Blog Post 8

This Is How We Dream

For this weeks blog post, I watched Dr. Richard E. Miller's video This Is How We Dream.  In 2008, Dr. Miller was working in the English department at Rutgers University.  In his video, he demonstrated multimedia possibilities while he spoke on the future of the sciences and humanities.  He talked about how writing had been a solitary engagement in the past.  Solitary writing had resulted in books.  If you wanted to check out a book, you had to go to the library.  Even then, that book may have already been checked out.  He said that most people today use some sort of word processor for their writing purposes.  Instead of having to go to the local library, we can access many different libraries and find any book we can think of on the internet.  Internet books will last forever and will always be accessible.  With this unlimited information, we now have the sources and access all the time.  Next comes the new platform in which we gather, process, and present the information as teachers and writers.

In the past, we had only been using print and maybe a few pictures within the confines of a book or chalk board as the information platform.  We have the ability now to use print, video, pictures, and sound in virtual environments as platforms for teaching and learning.  Dr. Miller says that "we now work in the digital environment."  Teachers should at least begin using these multimedia tools in their classrooms.  Instant news and up to date information is available when using these tools, but this does scare a lot of people to death in terms of what their child may see.  Some parents and teachers are eager to filter any information that may be just to real for teens to see.  Those parents and teachers may have a very legitimate argument within the confines of the current school buildings and systems we have today.  Anytime something new is introduced into society, there are critics and skeptics.  I think we should be critical and skeptical in all things, but we shouldn't use criticism and skepticism as an excuse to hold ourselves back from moving forward into the future.    

Dr. Miller says that we need schools and systems to be redesigned in order to facilitate this new platform of multimedia information.  This new learning environment should be full of inspiring spaces for teachers and students.  They should be distracting in a way that will allow for creativity.  On the video, Dr. Miller presents a design for a new building at Rutgers in which the sciences and the humanities can come together and create with new and mutual ideas.  He says that for years the humanities had no real visual representation, and now it is trying to make its ideas more visual with the internet.  With multimedia this is very possible indeed.  I am an aspiring history teacher.  When I created my book trailer for project 12, I walked away feeling very confident in the fact that I will be able to incorporate multimedia into my classroom.  Given the proper tools, I will have my students using multimedia as well.  The sense of accomplishment alone makes it all well worth the extra effort.

Carly's Playlist
I thought Carly's idea for a playlist of videos on You Tube was great.  I did not even know you could create a playlist like that on You Tube.  Every classroom I have ever been in seemed to house a vast collection of videos and movies.  You Tube makes it possible to share these videos as well as make them available for home viewing.  Class time is not always the best time for viewing videos.  I will definitely be incorporating an educational playlist into my PLN in the future.

Carly's idea that every teacher needs their own philosophy is very important.  A personal teaching philosophy should reflect the reasons for which you wanted to become a teacher in the first place.  I wanted to become a teacher, because I felt there was a better way.  Now that I have found that way, I will be incorporating it into my teaching philosophy.

The Chipper Series and EDM 310 For Dummies
These two videos discuss the frustration that can come with taking EDM 310.  I have discovered that procrastination in this course is impossible if you want to complete all the assignments on time.  At the beginning of this course the frustration came with having to orient myself in an environment that can be intimidating.  Most of the time I invested in assignments involved learning how to use the tool needed to complete the task.  Now I find that I get frustrated over the lack of time to really get involved in an assignment to see how far I can go.  I would like to create more videos, but videos take a lot of time for me, as I am anal about the final product.  If I had time to just sit and create videos right now, I would try and incorporate them into some sort of study effort for another course I am taking.

"THE DEATH OF EDUCATION, BUT THE DAWN OF LEARNING"

Learn to Change, Change to Learn ranks in my top 3 videos of inspiration in this course.  I felt like it was good enough to rate being inserted into my blog.  Videos like this inspire me to want to continue learning to be a better student in order to become a teacher who can take a leadership role in creating the classroom of tomorrow.  Some of the statistics in this video were shocking.  I am on board with everything this video is about, and I think this is a model for teaching future teachers.  Thanks Dr. Strange. 

Scavenger Hunt 2.0

The first place I visited on my scavenger hunt was Edmodo.  This website is an interactive virtual platform for teachers to use with their students for various things.  Teachers can keep schedules and share them with their students.  They can post assignments and keep track of grades.  Students can create posts.  Parents can stay involved in their child's learning process.  This website or one like it will be utilized in my classroom.


Next, I went to Make Beliefs Comics and created my own comic strip.  Anytime a teacher can integrate something different that has a small amount of entertainment value added is a good thing in my opinion.  A comic could be perfect for that.