Friday, December 7, 2007

reflection

Earlier this week, while I was teaching my Culture of the 60's class and showing a YouTube video on my SmartBoard, one of my students said to me, "Can you imagine teaching without that thing?"(referring to the SmartBoard).
I paused for a minute and thought: no, I can't imagine it. And yet, I did it for 12.5 of the 15 years that I've been teaching. I taught for years without powerpoint, YouTube, taking my students directly to a webpage, then following links; without email, LiveJournal, blogs, wikis, turnitin.com, social networks...so much of the stuff I do now I never was able to do, and yet I still managed to run a class. It blows my mind how much technology and web 2.0 specifically has altered the way I deliver instruction. And of course, I needed one of my students to point that out to me.

Wow.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

happy thanksgiving

Happy Turkey Day, all you US folk. In the spirit of thanks, giving, and the holidays, I thought I'd share this link (courtesy of chris brogan's twitterfeed) for the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) program. If you can do it, please DO IT.

Have  great weekend!

Blogged with Flock

Sunday, November 18, 2007

class social networks: thoughts?

Last night I made a major decision to move my discussion board for my Theater class from wikispaces to a new page I created on ning. Don't get me wrong, I think wikispaces is a truly great thing; the possibilities are limitless, but the truth is that it really doesn't serve our needs at this moment (maybe one day soon it will?). I don't currently have plans to have my students make pages on the wiki, nor do I have the time to shift my entire online presence for the class from my blogger blog (where i's been living for about four years) to the wiki site. As for the discussion board, which was the only feature I was really using: I felt that the setup was far too limiting and there weren't enough management options for me as the moderator. I had also seen it get to the point where the initial novelty had worn off, and the students were no longer as inclined to post as they had been.
So, I found that the whole concept of an online social network for the students in the class was much more appealing, and I could do a lot more with the page as well as manage the forums more effectively. The notion of being able to create a profile and add pics, music and video (like facebook) seemed to be much more appealing to students, so I thought I'd give it a go. The hardest part now, I'm sure, will be actually getting everyone to sign up...

the conference

So the story in a nutshell is, I had attended a conference (one that I had attended in the past) that was specifically for educators in the Arts. It's held on the campus of a local university and always boasts a great turnout. This year's theme had to do with Technology and the Arts, so I had been especially excited to go. I looked forward to seeing what new ideas the "experts" came up with as far as implementing technology in arts education, and even the possibility of some exposure to Web 2.0 strategies in the arts. When I looked over the choices of breakout sessions, however, I was a little disappointed; it was the same old thing as before, some workhops in Adobe software (just like last year), iMovie, and using DVD clips in your classes.
Ok, I know I have to be fair; not all teachers are ready for the 'big leap' into web 2.0, both psychologically and logistically. Maybe, for some of the old school crowd, integrating DVD segments into an arts class may indeed be a big step. I was just struck by the lack of sessions that addressed some of the real advancements in using technology in education.
Anyway, back to my experience at the conference: so I chose a somewhat interesting-sounding workshop on combining digital video and theater for the first session, which was indeed interesting in terms of the concept but lacked some of the hands-on application I had hoped for. What really struck me about this session, (which was led by a very bright, enthusiastic young arts administrator who was doing some very cool things with his students) was that when the instructor made passing reference to some of the editing tools he was using in Final Cut, some participants actually asked him if he could email instructions to them on how to use Final Cut. He paused, looked stunned for a second, swallowed and said, "uh...sure, I guess so...". Poor guy.
For the second session, I was struck by the lack of any compelling choices (the majority, it seemed, had nothing to do with technology) until I saw an offering for an acting workshop using Moscow Art Theater approach to characterization, "using technology". Suspicious, I went to the classroom a few minutes early and saw the instructor setting up, and took an opportunity to ask what kind of software we would be using to create our character. The teacher, a petite, professional looking woman with what sounded like a Russian accent, replied, chuckling: "Is no software!We use actor's imagination!" Well, thank you, but I already know how to do that. I thanked her, and headed for the parking lot.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Once and for all, proof that Macs are cheaper than PCs

This simple truth is dawning: If we forget about computer-industry network effects and monopolistic business practices, if we forget Apple's various ancient missteps -- if we're going just by what's better -- the ages-old Mac-vs.-PC debate is over. Long over. Yell it from the rooftops: The Mac has won.

read more | digg story

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

new hardware on its way!

Pardon this totally self-indulgent post, but I just wanted to squeal about the fact that my custom (read: tricked-out) iMac just shipped this morning! I can't wait, especially since I've just about reached my boiling point with my stupid D*ll laptop running the oh so buggy Vista (yes, I totally take the blame for bringing that into my own life). Anyway, if you're wondering why I didn't just wait until Friday (when the new Mac OS, Leopard*, is scheduled for release) the answer I'm giving is that I didn't want to have to wait for the backlogging that's sure to be a result of the mad rush...especially now, after the media has crowned Apple the #3 computer manufacturer. The real reason, however, is: I really just couldn't wait any longer!

*if you bought a mac after Oct. 1 of this year, you get to upgrade to Leopard for only $9.99, according to the Apple website.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Podcasting Poll

I put a poll on my Film Appreciation blog, which you can view here. The results are disappointing, partly because of the low number of responses (I have about 28 kids in the class), and partly because I don't even know if the respondents are my students in the first place. Hm, time to try a zoomerang instead?

Thursday, October 11, 2007

First Post

I'm a high school teacher and part-time professor of educational technology who has used weblogs and online journals for many years as a means of instructional delivery and student-teacher-student communication. I've just started integrating wikis and podcasts as well. I'd love to hear from other teachers who are on the same path!

Also, check out this great site for educators using web 2.0 practices: Classroom 2.0.