THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE

WHERE IS THE TECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION IN EDUCATION?

"For plants to grow, seeds have to whither and die."

Throughout the history of humankind, REVOLUTION (a drastic and inevitable force to change) always characterized itself with an element of harsh transformation, of sacrifice, ...of dying. I sincerely believe that the technology revolution in education demands from us - teachers - the ULTIMATE SACRIFICE - "dying to ourself".

I, without a doubt, accept that for technology integration to be successful it requires for us to painfully undergo a paradigm shift, to courageously modify our approach to education outside our "comfort zones", and to humbly accept our nothingness when learning the immense reality that is technology.

When I was listening to Steve Hargadon's interview with Michael Russell , I felt his wariness in assessing the success of technology integration in education. He talked about the successes of technology in business. He believes that education needs to follow the business model in order to achieve considerable impact to effective teaching and adequate learning.

Where is technology revolution in education?

However, if success had not been that forthcoming, I think there is more to than what meets the eye. It is not mainly the issue of money, of internet accessibility, or of inadequate training. I believe it lies in not taking sacrifices. There are still many who cannot let go of their pencil and paper strategy (why complicate things with technology). There are those who fear change (why fix if it is not broken). There are those who are selfish of their time (school time is just from 8am to 4pm - learning technology eats up my personal time). There are those who do not want added responsibilities (life is in itself demanding - I do not want anymore aggravation, I am OK in my comfort zone). For when there is sincere commitment, any challenges will easily be surmounted.

Hence, technology integration in education will grow. Technology Revolution in education will find its completion overtime.

There will be teachers who will unselfishly take up the challenge. There will be generous and humble teachers. There will be teachers who continually update themselves. There will be teachers who will give up their precious personal time for the benefit of their students. There will be teachers who are not afraid of change and who are willing to leave their comfort zones. There will be teachers who, like seeds, are ready to "whither and die"... who are ready to give the ULTIMATE SACRIFICE.

CREDITS

Image Source: http://www.coffeeresearch.org/Pictures/nursery2.jpg

PodCast: Michael Russell

GOOGLE EARTH LESSON PLAN - IDEA #2

GRADE 5 SCIENCE
TOPIC: LAND BIOMES - SAVE GUAM'S FOREST

OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the lesson, the SWBAT will be aware of and will show a positive response to improve the condition of the land biomes of Guam.

1. Students will show the current condition of the land biomes of Guam using Google Earth.
2. Students will assess the condition through their observation of the latest picture of the island.
3. Students will mark specific places that needs immediate attention using Google Earth.
4. Students will draw a plan how to reach to these places and how to improve these by planting new trees.
5. Students will create campaign posters with Google Earth images that aims to involve others to SAVE GUAM'S FOREST.
   

PROCESS

TEACHER
The teacher will explain to the students the importance of forests. Then, the teacher will challenge the students to study the geography of Guam and analyze the current situation of Guam's forest using the aerial view from Google Earth.
The teacher will explain their project to use Google Earth to produce images that they can place in their posters which will be used in their campaign to "SAVE GUAM'S FORESTS!".

STUDENT
The students need to acknowledge the benefits and importance of forests. They will assess the conditions of the forests of Guam using Google Earth. From the latest aerial view that they will get, they will create boundaries and other markings to show the condition of these Guam biomes. They will use these images for their posters to highlight their message to SAVE GUAM'S FOREST.

IMAGE SOURCE:
Saved Jpeg image from Google Earth by Norman

GOOGLE EARTH LESSON PLAN - IDEA #1

GRADE 5 SCIENCE
TOPIC: LAND BIOMES

OBJECTIVES: At the end of the lesson, SWBAT to understand the different land biomes.

1. Students will differentiate the 6 major land biomes using Wikipedia.
2. Students will show example of places where these different biomes can be found using Google Earth.
3. Students will create a tour presentation of places in a Geo-narrative format using Google Earth.
4. Students will present the Land Biomes tour as evidence of their understanding of the different major land biomes.

PROCESS:

TEACHER
At the beginning of the lesson, the teacher will demonstrate to the students how to use Wikipedia in enhancing their understanding of the 6 different biomes as presented in their Science textbook. The teacher will lead the students to list names of the different places where each of these biomes can be found. These names of places will then be used as search descriptors for the places to be place marked in Google Earth as contents of their tour presentation.
Morever, the teacher will explain how to create a Geo-Narrative which is the format that students will follow in their output activity.

STUDENT
Students will need to read their textbooks that presents the major forms of Land Biomes. They will go to the Wikipedia site to further research the adequate description of each of the biomes. They need to get specific names of places in which these biomes exist. Then, they will use Google Pages to search and placemark these places in order to create a Geo-narrative tour of the major Land Biomes of the earth.

IMAGE SOURCE:
Saved Jpeg Image using Google Earth by Norman

21st CENTURY LEARNING: THE WAY OF THE ANT

To be a successful 21st Century Learner, one has just to mimic the ant!

Ants, aside from being hardworking, are also known as great adaptive creatures and as quick anticipator. We would instantly know that rainy season is just about to come as we see those long ant lines. We see them frantically storing their food in preparation for the wet season.

In the podcast interview with Steve Hargadon, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach talked about the 21st Century Learner. She shared valuable insights about preparing students to be successful in today's demanding society. Among those that she said, I was impressed in the words ADAPTIVE EXPERT. These words remind me of the ANTS.

I believe that today's students have to follow the way ants work. These creatures work hard to store up food in anticipation for the harsh season. Students need to study and to learn as many technology skills as possible for their future is harsh and demanding. To guarantee a stable work and a good salary, they have to be ready and to be the best. This technology skill is not about just the SOFTWARE and HARDWARE knowledge. These can change anytime. It is about the resilient attitude of knowing how to learn. Ants know how to find any kind of food from any kind of place. Students must have that template of the learning process made according to their capabilities and talents. Ants find food using what they have - their chemical scent and their sense of smell.

Therefore, Adaptive Expert is one who knows how to learn. It is one who learns for survival and for success. It is one who responds to the demands of the times. It is about giving oneself an indispensable value. It is not being passive, but always actively reinventing oneself. It is about always being ready.

It is the way of the ant!

CREDITS
Image Source:
ANTS -http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2003/may7/gifs/Ant_Chat2_300.jpg

PODCAST Source:






Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach 21st Century Learning
http://image2.frappr.com/pix2/i/20060401/4/7/6/476e49321fb6b941242d69421d1e4dd00_medium.jpg

FLICKR LESSON PLAN - IDEA #2

GRADE 5 SCIENCE
TOPIC: MICROSCOPE AND CELL

OBJECTIVE:
At the end of the lesson, SWBAT explore the cell structure of an Elodea leaf and compare it to other plant cells.

1. Students will be able to see a sample image of the cell structure of an elodea leaf.
   
2. Students will be able to describe the basic structure of a plant cell.
   
3. Students will upload other plant cell photo. They will annotate this photo that will show the same basic cell structure as the Elodea.
   

PROCESS:

TEACHER
Using Flickr, I will upload my cell image and add notes to show the basic cell characteristic of plants.

The annotated image of this cell structure will be shown to the students using the multi-media projector. The annotations will be displayed and explained.

I will create a Flickr group for the class to enable photo sharing.

STUDENTS
Through their Flickr account, students will upload another plant cell image. They will annotate this image to show the basic cell structure common to plant cells akin to the Elodea.

Students will then share their photo to the class Flickr group.

FLICKR LESSON PLAN - IDEA #1

GRADE 5 SCIENCE
TOPIC: MICROSCOPE AND CELL

OBJECTIVE:

At the end of the lesson, SWBAT know the advantages and disadvantages of the Brock and Biological Microscope.

1. Students will see an image of the 2 commonly used microscopes in school (Brock and Biological) which will show their parts.
   
2. Students will learn the different parts of each microscope and their uses.
3. Students will show their annotated pictures that will highlight the advantages and disadvantages of microscopes.
   

PROCESS:

TEACHER
Using Flickr, I will upload 2 images that will effectively show the basic parts of these microscopes. Then, I will annotate the basic parts on these images.

The annotated pictures will be shown during our discussion on the use of microscopes.

I will create a Flickr group for the class to enable the photo sharing.

STUDENT
Through their Flickr account, they will upload photos of a Brock and Biological Microscopes (with proper citations). They will annotate these images with notes that shows the advantages and disadvantages of each microscope.

They then will share their annotated photos to the class Flickr group.

EYESPOT VIDEO MIXING

MY FIRST MIX: The Incredible Iron Surfer

EyeSpot.com is a FREE audio-video mixing, editing, and uploading website. This site first started in 2005 as an answer to a call for straight-forward, user-friendly video editing tool. This site, though it has more issues to resolve and to improve, lives up to the need of so many users who just need the bare necessities for video editing and mixing.

I read through some articles about EyeSpot. As they aroused my curiosity, I went to the site and did a quick sign up for my account. As I am already have a fair knowledge in iMovie and Windows Movie Maker, I easily created my first mix. The resources I have were taken from the available videos and music in the site. I was interested in making a video mix from the Surfing and Iron Man clips. EyeSpot led me to indulge in my imagination. I was lost in time and had spent almost 2 hours in making my theme pleasing to my "cinematic" expectations. After so many remixes, I was contented with what I made... THE INCREDIBLE IRON SURFER (ooopps, sounds like the current movie theme of the Fantastic 4). Well, I was satisfied with the output. Indeed, I say EyeSpot squeezed my creative juices. What a good way to spend an idle summer schedule...and least to say, it was FREE.

EVALUATION
I encountered some hurdles especially in embedding my video mix into my blogger account. I did what is the SOP (copy/paste Embedding URL into the Edit Html). But it did not resulted as I wanted until I return to do it after couple of hours. There is a Permalink Code that I can copy. This will lead me to EyeSpot.com where my video mix is. This tool is very handy if I need to hyperlink my video mixes from just a TEXT DISPLAY.
There is a cool option to download your mix in either MAC, PC, IPOD, PSP, & DIVX formats. This is great because it opens up a lot of uses either educational or personal.
Overall, this site is for entry-level video editors. It requires to have a faster internet access - DSL or CABLE. And it does not contain all the bells and whistles as with a professional video editing software such as a Final Cut Studio 2 for Mac or a Avid Liquid 7.0 for Windows/Mac. But as it offers simplicity, ease, and realiability, I can see a good use for this to engage students in their learning. With adequate education in media elements and their innate cinematic creativity, they can create endless school video projects.
EyeSpot, in the future, will surely offer us added tools to make video mixing and editing more amazing and exciting.

PS: More power to the EyeSpot team!

PERSPECTIVES

EYESPOT: REVOLUTIONARY
EYESPOT: A REVIEW

YOUTUBE VIDEO SHARING

At last, with some spare time, I was able to create an account with YouTube and made an upload of a sample movie (actually, just a simple slideshow). The experience was engaging and fulfilling.

I know of YouTube last year when my student showed me his StickMan video via YouTube. He made this series of cute stick figures acting out a karate scene with a grunge music background. I felt inept knowing that this 10yr old kid has so much talent and guts to produce his own video and showed it to the world. I then promised to myself to do one for myself - to prove to myself that I can do it also.

Well, my YouTube experience was not so hard at all. You simply have to fill out the necessary information. Just make sure you read all the fine prints so as not to be surprised. I just had a longer time putting up my video using the iMovie. I thought of doing just a short slide show of the pictures I took during my Digital Photo class with Dr. Wallace. I arranged the pictures in a manner I thought logical then I added the music I arranged using Garage Band sound loops. Bingo! I have a sample video upload that I want to share to the internet community.

I found the process very fulfilling. I learn a thing about YouTube video sharing and I showed the beauty of Guam. Knowing that my work will be seen by others all over the globe, I am so excited of the impact that I will be making.

YouTube is truly a great tool. It can be used for good and great things. Yet, I am aware of the current issues that smeared its positive usefulness. If YouTube users were as responsible and well-intentioned, this technology tool can contribute so much good to the world. For those who use it wrongly, I hope that one day there is an effective solution to stop them.

But again, it is a matter of "better to light just one little candle than to stumble in the dark". I need to start the responsible use from myself then spread it on to my students.

PERSPECTIVES
YOU TUBE: A CATCH 22 TOOL
YOU TUBE: A TOUR

WIKIS FOR THE CLASSROOM

WIKIS FOR "DUMMIES" IN EDUCATION

Wikis are not that complicated. It enables users to actively exchange their thoughts as the wiki software empowers them to edit the page rather than just passively reading it. As the above YouTube video suggests, wiki is a generic tool with endless possible applications. In education, wiki is a powerful tool to enrich learning in an engaging environment.

I could see the following to happen using wiki in education:

ONLINE LEARNING: this can enable students to learn without physically be present in the classroom. Teachers can lead the discussion in text or in video that would result to student output in also in text and in video.

SCIENCE FAIR PREPARATION: This can help maximize time in preparing a Science Fair Projects as students can ubiquitously work. Science teachers will see the progress and the result. Students will experience a very engaging learning environment that will draw from them their creativity and wisdom.

WORLDWIDE LEARNING EXCHANGE: With any subject or topic, wikis can open up channels of exchange from students all over. Students will be a able to draw new perspectives from their peers who are from other cultures and disciplines.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Teachers can learn and upgrade their knowledge from the professional community that will be develop through wikis. Aside from the knowledge and experience exchanges, the hyperlinks can lead teachers to a vast wealth of information pertinent to the subject at hand.

LANGUAGE LITERACY: Students can improve their communication skills as they can create a group which has a specific goal for language learning. They can be a group that is for improving writing skills in grammar and spelling. They can be a group of ESL students that will practice their English communication through their exchanges. In each of these, they can have a moderator who will guide, correct, and model towards improving their communication skills.
For the passionate and creative mind, wiki can be everything for education. To achieve the goals of successful learning through wiki, one just needs to BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME!

RESOURCES

1. WikiTEACHING
2. Wiki: A CASE STUDY
3. eLEARNING WIKI
4. pbwiki.com
5. wikispaces.com
   

WIKI: Student Empowerment

I imagined Wiki as like a classroom OPEN board where a teacher and students can write variety of information pertinent to a common topic. It is not anymore just the teacher writing and students passively copying notes. Students can write on to the board and become active contributors to the lesson.

As simple as my representation is, however, I think that is the fundamental element in wikis – STUDENT EMPOWERMENT. Teaching policies and paradigms have long emphasized of making the students get involved in the classroom. Teachers have to present an engaging lesson that will lead students to pursue further research and applications meaningful in their lives. Well, Wiki is one of the BEST answers.

Victoria Davies and Adam Frey have preached the immense potential of wiki in letting students be active participant in education. As they are good examples of “Walking the Talk”, I admire their passion and their forward thinking in integrating technology in education through wikis. They are well aware of the risks that can derail student learning. However, as Victoria had put it, “IGNORANCE is the main enemy”. I absolutely agree. The use of wiki necessitates training and education. Students have to possess the right attitude (for successful and relevant learning) and the proper skill (grammar and typing) when using wikis. They have to follow the Acceptable Use Policies. Only then, their empowerment has to be guided.

Moreover, student empowerment can be enriching because wikis can be design as a depository of active links that will bring its users to other knowledge sources (print, image, audio, or video). This is one important consideration why wiki is a valuable tool in education. A wiki page of a particular topic can contain many sources of information, which can validate its accuracy and reliability. It can minimize if not eliminate bias. Wiki has the potential to present the most objective content. Wiki can make of a student an erudite and objective learner.

Wiki, then, is an option for effectively educating the students, for allowing them to be involved in their learning, and for empowering them to forge their knowledge objectively.

CREDITS

PODCAST SOURCE (Victoria Davies & Adam Frey)
Image Source: www.softwaremag.com/.../images/E-Learning.jpeg

EDUCATIONAL BLOGGING: The Educator's Way

Blogging, according to Will Richardson, offers a potpourri of educational opportunities to both sides of the learning process – student and teacher. As I listened to his passionate monologue, I felt the sincerity of his words in revealing the amazing potentials of blogging as a technological tool that enhances learning.

True, with blogs, students can extend their horizon and learn from the feedback of so many contributors from around the world. Noteworthy to mention is the learning they can get from intelligent comments of individuals who share their passion. In consequence, they will be part of a learning community that is characterized with dynamism and advancement. More so, students can develop to critical thinking skills as they become to read other blogs which challenges their intellect and which spurs them to respond with profound analysis.

Teachers, on the other hand, can use blogs not just a simple on-line “diary” of thoughts or a cache of professional works but they can be tools for professional development. Blogs attract company. As the saying goes, “you reap what you sow”, so also in writing your blogs you will receive comments from people who share your passion. As this process progress, it becomes a never ending sharing of experiences, of solutions to answers, and of creative ideas – is this not a credible professional development resource taken from no other than your peers.

In all these “sales pitches” of how amazing blogging is in education, I understand the urgency of learning it and then integrating it into the curriculum. However, amid the excitement, I would rather be cautious to using it without ascertaining that my students have the prerequisites – writing and reading skills, cause and effect and analysis. It is just like learning to do the strokes, bubbling and breathing first before swimming. More so, I need to make the parents be involved when their children will venture to blogging because of privacy issues.

As a teacher, I blog in order to gain its educational and professional benefits and not just to be original. I consider blogging as a means and not an end. I embrace it as my response to change in the educational environment. The landscape of 21st century education has changed so drastically. Moreover, as a teacher, I educate – “I LEAD”. Blogging is just one way for me to lead my students into making these tools as effective means towards their successful learning.

CREDITS

Image Source: http://www.ibritt.com/resources/images/hearnoseenospeakno_blogOK.jpg
PODCAST SOURCE (Will Richardson)

MEDIA SMARTS: Communication - A Rainbow Perspective

From discernable sounds to written symbols such as words, man’s way of COMMUNICATION has evolved in leaps and bounds.

There is more to just written word. As this may be true in Johannes Gutenberg’s days of long past, printed communication had been the world’s staple for knowledge. However, as man sought for efficient and effective answers to problems, his ingenuity has spawned into technological advances creating powerful tools of which we are just beginning to discover, appreciate, and to utilize them as essential part of communication. Of this, George Lucas has never said it any better. Communication is not just about the study of the written word. It is also about the understanding of colors, lines, film elements (focus and wide shots), and other rules of conveying messages through different audio-visual forms. They are great tools of communication and not just for entertainment or for artistic display.

This is indeed an important paradigm shift for parents, educators and policy makers. Students must learn these basic “grammars” of filmmaking. Schools need to re-align their curriculum to integrate this into the study of language. Parents, educators, and administrators must understand that watching pictures, commercials, news, TV series, and movies are simply entertainment. These are communication tools. They carry in them different messages – propagandas, sales pitches, values, etc. If students do not understand the “hows” and the “whys” they are made, they will not excite their minds to critical thinking. They will not evoke their feelings into productive action. They remain passive useless audience.

It is then imperative for me, for you, and for everybody to be MEDIA SMART. We need to accept that the single-layered communication in the form of the written word has long been passé. Today, communication has taken a multi-layered identity (akin to a rainbow) that we all need to discover, to study, and to employ. It is our task that in order to let our students to be critical thinkers they need their senses to be awakened through their understanding of the “rules”. Hence, the study of language needs to be intertwined with the study of multi-media production.

“That which we are capable of feeling, we are capable of saying.” –Cervantes

CREDITS

Image Source: http://quotations.about.com/cs/inspirationquotes/a/Communication3.htm
Media Smart Video