Richard Miller: This Is How We Dream Parts 1 & 2

Wow! There are no words. I think this was the worst video we have been assigned to watch this entire semester. It was beyond boring, and I have just wasted 15 minutes of my life. Now saying that, I know I need to address writing using multimedia a little bit.

I think is great that people can write and publish it to the internet and others can read it for free, but I absolutely love books, and I get worried that they will eventually go away. I feel there is a happy medium that people can attain.

I definitely think that using multimedia in the classroom with our students will benefit them and help them to understand things more fully. For example, Martin Luther King, it would be amazing to be able to play his speech during class, I think the kids would understand about him much better if they can actually see him speak. I believe writing and multimedia combined can be a great thing in the classroom if used correctly.

The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler

I absolutely love the way this video is set up. It is such a creative way to capture our attention, but honestly watching these videos about the same thing are getting a bit old. I feel like all of the videos are starting to repeat themselves, and it is getting boring.

I thought the question, "Why does the networked student even need a teacher?", was interesting. I feel like teachers are most definitely needed because blogs are great, but just like the video said, they are people's opinions, not facts. This is why I don't really like blogging unless it is a teacher giving information to their students, or someone update people on what is going on in their lives. People can write anything they want, so I am very weary about trusting blogs, I just take the information with a grain of salt.

Teachers are needed to guide and direct their students in the right direction. It's good to know that our teacher is there to answer our questions and help us when we need it. Also, I think that having a Personal Learning Network will help prepare me to be able to teach students who also have a Personal Learning Network. Overall, this was a good and informative video.

New Media Literacies by the NML Staff

The introduction to this video immediately captured my attention. I noticed right away it was only a few minutes long, it had music throught the entire video, and it was fast paced. I enjoyed watching this video on media literacy. The things they talked about are so true. These people made really good points about media literacy.

We are completely immersed in a technologically advanced society. We use technology all day every day. From TV, to cell phones, to computers, to internet, we are surrounded by media. In the past, there were a few people who produced the media, and there were consumers. Today, we are producers and consumers. We do both. We read media, and we produce media, such as Facebook for example.

I also do believe the 11 terms they discussed in this video are definitely skills that we need to be successful in today's world. Out of these 11, I believe I possess judgement, play, distributed cognition, visualization, and multitasking. I am still learning and working on being technologically literate. I am willing to learn and grow and I believe this class is really helping me to do this.

It is so important for people to realize how much media and technology is a part of our lives. We need to be technologically literate in today's world. It is important that we as teachers, impart to our students about technology and how important it is.

Using iPods in Instruction

When searching online for using iPods in instruction I came across this website, which is actually a PDF form, but has some really great information on it. It talks about how useful iPods in the classroom would be for the students because they already use iTunes often for music, and it would be super conveinent to be able to put the lecture on ancient Roman ruins, for example, and skip to the part you were confused about. It would be absolutely fantastic! This is the website: http://www.principalspartnership.com/iPods.pdf

I also read the Duke University report on using iPods in instruction. I loved it! I think it is fantastic that they gave 1600 incoming freshman in 2004 20GB iPods. The best part about it is they ACTUALLY used the iPods in many of their courses during that school year! I think it is wonderful to use something that this generation is so incredibly confortable using, and allowing it to be a productive tool to help us in school. I really think it is amazing that iTunes has developed iTunesU, and I believe it will be an amazingly useful tool in the future, the more popular it becomes. I believe iPods are a great way to help students in school!

iTunes University

iTunes University is completely fascinating! I love it! This assignment was the first time I had ever heard of iTunes U, and I am so thankful. I began exploring things that interested me. For example, I have recently become interested in History, which I previously hated, so I selected History under the categories section in iTunes U. On that home page was a video podcast about Imperial Rome with an awesome picture of the coliseum. I clicked on it right away to find out what it was. I watched a few minutes of the podcast and it was fascinating!

I cannot wait to have more time to explore iTunes University. They have really wonderful podcasts in it. I believe iTunes U is extremely useful for anyone who has a desire to learn.

Dr. Christie's Website

When I first arrived at Dr. Christie's website, I immediately noticed that "comprehensive resource for educators" was in bolded letters on the home page. I suddenly became interested to see what her website had to offer for teachers. Her website is extremely interesting and has many great things to offer teachers such as safety when dealing with children and the internet, which is extremely important. The one thing I am absolutely thrilled about is under the Workshop tab on the sidebar, is a link where she discusses Virtual Field Trips. This is awesome because my podcast group is doing our podcast and presentation on Virtual Field Trips! I am so thrilled that I have already found one great resource for our group.

I really think Dr. Christie's website is extremely thorough and I found the information it contained extremely useful even as a student. I am thankful that it discusses how technology can be used in practical ways in the classroom, and even has lists of researching resources to use. I love this website, I have made it a favorite on my computer!