Teaching = Dis-Covered Knowledge

Humor me for a moment. Think back to your childhood. Let's say that in a time of great innocence, you spilled or dropped something on the floor. Now, that could have been carpeting, tile, or a wood floor. It matters not what spilled or what you spilled it on, just the fact that you spilled or dropped something. The resulting mess would no doubt get you in a ton of trouble with mom/dad/grandma/grandpa/aunt/uncle, etc.... whoever... Now you faced a moral dilemma.. what to do?

You could:
1) Don't face the problem. Don't address it. Run away and hide from it...
2) Quickly grab a rug, book, chair, or something else big enough and cover it up. If they can't see it, it is no longer a problem.
3) Take responsibility for the mess, learn how to eat food without spilling it.. all part of growing up.

OK.. enough with the fond memories...
The technology available to us as people is unbelievably immense and is changing every second. I just saw that Microsoft is developing something that enables you to use your palm or arm as a touch screen to dial a number or text... is this unbelievable??? Yes... it sure is. Technology doesn't slow down for anyone. It is up to you whether you choose to (or are able to) keep up.

One resource that I have really embraced and used as a resource for learning is Youtube (which has been bought by Google btw). I upload our class's music videos to it. I favorite videos that I then use in my instruction. I can search on a moment's notice in attempt to find content that I can use.

At this year's ASSET conference, I presented Youtube as one of the resources that educators can embrace. The participants at the workshop were excited to start working with it. I spoke about how my co-teacher and I were teaching a lesson on nutrition, and a student asked what the difference was between the various types of milks.... a search and I found this:



The discussion then went to how we make sure that milk is free from bacteria. Enter a video on Pasteurization:



In last week's blog assignment, my students were asked to identify which character or characters they most connected with, and them list character traits that support their choice(s). I found a great video by the Author of this book discussing challenges and triumphs of writing. I put it on the blog for the class to see.



In science, our class is creating Public Service Announcements for other kids about electrical safety. The project is anchored in our unit of electricity. Students are using our collaborative wikispace as a place to store the information and facts that they have gathered through their research. I won't list them here, but I have sample PSAs that my students refer back to as they create their own. Here is a PSA on nutrition by our very dear friend "Cookie Monster".



Before we even started using the wiki, I used this excellent video by Common Craft to reinforce the concept of a wiki after I introduced it:



Look.. I could go on and on about how I have been finding value in it.. but we all know that technology is a two sided sword. As Peter Parker's Uncle Ben said: "With great power comes great responsibility!" There is a ton of valuable 'stuff' on youtube, but there is also a lot of junk. Youtube is a stage where the whole world can be an actor on. 10 or 20 years ago it would have taken A BUNCH of money and connections for your video to be seen around the world. Not all of us are named Spielberg, Lucas, or Coppola, but nearly anyone can record a quick video (flip camera, digital camcorder or even a cheap web cam if your laptop doesn't have one) and upload it for the planet to see.

What do we do? We monitor our kids while they are in the lab or the classroom. We embed videos on our blogs and wikis so that they don't have to be in the "Youtube" site and see things like comments and related videos. We screen videos BEFORE we use them to ensure that they are appropriate for our classroom. We try our best to teach them how to use technology responsibly and to respect each other's views and opinions.

So what can you do about this resources, its values, and its dangers?

Well.. remember that spill?

You could:
1) Don't face the problem. Don't address it. Run away and hide from it...
2) Quickly get an Internet filtering program big enough and cover it up. If they can't see it, it is no longer a problem.
3) Take responsibility for the mess, learn how to use online video correctly and show our students how to do the same.. all part of growing up.

Now where did I put that Bounty roll? Comments welcome.