Sunday, June 28, 2009
Wk 4 Scratch Tutorial
After hearing Ron Smith share what students like to create with at his school I decided to give Scratch a try. Any form of programing usually makes my stomach turn, but this program was created for younger users. As I was viewing the Scratch tutorial I discovered Sprites and backgrounds that could be uploaded. Then I added some scripts, or commands, to the images. Further practice is needed because I can only get the butterfly to move when I press the right arrow, left arrow and space bar. The click and drag option for creating in Scratch seems user friendly. I think my students would pick up on this much faster and have a blast.
WK 4 Art of Possibility Chap. 10-12 & Coda
Chapter 10 Being the Board
Always seeing different situations in life as a game board with rules and expectations would seem to turn any situation into a realm of possibilities. Zander’s questions: “How did this get on the board that I am? and how is it that I became a context for that to occur?” seem to help turn any situation into a learning and growing experience.
As a teacher, I am always looking for an open way to correct a mistake without shutting down progress. Zander’s phrase “How fascinating!” seems so simplistically used when an error occurs. It leads right into a springboard for learning without hindering creativity.
Ben taking the blame for the mishap during the symphony performance so as to not cause disharmony in his group was a story I could relate to all too well. Situations like this have risen both within my family life and professional life. People would probably work better together when there seems to be cooperation and a sense of equality.
Chapter 11 Creating Frameworks for Possibility
Preparing oneself for defense against a downward spiral would take a lot of practice. Zander’s plan for creating a framework seems fairly reasonable especially when
possibility overcomes the downward spiral. I like how he plans the framework for possibility around these three words to create a focus: purpose, commitment, and vision.
Chapter 12 Telling the WE Story
What happens when togetherness, relationship, and communication are not appearing to be an option? What if some people to not want to be a part of the we factor? Zander does give some examples of some negative attitudes that can be changed by the WE approach, but what if one or more of the people involved do not want to be reclaimed?
Coda symbol retrieved from Wikipedia on June 28, 2009 at http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/coda
Coda
Coda is an Italian word for tail, and in music it brings a movement to a conclusion. No wonder the Zanders chose this for the ending chapter of their book. They do an excellent job of briefly restating the key elements to practicing how to open up the realm of endless possibilities in our lives.
Photo of tailless lizard by Inesplicable’s Photostream. Retrieved on June 28, 2009 from
http://search.creativecommons.org/#
WK 4 Art of Possibility Chap. 7-9
Babe Movie Trailer retrieved on June 28, 2009 from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myyb4FUUMwI&feature=related
Chapter 7 The Way Things Are
Babe, the Gallant Pig is one of my favorite children’s books and movies so I could definitely relate to Zander’s comparison of the duck and cow to the way things are. I believe it is natural for most people to let their calculating self take over, but Babe demonstrated how a central self could take a somewhat hopeless situation and basically change the way people felt about him on the farm. Most of the other characters spoke to him in a downward spiral of pessimism, however, Babe continued try out possibilities towards the dreams and visions he had for his life as a sheep herder.
As an educator I highly support taking mistakes and turning them in to learning experiences. Many of the students I have taught in the past are so afraid to make mistakes that it hinders them from participating in discussions and being creative in their work. When I make mistakes in class I try to model how to first acknowledge my error and figure out how to make it better without putting anyone or anything else down. Most of the time it is common for them to try to blame someone else for their mistakes. I look forward to practicing the art of welcoming mistakes with my future students.
Chapter 8 Giving Way to Passion
Entering this Educational Media Design and Technology program was one time I can clearly see myself practice Zander’s two steps to giving way to passion. Before this program I was holding back when it came to technology. Using it with students was uncomfortable and I kept getting in my own way because I wanted to be in control. Then I realized technology is not a fad that will come and go, and my students always get excited no matter what we do when I incorporate any form of technology or media in a lesson. At that point I became passionate about wanting to use technology to the max, and I entered this program. Little did I know that his second step, participating wholly, would just naturally immerse me into a wealth of information on a daily basis that this program provides. Now on a regular basis I go way beyond my comfort zone, try new things, and never give up as I experience different aspects of media design and technology (all on one buttock!).
Chapter 9 Lighting a Spark
Hearing Zander’s approach in this chapter that some things are done better in person was a welcomed relief. Communication seems to be moving so quickly towards solely online that it was good to hear he still promotes face to face interaction at times. People still need to experience emotions and reactions that can only come from personal contact.
Recently while trying to start a business my husband’s mother had a similar philosophy to Zander’s lighting a spark dealing with how to take a no and not see it as a downward spiral. She stated, “A no just means they haven’t gotten enough information yet.”
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Week 4 Creative Wiki Ideas
Create and use cards, games and cartoons.
I am seeking creative ideas to add to my summertime classroom wiki page. Tom suggested using this site to add fun movies for the students to view and review. Then they could create their cartoon mini movies. I checked it out and agree with him. The students would have fun with this site. The cartoon they create is fun and brief enough to generate and hold their interest.
Check out the one I created for my page:
Monday, June 22, 2009
Week 3 Tutorials Creating a Favicon
Adding a Favicon
For the past two days I have been trying to follow Steve Bailey’s tutorial on adding a Favicon to my website. I have an image that I drew of a butterfly. I created a favicon file and downloaded it to my computer using the Dynamic Drive website. I opened the edit html tab and this is where I am experiencing a lack of knowledge. I have tried several different ways to add my Favicon. Then I decided to see if YouTube had any more specific tutorials focusing directly on adding a Favicon to blogger, and yes it did! These directions have the user go to a different site to create the favicon, and this site is currently unavailable.
Perseverance!
Video created by June Holester of seomarketing7blogspot.com. Retrieved on June 22, 2009 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3adMR5FBKgE
WK3 Art of Possibility Chapters 5-6
Chapter 5 Leading from Any Chair
Again, education provides many opportunities for educators to allow students to collaborate using their strengths to help complete a task, practice, or teach a new skill or concept. This helps develop leadership qualities in all students. For several years my district has been incorporating Kagan Strategies for successful student interaction and contribution. The “Leaders Everywhere” story Ben Zander shares in this chapter about the Cuban Orchestra players teaching the Americans and then the Americans teaching the Cubans definitely fits into several Kagan Activities. The strategy is called Jig-Saw. This strategy has each student become an expert on a topic and then they share their expertise with others.
http://edweb.sdsu.edu/People/tkopcha/fall2007/mathed502/kagan_strats.pdf
Boston Philharmonic Orchestra photo by photofalcon. Retrieved on June 22, 2009 at http://search.creativecommons.org/#
Chapter 6 Rule Number 6
Try not to take yourself so seriously. Of all of the chapters in this book, this one seems to be the most practical, and yet, the most challenging. Most of the time in an uncomfortable situation I have been known to try to find the humor in what is happening. Unfortunately, not everyone believes in this form of dealing with a situation, and some people are totally offended when I try to “make light” of an issue. Zander’s ideas about the calculating self verses the central self are helpful, especially when he brings in a facilitator to lead a conflict resolution discussion. I also agree with the fact that looking at the benefits of the ultimate results, which in education, is the students
WK3 Art of Possibility Chapters 2-4
This step reminded me of the book Oh, the Place You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss. A positive attitude, friendly people skills, generosity, risk-taking and a passion that spreads when others are in contact with you will help anyone achieve fulfillment in life. My thoughts and actions vary at times with the task at hand. I feel the challenges and possibilities I have experienced completing course work for this EMDTMS program represents a perfect example of a universe of possibility in action.
Chapter 3 Giving an A
Being an educator, this chapter seemed to speak to me the loudest. Giving people, including students, an A right from the start has so many significant possibilities. One of the biggest challenges that has been around for a long time in school is for a student to achieve straight A’s. As educators we even have to define the A by listing all of the aspects of what an A means. Schools are funded in Florida if they earn an A developed around certain criteria. Therefore, when someone is given an A it deserves the utmost of respect and praise. When holding a conference with parents we are trained to always start off with the positives about the child. I think this procedure is like giving them an A. I wonder if the professors like Dr. Siegel and others have read this book. A lot of the assignments seem to follow this philosophy. In the gaming course we had to tell what grade we thought we should earn and why, and in film making we had four “Absolute A Assignments.
Chapter 4 Being a Contribution
I enjoy reading and hearing stories about deeds, or in this case contributions, people have experienced that make people feel good. In another book I read once that author called them “God Winks.” I would like to think that I am playing the contribution game at all times. In hind sight most experiences seem to work out for a reason, and to know something I have done has made someone feel good is always rewarding. This chapter reminded me of a movie entitled Pay It Forward which is about a little boy who is given an assignment by his teacher to do something to make the word a better place.
Pay It Forward Trailer
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3617259801/
WK3 Art of Possibility
The Art of Possibility
While reading Roz Zander’s lead in story which lead to the catch phrase “toes to nose” I was thinking about teaching something routine with my fourth graders like multiplication facts. There is research out there somewhere that states someone needs to hear something at least 100 times before it becomes memorized to where the answer comes out as impulsive, not having to think but just react. Of course in Roz’s story the instructor knew there would not be time to think about what to do as a matter of survival.
Even though the instructor seemed to be annoying by repeating the phrase the outcome was highly accepted in the end.
Chapter 1 "It’s All Invented"
Assumptions are the things that seem to put people in the most challenging situations. When I was younger my mother used to share a saying her mother shared with her, “When you assume you make an (a _ s) out of (u) you and (me).” Trying to have an open mind is something I continue to work on daily. It’s all invented reminded me of a similar saying I have heard and used before when trying to figure out or explain the why factor. “It’s all relative” and “It’s all invented” both seem to mean you need to step back and think about or find out how this action is affecting you and make the most of the situation.
White Water Rafting photo by Bartlec Retrieved on June 22, 2009 at http://search.creativecommons.org/#
Saturday, June 20, 2009
WK3 Ron Smith Interview Interactive Q&As
Ron Smith VideoScreen capture taken from Full Sail Media Asset Creation on June 20, 2009.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0e3YlOFPcQ&feature=player_embedded
- What makes Hollywood High School’s New Media Academy unique? It is a career focused program feeding into the entertainment business using media related materials.
- What media do students tend to gravitate towards to express themselves creatively? Students like to create animation using Flash to make videos.
- How does Ron Smith keep his students engaged in lessons? He integrates as much technology as possible including whatever is currently being used by the students the most like podcasts, text messaging, and videos.
- According to Ron Smith, why are teachers the main block in developing technology in education? It is hard for teachers to understand technology changes rapidly and to keep up with the latest trends. They get stuck in a rut like Powerpoint presentations.
- How does Ron Smith prepare for instruction? He spends a month before his semesters planning his activities.
- Why is lesson preparation a hard sell to teachers? Teachers are used to planning as they go (a week/month), so planning ahead of time for an entire semester is a hard adjustment.
- What are the three most popular programs Ron Smith uses in his classroom at this time? Scratch, Sketch Up, and Blender
- Describe why Ron Smith uses each of the three programs stated above. He uses Scratch to build games mainly because it is a free open source. Students can create online or download. Sketch Up by Google creates a 3D models which can turn into interactive movies. Blender creates 3D animation like MIA but it is also free.
- Which program seems the most interesting to you, and why? (Answers will vary.)
- How does Ron Smith assess his students’ work? Ron Smith stated all of his students create entirely different products and they are all correct.
- What are the current trends in education according to Ron Smith? Curriculum design and online instruction which engage the learner.
- How is the learning you experience like Ron Smith’s classroom? (Answers will vary.)
- Do you think you would enjoy taking a class from Ron Smith? Explain why, or why not. (Answers will vary.)
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Week 2 Information on CC
Before we started this course I would not even think about using any images or videos from the Internet. The copyright restrictions just seem too risky. After watching the videos on Creative Commons an after hearing Professor JB share the information I became a little curious, so I thought I would give it a try. This week’s blogs all have still images, audio, or video from the Creative Commons Site. I am still feeling a little uncomfortable about using other people’s media, but I think I took a giant step. Everything I have searched for has come up with results, so that encourages me to use it more often. Maybe I will even submit some of my work with Creative Commons.
Creative Commons icons retrieved on June 16, 2009 from http://creativecommons.org/
Monday, June 15, 2009
Week 2 Tutorial on Long Blogs
Adding the More Tag to Long Blogs
By now you know some of my blogs are rather lengthy, so I am trying to add the “more” tag to my blog on Blogger. For me that is a lot easier said than done. It all started when I read the “Hate Long Blogs” tutorial Professor JB had on our FSO Course Dashboard. First, I went to the help section in the Blogger site. The directions seemed simple enough, except for the programming jargon. I found where to edit my html section, but boy is it scary looking to me. The directions recommend downloading the current template. That was a welcomed relief! But then, I could proceed no further. It seems too complicated. I returned back to the Professor’s advice and downloaded ecto. Ecto said it was easy to use too! Not for me! I am lost! On that note, I will follow the words of wisdom of Scarlet O’ Hara in Gone With the Wind, and I will worry about this tomorrow. “After all tomorrow is just another day!”
photo by Madmoiselle lavendar Retrieved on June 15, 2009 from http://search.creativecommons.org/
Week 2 Readings-- CC Chapter 6
Convergence Culture---Chapter 6The Internet and new media have changed culture and institutions both directly and indirectly. In the past the general population had to wait for information to be delivered through the media. Now most people can go online and seek information whenever they want to. Before the Internet institutions basically decided what, when, and how the general public would receive information. Now with Internet access, when someone is curious about a news item or issue, they can search for information on their own. They can also join Internet communities that will keep them informed on areas of interest. By signing up for something like RSS feeds and Google alerts, information will be sent directly to the person. On the other hand, people can continue to receive information from previous news sources which is probably getting to them faster due to the Internet also.
Education is also changing due to the Internet and new media. It seems in some areas it seems to e progressing more rapidly than others. In some areas Internet access is limited due to blocks on district servers, so while in school students do not have complete access, as they do at home. Even though complete access is blocked students are able to access sites for research rapidly at school, and they are able to continue to work on assignments at home.
New media convergence will definitely effect politics in the future. Right now I think people are able to be informed faster and seek information differently, but until the majority of the population relies on the Internet for communication, it will not effect politics as quickly as one might hope. I am a prime example. I had no idea what was going on during the past election on the Internet, and I have used the Internet more in the past 9 months than I ever have. My focus has mainly been on completing this program, and not other areas of interest, so I remained clueless. After reading Jenkins’ book Convergence Culture, I discovered things that were happening that I had no idea about over the Internet. I am convinced media convergence is happening, however, people are still unaware of the realm of possibilities it offers.
Internet Photo by Ben Dodson. Retrieved on June 15, 2009 at http://search.creativecommons.org/#
Pony Express Statue Photo by jc/pics. Retrieved on June 2009 at http://search.creativecommons.org/#
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Week 2 Readings-- CC Chapter 5
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55167828@N00/2901958796
Retrieved from: http://search.creativecommons.org/ on June 14, 2009.
Convergence Culture---Chapter 5
Reading about Heather Lawver and how reading Harry Potter Books prompted her to create a web-based newspaper based on the fictional Hogwarts was totally inspiring to me as a fourth grade writing teacher. Giving students a reason or audience to write for is so critical, yet highly disregarded, due to the constraints of our state standardized FCAT Writing Test. The collaborative aspect is exactly what I am hoping to accomplish with my thesis classroom wiki page. Since our gaming course, I have found role-playing to be a highly engaging writing activity to use with my fourth graders. They enjoyed creating a fictional character and interacting with others.
The closest experiences relating to a books that have inspired me to do something creative would have to be children’s novel I use in my classroom. Two of them stand out in my mind; Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski and Love That Dog by Sharon Creech. Strawberry Girl is a historical fiction book based in the early 20th century when pioneers were settling in Florida’s humid nonfertile land. Students did not seem to enjoy the book until it was brought to life through reader’s theater. Students pre-read chapters focusing on their assigned character and dress up in costumes and act out the scenes. Love That Dog is written in prose, so as students read this book together, they create their own poetry by using highly acclaimed poetry for models. http://www.archive.org/details/DebKitchenerLoveThatDog
Week 2 Readings-- CC Chapter 4
Convergence Culture - Chapter 4
To be perfectly honest, I had know idea technology was having this great of an impact as it has in our world with Star Wars, Harry Potter, or politics. Reading the last three chapters made me feel like I had been living under a rock while all of this was going on. When I was reading about Star Wars, I just assumed I was not aware of these issues because I am one of the few people who grew up in the 70’s that did not connect with this movie at all. (Believe it or not, I think I have only seen the first movie).
Technology has definitely changed the division between folk culture and mass culture. People who normally composed songs and created media to share within their communities are now able to share and distribute these items over the internet. Corporations, who basically controlled all media now have amateurs to compete with when creating, so now the consumers are also producers, which takes away the authority from corporations. According to Jenkins (2008) this has created grassroots convergence.
Anime fans grew rapidly because Japanese companies basically let fan clubs and other offspring develop and interact underground.
Lucas Arts has tried to promote Star Wars franchises without losing IP by providing the fans with Star Wars controlled media. Giving the fans the ability to create and interact with Star Wars without claiming rights to anything being developed. A free Web space (www.starwars.com) and an online community (http://www.lucasfilm.com/divisions/online/) were created, but everything created on it belonged to the company. They also created a digital cinema site AtomFilms.com where amateur filmmakers again were given specific guidelines on how and what could be created from copyrighted materials. They also created a MMORPG entitled Star Wars Galaxies which gave fans a chance to bring a little more ownership with player interaction.
After watching, Boba Fett: Bounty Trail, I really do not see many “dangers” in letting fans make up their own Star Wars-based stories as long as they are not making any form of profit or claiming any form of ownership. To me the video seemed creative with enough copyrighted material used to let everyone know they were just having fun recreating scenes from a fans point of view.
Below is a link I found searching Creativecommons.org. To me it supports my comments above about fans and it contains animation!
http://www.archive.org/details/1stAnimationTestStarWarsAnimatic
“May the force be with you!”
Jenkins, H. (2008). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. London: NYU Press.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Week 1 Videos (Take 2)
Monday, June 8, 2009
Week 1 Videos
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Week 1 Reading-CC Chapters 1-3
- Old media convergence seemed to be saying new ways are coming in media and people better be ready to change. I think convergence will always be happening with each new concept or aspect of integrating technology into everyone’s daily lives. For some people it occurs effortlessly. For others they have to work at it continuously, and then there are the resistors, who face situations somewhat like the author, Jenkins. They think they only want something simple like a cell phone when in fact they need a much more sophisticated phone to keep up with convergence.
- The Survivor Spoilers actually use collective intelligence to gather the information they need to share information by setting up chat rooms and blogs to gather and distribute information immediately to all who were interested.
- In gaming there is always an ultimate goal, level, or score players are striving for whenever they play the game. Quests in gaming seem to be one way players feel engaged and motivated to spend countless hours playing. Spoiling seems like a quest that is given in a game with some needed background knowledge and the ultimate goal is sharing information before it occurs, or giving away ending events.
- Most viewers in the past would settle for just absorbing information for a time period and cliff hangers or other points of interest would bring them back. With American Idol viewers can choose the amount of interaction they prefer with the show. By allowing the audience to partake in the illumination process.
- Transmedia storytelling is a story told through various medium, and to truly comprehend the entire story one must interact through all the elements.
- “The Fourth Screen” to me is the convergence of all the technology available to consumers and producers. They choose what they use, when they want to use it to gather the information wherever they are at that time.
Jenkins, H. (2008). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. London: NYU Press.
Week 1 EDM613 Resource
Edupunk=DIY (Do It Yourself)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edupunk
Before I read the Wikipedia information on this term I had already began to share with others how much someone can basically teach and learn themselves when using technology. For the most part people seem to enjoy sharing information and processes necessary to acquire knowledge through various elements on the internet such as YouTube and blogging. Using a search engine I have come to realize, just about anything can be taught, answered. learned, or redirected using the internet. When information is basically self taught it lends interpretation to various forms of creativity.
Case in point: My college daughter was helping my elementary aged daughter prepare for a school talent show. She needed to slow down the original score because it was too fast. It tickled me pink for her to ask my advice, however, even though I knew there was a way in Garageband to do this, I could not remember how. I suggested she search it on YouTube. She called me back in about an hour with her project completely slowed down and finished. Here’s a brief glimpse to the final show:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Edupunk.jpg
