Week 4 Blog Posting # 8 Reflection on Blogging

I find it simply amazing how we communicate today... It is almost surreal. However it is what it is!

This generation will make a difference.

The applications are endless however the policy must change to implement the reality of this vast technology. Constraints should be included for the digital native so both sides can

come together. Educators should make the usage of technology an enriching experience in the learning environment. The projects that I find interesting and so do the digital natives is

digital story telling it is so natural for them to use the technology at hand. Videos shooting, the endless stories, the role-playing , the written stories,

the ability to bring it all together in this format of digital story telling. I do see trouble ahead using this format in K-12 so I will be using it in college level design course to be perfectly frank. I want to use

this technology in every in all it's mutations. Music is such a part of their world to be able to integrate this is powerful stuff. A wonderful way to keep project journals, collaborative projects for design. Webquests are a fabulous way to create an opportunity for learning a variety of subjects.

I have enjoyed blogging and bring videos and links to each of the blogs.

Quest Atlantis is also one of my favorite sites to have the digital learner to experience in an after school program so the parents would totally be on board at a grassroots level.

Totally leaving the brick and mortar behind. I am a member of Quest Atlantis and looking forward to being trained.

http://theteachingpalette.com/category/music-integration/

Week 4- Blog Posting #7- Second Life

It was so nice to be back into my Sivad Dragoone skin and of course being on a Full Sail mission to explore and experiment in Second Life. I also just wanted to mention it's not so intimidating it seems the more you go the better it is each time. My first stop was the Multiple Intelligence areas. Sivad enjoyed her experiences with interactivity, she even took pictures! Just like being a kid again. Freedom to explore.

Sivad truly connected with Kinesthetic (Yoga positions tree,warrior, knife and more. Yes she also played with each instrument love percussion in the Musical section. Mathematical area ok it's cool, interpersonal (it was a little difficult because I was the only one), Intrapersonal Sivad Loved the mirror, naturalistic always beautiful, Literary and Linguistic nice but I was not feeling the poetry that day so I did not leave one but I 'll go back when I have more time to reflect and be brilliant and clever. The artistic area a wonderful place to paint a masterpiece.

Next stop Blooms Taxonomy was interesting I do concur with his theory. However memory is some what of a challenge as you age. Multitasking does not help either. Here are some of Sivads pictures from her trip.

My next visit was to become a member of ISTE I know have that added to my moniker. I did not get a chance to go to a meeting because it conflicted with my current employement. However I did meet Stephen and Cyberlily and Roselle our docent for ISTE. I looked around at the different areas blogger and other learning environments I hope to go to a meeting soon. Eduisland II is no longer in existence.

Week3 - Blog Posting #6 Communities of Practice

I recently had an incredible experience. I went to my Facebook page and there was a video of my late mother who had pasted away on November 1, 1994 she was only 72 years young. I had not until Saturday evening heard her voice or seen her in action. I was brought to tears. My cousin from Los Angeles shared this little video ( she is digitizing all her footage) with me and my sister. The cool thing is my whole family is on Facebook and every week it seems like a new member is popping up. The reason you may ask is why am I sharing this with you. It is because the power of digital networking is incredible. It can be your family tree in a digital ever changing in real time world. What a community it brings...

My project is about One Laptop Per child OLPC I have befriended Nichloas Negropointe MIT founder of OLPC on facebook. I am sharing with him what I am proposing and awaiting his feed back. I have actively joined OLPC and OLPC Ethiopia. I am in the process of sending them questions for my project. My project has to do with the community of OLPC children/students They have the ability to Mesh meaning communicate within a small circle and larger global circles. I want to create their voice in a digital storytelling format. I want to get a more in depth insite to how the laptop has changed them, their families and the communities.

Week3 - Blog Posting #5 Social Media

This weeks video from TED: Gordon Brown : Wiring a web for a global good

This really pulled on my heart strings. I was that little girl who saw the cover of LIFE magazine on the coffee table. I was horrified then as I am every time I see it that picture of that little girl running naked away from the naplam bombings. I went a step further out of curiosity and opened the magazine to the article. I saw more pictures of people with naplam on them and thought to myself is this what the world is really like? Only if I had the technology of today to get other children and parents to stop the bombing of napalm. What a horrendous way to die or be tortured and survive and be severally maned for the rest of your life. That picture and one other of a missionary family that were hatched into pieces in Uganda in the Sixties also a LIFE Magazine expose. I stopped looking anymore because I felt powerless in what was happening in the world. With all the emotions that were stirred then, how fantastic it is to be able to have technological exponential power to use to A MAKE CHANGE that has such a powerful rippling effect. If we had the available technology back in the day, we could have stopped the Vietnam War and all the causalities of war a whole lot sooner.

"Wiring for a global good "is a great way introduce and show students that they have the power to effect change. That they are a part of the community, that they can make a difference.

To implement this in a lesson plan I would have them do research on the availability of drinking water in under-served countries we would as a class join an organization like "End Water Poverty". Have the students research what others have done and as a group analyze their findings, create pictures, poems, find pictures using creative commons, prepare a script and pa storyboard for their final piece then it into a video that becomes a part of a campaign awareness on "End Water Poverty"then post it to Youtube and the "End Water Poverty" website, blog and send a message out to all there friends with instructions to join a "End Water Poverty" Facebook group. Tell them to spread the news to all their friends and family.

www.endwaterpoverty.org/take_action/

This is a initiative for all to get involved.!! Most importantly children because it's about children.

Week2-Blog Posting # 4B 21st Century and Life Long Learning Skills

MITOPENCOUSEWARE and other programs Like Merlot are the perfect answer to Life Long Learning . The access to this knowledge is unreal. The Professors donate their research and course curriculum. The fact that any one with the desire that wants to learn cutting edge education is virtually at their finger tips is unbelievable. Just imagine for a moment that you want to expose your learners to a collaborative project using the MIT OPENCOURSEWARE on the advancements of science and technology or any subject that they offer not only do they get to experience the course, but so does the teacher. The teacher now becomes a change agent. These students now can apply the 21st century tools to become leading authorities of the 22nd Century. They will engage, analyze, synthesis, prioritize collaborate, create, communicate, and have unbelievable outcomes. When I complete my coursework for my Masters at Full Sail I am going investigate and dive right in to this opportunity. I will bask in the glow of knowledge. Then I will share my experience with my class and we will explore there open coursework together. This is a Life long learning opportunity. No one should miss. Please let me share the video about MIT OPENCOURSEWARE. You will be enlightened and challenged.

My next Video I would like to share will you is titled "Learning to Change and Changing to Learn". This video is has some of the 21st century minds sharing their observations, scholarly views about our current educational system. They speak of the change that will be required to meet the global challenges in preparing our learners.

You will hear from in order:

Keith Krueger, CEO, CoSN(Consortium for School Networking),

Greg Whitby, Director of Schools, Catholic Education Office,Diocese of Parramath, Australia

Greg Black ,CEO Education.au united Austraila

Julie Evans, CEO Project Tomorrow

Stephen Heppnell, CEO, Heppnell.net Ltd.UK

Yong Zhao, University Distinguished Professor and Education Director, Confucius Institute, College of Education Michigan State University

Barbara S. Nelson, Former South Carolina, State Superintendent

Cheryl Lemke, CEO, Metiri Group

Susan Patrick, CEO, NACOL (North American Council for Online Learning

Chris Dede, Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Karen Greenwood Henke, Writer, Consultant, CoSN Board Member Nimba Press

Deborah Baker, Superintendent Leroy CSD,NY

Daniel Pink, Author"A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future"

Ken Kay, President Partnership for 21st Century Skills e-Luminate Group.

The reason for me listing these presenters is that as I had mentioned before they are the heavy hitters they are the change agents. They know that change must come from within. That change must occur in the Districts, Administration, Teachers and Parents. Then and only then can we prepare our learners. Contributions of learning will come from a global connection. Prepare them to understand how to use the 21st century tools to create a kaleidoscope of brilliant thinking minds. Both of my videos are interrelated to Life Long Learning and 21st century learning. I found both videos a breath of fresh air. I hope you will gain more knowledge from then too.

Week2-Blog Posting#4 21st Century and Life Long Learning Skills

Week 2-Blog Posting #3 Media Literacy- "Media is the Message"

"The Medium is the Message"

Herbert Marshall McLuhan 1911-1980

I find that it is hard to write about a subject matter without exploring it's origins. Herbert Marshall McLuhan should be one of the names that one encounters in exploring media literacy. He is one of the most controversial and noted as being one of our original thinkers of our time. Know as the "Father of Communications and Media studies" He is the one who predicted that the world would become a global village. He was a visionary of his time. To give you greater understanding on his comment "The Medium is the Message" as stated by McLuhan (1964)

"Each medium, independent of the content it mediates, has its own intrinsic effects which are its unique message. The message of any medium or technology is the change of scale or pace or pattern that it introduces into human affairs. The railway did not introduce movement or transportation or wheel or road into human society, but it accelerated and enlarged the scale of previous human functions, creating totally new kinds of work and leisure. This happened whether the railway functioned in a tropical or northern environment, and is quite independent of the freight or content of the railway medium".

What Mc Luhan is making reference to the railway is analogous to the electronic age of media of print, television, computers and the world wide web the internet. " The medium is the message" It is the "medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action".

As I was reviewing some research about Media Literacy I found a great article written by Barry Duncan a former graduate student of Marshall Mc Luhan's called "Media Literacy Makes it Possible to see Both the Forest and the Trees-Teaching Backgrounder he states

"Almost everyone knows that traditional literacy is associated with the skills needed to decode the

printed word. Thus, media literacy is about decoding the mass media, especially television. Since most of us already know a fair amount about the subject, what becomes essential is a willingness to learn more and to see things from a fresh perspective".

He writes about a immigrant that has little experience seeing television and how he is bombarded with unlimited, breaking news, comedy, drama, suspense, relief from constipation, instant beauty and 24 hour news. You see media literacy has grown into a virtual spider web called the internet. Instead of watching we are participating and collaborating and applying critical analysis to everything we do and experience. Our diverse perspectives and resources are giving more empowerment to the global village. We are agents of change and having that persuasive power of entitlement in how we learn. There are no borders or boundaries our ability to disseminate information in a virtual world as a virtual person(Avatar) is unbelievable. We actually go into an artificial environments and teach or train individuals from each corner of the globe in different languages at the same time. Our access to Web 2.0 tools is phenomenal and soon in a flash that to will evolve in to web 3.0. Why are we so stuck into the colonialist teaching for our youth. We will need these new media literacy skills to compete on a level playing field in real world applications. Study after study have been done they say it's the administrators they say it's the teachers. We have the skills we have the tools lets guide them perhaps they will guide us. They already are self directed have peer to peer collaboration perhaps they will find the opportunities like Mit's Open CourseWare funded project where they can combine formal and informal learning to lessen the gap of traditional learning.

MIT Milestone Celebration| Keynote speaker Thomas Friedman Columist (2008)

I will have my learners participate in digital storytelling project, subject focus THEMSELVES as a way to share collaborate with their families and friends. To enrich each others lives, culture, values, heritage and self esteem. Digital storytelling is layered with writing, rich narrative, video, role playing, performance, reflection, graphics and art. It makes their stories and their lives important and presented in a more cohesive format. To be continued......

References

McLuhan, H. M. (1964) Understanding Media. n.y. 1964 , p. 8, 9.

Retrieved September 13, 2009 from http://www.eric@marshall-mcluhan.com

Duncan, B. (1991) Media Literacy Makes it Possible to see Both the Forest and the Trees-

Teaching Backgrounder: Education Forum, Ontario Secondary Teacher's Federation, V17(1),

Etobicoke, On, Canada Retrived September 13, 2009 from

http://www.media -

awarness.ca/english/resources/educational/teaching_backgrounders/medialiter