, since sounds aren't visual, you have to sit and listen to each and every one of them, most of which might not be what you are looking for. I haven't mastered this art yet but when search for sounds be creative as possible. For example if you want a "ding" sound look up chime, bell, ding, or metal instrumental. Patience is extremely key here.

As for music, it is a bit more murky waters for me. For my video I tried to stay away from official copies of music. Rather I tried to use user generated music that remixes a well known tune. Arguably the copyright issue still can creep up, but bypassing the big players. Most of the songs I couldn't even credit the creator since they were (for the most part) anonymously done.

I also base my stipulations on the argument presented by Alan Cross. Mash-ups of songs have surfaced on the radio and clubs for 20+ years now. As you states, most groups don't really care, or feel flattered that their song was used in a mash-up. Not only that, it exposes people to their music that they wouldn't otherwise have known. Of course there are certain people who frown on any use of their music. In particular ACDC, the Beatles, and Metallica. There is no golden rule in this area outside of creating your own music. But, I'm sure that if the video is for educational purposes or no money is involved, no one will get too excited. Check out Alan Cross' The ongoing history of new music. for transcriptions of some of his shows. Sorry no podcasts or they'll get mad at him.

Educ 482 - Microphones, Engagement, and Smart Boards, oh my!

2009-05-29T19:10:00.000-07:00

The last day we meet some interesting things were discussed, especially the smart board and the microphone system.

The microphone system seemed like a logical idea. I have seen a similar presentation before and they cited a similar strong reason to implement the speaker system. In the elementary classes it readily fits itself as the importance of young students developing their understanding is critical. For the upper grades the same justification falls through. Once we start talking about the secondary level the rather excessive costs begins to take shape. A credible point made by the presenters is that the system never becomes obsolete. On the flip side, how upgradable is the system. I expect speaker design wouldn't change drastically (as it hasn't really in the last 20 years) so all that is left is the RF receiver and microphone. With blue tooth so prevalent Rf seems like a dead technology. If a new upgraded system costs another 1500+ dollars I would not be tempted. Maybe if these units had a scrambling device to block out cell phones in the classroom I would be interested once again ;)

The second topic of interest was the smart board. Although the demonstration was limited, there was a small glimpse of the power of this device. Initially I want to use this in a math or chemistry class where students can come up and touch and manipulate objects to construct a solution to a math/chem problem but how does this expand student's learning and engagement that differs from the whiteboard/overhead. Two interesting sites [1, 2]. This is where the smart board really shines. Not only can I create custom lessons for my class, but I can share it with other teachers. Now if only there was a social networking site to upload and share various lessons for each subject...

Educ 463 - Not the most original Video but does deserve a mention

2009-05-29T17:46:00.000-07:00

Since we are on the topic of movies in the classroom I thought I'd make this week's installment centered on various movie presentation techniques that students can use.

The first video is a demonstration/tutorial video. It is an extremely well done and easy to follow video that illustrates the power of tutorial videos. The video can be found here (I am aware others may have used this example before as it was presented in 482, but this speaks volumes of this video). The low tech yet entertaining, engaging, and informative approach yields a powerful video that succinctly explains how to use the site is an excellent example of knowledge sharing. In the classroom, a complicated unit that has many parts but don't reply upon each other (think of a point with 10 lines exiting it at all directions). In a jig saw type fashion, students can research and present their findings similar to that in this video (not EVERY group of students should do this as that would be boring) which would hopefully sufficiently teach the rest of the class.

The next type of video is a comic/video. Some people may be familiar with Max Payne the movie, but before that game the PC game which combined a bunch of novel story telling techniques. An example of their techniques can be found here. It should be noted that this video is a graphic novel set to narration. But the point it makes is powerful. Students can create their own comics or drawings, or digital images and a script. They can either narrate the events happening in the pictures or do some voice acting. The best part is how multilayer and flexible this style of video presentation can be. Stories, historical events, poems, projects, etc. The best part this type of video can easily be created in iMovie. Here is a single panel example but use moving pictures.

Educ 482 - Class part trzi

2009-05-22T23:31:00.000-07:00

This weeks class was particularly informative since we covered a wide variety of topics. I think the highlight of the day was discussing the info tech PLO and how it should be implemented in the classroom. It was quite nice having the discussion with Kevin about the PLO (who co-wrote it too!). After the discussion concluded two important points really stuck out in my mind. The first is that the PLO is word very precisely such that extremely complicated and robust material can be reduced to three or four blocks as the students only require the concepts, and not the details. The second point is the flexibility of the info tech classes could be structured in a school. It appears that each school approaches this topic slightly differently and that the teacher is better off if they attune themselves with how the school approaches this topic and go from there.

Also during the class the idea of classroom management was discussed. Some key points were discussed that I would never had thought about. In particular the horse shoe layout and tables in the center layout. Line of sight issues and students ability to remain on task seemed to be critical components when designing a classroom environment. Also the idea of a 2 to 1 ratio of students to computers. I wonder if this only works in your average classroom such as elementary classes or core subject areas or would this work in an info tech class as well? I could imagine this would fail in a skills class like keyboarding 101, but for programming or project based classes where students much develop a rich tapestry of information within a program could be done in with 2 students per computer.

Kevin also mentioned two factors that every teacher should consider when working with technology. The first is that technology can and will fail. So having back up plans is extremely crucial. I know there is nothing worse then having an awesome block set up where students can explore learning only to learn that the internet is down (a common occurance for some reason). As long as there is a potential back up plan, the students can remain engaged in other ways without having to resort back to opening the textbook and read pages 151 to 169.

Finally the discussion on software versions reminded me of the potential headaches that await any teaching who wants to try something novel. I personally resist upgrading to new programs due to all the new features that have been implemented and are alien to me as well as familiar processes having been altered or removed entirely. With students, if a uniform program is not being used the teacher must construct the lesson mindfully to avoid tiered lesson that would confuse the half of the class using the second version. This doesn't include the head aches that may affect the teacher when students ask the same question because a feature is missing or in a different menu.

Educ 463 - Digital Cameras in the Classroom

2009-05-22T22:32:00.000-07:00

I think I'll take this weekly installment of my blog down a slightly different path than usual. Rather than possible uses of technology I'll evaluate two lesson plans that have integrated technology and extrapolate its use to the secondary sciences.

Since we have been discussing the use of movie cameras in class I think it would be highly appropriate to discuss some lesson plans where other teachers have used digital camera's in their classroom. The first lesson is by a Mrs. Daughty, a fourth grade elementary teacher. The lesson of interest is her weather project discussing the different types of clouds. The introduction to clouds is typical, setting up the theory and knowledge prior, but the project itself is exciting. In lesson 3, the students research, write, and act out a fictional news report of a hurricane. Not only does this technology brings to life a realistic situation that students may have experienced from television or the movies, but they also learn quite a bit. Since the students must storyboard and write their lines they are actively engaged in high level thinking. Not only that, they must do prior research of a hurricane and present some of its facts in a logical and believable manner.

Here is a great example of using many potentital curriculum PLO's in a student driven project. The best part of this type of project is it transcends grade levels. A teacher could just as easily have students do research of various weather phenomenon (ie. gloabal warming and its affects on us and the world, wind circulation, albedo, etc.) and rather than doing a poster and presentation to the class the students could create a mini news report or special and have it taped. This uses some of the skills developed earlier with potentially more creative results.

The second lesson plan I wish to discuss can be found here. This uses video camera's in a slightly different sense. Instead of reports or news flash type programs where heavy preparation is required, this lesson uses a more laid back and fluid approach. By breaking up the students into various groups and giving them samples and cameras, the students can investigate and conduct experiments on the rocks and document it using a camera. The process and results can then be played out to the rest of the class for evaluation and discussion. This medium allows students to demonstrate practices they use in the class and allow other students to learn and assist them in improving. This type of lesson is extremely powerful when giving each group of students a different rock or mineral to investigate so that the other students can learn without having to investigate the rock or mineral themselves.

Educ 482 - Reflection upon blogs

2009-05-15T19:32:00.000-07:00

The readings this week spanned a rather large array of topics centralized in technology. Jamie McKenzie's article discussed some interesting points in regards to media and how bias has influenced alot of modern media, including blogs and the internet. He also mentions pitfalls and the idea of being a contributing citizen. His extreme passion and resolve could be seen at this point which turned me off.

The chapter by Alan November put forth an interesting article about the National Archives and its use in history classes. Rather than shifting through the documents and percolating the final conclusion to the students NARA allows students to view the documents themselves and piece together a conclusion. A very robust way to address bloom's upper echelons of taxonomy.

Although there were a few more readings the rest of this post will focus on Will Richardson's article on Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts. Not only does Richard point out some benefits of blogs, he points out some very creative uses in the school system as well. As a prospective science teacher I can see the power of blogs in keeping my class up to-date with assignments, handouts, and class reviews. Students can comment and have discussions about concepts they don't completely understand or extend the material in class to the real world. The best part of blogs may be to have the students write a critique or review of the week's material. This could be a good way to assess how the students are doing and where they are having problems. Blogs definitely have potential in the classroom.

Educ 463 - Digital Image Emporiums in the Class

2009-05-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

As a prospective teacher of science the use of digital images in the classroom is a critical tool to augment and help visual concepts to the students. This is especially true for the higher grades where scientific models and ideas become extremely abstract with very few macroscopic methods to represent these ideas. Models are a one potential solution to help students visualize these concepts but they do suffer from forming misconceptions. In particular representing a marble as the molecule CH3-OH; students then incorrectly believe that one marble is how the MeOH molecule looks like.

With digital images and manipulating digital images lessons can be expanded much more readily to aid in the visualizing of concepts. One possibility might be to have students create create a collage outlining their knowledge and concepts of a unit prior to beginning. This allows students to visually represent their understanding and allow the teacher to see how they view the upcoming unit. The teacher can then cover the unit while addressing any short falls or misconceptions that students may have had prior to the unit. An article by Hofer and Swan give a few examples of how digital imaging has evolved and how it can be of particular use in the Social Studies class. These creations can then be put up on flickr or another site to show off the students work to each other or the world.

One thing that the teacher must be careful of inappropriate creations and misconceptions being formed. A classic example of a misconception being formed entails THIS photo of a tsunami. It looks extremely realistic and believable but unfortunately it is a "photoshopped" image. Teachers must watch out for these types of manipulations so students do not develop the wrong idea. Unfortunately, sometimes these images are so well done that even we may have trouble discerning its credibility.

Educ 463 - Digital Images in the classroom.

2009-05-12T02:32:00.000-07:00

For this post I think I'll take the topic in a slightly different direction. Digital camera's are pretty cool and can be used to exfoliate the learning possible in the science classroom from posting experiment walk-throughs to qualitative projects exploring various topics in science from water and Newtonian mechanics to biological processes (not the reproductive one in grade 9 though!). Their use is almost limitless in the classroom. But I want would like to discuss the use of digital images in the science classroom.

Science, in general, is a process that uses observations to obtain data and formulate theories of how the world works around us. In the earlier grades, the abstract invisible processes are not discussed yet; rather, the macroscopic world is discussed that we can detect with our senses or with the aid of instruments such as microscopes.

Digital images allows us teachers to bring science alive to the students. We can show how an egg develops into a child using time lapsed photos and a microscope. Motion can be illustrated with time lapsed photos showing acceleration or deceleration. Space can be illustrated much more clearly using photos from the Hubble telescope or voyager space crafts. A good little article can be found highlighting some of the advantages of digital images in the science classroom. It is hiding
Here

Educ 482 - That Designs Class

2009-05-11T22:07:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog. As you notice I do not use my name but one of a few handles. I've adopted, long ago, the mantra that the internet is Evil and giving out one's personal information shall forever remain taboo. Pipl.com really reinforced this claim and I plan not to give out anymore information that I must =) Anyways I digress. This blog will serve two purposes this semester, the first purpose is Educ 482 and the other class Educ 46X. So some multimedia stuff will crop up here and some designs will crop up here as well and there might even be some cross over and intermixing of the two!

The first class of DFlit was interesting, even if it was an introductory day/gloss over of topics. The class looks like it is shaping up to be an interesting adventure. The mixing of of extremely modern technology with the classroom seems especially interesting. I think someone brought up a good point where just bringing in technology in the classroom isn't the only important factor, but being able to integrate it in a meaningful way so that students actually benefit from it.

The discussions look good as well as the webpage that allows ALL of us to edit it (hopefully we maintain our edict) gives us a sense of freedom that, at least for me, is unfounded. I also particuarly like how we were able to set up the criteria for our we will be marked in class for the discussions. A little integration of that for/of/as learning that everyone has been talking about lately. I think the only reservation I currently have is how some of the topics in infotech will be discussed in this course. Josh will be able to express this concern more eloquently than I, but will there be any points where we will discuss methods of teaching programming in the classroom. The same can be asked with some of the "Office" skills that those courses cover. Well we'll let things play out and see what happens.

Hope to have a great semester with everyone.

Test Post

2009-05-11T21:46:00.000-07:00

First test Post goes here.