Monday, May 14, 2007
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Second LIfe
I spent a little time tooling around Second Life, three fifteen-minute sessions, and I didn't get out of the tutorial stage. It seems that you have to complete it all in one shot and with the semester winding down, currently don't have the time.
I was surprised that no one thought of naming themselves 'Forgotten Sands' so that is who i am there. I did, accidentally, choose the wrong body type and have no idea how to alter it.
While I was there, I found myself chatting with a Student teacher from Arizona who heard about this site through Will Richards' blog. How cool is that! She got booted from the system before the conversation could progress further.
I'm looking forward to spending a decent chunk of time in Second life, beyond the tutorials. Hope to some of you there.
I was surprised that no one thought of naming themselves 'Forgotten Sands' so that is who i am there. I did, accidentally, choose the wrong body type and have no idea how to alter it.
While I was there, I found myself chatting with a Student teacher from Arizona who heard about this site through Will Richards' blog. How cool is that! She got booted from the system before the conversation could progress further.
I'm looking forward to spending a decent chunk of time in Second life, beyond the tutorials. Hope to some of you there.
City Voices
At the beginning of this semester, the infusion of technology in the classrooms seemed to be a very slow process. This can be partially attributed to ignorance to the realm of education, but it seems that more and more schools are taking up these essential practices.
Two things really struck me while I was watching these videos. The first is how the teachers focus wasn’t on how to interact with the technology, the students seemed to already know that, but how the educators where bringing in pertinent media literacy content while filming. The minds of the students were already open because they enjoyed the task they were performing, so they were more receptive to this information.
The second was how the US State Department appointed Toni Blackman as their ambassador to the Hip Hop culture. Though I am not a fan of the music, I find that amazing. The power of a particular genre, regardless of the artistic medium, to necessitate the creation of a governmental liaison…impressive. It speaks deeply of the voice that must be heard. I did some snopping around but could not find anything about how the position was created. Could someone help me out?
Two things really struck me while I was watching these videos. The first is how the teachers focus wasn’t on how to interact with the technology, the students seemed to already know that, but how the educators where bringing in pertinent media literacy content while filming. The minds of the students were already open because they enjoyed the task they were performing, so they were more receptive to this information.
The second was how the US State Department appointed Toni Blackman as their ambassador to the Hip Hop culture. Though I am not a fan of the music, I find that amazing. The power of a particular genre, regardless of the artistic medium, to necessitate the creation of a governmental liaison…impressive. It speaks deeply of the voice that must be heard. I did some snopping around but could not find anything about how the position was created. Could someone help me out?
Freidman
“You need to understand things in order to invent beyond them” -Bill Gates p351
The educational gaps from both the top and bottom seem to stem from a “Black OR White” mentality. True the world is flat, but it is also gray. Eric Stern points out “People want to do stuff that is fun” (338). Blending what is known about the benefits of rote learning with the idea that using technology is fun for students, could escalate our lagging educational system, especially within the domains of Math and Science (the boring shades of gray then transform into the beautifully crisp colors). We have already encountered many examples of how technology increases the motivation of students in terms of English education, but the same must hold true for other disciplines as well.
As a pre-service teacher, I know that a student’s proficiency in English Language Arts has benefits that reach across all curriculums. The ability to think critically will enable future students to become the great inventors that this country needs to compete on the flattened globe. Stressing what interests our students and not ourselves (remember our purpose in the classroom is not to create an army of English majors!!!) has the potential of igniting their passions, while also stressing the importance of a continued education.
The educational gaps from both the top and bottom seem to stem from a “Black OR White” mentality. True the world is flat, but it is also gray. Eric Stern points out “People want to do stuff that is fun” (338). Blending what is known about the benefits of rote learning with the idea that using technology is fun for students, could escalate our lagging educational system, especially within the domains of Math and Science (the boring shades of gray then transform into the beautifully crisp colors). We have already encountered many examples of how technology increases the motivation of students in terms of English education, but the same must hold true for other disciplines as well.
As a pre-service teacher, I know that a student’s proficiency in English Language Arts has benefits that reach across all curriculums. The ability to think critically will enable future students to become the great inventors that this country needs to compete on the flattened globe. Stressing what interests our students and not ourselves (remember our purpose in the classroom is not to create an army of English majors!!!) has the potential of igniting their passions, while also stressing the importance of a continued education.
Hobbs Chapter 4
The central idea that made me stop and think while rereading this selection can be found on pages 65&66.
After watching a video clip, a student commented to the reason why “on a busy day in Chicago, the Niketown store receives 20,000 visitors compared to 3,600 visitors at the Chicago Museum of Art,” by simply stating “Art is boring.” This unexpected response drove home a sad fact: “We are stimulated and entertained not by art, but the process of consumption.”
This is a variant manifestation of the ‘attention economy’ that we discussed earlier in the semester; not applied narrowly to a student’s use of the technology but to a much wider critique on where and how attention is drawn. This places a greater need for us to teach students critical thinking skill, so they can safely navigate through both digital and the physical realms.
The study of propaganda seems like a great place to start media literacy, more so than technology it seems, because it offers every student in the class “to participate, and not only those who have done the reading” (67). This would ignite the learning process for even the most reluctant of readers and get them excited about future course work.
After watching a video clip, a student commented to the reason why “on a busy day in Chicago, the Niketown store receives 20,000 visitors compared to 3,600 visitors at the Chicago Museum of Art,” by simply stating “Art is boring.” This unexpected response drove home a sad fact: “We are stimulated and entertained not by art, but the process of consumption.”
This is a variant manifestation of the ‘attention economy’ that we discussed earlier in the semester; not applied narrowly to a student’s use of the technology but to a much wider critique on where and how attention is drawn. This places a greater need for us to teach students critical thinking skill, so they can safely navigate through both digital and the physical realms.
The study of propaganda seems like a great place to start media literacy, more so than technology it seems, because it offers every student in the class “to participate, and not only those who have done the reading” (67). This would ignite the learning process for even the most reluctant of readers and get them excited about future course work.
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