March 17, 2008
E-Journal Entry #6
EDT598
Dear Journal,
Last week’s class (3/10/08) and this week’s follow up homework was all about Video Group Work and the use of video technology in the classroom. In class, Dianna, Vanessa, and I worked in our group with the goal of creating a lesson plan using a video which was presented to the group at the end of class. This lesson plan was recorded on the Lesson Plan Format provided by Ellen’s email to us and sent back to her by email for review. Our project was a math lesson plan geared to Fourth & Fifth Graders about reducing fraction using Greatest Common Factor (GFC). Although we probably spent too much time looking through videos, we got it done and had a good time doing it!
The follow up to this class included a few websites to visit concerning the use of videos in the classroom. Brenda Dyck’s article, “Using YouTube In The Classroom” pointed out the Catch-22 of using YouTube as a video tool in the classroom. There are excellent videos with relevant educational content on YouTube but there are many dangers as well. Due to the inappropriate nature of many non-restricted videos on YouTube, teachers must be vigilant about being mediators between YouTube videos and students. KeepVid and Oyoom are suggested programs for teachers to download to their computer. With these programs, teachers can download YouTube videos and selectively share them with students through the use of FLV (Flash Video) files. Another suggestion was using TeacherTube. Launched in March 2007 by Jason Smith with help from his younger brother, TeacherTube is a free online educational community that shares instructional video devoted exclusively to teaching and learning. Open source technology to the rescue again!
My visit to the Miro website from my very elderly home computer was painfully slow so I did not negotiate there very well. I was looking through the “Vlad” Q&A website on wordpress.com and noticed V. McLean’s “Vlad” posting of 3/31/08 was about Miro! I now know that Miro is a non-profit, open source, video software site created by the Participatory Culture Foundation. The three principles of openness are open access, open standards, and open source each of which assist Miro in eliminating the gate keepers who regulate TV. The subject matter on Miro is not restricted so students can’t search the site themselves. Rather, teachers need to import the subject matter to their computers first.
It said in our homework for 3/17/08 that we were to send you a video we found while searching online and tell you how you would use it in class?!? I found several videos while searching through websites for Whiteboard Technology last week. Again, I am working at home and my dinosaur computer is painfully slow to do anything, but most especially to download music videos! The video I would choose to send you would be one from “The Arts” website link from last week’s assigned whiteboard search from the class assignment email you sent us. This video link specifically came from the Music In Our Schools Showcase Video/Audio Samples of 2007. I would also download the attached Student Video Scoring Sheet. As an exercise in celebration of Music In Our Schools Month in March, I would show my Band one or more of the Video/Audio Samples from this site. They would be required to use their Scoring Sheet to evaluate the performance. If more than one performance is shown, the students would also have to compare and contrast the performances with each other as well as rate their individual musical performance. We would take time to share our responses and render our opinions within the Band. I think this is a great way to set the musical standard in the Band Room and to motivate band students to strive for excellence on their own instrument as well! Well, that is going to be all for now! Shawn.
