Video (Part 1)

What should the content of my video be? I had a few half-baked ideas the first week the project was assigned but nothing solidified. I wanted my video to be useful as well. When Terri Linman and I spoke on the phone, we came up with the idea of creating an introductory video for my classes. What better way would there be to introduce the rules and content of the class to my middle school students? I'll keep it light-hearted and also get the point across.

After successive revisions, I am still not satisfied with it. I think this video will go through some tweaks before the end of this semester.

The tools of choice included iMovie, images from the Internet, and a mp3 audio file from Free Play Music @ http://www.freeplaymusic.com

Thanks Terri, for the great ideas and encouragement!

Sharing Online Resources

When I began the COMET program, I wanted to share things that I learned with my school. Anyways, I began sharing the online resources with my fellow teachers and have received plenty of positive feedback. This is certainly encouraging; I'll continue sharing resources when I have the time.

Musings on Emerging Tech Tools

I had an opportunity to check out some interesting online resources. In fact, I kept changing my mind of what online tool to present as I explored the other tools.

First I checked out Comiqs.com which appears to very similar to Plasq's Comic Life software that comes as a software bundle with Macintosh computers. With Comiqs, you can integrate pictures from your Flickr account as well as utilizing the library (not sure where these pictures are from - perhaps from subscribers?), or from your computer. Sharing your creation is a forte of Comiqs which unfortunately also happens to be a weakness. After perusing the archives, I noticed some questionable content in both pictures and text - most inappropriate for middle school students.

Next, I checked out Animoto.com which allows one to create a video from photos (more like a slideshow with music) selected from your accounts on Flickr, Facebook, Smugmug, Picasa, and Photobucket or retrieved from your computer. Music can be added from their small library or uploaded from your computer. A video with music can be completed in three easy steps within less than an hour. I couldn't come up with any ideas on how to use this in the classroom.

Finally, I perused Teacher Tube. Similar to You Tube, the focus was on instructional videos and most of them were from created by educators. I really liked the idea of being able to share instructional videos with like-minded educators as being able to communicate via email and blogs. This was definitely something I could utilize in a instructional setting.

Cyber Safety

After much discussion with teachers, parents, and students, I have observed that there is a growing concern and need for educating not only our students but parents in the safe use of online resources. More specifically, those of social networking websites and chat sites.

The idea in keeping safe online appears to be a common sense issue. For example, don't post a personal picture of yourself or friends and family. If you do, then make sure that only your friends and family can access these or that you not include any names. Don't include any information that may divulge your identity and location. I have noticed that slightly over a majority of middle school students actually follow these common sense recommendations.

In my discussions with parents, I ask if they know what websites their child visits. Again, slightly more than a half of parents knew this information.

I think that this is an important enough issue that as educators we need to take a serious look at this. Perhaps I'm overreacting? I don't think so. I think we need to educate our students and parents. If we teach our children how to be safe in the physical world then it makes sense to teach them how to be safe in cyberspace!