Week+4+-+Movie+Maker

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Videos, Poking and Gamechangers; Oh My!
media type="youtube" key="RBTq2-VcNtI" width="425" height="350" Here's the video we created in class. There was quite a story and trek behind it: it started as just a typical day in the cafeteria, but soon turned into an examination of the questionable practices of Food Services at UOttawa. Also, stay tuned till the end of the video for one of the biggest gambles in the history of humankind. 
 * The Gamechanger!!! The IPad was discussed in class today, and it appears to be the projection as to where education is going. Conceievably, entire textbooks could be uploaded to the device, along with workbooks, work sheets from the teacher, and assignment guidelines/rubrics. We could completely eliminate the paper trail, and have all our classroom information floating in cyberspace. Obviously it is not that symplistic, and I paint a very limited picture, but really, is that not the direction we are going? And is everyone okay with that? I'm all for saving trees, but I also know that papertrails are what keep teachers out of trouble with parents and administrators.
 * I don't want to seem like I'm totally bashing the product. I think the ability to work with some of the things we have explored in class (Google Docs, Audacity, Clickers, etc) and not need to book a computer lab to do so would be a huge time saver. As well, the expediency with which these programs could be accessed is exciting. At the same time, with the explosion of Apple products across the board (Macbooks, iPods, iPhones, etc) to be able to use something "cool" in an education setting cannot be discounted. It could be the thing that motivates students to want to learn.
 * I do feel you open a can of worms when it comes to student use of these products. You cannot conceivably force every student (or even every family) to plunk down the money required to purchase one of these things. So, if you have some students that do have them, and others that don't, how does that affect the classroom atmosphere? Do you create a hierarchical society, with students that are technologically advanced standing above those not as well off? And, logistically, what kind of workload would this present for the teacher? Not only do I have to worry about doing the typical preparation for the class without the device, but I also have to do the work required to accomodate those with them.
 * I think that, with all due respect, this idea will not become a reality for at least 10 years. In the meantime, its far more useful to learn about practical ideas and programs that we can use that will be applicable in 3 to 5 years, like a Smartboard. Like them or not, they're in classes now, and there seems to be a better chance of those being widespread over that time frame than the iPad, at least in my opinion.
 * The bulk of the class was used to film, edit, and produce a short movie. The editing was done using Windows Moviemaker, a very user friendly program that allows someone to cut and splice film, add or remove music or sound, and insert title cards and segways. What really struck me was the ease with which we were able to complete the task; in fact, the most time consuming bit was the filming itself.




 * I would be very excited to try this program in a class, because it gives students an opportunity to express themselves and also show that they have learned something. For example, I could ask students in a religion class to go out and storyboard what a Gospel message from 2000 years ago would look like today, and then they could film it and present it to the class. So, they're showing me that they know the message, or the concept, and their ability to represent that message in a contemporary context shows that they "get it" so to speak. And again, because it is a user friendly program, students would conceivably be able to operate the program with little problems.