Week+4+-+Feb+1st

=Thoughts & Reflections... =

=Reading #4 - "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants" - Marc Prensky = = = This reading discusses the differences between "digital native" students and their "digital immigrant" teachers and argues that since today's students are no longer the people the educational system was designed to teach, the educational system MUST change

The author differentiates between "legacy" content (reading, writing, arithmetic, logical thinking) and "future" content (software, hardware, robotics, genomics, ethics, politics, etc.) and notes that while legacy content seems to be slowly diminishing in importance in today's digital society, it is important that both types of content are taught, but that they are taught "in the language of the digital natives."

One of the suggestions made by the author as a good way to reach today's students, is to create computer games that teach subject matter, as this appeals to the digital natives' tastes, but forces them to learn something as well.

After having so much fun myself creating a podcast and a video, I have come to see the NUMEROUS benefits of integrating technology into your lessons, and have thus decided to fully embrace technology and to learn as much as I can about what is out there and how I can use in the classroom.

Hence, as a result of our brief discussion concerning Smart boards this week, I signed myself up for one of the free Smart board tutorials offered by the University of Ottawa Faculty of Education Resource Centre and I am working on borrowing a copy of the Smart Notebook software (the computer program that goes with the physical Smart board) so I can download it onto my personal computer and become very familiar with it. This software is also available for loan at the Faculty of Education's Resource Centre.

I must say that, although I believed Smart boards could be useful tools, I was blown away by how much a teacher can add to his or her lessons with this technology. Not only does it have a bank of interactive games, maps, images and lesson plans for every subject matter, it also contains all sorts of interactive tools and functions that allow students to manipulate and work with items that would have previously been "static" on a blackboard or overhead projector. Likewise, certain functions such as highlighting, magnifying, and being able to enlarge specific areas of text have huge implications for meeting the needs of both exceptional students and the "varied" learners in your classroom.

Check out this YouTube video introducing Smart boards and their basic functions and make up your own mind...do you think this would be a useful tool in your classroom?

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=** Information & What I Have Learned... ** = = =

This week we...

=Software & How To Use... =
 * Commenced a discussion concerning Smart boards and their usefulness in the classroom in comparison to slates
 * Discussed the some of the pros and cons of Apple's new iPad
 * Pros: easier to read screen, will be a game changer for education as it paves the way for the development of a hybrid device that will be an iPad, e-reader, laptop, and Smartphone all in one
 * Cons: it is not much different than an iPhone except in size, it does not allow you to multitask
 * Discussed the pros and cons of podcasting and how it could be used in the classroom
 * Pros: it makes it easier to mark oral presentations, offers another option for students afraid of public speaking, is an interesting way for teachers to break up lectures, is fun to do
 * Cons: it does not always work, in order to work on projects at home, students need to download the software and purchase a microphone/headset combo
 * *A good idea for second language teachers - provide students with a song and have them add images to that song that correspond with the lyrics to demonstrate their understanding of the content

Format Factory
 * This program allows you to convert things to different formats that are more compatible with the software on your computer. For example, it will format video recorded on a camera in AVI format into a format such as WMV that is accepted by Windows Movie Maker so you can then edit and work with that video. This program also allows you to take music downloaded from iTunes and convert it so it can be transferred to a non iPod mp3 player.
 * Although I was able to navigate my way around this program, I am by no means an expert, so I have embedded a YouTube video (below) that provides a much better explanation than I ever could about how to use this program

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 * Some of the terms associated with this formatting process include:
 * Codec: encodes a data stream or signal for transmission, storage or encryption OR decodes it for editing or playback
 * Container: describes how encoded data is stored. Some examples of containers include: AVI, MPEG, TIFF, WAV, etc.
 * fps: stands for "frames per second" and is how the "frame rate" - the frequency at which an imaging device produces images or "frames" - is measured
 * Using mini camcorders, we recorded a short video in AVI format. We then used Format Factory to change the format into a format accepted by Windows movie Maker, so we could edit the footage and create a real video. Click on the link below to check out this video Shannon, Graham and I made together...