This week you will continue exploring a few of the ideas we began talking about in class. Here are the blog assignments:
1. Watch the video An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube by Dr. Michael Wesch, professor of Anthropology at K-State. As stated in class, you do not have to watch the entire video, but watch enough that you can pick up on some key points that you can relate to your life, your life as a teacher and your relationship to society in general. This video is a lecture he presented to the Library of Congress in 2008. What are your thoughts on the YouTube and internet phenomenon? How will it change how you teach? Has it already? If not, how could it change how you teach? How will it change how your students learn? Good or bad it is a reality. Tell me what you think.
OPTIONAL: Check out The Blue School site. Take a look at the Time article on The Blue School and watch the Time video on The Blue School. What do you think about the concept? Does it work? What are the good aspects? What are concerns you have about this idea? Here is the real test -- would you want a child of your own to attend a school like this? Why? Why not?
Intro
Welcome to the class blog for "The Creative Process," Baker SPGS SOE Spring 2009.
Every week there will be several items posted. You are required to respond to the posted items. In addition you may respond to comments posted by classmates. Either a gmail or yahoo account is required to post comments. If you do not wish to use your existing account please create a new account and provide me with your tag name so that I will know that you are posting.
An acceptable and successful post will be more than one word and will be a formed and thoughtful response.
In addition to the the weekly posts I will also be adding lists and links that may be useful to you, first in your personal "creative" life, and second, in your life as an educator. I encourage you to forward websites, photos for posting, and other ideas to me so they can be shared with everyone.
19 comments:
I really didn't have a positive or a negative thought about YouTube. I know what it is and I hear students talk about it, but I have not surfed the program and I really don't have a desire to do it now. The way it changes teaching is that students come into class with a broader sense of what is going on in the world around them. They look at the videos and want to experience the fun and freedom of expression. They do not get this advantage very often in their lives. They are not allowed to express themselves through music or any other form of creative expression due to not being within the perimeters of standardized schooling. Parents are just as guilty as the school system. They don't want their children listening to music that they do not approve of or music they don't understand. This avenue of expression is an advantage that students have today that their parents and teachers did not have at their age. Teachers need to keep an open mind to what and how their students express themselves through music and their work.
Not having experienced the You Tube phenomen I really did not know much about it. We are living in an ever-changing world and this media outlet is the new way for people to express themselves. I agree with Michael Wesch when he said it is a bunch of people seeking connection without constraint. As a parent this concerns me because it will be hard to monitor. As an educator I am concerned because I have seen the hidden camera version of teachers actions and most of these are taken out of context. By promoting You Tube are we promoting "live life against the law."
Being a man with limited tecnological skills, YouTube is new to me. Sure I have heard of it and I admit I get jealous when people are talking about the cool video they saw and I know I will never see it. I guess it could change they way I teach if I were allowed to usse a video that someone uploaded and if I feel safe that the information is accurate. Students could make and upload a video about a science project and we can graph the hits much like Mr. Wesch did. I am still leary about what is used and from where when it comes to my class because ultimately I am responsible.
U-tube is an ongoing subject in my house. My oldest son Gage and his friends are always making videos and posting them on this site. They various projects at school and just playing around. I think there are good and bad things about u-tube just like other things such as TV. It is all about how you monitor and limit the use of this technology. As a teacher I would use u-tube for educational purposes within the classroom. There are many videos that would enhance my lessons. Again as a parent or teacher monitor and limit what is being watched on this site and you will have yourself great tool to incorporate in your instruction.
I think back to my childhood. My life was all about my immediate family. This is not the case for kids today. They have much more opportunity to experience others around the world using a computer. Being a parent I am wary about what my kids watch on youtube. i am usually the one that gets on youtube and invites the family to watch with me. Some evenings we sit around the computer and laugh at the videos.Especially the cat and baby ones. If there is a really neat or funny one, I'll show it to my class at the end of class on Friday. Sometimes the kids have a specific one they want to share. I've done it a bit this year. It is good incentive for the class to get quiet and down to work.I think it's cool the way people all over the world can share things. However, like I said, a parent needs to monitor what kids watch on youtube just as they should the T.V. Youtube is a potential sewage line pumping directly into your house.
I think that there are positive and negative aspects to YouTube just like with anything. While some of the videos are probably entertaining, I'm sure that some of them could be damaging especially to younger viewers. I agree with the others that as a parent, I have concerns about what my kids may be watching, or who is watching them. There is always the possibility that a predator could find someone using the information from an uploaded video. We had a speaker at an inservice who showed us how easy it is to get information on a child from very little information. I have used TeacherTube and I trust the information there a little bit more.
I have never logged on personally and watched any You Tube videos. I here my students talking about it all the time. I also see the media talk about negative videos that come out and then they publiced it. I know my wife is a member of Teacher Tube and she likes it. I have never viewed this either.
If I were going to use it I would like to have some training on exactly how to use it. Where would it fit into my curriculum? I have two boys who are about the age to start viewing this kind of media and I will be keeping a close eye on it. I do not just let them surf the internet here at my house. I am kind of old fashioned. The reality is it is here, so we will have to deal with it sooner or later.
YouTube will be a wonderful piece of technology to bring into my classroom, just as soon as it is “allowed” in my classroom. After watching part of the video, I am trying to come up with ways I can use it now. I am going to try to upload our wrestling videos the day after the matches so the wrestlers can see them sooner. I realize that is not in my classroom but it is a start.
The phenomenon amazes me. I believe it is showing that people enjoy people, no matter what is being said or done. We enjoy sharing, it is very evident by the huge numbers of personal - family movie type videos on YouTube.
Although, in my thinking, creativity is lacking, yes there are literally millions of uploaded videos, but it seams most are simply upgrades to an original idea.
It is reality, both good and bad. I would just like to be able to use it.
I've spent countless hours following threads through Youtube when I should have been sleeping or doing something else. It's a lot of fun to think of the most random stuff to search just to see what turns up. I've never contacted the people who post them, but that option is there. I suppose that's the way you establish worldwide connections. It has the immediate gratification our society demands.In some ways is meets the goals desired for the outdated penpal. Although, I'll stick up for the pen pal.It's just connecting people from all over the world. Whatever you might wish to learn a little bit about, you can probably find a youtube video that addresses it and be connected to that person.
I could see my class recording themselves during a play or poetry reading. I could also see them designing a screen play to produce for youtube.
As with anything, keep it in moderation and monitored.
YouTube is a great way for young people to connect with others. I do believe that there is an appropriate time and place for the use in the classroom. I would definitely have to search the site for videos that would be appropriate for my first grade students. I have been on You Tube many times with uploading videos, and watching my friends as well. I get on YouTube at home when I am bored and browse through the clips. I have been in a video on You Tube from a wedding reception singing karoke with the wedding party. Being able to access YouTube would probably be beneficial to my classroom. I love using the internet to teach how to research an animal. I believe having internet access is great for students.
I have watched a few videos on youtube but am not a habitual viewer. I have never uploaded anything and don't plan to anytime soon. Many of the students talk about it and what they watched the night before. The one problem i have is what is useful and what is useless. From what i have witnessed Youtube is more of a forum for the younger generation to communicate in many ways. Do they learn anything from what they see on Youtube? From what i have seen, NO! I am sure there are thousands of videos that are educational but having access to Youtube at many schools is not allowed. It is hard enough to have reliable computer access at my school just to type, let alone do research and look at videos on Youtube. I do not see myself using Youtube anytime soon in the classroom. Give me another year or two when i have more spare time to search for and use appropriate material for my classroom and Youtube and any other internet video sources may become much easier for me to use with my students. If i wanted to video my students doing something and upload it to youtube, the yellow tape that would have to be gone through would maybe not be worth it. I don't know if i would even want myself on youtube, much less my 9-10 year old students.
I do not know that much about youtube. My children definately know more about it and can spend hours on it, if allowed. I think the students in schools have a much broader sense of the world and can network themselves more because they have such an interesting way to do so. Many of the uploads that I have seen my teenagers watch seem very silly and uncreative. I am sure that there are some gret videos, movies, etc. to be found if you are willing to take the time to do so. I do not look to be able to use this within my classroom as we do not have the capabilities to do so with the firewalls we have. I would think this would be a great way for parents to view thier childrens school projects and a resource for new teachers to borrow ideas from if we could post videos from our schools.
There are a couple of really important points that are made in this lecture. One is that youtube is mostly made up of new and original material. Living in a society where children are entertained practically from the day they are born, it becomes increasingly difficult to impress them with technology. The second is that youtube and the internet connect people. They allow folks to record things and be themselves and then share it with millions of people.
I love using youtube in the classroom. For one thing, you can view the Bill Nye videos and some Reading Rainbow episodes which is great! Also, the children really respond well to learning through technology. They want to be a part of it.
I think youtube can be a powerful teaching tool in many ways. Overall, it is a good change for our society I think.
After watching 25 minutes of Dr. Wesch's take on You Tube two words came to mind, WHO CARES! Wesch thinks that You Tube is some great contribution to world culture because millions of people from all over the world are tuned into it. He calls it a "celebration of new forms of community." The problem is that Wesch is looking only at the number of people using You Tube. I think it is more important to look at content, and when you do you see that it is nothing but a wasteland. You Tube is nothing more than stupid people watching other stupid people do stupid things. If Wesch thinks that a video of a baby biting the finger of his older brother and then millions of people imitating it is an example of a "very important movement", then he is shallower than the people posting the junk on You Tube. The only thing You Tube is telling us about our culture is that we are becoming narcissistic. If You Tube was being used to intelligently debate some of the important issues that threaten our freedoms, safety, and democracy then I think it would be worthy of study. But unfortunately simpletons dominate it.
I have yet to personally witness technology used to radically change education for the better. Projecting math problem on a smart board rather than using white chalk on a blackboard is not my idea of technology changing education for the better. I'm sure someone somewhere is using technology effectively, I've have just never seen it.
I am not very familiar with youtube. It seems to me that it could be used in a positive way - giving kids a little freedom to express themselves. However, it seems that there are many downfalls to Youtube as well - invading privacy and telling half truths or down right false information. I think their may be potential for using Youtube in my classroom, however, it is not currently allowed in our school district(and I can't say I'm too disappointed about this fact). I think I would need some intensive training before I would feel comfortable having it in the school because the students know much much more than I do about this form of technology.
It's nice to see the creative, positive aspect of You Tube. We always hear the negative and most schools are blocking it. My district has finally unblocked the site for teachers and I use it frequently for class. They have National Geographic clips, videos over many biology topics, and science experiments that we can not do in class. You have to be careful to avoid false information, but if it comes from a noble source, use it. I also like Dr. Wesch's presentation. The first 20 minutes I found entertaining and educating, but the from then he spends to much time on individual vlogging.
I think the Blue School is a wonderful idea, but I would like to see how they are using their tools for learning. Is it another good theory, but application is impossible for the masses? If NCLB is going to be a constant, I can't see how this would work, but I would love to try.
You tube is indeed a new phenomenon. It does connect people across the world and allows them to interact where just 10 years ago they would not have known about each other. The usefulness in school can be used for certain subjects but I really can see a use for math unless it was something like students would have to explain a problem or concept and record it and post it. I think though that you have to be very careful. The internet is a useful tool and I mean 'TOOL'. It is not all that and is not a replacement for the human connection. I agree with Mark that the majority of content is either silly, stupid, or narcissist. The actual value of Youtube is very limited in certain areas.
YouTube has been able to connect people to a visual representation of anything they want, old television commercials, funny videos, biographies, and so forth. Essentially, it changes the way we get information, and it changes the way people can express themselves. As an English teacher it becomes quite important to help students understand the way in which communication methods are changing. I have already begun to use YouTube in various ways. Students share their favorites and we watch them. I use tied in videos to enhance discussion or even begin it. When we did Shakespeare, I would show them videos from various upload websites of students even younger than them performing Shakespeare to quell their fears of reading such difficult text. It also inspires students to want to make their own videos and see them published. If I ask a kid to write a paper and publish it, they would look at me like I’m crazy. They would say, I’m not any good or they are too self-conscious. But ask them to make a video and post it, and they don’t think twice. YouTube to them is liberating and I think a great tool to engage students and introduce them to the idea of the possibilities the internet has to redefine communication as a connecting and social tool.
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