Day 6

Today was a glorious day. Why, you ask? I video conferenced with a person sitting 2 feet away from me. But all jeers aside, the technology showcased today was very interesting in a number of ways. Firstly, the Skype program seems to be a great way to communicate with people in far away places. This sort of technology could be utilized by educators to home tutor students or hold review sessions from the comfort of one's home. Skype really puts a face on cyber space communication, if you know what I mean. Secondly, the Illuminate software is a great idea for holding video conferences focused upon group collaboration. Allowing all members to modify and construct one text or file, Illuminate makes group work possible without the hassles of meeting in one place.

More than any other technology offered, Skype and Illuminate transcend barriers of time and space to unite people with common goals. A group project, a tutoring session, or perhaps a friendly social gathering are all possible with these tools. Collaboration is moving in new directions, away from the hassles of geographical determinism and into the boundless world of the interweb. Down with the computer lab!

Day 5

What can I say? The SMARTboards were impressive, far exceeding my first impressions and deep rooted skepticism of any newfangled technology. The SMARTboard is truly a jack of all educational trades, allowing for just about every medium of transmission and interaction when delivering a lesson. I look forward to designing my own lessons and then having a go with this technological wonder at the helm of the class.

On a completely different note, the podcast assignment turned out better than expected. Creativity flourishes when minds awake and collaborate for one educational goal. Pasted below is a link to a podcast created by Marc, Marta, and myself. The podcast is based upon a fictitious interview with Christian Andreas Doppler examining his impact upon modern history. Translations in Spanish are provided for those of you who know more than one tongue. There's some new information about Doppler, some old received knowledge about his theory, and some fairly boring anecdotes about his life. Enjoy!

https://blackboard.newpaltz.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_45721_1%26url%3D

Day 4

Today the course work was staggering, covering a wide range of different resource guides and websites for educators. Coverage has a way of draining the mind, destroying curiosity and depth in the name of length and breadth. We scratched the surface on a few useful tools, Thinkfinity being the most effective of the bunch, yet most remain a mystery. The magical world of the interweb is compounding information so rapidly it becomes overwhelming. Buckminster Fuller might have a word or two to say about this "frontier acceleration" that humbles even the wisest of scholars, challenging every written word with a thousand new words and just as many new ideas. Is too much information a bad thing? Overcoming the nihilism in education, that dreadful fear of unknowing in a world so rife with information, is the first step towards deeper study.

It will take a good while to digest the onslaught of new technologies and programs on display today, not to mention the slew of new inventions awaiting the next hour. How can we keep afloat in a world when knowledge is changed and created in this very second of suddenness? The logistics are staggering, and I have little time to figure it out before the next idea passes by.

However, I must say Thinkfinity seems like a great resource for fledgling teachers to pull lesson plans and activities from. Your thoughts or Thinkfinity or any of the rambling above?

Day 3

The third time is a charm, or so it has been said, as the third class went smoothly according to plan. The professor raised some very interesting questions about teaching and how we aim to assess student work. As educators, what do we truly value in the work of our students? How can we measure the worth of our students, of ourselves? This is a perplexing issue in education and deserves further discussion. Too often a good grade is correlated with a good sense for conformity, leaving the more creative expressions of humanity in the shadow of those easier to diagnose. How are we to measure creativity with our system of numbers and letter grades? What could we possibly come to comprehend or understand about the value of work by measuring it with our gut or with a number line? Nothing at all. Assessment must be in line with both objectives and lesson planning for education to be meaningful and just, if such a thing ever existed.