I had a lot of fun this semester with the various integrated technologies in the classroom. I especially see the potential for technology in younger education. I remember when I was a kid in elementary school or middle school, any time we got to go to the computer lab and play educational games, or simply have some kind of interactive assignment in class that day, I loved it. I looked forward to it the most, and some of my earliest memories in elementary school are of some of the games I played.

Now, in terms of higher education, technology still offers massive educational potential. Students can use technology as a tool for research, for discovery. While the interactivity is important, older students are heavily entrenched in social media. Social media can be used by students to learn all sorts of subjective information about any particular event, and information such as surveys can be crowdsourced out to many people at once. 

I think further integration of technology into an educational setting is a good idea. It’s potential is endless, and students are adaptable, almost always able to pick up new technology easily. 

Author Intro

• Clip from “tales from bah sing se”  w/sokka (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
• Limericks
• Introductory poems
• Rationale: mass appeal for individuals and in many different disciplines

Inquire

• What is the purpose of poetry?
• Types of poetry, performance, music derivative
• History
• Critic’s ideas of good poetry
• Stanza, verses, forms
• Quotes
• Most famous poets
• Why are they remembered
• Phases, popularity
• Communication, catharsis, account (history again): general indications of groups of people, time, opinions

Standards

• Georgia Performance
• ELACCL9-10RI4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper). 
• ELACCL9-10RI2: Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over thecourse of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details;provide an objective summary of the text.
• ELACCL9-10RI6: Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose. 

Hook – Anticipatory Set

• Terminology
• Define different types of poetry
• Video
• Spoken word poets performing
• Sarah Kay Ted Talk : If I should have a daughter

i+1 Zone

• Lecture Materials – website
• Reading Materials – 5 different poems, 5 different eras
• Classroom Activities
• Go around class, add a line to a poem; follow the syllable scheme of a Haiku
•  Blipfoto project

General Musings on our project

• I think poetry is an easily accessible form of art that young people of all ages can adopt to express themselves. I think we’ll be able to make this project fun and engaging to the participants, and I’m having a lot of fun learning more about poetry myself.

I’ve thought that project based learning was an extremely effective teaching method. In my early days, it was nice to be able to create something tangible that I needed critical thinking skills to create. For example, in my major, we learn many things about how to act on a set, what sort of lights do what on camera, how to direct actors, etc… Now, it’s one thing to learn all this in a classroom, but it’s completely different to be required to create something based on these skills. It forces me to use the skills I learned, and apply them to the project at hand. The more I use those skills, the more ingrained into my brain they become.

On the set of my TELE 4250 midterm.

Another example of a benefit of using a project based teaching style is that students cannot simply memorize information to use it on this project. To actually create something pertaining to the subject they’re in, they must possess an innate understanding of the topic. This encourages further research on subjects, as well as guaranteeing the students retain the information instead of letting it simply float through one ear and out the other. 

A con to this approach, however, is that if a student were to not already grasp the subject well enough to think critically and creatively, being thrust into a situation where you are required to understand may overwhelm some students, frustrating them and sending them even further behind. I think this could easily be combated, however, through careful nurturing of the student and an awareness of their learning progress. A little help from the teacher can go a long way in a student’s motivation and encouragement.

Personally, I ended up having a lot of fun with this project. While stressful at times (like when you accidentally lose 70% percent of your work you were editing after 4 hours of editing, whoops), when it clicked together, it felt good. This project was also an opportunity for me to practice more on my editing skills, which I certainly could use more of. That being said, the editing is very time consuming, even for such a short project (~1 minute). Also, sometimes it’s difficult to maintain continuity throughout the pictures being taken due to changing lighting and not having equipment able to adequately handle the varying levels of exposure.

                                                     Adobe Premiere Pro

As for the topic we chose for our stop motion project, Dropbox, I am personally a huge fan. I’m a student in the New Media Certificate (NMIX) program here at UGA, and it’s very oriented around web-based technologies. As a result, we constantly used Dropbox to store all sorts of files in various classes. In one of my NMIX classes,  we stored all of the files for an entire website we created in Dropbox. It’s an incredible tool. Just a week or so ago, I had an editing assignment I needed to do that involved clips from an old TV show called “Gunsmoke”. Instead of the teacher making us download each individual clip (about 30 of them), we gave him our email, and he shared the Gunsmoke folder with us, with all of the clips included. That way, the files automatically uploaded to our computers. The convenience of Dropbox is astounding.

I also personally use Dropbox all the time for personal storage. I back up all of my school assignments in my “School” folder of my Dropbox. That way, I can access my important files wherever I am. Not only that, but it’s a great way to share music with your friends. You can simply share a folder with them, drop some of your own music in the shared folder, and voila, they too have access to it. It’s that simple. I’m a huge supporter of Dropbox! 

Stop motion video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtVAYT88YKc

The concept of Augmented Reality has existed for a long time, however, now in our contemporary day and age it is somewhat commonplace, though it feel like science fiction! The ability to take real-time real world visual stimulus and incorporate information from the virtual world to enhance it is truly astonishing. Opportunities for learning in more creative ways, or to potentially illustrate an abstract concept with more efficiency, Augmented Reality is here to stay.

When Jim came to speak with our class about ARIS, an augmented reality iOS app, I could tell already that this app was something special. ARIS allows for the creation of completely customizable augmented reality exercises. For example, “Dow Day”, a popular “situated documentary” that ARIS users can access, allows the user to embark on an interactive, historical journey through the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 1967 when students came out to protest the presence of Dow Chemical on their campus because of their involvement with napalm production during the Vietnam War. This lesson allows you to stand where the students protested, and look at the same grounds where they stood, as well as pictures supplied by the app. This app truly offers an innovative way to teach concepts from entirely new perspectives.

Considering Google Glass is garnering more and more popularity each day, it is safe to say that an era of mainstream, consumer-oriented augmented reality technologies has ushered forth. How do I feel about this? Cautiously optimistic, I’d say. As long as we do not become dependent on having information so readily available (even more readily available than smart phones), and merely use these technologies to enhance and augment (heh heh) reality around us, then the technology will be more beneficial to our society as a whole.

The ideas put forth in the very introduction of the “Media Literacy” article I find apt and applicable, especially in my life. When I was in high school, the arts programs were constantly under attack in regards to funding, and many of my contemporaries were simply unable to take arts courses because their core classes (English, Science, Math, etc.) left no room for arts classes because they were deemed unimportant. The article correctly assesses that human brains are split into two hemispheres, and though the two sides of the brain to not specifically delineate “creative” and “empirical” thinking, this merely illustrates the fact that there is more to the learning process than just facts, figures, and rules. Creativity is a must.

Many people believe that the visual arts are a completely separate entity in terms of teaching and learning, however, any kind of visual creation is reliant on integrated thinking from various disciplines. Filmmaking, for example. It is an extremely artistic endeavor, however, it requires an innate understanding of light, of how different light sources interact and react with each other, color temperature measured in kelvin. Not only that, but it requires an understanding of sound, how images interact with each other in terms of a film’s pacing , human interaction through casting and producing, and more. It is a plethora of skills that requires use of information gleaned from all disciplines in school.

I think that the idea of teachers focusing on art with a critical thinking mindset behind it could be a great step forward in the field of teaching to allow students to both think critically and creatively at the same time. While many people believe that art is a smattering of some artist’s whim that follow no rhyme or reason, the fact is: most, if not all, professional art out there is no mere smattering of ideas and whim. While it’s true the creative portion is integral to a piece of art, the art is no mere whim, and it often adheres to rules and guidelines delineated in that particular type of art. For example, the “rule of thirds” is a basic for all photography and cinematography, that rule being: objects in the frame are more interesting when put into specific areas of the frame according to it being split into thirds. This is a very basic rule, but it causes the photographer to think about whatever shot they’re doing, how it looks, how it’s framed. He must think critically about it. Putting more emphasis on being creative but thinking critically about it seems like an excellent way to propel the next generation of sharp, creative minds.

I do agree with some of the trends on the higher education report. Particularly with the trend that 3D printing is going to become a much more integral part of the learning environment, especially when it comes to design. Also, the incorporation of free and open learning courses to supplement education learned in a classroom. With more and more of these courses becoming available to use, and the legitimacy rising, it’s apparent that these are going to become a big part educating those who maybe could not afford college. 

3D Printing is the future in design.

Many of the challenges outlined in this report deal with professors not being able to keep up with technology or simply not acknowledging the legitimacy of various forms of research on the internet. That, or all forms of social media simply being written off as social media, and not as a place to gather ideas or crowdsource information. Also, I certainly the Massively Open Online Courses (MOOC) creating significant competition to the traditional college setting. As a result, private and state run institutions will need to prove their worth over this free alternative.

Students can learn from anywhere utilizing MOOCs.

I’m excited for this new trend of crowdsourcing data to really hit the classrooms. With all of this interactivity and social media penetrating every aspect of our lives, there lies an opportunity to created a learning experience specifically tailored to every person’s individual wants or learning techniques.

1. Which project do you like the most or which project is the most impressive?  Why?
   1. Quest to Learn. A school devoted to catering to children growing up in a digital age makes sense. Kids growing up these days are going to have intimate knowledge of technology from a very early age, so it make sense to at least give the option to these kids to take classes based around that. These kids are doing complicated tasks such as game development, and they’re gaining basic problem solving skills by doing so. This program allows the children to really play as well as learn when it comes to technology. This program is a great example of technology being used as a tool instead of a distraction in a learning environment. Gameification is a popular method for making people excited about things not normally thought of as games, this method works for Quest to Learn as they turn learning into a type of game.
2.  Do you think you need to sharpen your digital medial skills?  What are some challenges for you to use the digital media in your own learning/ teaching?  Maybe it’s the challenges related to resources, time management, curriculum design, your own skills, teachers’ collaboration?
   1. While I’ve been taught and exposed to digital media for most of my life, technology is constantly changing and innovating. I’m sure there are many methods and technologies out there right now that I do not know about or do not know how to use, that could really benefit my sharpening of my digital media skills. My personal challenge with using digital teaching in a learning environment is my propensity to get easily distracted. Recently, I’ve begun taking many of my notes in class with a pen and notebook because there’s no way for me to check Facebook on a notebook.  Another example of this is any time I try to write a paper on my computer, it’s so easy for me to become distracted by the infinite information available on the internet. Sometimes, there are just too many resources available at once, and that needs to be honed down to become less overwhelming for a student.
3.  Do these projects remind you of some ideas you learned from your reading (meaningful learning with technology chapter 1)?  What are the ideas?  How did you see the connections?
   1. Yes, in one instance in particular, the argument is made that the claim that students are not reading and writing as much is wrong. In the meaningful learning chapter, we learn that technology and the interconnectivity of the internet pushes kids to care more about the content their posting on the web, whether that be a game or a written analysis. When a kid knows that other people will be reading their work and actually making comments about it, that kid is going to put more effort into the assignment to make it worthy of their peers. Not only that, but the use of technology at all prepares these kids for an increasingly technology-driven future. Programming exercises are extremely effective for teaching children problem solving techniques as well.
4. How do social networking sites or virtual communities broaden and/or otherwise change your students’ sense of community, and/or interaction with others? How do students communicate differently using technology than they might in person? What benefits do these digital tools offer, and what challenges might they present?
   1. Virtual communities are inherently different from real-life communities in terms of physical presence, however, both communities allow for that camaraderie found in human interaction. With virtual communities, members of your community can be located all around the world, not simply in one’s immediate vicinity. With the ability to communicate with people from all around the world, the ease of being able to meet someone from a completely different culture allows students to gather perspectives from all walks of life, making them better world citizens. One challenge, however, is privacy. Children are very vulnerable on the internet, however, in the classroom, with careful vigilance and firewalls, the children can be prevented from being exposed from the more lewd areas of the internet.
5. Did you have similar experiences or did you know any teachers/ schools doing similar things?  Describe your experiences or the teachers/ schools you know.  If you don’t, try to think about one think about one digital media project that you want to do with K-12 students or your friends.
   1. I had a similar experience with technology when I was in my senior year of high school. I was enrolled in a web design class, and this class was heavily technology based, with each assignment being some kind of technology based project. I think the class was great because it was the only one of its kind I had ever taken in high school, and I believe it heavily influenced my decision to enroll in the New Media Certificate program here at UGA. In that class, we were able to Skype with contacts our teacher had in Australia, and allow guests to talk to us about such things as Web 2.0 and the importance of blogging. Overall I think it was an extremely beneficial experience.
6. John Seely Brown says: “In a world of rapid change, the need to memorize something is a 20th century skill.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement? In what instances might memorization, or other more “rote” methods, still play a vital educational role? In what ways can approaches complement each other? (cited from the discussion guide for the video clip)
   1. To a degree, I certainly do agree with that statement. Einstein’s even quoted as not memorizing many equations and formulas because he was able to simply look them up, so there was no need. He argued that this left more room in his head for ideas. Whether that’s true or not, but memorization could certainly still become useful for basic math skills, such as times tables. Having an easy access to many common multiplication problems can come in handy at any age. Basic grammar skills can be taught by memorization as well, as that applies many aspects of life, and more complicated grammatical rules can simply be looked up. These are only a few ideas for the benefits of rote memorization.

Meaningful Learning with Technology.

This article greatly emphasizes the potential benefits of using blogging as a teaching method. The article cites anecdotal evidence of students who have found that their writing has improved, or they simply enjoy writing more. I agree with the theory that this article posits that blogging is a useful tool in the classroom because the “publishing” aspect of the blog offers incentive for students to put more effort into what they’re writing since it’s getting posted on a public forum for all to read.

Blogging is a great way to turn writing into an interactive experience.

Towards the end of the article, it advises educators to be sure to enumerate expectations from students when assigning blog assignments, and I think this is extremely important. Because of the nature of blogs and how relatively new they are as a teaching tool, specifically listed expectations would greatly benefit a student who might not be familiar with blogs or blogging. What is important to remember is that the students’ education is the first and foremost priority in a teaching environment, and one must be careful not to get caught up in the technicalities of blogging.