Thing 14

First of all I'd like to state my frustration.  I couldn't post my blog last night because my computer crashed.  I attempted to get on from 8:00-11:30 when I finally gave up for the night.

Reflections on Things8-14
 In these Things we covered everything from copyright laws to video and audio streaming.  All were important and all can positively enhance and educators practice as well as offering important technology to enhance a student's educational experience.
 Beginning with copyright laws.  As educators it is good to be refreshed on what is legal and what is not when it comes to using others' work.  Students will be writing many papers and doing projects throughout their educational experience, and using copyrighted material is many times, a part of that.  When we, as educators, make it a priority to give this information to our students correctly from the beginning of their experience, the more it will become ingrained in their educational pursuits correctly, from the beginning.
  Students love photo sharing on the web.  Using tools like Picassa 3 will not only enhance material that you, as an educator, desire to use in the classroom, but it will allow students to produce much more effective photos, slide shows, etc...Learning to use this tool to bring out the best part of your particular shot will enhance their work and allow them to put forth a more impressive presentation.
  Digital Storytelling is a fantastic tool that allows students to implement Picassa 3 into their work if they desire to do so.  It provides them with another venue in which to present a body of work.  All students would do well to learn how to create a digital story whether it's "their thing" or not.  Learning the creative aspects of digital storytelling teaches them to work with audio, scripting, background music, timing, as well as with pictures.  Preplanning by way of using a storyboard is an important and necessary part of putting together a digital story that works.
  Prezi is a tool that students will find multiple uses for.  As an educator, Prezi could be used in numerous ways with easy access by your students.  Prezi is like PowerPoint plus, so in any area where I might use one for my classroom, I could more effectively use Prezi.  Being able to add links, urls, and even movies clips into your Prezi presentation makes this a tool that will enable students to put forth much more information in putting together a presentation, which will give them more effective ways to present their material.  As an educator, any information that I can put out there for my students to use to enhance their learning experience, I will use it.  In the lesson I did I made it a test review.  I was able to include a movie clip, links to sites that gave additional information in a short appealing format for students, as well as downloading some pictures to round out the review information I provided. I was abel to provide multiple ways for my diverse classroom of students to review for a test.  There will be aspects of this Prezi review that will call to every kind of learner, thus enabling them to better learn and retain the material.
  WIth data warehousing, student information systems, management systems, etc...there are benefits for educator, student, and for parents.  I had the opportunity to work with one of these systems for the four years I taught in a NHA charter school.  We did NWEA testing 3X a year, and with the data warehousing system used, I was able to show the parents and each student how they were doing in the areas of reading, language arts, and math.  They could see how their child stacked up with the expectations the school had for them in these areas, how they compared to other students in their grade level in the district, as well as how they compared to students who took the same testing whereever it was given.  Text plus a line graph gives parents information plus a visual to better understand how their student is performing.  The beautiful thing about this is that it also breaks down each subject into categories and lets the student know their strengths and weaknesses in specific detail. As an educator it helps to know what areas to work on with each student, and for student and parent they are encouraged by areas of success and by areas that they know will be a focus for improvement. 
  In my short experience with teaching, (4 years) I was able to use a site, United Streaming, to pull up short videos to enhance classroom teaching experience.  There are many more sites available now than when I had my classroom and I am looking forward to using them to enhance their learning experience.  For the students it is a win/win. They gain another dimension to their learning experience, plus they are trained in finding that technology offers many free tools for them and we can help them know where to find them and use them properly.

As I mentioned above, I was fortunate enough to be able to use United Streaming in my 5th grade classroom.  United Streaming makes it easy to find material according to topic and grade level.  I was able to insert a 20 minute clip into a lesson that would add a new dimension to the lesson we were on.  In many instances there are several choices which may differ timewise and qualitywise.  Being able to preview these videos makes selection of the right video easy. I was able to use United Streaming in my science classes and in history as well.  Many times finding that right 15 minute video underscored the lesson just right and stimulated more conversation when students reflected on what they had learned.  I imagine that now, 3 years later, there are more videos available than ever before.  With the addition of being able to use YouTube, the resources an educator can draw from to enhance their classroom teaching are numerous.
Although I have not used audio technology, as an educator, hearing Martin Luther King Jr. give his "I Have A Dream" speech is much more effective than merely reading through it and discussing it. 

As far as comparing audio to video, it would really depend on what you needed.  As stated above, while a video of  Martin Luther King giving his speech is effective, I would argue how much more impactful the speech can be if students are focused only on the words and the passion of the speech.  Each has a place and both are important tools to bring life to the lessons we are presenting to our students.

I will post a photo of a site now that my computer is working again.  Thank you Ron for the information you gave me.  Within two hours after class I had a computer that ran better than it has in quite a while.