Blog Post #8

This Is How We Dream, Parts 1 & 2
    Professor Miller is the author of As if Learning Mattered: Reforming Higher Education (1998) andWriting at the End of the World (2005). His published articles concern developing a philosophy of consciousness that promotes transformative teaching and writing practices. He has delivered over fifty invited talks across the country and abroad on how literacy is being redefined by Web 2.0 technologies. His current research concerns "the end of privacy" and how education is being changed as a result of the proliferation of hand-held devices that enable instant publication and global distribution of anything that can be seen or heard. He now publishes exclusively on his website, text2cloud. 
     What Dr. Miller says is that we no longer need to use the paper and pencil method of communication. We are in an era of instant global communication. We are able to use a real time document to enhance the visual effects of learning. This makes learning much more interesting. We no longer have to actually go to a library to research and and write about something, we can do it right from our computers.
     Being able to colaborate virtually from anywhere in the world, with anyone, anywhere else in the world is an amazing opportunity, so why not use it? It is our job to expand the use of these amazing technologies as educators.


Carly Pugh's Blog Post #12
    Carly had an amazing idea in her blog post. She proposed that everyone create a playlist from their YouTube video's. This is exactly what Dr. Miller is talking about in his video. Making use of the collaborative tools that we have today. It was a very original and creative idea! 


    The Chipper Series and EDM 310 for Dummies were both somewhat comical videos. I must say that I have had the same feelings at some point this semester. I also must say that once you find a good strategy for time management, everything runs much more smoothly. If I were to create my own video, I would like to document the use of technology in a classroom that has never had access to any. Just say that we would film a normal day of learning in a classroom, then the next day we would introduce the same lesson using technology, weather it be an Ipad, Ipod, etc... I would love to document the difference in the learning atmosphere for the children, and how much more they learned using technology.


Learn To Change, Change To Learn

     I think that my favorite statement from this video was about the standardized testing. This is exactly what we need to get away from in our schools. He says that the jobs these children will be doing are not based on right answers. This makes perfect sense! To learn, we must do! Also, the fact that the children have so much more stimulation from places other than school. This is really sad! All of the thing that are going to teach our children the most are not being used in the classroom. We have masterminds creating video games for our children, so why cant we have them create this same stimulating learning environment for them in our schools? 


EDMONDO
     This is a social network for teachers that is similar to Facebook. What makes it even better is the fact that it is strictly for students, teachers, and parents. This would be a great tool to use in the classroom because you can get ideas from other teachers, you can get feedback from parents, and you can post assignments and make announcements to your class. It has now become an addition to my PLN!


ANIMOTO
     Animoto provides an array of tools for creating videos in your classroom. It automatically analyzes music, photos and video clips, and orchestrates a custom video, leaving you free to focus on the content and narrative of your videos. Spotlight lets you give specific image added prominence and screen time in your video. Mix relevant messaging, statistics and quotes among the pictures your videos to educate your audience and inspire them to action. Animoto makes it easy to share your videos via email, on a blog/website, exported to YouTube, or downloaded to a computer for use in presentations.

Create interactive meetings at Poll Everywhere