Podcasts

I really enjoyed making the podcasts this past week in class. I already do music editing so this was along the same lines. I have not figured out how to use this in my math classes yet however. I find that my students benefit from actually seeing the work in front of them. Hearing it is not as effective. I think that the digital video tool would be a lot more useful so that the students can see and hear what they need to do.

Using Video

As part of my second unit, I filmed my students throwing balls to model the path of a parabola. I then took screen shots for them to use to plot the path on a graph. Things I noticed: first, no one wanted to be on camera! Everyone wanted to throw the ball but they did not want to be seen, especially the girls. Next, it took a lot of work to get all the screen shots (I did five different throws for each class, 8 screen shots apiece). It got repetitive after awhile, and this project made me wish I had the time to teach my students a whole bunch of editing skills - from tricks in paint, attaching files, to editing sound/video. And finally, I think I finally was able to give my students enough detailed instruction to help them use a new program and submit the work electronically with success. We'll see how the write-up goes...

Video Editing

I have always been interested in editing. I edit music for my twirling team all the time. So when we started creating our advocacy PSA, my group let me play. A group member commented that she liked that if I got stuck trying to do something I didn't know how to do, I figured it out by pushing buttons and eventually going to the help tool. I think it takes a certain characteristic to enjoy editing. You have to be a perfectionist (something my sister accuses me of constantly) and you have to take risks or "play". When I get an idea, I stay fixated on it until I figure out the new skill. I'm not sure everyone would do that, especially some of my students. Many people, if they don't know how to use a certain software, do what they can and then give up. Your product might then be less than it could have been.

Kindle

I made a post about Kindle earlier this semester when it was mentioned in our reading. I just got an email from Amazon that says there's a new one. And now it reads to you! I guess its a book on tape for the digital world. Maybe it will help some people that otherwise wouldn't read. And the portability is great if you travel a lot. But like book on tapes, I don't know if anything will replace curling up with a real book.

Lesson Plans

Some of you have commented about the idea of a wiki being more appealing than a normal assignments and I have to agree. I've been thinking that I want to do my lesson plan on wikis. I think something like our ITSopedia that is a great source of review for all that we have learned would be good in any classroom. It gives the students a place to hopefully get answers on whatever they have questions with. Now I just need to think of an authentic problem. I can see the wiki being the "clear outcome" - a compilation of their efforts. They could be creating this collection for.... online homework help site? Help others studying the same thing?