Journal #3

"Video in the Age of Participation" by Glenn Bull.

In this article Glenn Bull points out how popular video clips on the Web have become. He claims that more than 65,000 video clips are uploaded every day and the fact that Youtube sold for over 1 billion dollars reinforces his statement. He admits that teachers have Incorporated video in the class room before but now it is easier and more efficient. Bull lists PBS with its NOVA science programs and the National Geographic Society as two pioneers in this. PBS allows its shows to be viewed online while National Geographic has live feeds to areas of interest, one such as this is a watering hole in Botswana. Even though teachers have taken the initiative to include video in the classroom there have been few to no standards addresses this issue. The discovery Education unitedstreaming Web site has made things easier by connecting certain video clips to explicit curricular objectives.
Another advancement of late is the Discovery Educators Network (DEN) which allows for students and teachers with the capabilities to edit and remix licensed unitedstreaming content. This can only be accessed by those whose districts that join but if one is in such a district all have access. Bull sees this as the start of something that could spread nation wide. There is also more video sharing then ever before and with diligence may be able to bring such technology into every classroom.

Question 1: If standards were to be made who would make them and would this not create more money and attention going outside of the classroom? There is a chance that this would cause problems at first but anything new has to progress and this new technology is no different. If their is a trickle effect from the district still allowing teachers ample room for making decisions, teachers would be able to still custom plan their lesson plans. This may cost money but everything does and in time, once the kinks are worked out, it would have been more then worth the time and money.

Question 2: What kind of safeguards would be installed to ensure that only beneficial information entered the classroom? If only certain companies such as PBS, or National Geographic are accessed only educational material would enter the classroom. These decisions would have to be left in the teachers best interest and responsibility should also be with the4 teacher to ensure appropriate material.

Journal #2

Breathing Fire into the Web 2.0. by Justin Hardman and David Carpenter

This article talks about how the average classroom in this country is without some of the new technological advances. For many, it claims, it is like stepping into the past. Hardman and Carpenter found a way to integrate technology into a productive, encompassing safe environment for teachers and students to interact. They produced a three component system: the first component is to enhance communication, the second component is to provide curriculum mapping while the third component is an online portfolio.
These three components help students and teachers alike. The teachers each have their own homepage to assist with communication. The teachers are able to manage this them selves enabling them control of what when and where. There is also a connection between the curriculum, the faculty and the students. This enhanced communication keeps everyone on the same page and makes it possible for students to learn not only inside the classroom but outside the classroom as well. As for the curriculum not only is it shared by both teachers and students but it is integrated with classroom management and certain resources can be added transferred and shared. Lastly the portfolio helps keep track of students work which may be an asset to gauge where a student is concerning their course work.

Question 1: This sounds great but how much time and money does it take to make this a reality? This would probably take a good amount of money and considerable amount of time and energy to integrate a system like this. It has to start sometime might as well be now.

Question 2: Does this advancement include those that still can not afford to have a computer at home or does it just isolate them further? Their is a chance that it will isolate some students so certain methods would have to be taken to prevent this. Thier are programs such as this in place today with labtops being available to loan. A school district willing to adopt such a program should also look into this to enable all students a fair chance to participate.