Blog Assignment # 8

Richard Miller: This is How We Dream Parts 1 & 2 

Richard Miller explains how writing in culture has changed, andhow we have the capability of communicating instantly, globally. He talks about how the writing process today can be completed without ever setting foot in a library, how everything can be researched on the web, and, once published, a document stays on the internet or everyone to enjoy rather than being checked out of a library. He goes into detail about incremental changes which include writing processes back in the day vs. laptops and word processing today and how we now have the opportunity to collaborate through networking technology, and can compose documents using imaging and film found on the internet. 

Mr. Miller believes that this should become the way that today's students write. I agree with him in that our society is changing and our way of doing things is changing at a rapid rate, but this is obviously not going to happen overnight. I think the process has begun, though, just in the fact that everyone produces documents on a computer with a word processor. This is one, tiny step towards the dream that Richard Miller has, but this dream is achievable. No question about it.

EDM 310 for Dummies 

I thought this video was pretty funny. I do wish this was an actual book, though. I feel pretty lost in this class sometimes, and I think it's because this class is really overwhelming. There's a lot to learn about in such a short period of time, but I am becoming more familiar with technology and I am also learning A LOT of stuff that will help me in the future! I hope to learn a little more about making movies this time for our upcoming "short movie" project and our " teach someone" project, because my podcast wasn't really what I wanted it to be.

SMARTboards
The discussion of the pros and cons, I've come to learn, is a very heated one. I've found a few pretty intense blogs and articles, written mostly by educators, about how much they hate smartboards, they're a waste of money, they perform the same things as an ordinary overhead projector and blah, blah, blah. I found this link talking about the benefits of having a SMARTboard in the classroom. And I also found this link that just explains the basics of what a smartboard is and how it is used. I haven't had the chance to actually use a smartboard yet, but from what I've read they seem like a great place to start when trying to incorporate technology in your classroom. I think it could help all of the "old school" teachers to get out of their comfort zone and try their hand at this new form of  interactive learning.  From what I understand, the teacher can design a lesson on their computer which is then projected onto the smartboard. This seems like a job that any old projector could take care of, right? Well, in addition to having a presentation that students can see, they can also interact with it. The board is touch sensitive. This seems like a nice alternative to the whole "get the student to come up to the board" routine.
While a smartboard isn't the bottom line answer to improving student's interest in the classroom, it seems like a great way to at least get them out of the same routine day in and day out. Even if that means just using the smartboard once a week.