I've been viewing Class 72's presentations on digital citizenship and have to say that I am very pleased with the results. What I wasn't expecting was the impact of having them all posted in one place for easy viewing. Feedback, assessment and critical viewing become very easy and the entire class can participate in the process. The learner will hear from more than just the teacher.
Being able to view one after another, has caused me to think about digital media in new ways. Learners' creative approaches reveal themselves clearly. I can see strengths, thought processes, decision-making and next steps for learning. I can also see learning styles! There's much more going on than just multimedia creations on digital citizenship.
Some things I've noted:
1. The self-identified visual learners in the class have done exceptionally well in this medium. They have an intuitive understanding of the tools and have combined short, pointed text, relevant images and sound very well. Their presentations tell a story as well as provide information.
http://animoto.com/play/6EzxtlPJa9z10EkwqhLcpQ
2. Marshall McLuhan was right: the medium is the message. How the tool is designed is as much a part of the message construction as the message itself. Prezi lends itself well to longer texts, for example.
http://prezi.com/bhuwl05w_iud/digital-citizenship/ Animoto, to shorter texts and more visual impact.
3. What I am most excited about though is that one of my students has made a controversial song choice for background music in his Animoto.
This is going to allow the class to have a fabulous discussion. We'll be able to talk about the artist's purpose, audience, point of view, values, censorship and an artist's right to communicate a message in a way that he or she chooses. What is truly brlliant is that the discussion and follow-up written reflections are prompted by student-generated work, not a pre-packaged reader.
I, of course, will be keeping my opinion out. My job will be to facilitate the discussion. Having a twitter account and the blog will allow us to extend the discussion beyond the classroom. What do those outside our four walls think?
I can't wait for tomorrow.
Being able to view one after another, has caused me to think about digital media in new ways. Learners' creative approaches reveal themselves clearly. I can see strengths, thought processes, decision-making and next steps for learning. I can also see learning styles! There's much more going on than just multimedia creations on digital citizenship.
Some things I've noted:
1. The self-identified visual learners in the class have done exceptionally well in this medium. They have an intuitive understanding of the tools and have combined short, pointed text, relevant images and sound very well. Their presentations tell a story as well as provide information.
http://animoto.com/play/6EzxtlPJa9z10EkwqhLcpQ
2. Marshall McLuhan was right: the medium is the message. How the tool is designed is as much a part of the message construction as the message itself. Prezi lends itself well to longer texts, for example.
http://prezi.com/bhuwl05w_iud/digital-citizenship/ Animoto, to shorter texts and more visual impact.
3. What I am most excited about though is that one of my students has made a controversial song choice for background music in his Animoto.
This is going to allow the class to have a fabulous discussion. We'll be able to talk about the artist's purpose, audience, point of view, values, censorship and an artist's right to communicate a message in a way that he or she chooses. What is truly brlliant is that the discussion and follow-up written reflections are prompted by student-generated work, not a pre-packaged reader.
I, of course, will be keeping my opinion out. My job will be to facilitate the discussion. Having a twitter account and the blog will allow us to extend the discussion beyond the classroom. What do those outside our four walls think?
I can't wait for tomorrow.
Hello Heidi,
ReplyDeleteI think you may be interested in this very reflective post on "teaching as transparent learning" from George Siemens:
"...when we make our learning transparent, we become teachers."
http://www.connectivism.ca/?p=122
And these from Silvia Tolisano (@langwitches)
http://langwitches.org/blog/2009/05/15/making-learning-transparent/
http://www.slideshare.net/langwitches/shifting-to-21st-century-learning
I hope this opens up some interesting new vistas for you to explore. Thank you for documenting your journey and your classes' journey - it's humbling to be able to contribute a little to it.
Best,
- Ian