Blog Post #8

This is How We Dream

In his two part video, This Is How We Dream, Dr. Miller describes how reading and writing has changed. We have moved from using paper and pens to using technology for virtual reading and writing. Miller is discussing the importance of creativity and collaboration., as well as how cheap and accessible books and information have become due to technology. In the second part of his video he describes visual representation and academic lectures that are available on the web. He also advocates openly and freely sharing ideas, while acknowledging the challenges in creating an educational system like the one he describes throughout his videos.

My favorite thing about the first part of his video is that he points how much we can do with a virtual workspace. We can research “the riches of the world as they are stored on the web.” We no longer are limited to local libraries. With the use of technology we can research sources from all over the world without ever leaving home, or having to make a special trip to the library. He goes on to describe the ways that we can use audio and images as well as text, and collaborate with others on projects. Because technology allows us to connect virtually over the web, we can collaborate with people all around the world.

In the second part, Miller says that we as educators must be in the business of sharing ideas freely. I couldn’t agree with him more. I love working on collaborative projects. When you have other people working with you, you have access to someone to bounce ideas around with. You can help one another improve aspects of the project.

Miller recognizes that there are many challenges to overcome if we are to create this type of educational system. He states openly that he can barely fathom the idea. Like Miller, I find this fascinating. Why wouldn’t we want to share and push ideas into our culture? It was amazing to see what people are already composing using the web itself. It is amazing that we can see the emotion of different geographical locations. I believe we are definitely well on our way to an exclusively technology based educational system.

Carly Pugh’s Blog Post #12

Carly’s post was absolutely amazing! Not only was the content significant but her writing style is fascinating. It’s unbelievably entertaining. Her assignment truly epitomizes Dr. Miller’s dream of writing with multimedia.

Had I been given this assignment in school, we would have pulled out a sheet of paper and numbered one through ten, answering each question in written form. Because Carly explicitly states that you should use videos to answer these questions, it takes pens and paper off the table, and replaces them with technology. Most of her assignment requires no text at all. Not only does this assignment make you think, it teaches research and technological skills, self-reflection, and planning among many others.

EDM310 for Dummies and The Chipper Video

“EDM 310 for Dummies” is a video that shows you how to be successful in EDM 310. The video starts out with two students who are going crazy because they are overwhelmed by this course. This video introduces the book, EDM 310 for Dummies, which features tutorials and information for all aspects of this class.

“The Chipper Series” was hilarious! I love satire! Chipper is lazy, unmotivated, and procrastinates way too much. This video points out that these are terrible habits and you should stay on top of classwork, meet all deadlines, and follow instructions. This video was really great because it really touches on the point that school is not a joke.

I think the primary message of the videos was that you should always do your best and seek help and guidance when you need it. With EDM310 in particular, help is always available. The only possible reason someone could have for failing this class is that they did not put forth the effort required to succeed. I think Dr. Strange and the EDM staff do an outstanding job of being there for students and helping with anything we need. Their knowledge is something that should definitely be taken advantage of.

Learn to Change, Change to Learn

Education ranked lowest in IT intensiveness? Below coal mining? What?!

This video was mainly about how we teach and how technology is important in the classroom. This is so true. Just as Dr. Miller points out that we are no longer restricted to libraries for research, the same goes for schools. This is not the only place that children can learn now.

The new 21st century set of literacies are described as what one can do with information; can you find it, validate it, synthesize it, leverage it, communicate it, collaborate with it, problem-solve with it?

One of the main problems presented in this video is that technology children are using to communicate via email, text, and instant messages, are either banned or is not being utilized. We are not reaching them on a level that they are a) comfortable with, or b) can easily relate too.

We need to focus on teaching them how to use technology to benefit them. It can be used for so much more than texting and funny cat videos.

Scavenger Hunt 2.0

1. Edmodo is an amazing site. I’ve been ranting about it for a while now. I like to describe Edmodo as Facebook for teachers. Edmodo allows you to add “groups” which are basically virtual classrooms. Within these groups teachers can give assignments, quizzes, start discussions and even take polls.

There are quite a few reasons I like this site so much. The first being that this is a great way to get my students involved. It also a great way to turn your classroom into an environmentally friendly class. The main reason I like this so much is that it will allow my students access to me even when school is out. If they are at home doing an assignment, they will always be able to contact me through our virtual class.

2. I found MakeBeliefsComix in Related Links from Web 2.0. Here is my comic:



3. For creating a poll, I used PollEverywhere. You can respond to my poll here.