XTRANORMAL

I applied for educator status on Xtranormal about a week, maybe more, ago.  Haven't heard back yet.  Sure hope I do - it could make the difference between using it and not using it.

I'll let the class know if it works out.

PHOTO BOOTH

I can see "Photo Booth" as a useful tool for students to work on presentation skills. 

Some of my special needs students (& others), who often experience difficulty writing, benefit from being able to rehearse verbally before applying pencil to paper.  Recording their thoughts could add a level of independence to their work.  I wonder: Compared to a voice recorder, would the video aspect be more of an incentive or simply a distraction?

One sticking point: My district has NO Macs.  My family has NO Macs, apart from my son who’s living in the City.  I suspect this may be a problem for many of us in this class.

Having said that, this may not really be that much of a problem.  We can’t specifically use “Photo Booth,” but any computer with a web cam can take pictures or video.  Manipulating the results might not be quite so intuitive, but… 

I recently learned about Flip Cams.  I was impressed with the ease with which they can be used.  I suspect my third graders would have no problems filming with them.  These video cameras have some advantages over cameras attached to computers, in that you can go off into a quiet corner with an attractive backdrop to film an interview or whatever.  You can go off site.  You can vary your shooting perspective.  Flip Cam software may be required in order to upload footage, I’m not sure.  Who knows, maybe you can use “Photo Booth.”

I have on my Windows computer, "Windows Movie Maker."  It claims it accepts digital or analog material, and that you can edit, and add titles & credits or special effects.  You can save your movies to your computer, the web, burn them to a CD, or send them via email.  I have never tried it, I’m just reading from the program, though it looks fairly easy – drag & drop clips and such.  I’ll have to make some video, try it out and let y’all know.

UnCollege

     It’s intriguing, Dale Stephen’s idea of a college that isn’t.  I’m not sure his model will ever replace the traditional idea of college in its capacity as transmitter of certification for the professional and business worlds.  These patrons of academia rely on colleges to provide them with personnel of known, standardized qualities, part of which is the ability to work within a system.

     On the other hand, UnCollege might be just the thing for budding entrepreneurs, or for those wanting to expand or enhance their educations.  Without experience, it is difficult to design an effective program, to know what to include or how to structure it.  Particularly for people with prior experience in their chosen field, and where credentials aren’t paramount, the self-motivated autodidact might find Stephen’s “institution” a perfect fit. 

     Dale Stephens may simply be an arrogant kid who hasn’t the patience to find out what college can provide for him.  His project may fall prey to his hubris and come crashing down around him.  He may, however, be a visionary taking his first steps toward a new education paradigm.

Xtranormal

     I would like my students to be able to use Xtranormal's movie making as a creative writing tool.  At this time, if I’ve read their forums correctly, this is not possible without setting up individual accounts for each student.  This, in turn, means first setting up an active email account for each student (something not allowed in my district).  So… very awkward technologically and administratively. 

     In the meantime, I can imagine making short movies to communicate ideas to my students.  What is it about the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers that made it a great place for a city to grow?  Why do some things float, when other things the same size sink immediately to the bottom?  What can I expect on my first day of third grade?  The topics are endless.

     I was looking at Andréa’s blog.  I was very interested in her ideas about using Xtranormal as a tool to use in conflict resolution.  Could have used it today.

" NYS Perceptual Regions" Survey

" NYS Perceptual Regions" Survey

NYS residents, current and former, can you spare a few moments to take my survey?
Click on the map to take the very short (7 question) survey titled "NYS Perceptual Regions". Your feedback is important! 

Hello from Dr. Shi

Hello Mr. Linde and Newfield 2nd graders! Exciting to see what you guys are doing there! I'm looking forward to see your wild ideas and high opinions ;-)

Motivating Creativity

We aren’t very good at predicting the future.  What the children in my third grade class this year will face before they retire sometime in the latter half of this century is well beyond my ken.  Yet it is my job to prepare them for that unknowable time.  Furthering creativity in thinking is probably my best bet.

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity

Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution!

           Robinson presents us with a problem.  We are using a system to educate children for an unpredictable future, an outmoded system based on life as a linear progression, education to meet the needs of industrialism, when we need a system that furthers creativity.  We need a system that creates conditions where growth can flourish organically and develop the great diversity of intelligences. 

I loved his example of Gillian Lynne, the incredibly successful dancer and choreographer for Cats, Phantom of the Opera and many others.  He bemoans the loss of her great talent had someone seen her not as a dancer, but rather as an ADHD kid in need of medication.  I am not arguing here against the diagnosis of ADHD, or of medication.  That’s another discussion altogether.  I am agreeing with Robinson that we educators tend to look at our students simply as more or less successful versions of the ideal child, who will move, more or less successfully, through our system toward the goal of acceptable college and acceptable career, where they will live more or less successful lives.  We tend to forget that there are about as many ideals as there are human beings, and that we need to create conditions under which a child’s growth toward his or her personal ideal can flourish.  The following two speakers address one aspect of the how of creating those conditions, that of motivation.

Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation

Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education  

            The main thrust of these TED Talks is the effectiveness of intrinsic motivation, one in the business environment (Pink) and the other (Mitra) in an educational environment, albeit not a traditional educational situation.  The findings are fascinating and surprising, at least at first.

            The Wikipedia model beat out the MS Encarta model!?  I admit, I don’t remember the last time I looked to Encarta for information; I use Wikipedia on a regular and frequent basis.  It is a great resource.  I realize it does not have a traditional, formal, peer review protocol, and is therefore suspect as a source for serious academic research, but for everyday information needs it is unbeatable – cheap, easily accessed, and remarkably thorough and accurate (at least when compared to the venerable Encyclopedia Britannica).  See article in Nature, as cited by Wikipedia in its article about itself:  Jim Giles (December 2005). "Internet encyclopedias go head to head". Nature 438 (7070): 900–901. doi:10.1038/438900a. PMID 16355180. The study (that was not in itself peer reviewed) was cited in several news articles, e.g., "Wikipedia survives research test". BBC News (BBC). December 15, 2005.  Encarta no longer exists as an encyclopedia.

            The Wikipedia development model is one example of a project driven by a desire to accomplish something, to take pride in an outcome fashioned by one’s own hands.  The children who discovered Mitra’s “Hole in the Wall” computers were driven by their innate senses of curiosity to explore what they had found.  Using Pink’s terminology, the children had autonomy.  They were able to direct their own learning.  Even when given a particular task, they were free to follow any route they wished to solve the problem.  They pushed themselves because of a desire to better their understanding, to achieve mastery.  Working in groups, especially those of their own making, helped give them purpose, something larger than just the self to work for.

            When we give people the opportunity to grow or think organically, to follow their thoughts and predilections, they are more engaged and more aware.  They are more open to incidental, but significant ideas that they may have shut out as intrusive in a more traditionally structured environment. In the end the findings are not so surprising, though still fascinating.