I loved this class (as usually, I don't think there is a technology topic I don't like to talk about). We talked about quite a few things this class that I wanted to speak to.
The class was split today, with half of us working on podcasting first, and then iconography next, and the other half vis versa.
Podcasting
I am an avid consumer of podcast, so it was pretty awesome to see just how easy it was to make your own. I can definitely see how this could be useful in a classroom - if you could post a copy of the class notes and then have one verbalization of the lesson, how much easier would that be for students who, like Kristin said, can't sit still long. I could also see this as being a pretty awesome way to prep for classes, with mini explanations of things that will be covered - esp if you can prep a few days in advance, so that if you need a Sub, they will still have something to cover in class, even if they are not subject specific subbing.
Iconography
The iconography lesson was way way fun. I am not sure why, but it just made senses to me, even though I know it was not everyone's cup of tea. I liked that we got to talk with partners to develop/discover shared meanings before going to the larger group. I got to work with B and it was fun, but I felt a little bad cause I seemed to get it a bit faster than her, and I didn't take that into account when I was making a joke of it before checking in. I think it is a bad habit of mine that I sometimes assume that everyone gets something without that mini check in, which I think makes me less approachable to questions, something I definitely want to work on as I develop as a teacher.
We didn't get to talk TOOO much directly about the readings, esp some of the notions that the video brought up, but I hope that people will at least keep an open mind about the use of games, both video or otherwise in the classroom and in learning. Not so say that I think they will be a cure-all, but I think in thinking about the structure of games and what motivates us to play them and want to play them, we can definitely find some takeaways that we should use in our lessons and classrooms as well.
I love your subbing idea! That would be a great way to relay information to students when you can't be there. I think it would also be neat to have educational podcasts on hand for students to listen to in your absence. I can imagine making a bunch of Richard Feynman books available as podcasts for my students who wanted to push themselves.
ReplyDeleteI also hope we keep the gaming article and video in mind! I would have liked to have had a discussion on those more specifically with all of you.
I am impressed with how the podcasts turned out. All of a sudden there is an audio source for me to play and figure out which edublogger I would like to get hooked on. I've been searching and looking a bit, but not that inspired so far. Now I can go through our class and see what people picked out and see what pops for me. It shows how awesome of a resource the podcasts can be for us down the road. It wouldn't be that difficult, like you suggested for the subs, to create a podcast that explained the days focus. I could see students in high school playing the quick podcasts to get clued in before walking into the classroom. Heck, they can make podcasts about each lesson afterwards, and future students can listen to other students instead of the teachers voice!
ReplyDeleteLana, you might get a kick out of what Jeff Smith, a Physics teacher from Colorado does with podcasts. I heard him interviewed once, and he said that he actually inverted things, and had the podcast be the main lesson, while class was a time to practice with the ideas, or to hone understanding. You'll find his podcasts here.
ReplyDeleteYou're right about the readings getting somewhat short shrift. Though the discussion of the game wound up getting to some of the points that especially Gee brought up, and I loved the way in which people made connections back to larger issues of teaching and learning, I'm sorry that I didn't get us back to the readings with more time left for direct conversation about them.