Skype Interview Project 12

C4K 4-6

C4K-4
My C4K 4 assignment was Pt England school in New Zealand. I was assigned Ray from room 18. Ray's posted that he was in room 18. I commented back and asked what sort of things does he like about being in room 18 and what was he learning currently. I also included a link where Ray could find information about me and leave a comment or question if he needed.

C4K 5
My 5th assignment was Amos from Room 22 at Pt England school. Amos collected birthdates from his classmates and plotted his results on a graph. Amos found that the most common birthdays are in June. Amos did a great job of plotting and displaying the information he collected.

C4K-6
This assignment was from Melville Room 8 in New Zealand. I had the Y8 room which were students 12-13 years old and their teacher is Mr.Webb. Their class blog is filled with videos and pictures about different things going on in their classroom as well as New Zealand. I was assigned to Alana's slideshow on the differences between Denmark and New Zealand. She did a great job of including national animals, sports, and what each country is known for. I commented and told her that her slide show was excellent and included a link to my blog where she could find my summary of her post.

Blog Post 9

Mr. McClung
Mr. McClung opens his essay stating that teachers have lost the drive to make their lessons student-centered and have become more focused on making them teacher centered. He then goes on to explain that it's okay if something isn't exactly on time; you have to learn how to be flexible in certain areas. Mr. McClung also hits a very good point in stating to remember to be reasonable. I agree, because sometimes teachers do have unrealistic expectations and demands. He also writes that we shouldn't be scared of technology, and to listen to our students. Lastly he writes to never stop learning. My first reaction after reading his essay is that Mr. McClung writes from a real place and has an understanding on how to write for the way life really is. He also gives excellent advice. Too often, teachers do forget that the students are the center and not the test and not their co-workers.

SMARTBoard Form

SMARTBoard Presentation

Blog Post 8

How We Dream
Dr. Miller did a great job by displaying the possibilities of technology now. In part one, he spoke about how technology now makes it possible to share and learn information internationally. He showed how it's not just about the text anymore, but more visually dynamic. He showed an example of how he not only uses hard copies for his students but also a visual copy. He then included a video of Dr. Martin Luther King to show how easily a video could be added. In part two, Dr. Miller stated that instead of just reading and taking in information, we should also be producing our own. He stated that we should put together alternative stories and share those stories. He also made a great statement, "large restrictions are the ones we place on ourselves." I agree with Dr. Miller, I think that people are capable of anything they set their minds to, but it's up to the individual to accomplish what they set out to do. He also spoke about how technology now allows us to accomplish our dreams and share them. I thought it was neat because no one can see your dreams but you, and now with technology you can produce your dream and share it with other people.

"Chipper Series" and "Edm for Dummies"
These student produced videos were great, I thought Edm for Dummies was hysterical. It captured what life is like in the first week of EDM310. I would be interested in creating a video to help future students in EDM310. I also think a neat idea would be to go around campus and ask people technology related questions to see how many students at South Alabama are considered "technology illiterate."

"Learn to Change, Change to Learn"
I was shocked to learn that education was ranked 55th, dead last industry sectors by the U.S. Department of Commerce. I agree that children to learn more outside of school than what they are getting inside of school. I totally agree that the student should be at the center of learning and just having the school as a resource, I loved they stated the community and home are just as important for learning as the school. This video also proposed an interesting idea, to allow children to leave the school and get out into the world and collect data and learn in other places than just inside of the classroom. I also agree that standardized testing serves no purpose. I don't think that you can measure a child's intelligence and what they know from multiple choice. I think that it's about critical thinking, and this video did a great job on hitting that students need to think critically as well as using their artistic skills to figure out the answers. They also stated that if schools were more like this, then schools would create geniuses; I tend to agree.
Secret Powers and Drive
The secret powers video was so unique and creative. It took concepts such as time zones and applied them to how people live their lives socially. It also went on to use Italy as an example in the belief that people who live in the North are more future oriented than people who live in the South. The video also showed that people in different cultures live a different pace of life. I found it interesting how it was measured by timing people who walk into different places 100m. It also went on to show that when there is a high pace of life, men tend to have more coronary problems. He made a great point stating that kids now play video games and can't fit into a normal classroom because it's boring compared to the video games and the virtual worlds they can create. I found it shocking that if there was an extra day added people would chose to use it for themselves.
The Drive video showed that using cognitive skills challenges had poorer performances using larger rewards as found by a study at M.I.T. After the study, they decided to move the study to India and found once again higher incentives give poorer performance. He stated that if bosses would pay their workers enough money so they don't have to worry about it, they have more time to concentrate on their work. He also showed that an Australian company showed that one day or workers doing what ever they want, they had more ideas and projects created than any other day. He also found that when the profit motive is unattached from the purpose motive, bad services and products are created.
I feel these videos were perfect at describing how life truly is. For example, schools are placing children into a classroom to sit all day while a teacher stands at the front of the classroom and lectures without pictures, videos, or anything stimulating. These students are not wired to learn that way. The time video proved that kids need something virtual and exciting to get them to learn and be involved. The drive video also showed that money doesn't make people think harder or come up with better ideas. In a lot of ways, that's exactly what schools do but instead of money they use grades.

Short Movie Project 11

First Progress Report on my PLN

I used Symbaloo to keep track and easy access to all of my bookmarks in my PLN. I started off with the necessities of EDM310 such as Twitter and the Blogger website. I organized my bookmarks into categories that are most used, with Facebook being at the top. My PLN helps me stay organized and up to date. For example, I have a link straight to CNN to catch up on news, and I can access my gmail and google docs just by clicking on a bookmark.

C4T-2

"The Fischbowl Post 1"
I was assigned to Karl Fisch's post called the Fischbowl. The first post I commented on was about how there is no one right way to include technology into the classrooms. He stated that with budget cuts, not every school can afford to add a new teacher who only teaches technology. He also implied that by adding a technology aspect in every class and not just one would be more resourceful. He was also very optimistic in saying we've come far, but we still have 89 more years left in this century. I also stated back that I agree, budget cuts are continuously going on because of the economy, and maybe students will learn better by having technology in all classes instead of just one dedicated to technology any way.
Post 2
The next post I commented on was about thinking something is impossible. Mr. Fisch stated that too often teachers hear students say that they cannot do something because it's too hard or it's impossible. He then included a video of two people fitting themselves into a tiny box, which most people would say is impossible. His post was very inspiring and motivational. I replied back that I agree 100% because too many people think things are impossible and give up before they even try. The video you see is the same video that was on his post.

Blog Assignment 7

Randy Pausch talked about many different things, in the beginning he talked about how his dreams of being in the NFL when he was a kid shaped him into the person he is today. He said that he is most comfortable on the football field. He also talked about how when he went to Disney World as a kid, it motivated him to create rides and become an engineer. He worked on virtual reality and got an in to work for Disney with an Aladin "magic carpet" ride. He also stated that "brick walls are there for a reason to let us know how badly we want something."
The next section he talks about how to enable the childhood dreams of others. He went to Carnegie Mellon University and created a course called BVW with 50 students and get projects in teams.He spread his course to five different departments. He stated that the students did an amazing job, and displayed some of there work. He also told his favorite moment was his "roller-skating ninjas" who's project didn't work so they had to go to videotape.
He stepped down and said that the way to leave something great is to leave it to someone greater. Randy and his partner Don then created the Dream Fulfillment Factory. It was a two year masters degree program about technologists working in teams to create new things. All of their time was spent making projects in teams. He said the key to their success was making people work in groups using feedback from the students in the course.
Finally, he talked about Alice...his way to teach computer programming. Randy also said that teaching kids something hard while they are having fun is the best way possible. He also said the best "head fake" comes from learning from your students. He also states that you can't get far without the help of someone. Randy tells the audience to focus on other people instead of focusing on yourself. He then rolls out a birthday cake and calls his wife on stage to wish her a happy birthday. He concludes with telling everyone to find the best in people, and to keep waiting to find the good side in people. In the end he said the ultimate head fake isn't about achieving your dreams, it's about living your life.