Tech Tasks
Tech Task # 1 – A Little about me
During our last ed computer class we covered a variety of topics regarding web media literacy, web awareness resources, web safety and media representation on the web. It just so happened that the night before this class took place I finally had some down time and was watching a tv drama series. I’m not sure what the tv series was called but the boyfriend of this young girl on this shown had convinced this young girl to take her shirt off so he could have a picture of her on his cell phone. The next day at school this young boy was showing everyone in the school pictures of her on his cell phone. It was difficult to watch how this young girl took the news about her picture being shown to everyone at the school. The mother of this young girl was not impressed when she found out and was quick to make sure that the young boy would be expelled from school.
This episode brought to my attention the many difficult issues we as teachers will soon have to experience. It doesn’t take long for word to travel these days let alone pictures or videos that may not even be originals of you, your loved ones or your students. It is important for us as teachers in training to be aware of what is out there on the net and how some things can have a very negative impact on our students, children, friends, families and our careers. Now that I am becoming more aware myself of media literacy and what this entails, I encourage all of you who may be reading this and any prospective teachers to really understand the positive contributions of media literacy education.
My professor Alec Couros made us more aware of how the internet can be very misleading in portraying societal groups and culture if we and our students are not informed properly or critically thinking about what is educational, talent or just plain noise or nonsense. This makes me think about how George Siemens mentioned in his presentation that there is a, ‘risk of people being satisfied with false knowns because it serves them well.’ After hearing George mention this I started to think about how much truth is on the internet and how much of it is false and misleading. It is scary to think that digital immigrants and or digital natives could soon be misguided into thinking that what is not real is real and what is real is not. How are we to know for sure what is truth and what is not when there are a million different sites telling us a million different things? How will this impact our future? How can we be satisfied with no truth? Is it not truth that allows us to continue our journey? Imagine a world that was always satisfied with false knowns , would we be happy beings?
Our professor also uncovered to us some “dark side” internet sites that are important for us as prospective teachers to be aware of. When I decided to browse a little on these sites I found hatebook.com to be a very incongruous site (if that is even the correct word to use). This sites, just as easy to sign up for as facebook.com, allows you to upload lies, join hate-clans, publish secrets and start a hate profile. How many of us would like our children or our students to sign up for this? This distasteful site even has a little button on the left had side that reads, “Meet Dr.Evil Here.” If we are unaware of this site existing image the numerous amount of other inappropriate sites are students could be browsing. Unaware of their impact on our souls, these “dark side” sites along with cyber bullying and the many other internet sites that depict misconceptions of societal groups and culture, can and are slowly creating a world where hate and evil are accepted and seen almost as satisfying? Is this the type of world we want our children and or students to live in?
Don’t get me wrong, I think the use of technology in our world today is helping to establish good communication and connect people from all walks of life. However, we must remain aware of this darker side of the internet, a side that if not taken seriously, could lead to demoralizing our world.
“Our teachers are responsible for our children’s welfare for the six or eight hours they are at school and we need to know without question that their safety will be paramount on the minds of teachers, faculty and volunteers.“
Mike Fitzpatrick
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This afternoon I created for the first time my own little edited imovie. This past weekend I drove up to Saskatoon to take in some French culture at an event called Franco Force. I decided on bringing a little video camera along in case I came up with any bright ideas about what to film for my ed computer class. Our assignment this past week was to create a short video clip.
My first idea was of filming Mr. Penguin, (a little penguin keychain from little penguin wine) and filming him in different sites around the city of Saskatoon. After a little more thought about this however I decided that it wouldn’t be all that entertaining so I filmed some music at the Franco Force event. The band featured in this clip is called Les Cireux d’Semelle. These four young men come from Gravelbourg, Sk. They have been playing together for about 3 years. All of the lyrics come from oral tradition that were passed down to them from older members of small French communities such as Zenon Park and Gravelbourg. Their culture and roots are extremely important to them and what they love best about playing their music is the opportunity to share their passion and excitement for their French background. You may notice however that one of the members featured in the band plays the didgeridoo. This Australian wind pipe instrument is not an instrument often played by French folk musicians however it brings a little base and unique sound to the group and often catches young listeners’ attention. If you ever have the opportunity to try blowing into a didgeridoo you should give it a shot, it is much more difficult than it looks, but it sounds incredible when you do!
I hope you enjoy the little amateur imovie I created.
“Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul”
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Tech Task # 7 – The Blogging Process
Last summer I had a friend who travelled overseas for the summer and I remember him mentioning before he left that he would be blogging everyday so that he would be able to share with us his backpacking adventures. I remember not having a lot of time to read up on his blog, but when I did it was incredible to read about his experiences and really neat in knowing exactly where he was and what he got to see and do that day of his travels. As I continued to read his blog that summer I realized his blog had become a wonderful keepsake for him. I knew that when he returned home his blog would be there to help him reminisce. Although those reading his blog were not there with them, they to would be able to reminisce with him in ways they would not have been able to do had it not been for his blog. During my travels I often sent emails to friends and family while I was travelling, however today I don’t have any of those emails saved and I couldn’t tell you exactly where I was and what I experienced. Had I been aware of the benefits to having a blog I think I would have started one a long time ago. I understand now why wikipedia mentions that there are more than 112 millions blogs and I realize just how valuable one can be.
Six weeks ago I began my own personalized blog. I was little nervous at first about the entire process, however I found it easy to navigate through edublogs and I soon found myself extremely excited and proud of my blog space. The first step I took as a digital immigrant was introducing myself to a whole new world. Not having any idea who would be scoping out my blog from time to time was a little strange, but knowing how many others do the same and how interesting it is to read about another one’s life made it all worth while. So there I was inducted into the world of blogging. Soon afterwards I was adding widgets, videos, posts and began to read and comment on many other blogs. I’ve learned many new things from reading other blogs and I am fascinated at just how fast one can be connected with all sorts of people from anywhere and everywhere. Its as though I’ve found thousand of great pen pals willing to express and share with me things that can help me to grow as a person and as a professional.
Personally for me, my blog space has become part of my professional development. Since I have began my blog I have recognized the infinite amount of growth opportunity that is now only a mouse click away. I am grateful that I am able to post and comment on other blogs and extremely appreciative that there are other teachers, students and professionals willing to comment, share and help me grow towards becoming an effective technological teacher. My blog has helped me learn to use new tools and my computer more effectively, and for that I am thankful. The one thing however that I have found to be most difficult about blogging is thinking of, creating and writing worth while posts. Lately my minds has been flooded with countless creative ideas but I have found these ideas hard to put down in words and I am still a bit intimidated about sharing my thoughts and ideas through my blog. I think through time, more frequent use of my blogging and the reading of blogs, I will eventually become more confident in my blogging style.
In conclusion I have found blogging to be a worth while adventure and I am looking forward to continuing in this adventure. I have started to compile an online portfolio and I am very thrilled about the idea of it being easily accessible to future employers and a terrific way for me to be able to reflect on my professional progress.
