http://langwitches.org/blog/

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/

Big Thinkers: James Paul Gee On Video Games  http://www.edutopia.org/james-gee-games-learning-video

The following are the general C-Span topics:

“One of the country’s greatest strengths”

“A challenge the country is facing”

In small groups, the students will pick more specific topics and will create their own short documentaries.. We want the students to understand that they have a voice by participating in a democracy and that even at a young age they have the ability to express themselves by producing effective visual content for an audience. Within that context we will be addressing content and craft.

Content: collaboration, effective research, the ability to discern between valid and invalid information, protection of artistic expression (copyright laws and fair use), discern between what info to use and not to use

Craft: difference between a drama and a documentary, effective coherent presentation of material, use of music, use of images (stills and moving pictures), scripting and planning, keeping audience in mind, order of information presented, impact

Description of last year’s project

Some of last year’s student videos can be viewed on the KRMS Website

By Rick Davidson

During the past two years, I have done a lot of thinking about the best way to integrate computer technology into all curriculum areas. I have read articles on what 21^st century businesses are looking for in employees and and I have talked to friends and acquaintances who are business owners or in management. It is very clear that computer skills are no longer optional. They are mandatory not only in the workplace but also in the home. The Internet has become and will continue to evolve as the focal point for finding information, entertainment and socialization. It is also clear that much of what students learn today will be obsolete in the near future. I can only think back on my evolution as a photographer. How many years were spent mastering both still and motion picture film photography only to find that in less than ten years those skills became “old-fashioned”

One of the repetitive themes in business publications, educational periodicals and books is that todays students need to be comfortable with collaboration. They  need to know how to effectively and ethically work with others on line. Employers are looking for employees who can create both written and visual media for an audience. The ability to create effective videos is no longer just the province of the professional movie maker. Today, there are tools on every computer that are far more sophisticated and easy to use than what was available to the professional only a few years ago. We have reached a point where the question should no longer be how do you use a given program. The question should be how can you use that tool to best fit your purpose. Likewise, it is no longer enough to show students how to click on links on the worldwide web. They also need to know how to evaluate the relevance and the truth of what they uncover. Web 2.0 has transformed the web into an incredibly powerful interactive tool. World wide collaboration is at the finger tips of every computer user. Mankind’s knowledge base is only a click away. The traditional concept of the “Sage on the Stage” doling out wisdom and knowledge needs to be questioned.

I have been reading a number of books and have been particularly intrigued by “Comprehension and Collaboration” by Stephanie Harvey and Harvey Daniels. This book echoes much of what I have been reading in “Edutopia”, “The Journal”, “Educational Leadership”, and on on-line blogs.

The following is from “Comprehension and Collaboration”:

I am going to periodically present ideas from educational thinkers on my blog in the hope that we can all consider what will work best to help us live up to our KRMS vision statement and to prepare our students for life in the 21^stcentury.

I am also including two blog responses to Smart Boards. I would welcome responses to these varied points of view.

1. From: Jim Beal <bealj@somonauk.net>

Jeff,

Not surprisingly, Smartboards are aimed at the current paradigm of
instruction: “chalk and talk,  sage on the stage,” or more accurately
objectivist based instruction.  While it is true that they can be used for
constructivist instruction, they are limited in their ability to provide
this.  In addition, like most educational tools, they do not encourage
teachers to change to a constructivist approach.  What they really do is
enhance presentations.

One of the problems with these is synaptic.  Engaging students to most
teachers is having them pay attention to them.  This makes the teacher
feel that students are learning and it maintains discipline.  However,
students may be “paying attention,” but still not learning.  Learning
engagement refers to cognition, not behavior.

Appealing to the most common/popular paradigm of instruction is lucrative
for SmartBoard, but does not improve learning enough to offset their
costs.

_______

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Edtech Archives, posting guidelines and other information are at:
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2. From: Memberships- CShively <poman@davidshively.com>

The only way to engage the students with IWBs is to do inservice so
teachers do
not fall into Vanna White syndrome. They need to see and hear models that use
the whiteboard as a tool for STUDENTS to interact with content: moving words,
manipulating writing, highlighting, and creating on the whiteboard. It is a
fantastic tool for kinesthetic and visual learners and should not be used
as a
fancy projection screen or teacher-magic device. KIDS should be operating the
board. They learn it faster, anyway. Explicate poetry, do collaborative
revision of writing, drag and drop to categorize or match terms, prioritize
vocabulary words by connotation, write cloze-style main idea sentences as
reading comprehension below a passage on the board, experiment with word
choice, sort types of equations by slope, etc. All can be done with the
students doing it ON the whiteboard and the class arguing about where things
should go. ONe of the best lessons I ever saw was a class activity in
calculus
where students had to rank a group of functions by some characteristic or
other
and the CLASS received the same grade for their decisions. Have you eve
seen HS
kids scream at each other over curriculum concepts?

Don’t throw out the device for lack of inservice.
Candace Hackett Shively
Director of K12 Initiatives
The Source for Learning/ TeacherFirst.com
cshively@sflinc.org
blog: http://blog.teachersfirst.com/thinkteach/
twitter: @cshively

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Edtech Archives, posting guidelines and other information are at:
http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~edweb
Please include your name, email address, and school or professional
affiliation in each posting.

Abbey

Tips for Using Blog In The Classroom

“Teachers can make the process of blogging easier for their students by setting an example.  If a teacher has a blog, it makes students want to blog, too.”  Lauren

“Technology is ubiquitous, touching almost every part of our lives, our communities, our homes. Yet most schools lag far behind when it comes to integrating technology into classroom learning. Many are just beginning to explore the true potential tech offers for teaching and learning. Properly used, technology will help students acquire the skills they need to survive in a complex, highly technological knowledge-based economy.
Integrating technology into classroom instruction means more than teaching basic computer skills and software programs in a separate computer class. Effective tech integration must happen across the curriculum in ways that research shows deepen and enhance the learning process. In particular, it must support four key components of learning: active engagement, participation in groups, frequent interaction and feedback, and connection to real-world experts. Effective technology integration is achieved when the use of technology is routine and transparent and when technology supports curricular goals.

Many people believe that technology-enabled project learning is the plus ultra of classroom instruction. Learning through projects while equipped with technology tools allows students to be intellectually challenged while providing them with a realistic snapshot of what the modern office looks like. Through projects, students acquire and refine their analysis and problem-solving skills as they work individually and in teams to find, process, and synthesize information they’ve found online.

The myriad resources of the online world also provide each classroom with more interesting, diverse, and current learning materials. The Web connects students to experts in the real world and provides numerous opportunities for expressing understanding through images, sound, and text.

New tech tools for visualizing and modeling, especially in the sciences, offer students ways to experiment and observe phenomenon and to view results in graphic ways that aid in understanding. And, as an added benefit, with technology tools and a project-learning approach, students are more likely to stay engaged and on task, reducing behavioral problems in the classroom.
Technology also changes the way teachers teach, offering educators effective ways to reach different types of learners and assess student understanding through multiple means. It also enhances the relationship between teacher and student. When technology is effectively integrated into subject areas, teachers grow into roles of adviser, content expert, and coach. Technology helps make teaching and learning more meaningful and fun.”