FUTURING

FUTURING

A: How would I “grade” or assess Fox Becomes a Better Person and School Train?

If the only criteria for the for the assignment that spawned School Train was to exhibit an understanding of metaphors, Glen Bledsoe’s 4th graders did very well. Amongst all of the editing and video effects there were some very clear examples of the metaphors the class used in comparing classrooms to trains.

Some examples of theses metaphors presented in School Train are:
==> Students = Passengers
==> Classrooms = Train cars
==> Homework = Tickets

In regards to Fox Becomes A Better Person I am curios as to what the exact outline or objective for the assignment was. If they objective was to supplement a spoken story with visuals of the scene as interpreted by the storyteller Hannah did a pretty good job. Her pictures were obviously her vision of what was happening and there was time spent on her part to create them. They followed the story moving along and changing as major pieces of the story did. Additional pictures to help supplement the final events of the story were the only pieces missing. However, since she had already helped “paint” the picture for the scene at the turtle’s, the little bug’s, and the little duck’s house it is easy for the viewer to create these scenes on their own.

B: What impacts could the developments portrayed in Epic2015 have on your classroom, particularly with respect to the things like podcasting?

My largest concern for the impacts of the developments portrayed in Epic2015 would be how media as we know it today being dissolved into one provider, warping into a personalized filter for what you want to know or learn about as determined by a computer. Would this change in the media resource polarize the thoughts and opinions of each student? Not allowing them to learn about other points of view without having to actively search them out.

Another question is: How would this media resource affect research projects? On one hand it may facilitate research, making it easier to complete your research, but would the material be as reliable. How would you determine the credibility of the resource for the obtained information? As the teacher, it may take much more time helping your students find and determine what is credible.

Bringing us to Podcasts. Anytime someone is able to broadcast or publish any type of media the issue of privacy and confidentiality of information has the potential to become a problem. How would the students use this technological power? It could of course be used to spread rumors of false information about others. If this were to happen it could dramatically affect some of your students education because of what was happening in their personal life and everybody had the opportunity to know about it. On the other hand, Podcasts could be an incredible assessment tool. Instead of a test or written report students would be able to put information into a verbal report or organize it into a discussion forum or interview. This would not only be a tool for teachers but it could create new relevance and pride in the assignments by the students. This would be the result of the assignment not only being for the teacher and but it would let the world know what they were doing and what they believed in or stood for.

C: How might you use Sabrina’s piece as a model for something you would do with your students?

I really enjoyed SabrinaJourney. I felt it was put together very well and clearly expressed where and how Sabrina got to be where she is today. This could be used in many interesting ways in the classroom. Students could use this timeline narrative style to express > What they would like to do in the future > How their education has changed over the years leading up to this point > What they would like to get out of a particular course to prepare them for the experiences the future may hold for them.

There are many topics that could be expressed in such a project but I particularly like the idea of using it as a way for students to express what they would like to get out of their education. It would let teachers know what is important to their students and would give the students some ownership in the education they are receiving.