Edutopia+Videos

Another great web resource is George Lucas’ Edutopia ( __[|http://edutopia.org]__ ). Here there are many well done short videos on all sorts of education topics, including technology. Go to the Videos tab ( or __[]__ ) and you’ll see that you can search the videos by Topic and Grade level. For topic choose Technology Integration, and then choose the grade level of interest to you. I’ll ask that you watch 6 of the videos, which run on average about 5 minutes each, and provide a one paragraph review of each video here on this page. I’ll ask that you provide the link to the video but don’t embed them all or the wiki gets too unwieldy. //Note: If you know of other sites with videos like these, feel free to use those instead of Edutopia.//

__Bernadette's Views: __ [|Edutopia Video #1] __Navigating the Media World__ Bang! A statistic that doesn't even surprise us anymore: kids spent over six hours a day in front of some type of screen (television, computer, etc) bombarded by visual images. So, the video begs the question why then is the written word emphasized so much in our schools? In this short video they don't address the why they just suggest that because of this imbalance-kids are having trouble expressing themselves. According to George Lucas, we are taught that visual images are more of an "esoteric arty thing" and shoved aside as something "fun" and not a valid form of communication. He referred to being taught the traditional "grammar" of written word, but that the "grammar" of media analysis is ignored. Various clips of schools around the country teaching young people media literacy shows ways to bridge that written and visual gap. I find it personally eye-opening since I've been "communicating" for over fifty years and it took a graduate class (Visual Communication and Design) before I was exposed to any extended course on analyzing visual images! [|Edutopia Video #2] __PBL: Teachers Discuss Challenges__ Teachers in Portland, ME discuss their approach to collaborative learning called //Expeditionary Learning.// This is achieved through combining PBL with real world sources. The video did not go into detail about EL, but was a periodic analysis of how things were going. They wanted to emphasize that planning is crucial since it is curriculum driven. Two challenges they discussed were: 1. Each teacher must bringa finished product to the table that provides a meaningful exchange. Basically, that all subjects could find something to learn from it. 2. Scheduling and meeting deadlines can be difficult (they used snow days as an example). The bottom line was this has been very successful when students were given a planned out set of sources to explore. [|Edutopia Video #3] __Teaching Students to Work Cooperatively__ FUN ! FUN! FUN! Landry Middle School is all about making learning FUN. I am not being sarcastic, but this video does get you excited about education. The goal is teach students that teamwork is essential to solve problems. The video started out with the 8th graders at the Emergency Response Operations Center where they were placed in a hurricane emergency scenario-where they soon realized that making judgement calls, using teamwork, and calling on improvisation were needed to save lives. The school also incorporates the idea of cross-curricular projects. The example was a school-wide unit based on cars. In science, the kids built original cars using materials at hand. In language arts-they wrote advertisements, and in math they calculated interst rates on car payments. To take this even further and integrating technology they used Mapquest to plan road trips. I liked the lesson on evaluating sales pitches-makes wanting that $100, 000 car on a $50,000 a year salary a little less desirable. The teachers meet every day for a 45 minutes common planning time. They want the kids to see that they practice what they teach-TEAMWORK! On the heels of this concept, volunteer mentors (local business members) come in weekly to work with the students promoting this real-world connection to teamwork. The end of the year culminating activity is a visit from a group of traveling circus professionals called Circus of the Kids. They spend two weeks training selected students to perform circus stunts like eating and juggling fire. While all this was entertaining and inspiring, I have a few points to ponder: 1. In the corporate world-heterogenous grouping is not encouraged 2. Who is paying for all of this? 3. In a world of test scores and teacher accountability talk-how will all of this make our kids pass the NJ Ask? In the video, one educator said she often has kids say "Remember when we did that project...?" and not one came back to say "Hey. remember when we took that test...?" If kids remember-then test scores will go up. [|Edutopia Video #4] __Web Design Competition Sparks Collaboration__ Learning with no boundaries...is the idea behind the ThinkQuest competition. ThinkQuest is a protected online community for collaborating on learning projects and building knowledge. It is sponsored by the website's creator-the Oracle Education Foundation and is open to students ages 9-19. Students can collaborate on a project with each other or students from other parts of their region or the world. They are given up to seven months to create an educational website. The subject group created the website: e-Divide.com since they were concerned about the gap among people around the world when it came to internet access. The global team included students from the USA, Australia, Vietnam, the Netherlands, India and Egypt. Each member contributed to the website according to their strengths. This ranged from the content organization and statistical analysis to flash animation and translation. The video did not go into details on how the project was completed (in terms of scheduling) but they did win first place in 2006. The ThinkQuest website archives all winning entries by categories, and can be useful. I have tried a few with my classes, but have not had them create one of their own. Perhaps, now with the laptops it may be time to explore this idea either with this website or something similar. [|Edutopia Video #5] __Kids Represent Their Work Though Technology__ This is an earlier video (one of many) following the King Middle School in Portland, ME and their laptop initiative. Recall that the curriculum is based on Expeditionary Learning and that they focus on an integrating subject areas along with using technology. Students use their laptops for research and preparing the finished product which is some sort of digital production. They support the idea of collaboration by including the help of local business people to assist in the diesign and production. Teachers emphasize that for leraning to be effective students must be the authors of their own learning. A hands-on approach is the best and particularly when trial and error produce the desired results. [|Edutopia Video #6] __Learning Lab Prepares Future Educators__ Montclair State University is using an interactive approach in their teacher prep program with the goal of preparing students to become excellent beginning teachers. The idea, of course, is that learning to teach is a career-long endeavor. The prgram includes 25 cooperating school districts that provide highly motivating student teaching experiences knowing that cannot read about teaching-you must roll up your sleeves and do it-and evaluate your methods along the way. A few other positive aspects of the program include The Classrooms of the Future-labs set up for use by not only current students, but graduates who can bring their classes into the tech-infused facility to use technology to learn. Classes were shown participating in research and being linked through teleconferencing. They also created blogs and digital stories. Another interesting part of the program was a class on school funding-how useful is it for all teachers to understand what drives school funding? Also, there is a strong support group for teachers to seek out Finally, you could argue what is the point of teaching with technology if schools cannot afford to supply the needed equipment. However, what they want to encourage is their future teachers to become advocates of change wherever change is needed-and that includes technology.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">Sandy's Videos <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">#1-Digital Youth Portrait: Sam <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">This video is a bout a 13 year old girl named Sam who considers digital media her second life. At the beginning of the video I was a little concerned that this would tell the story of a girl who spends all her free time on the computer and who would lack social skills and time spent with friends. After watching the video I can see that Sam is a really technologically savvy girl who has other interests outside of digital media, and who spends time playing games and creating videos with her friends. Sam said at the beginning of the video that she usually spends 2 hours per day on school days on her computer and 12 hours per day on non-school days. I think that 12 hours a day on the computer is too much. I am impressed by the skills that Sam has, but I personally think that spending the full day in front of the computer is not healthy for a 13 year. Hopefully that part of the story was a bit of an exaggeration! I liked that this video gave me a little sneak peek into the lives of the types of students I teach.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">#2-Web-Design Competition Sparks Collaboration <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">This video discusses a competition for students ages 9-19 to build educational websites for a Think Quest competition. This video was very interesting because it focused on a group that created a website on the e-divide, which discusses barriers that some areas and students in the world face with regards to having access to technology. This group was comprised of teenagers from all over the globe who worked together to create this website. I just thought it was amazing that this group of students was able to create such an amazing product having never physically met each other.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">#3-Online Learning-West Virginia Virtual School <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">This video focused on the way that some school districts in West Virginia are coping with the need to have middle school students take a foreign language and the lack of qualified teachers to teach the foreign language courses. What some of these schools have done is hired a foreign language teacher to teach the students using a microphone and other digital media. The students attend a virtual class with the teacher and then complete assignments on the computer, e-mail with their teacher, and create voice recordings of themselves speaking in Spanish for the teacher to analyze and critique. It would seem to me that teaching a virtual foreign language class would be difficult, but this seems to be very successful.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">#4- Kids Represent Their Work Through Tech <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">This video shows a Middle School in Maine that focuses their curriculum on project based learning. In this video the students created a CD about endangered species. It was interesting to see all the students working together and to see how different subject areas were brought into the project. The students all seem very engaged in their learning and it seems that the school is seeing results with their students jumping from the lower 1/3 in the state to the upper 1/3 in the state. I know that our 6th grade teacher are creating working hard on project based learning now that they have laptops for every student and I am interested to see how it will turn out.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">#5 - Project Learning- Teachers Discuss Daily Challenges <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">This video follows a group of teachers in a meeting as they discuss the challenges of creating expeditions (PBL's). It seems that this school has it down to a Science, but it is interesting to see the challenges that they face, from creating curriculum driven projects, planning, dealing with obstacles like snow days, etc. I took a look at the schedule the use to plan, and it was so overwhelming I couldn't even understand it. I am curious to hear what challenges our 6th grade teachers are already facing with their PBL.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">#6 - Teachers Get Tech Tips from Students <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">This video shows a group of students in the Generation Y program who are helping teachers who are not technologically savvy learn how to use more technology. I picked this video because I have seen time after time that our students are so comfortable and adept at using technology that they can probably teach us even more than we can teach them. Not only are the kids showing the teachers different technologies that they can use, but the are making suggestions about when and where they can use the different technologies in their classrooms. I think it would be so interesting to hear from a students perspective about the different technologies we use and when they feel that they are most effective. The video says that many of the teachers prefer learning from the students, rather than from other adults. I love that the kids are taking charge of their learning and are empowered. What a great feeling it must be as kid to be helping adults learn.

**<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #00ff00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">Video Summaries by Ryan Hudson **
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">[|Susan Patrick: Why Online Learning Is a Smart Solution] =<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in;">Susan Patrick talks about how the USA spends more than any other country on education except for Switzerland. She elaborates on how this is not working due to backgrounds that students come from particularly in Public Schools. Susan talks about how online learning allows you to use time differently during the day, and how to connect with students individually as they work through the content being taught by the instructor. She finally talks about how online learning allows for not only teachers but also students to connect with others to complete projects from not only their class but from other classes around the world. This will end up leaving everyone with endless possibilities. = = [|Trading in Books for Bytes: Union City Public Schools] = =<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in;">In this school district their test scores went from one of the worst in New Jersey to now one of the top performing schools in the state. Some of the changes the school made were from drills to project based learning and integrating technology into every core subject. The district stopped buying text books and has bought several technology pieces to integrate into their curriculum. The district believes in a new approach to learning with technology rather than the old and out dated way using strictly textbooks and paper. = = [|Effective Technology: Teaching in the Digital Age] = =<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in;">At Sherman Oaks Charter School the students are completing writing assignments using computers and other software tools. Also they have access to writings that the teacher completes and edit her work which I feel is a great learning strategy. With this the teachers are finding that students are eager to complete writing assignments using pictures of themselves, which the students are able to scan into the computer. Also, the teachers are able to keep up with the office and other teachers around the school using email, which some of the older teachers were at first a little hesitant to use. = = [|The New PE Runs on Fitness, Not Competition] = =<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in;">In this school district the students are using stop watches that record their heart rate and are also using a PDA which is strapped to the students’ stomach. Using these devices she can calculate their attendance as well as their improvements in their exercises as well as how many reps of different exercises they complete. Also some of the exercises the students were completing were very hands on and involved group work and trust. Students are using video cameras to record themselves doing cheerleading and other activities and then watching to see if they can improve as well as viewing highlights from what they were able to accomplish. = = [|An Introduction to Project-Based Learning] = =<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in;">In Seattle there are teachers giving student project based learning. This allows the learner to use hands-on and create something that shows what they have learned. The students at this elementary created an airplane using blocks and screws and then used a computer based software which they could implement their data into to show off later to their teacher. = = [|Instruments of Learning: Music Students Take -- and Make -- Notes] = =<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in;">In Bay Shore Elementary students are learning the arts from Grade 1 all the way up to graduation. Students are exposed to musical reading charts, instruments, and use computers to listen to music notes. With the computer software students can move music notes around and see just how some notes can give you a high sound as well as a low sound. Using the multimedia software the students can create something of their very own and send it to their teacher. =

** Jennifer Kundera ** ** May 18, 2011 ** ** INTC 5320 ** ** Dr. Doug Harvey **

__ Edutopia Video Reflections: __ = · [|Anytime, Anywhere: Online Learning Shapes the Future]  = =<span style="background: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in auto 0.5in;">This video provides information as to why more students, schools, and school districts are choosing to utilize online learning. The data reflects that “45 out 50 states now have an online learning program.” It has been found that students perform just as well or even better with online learning than the traditional style of classroom learning. = =<span style="background: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in auto 0.5in;">Students are taking online courses because they have failed the courses at their schools and want to graduate on time with the rest of their class, the courses that the students would like to take is not offered at their school, or because they choose to finish their high school courses and begin college courses, while working full-time at a job. Students like the opportunities that online learning provides to them along with the personalization that this form of learning offers. For instance, students are able to learn online when “at their own pace” and also form relationships with their instructors. Also, both the instructors and the students are able to communicate more via e-mail. = =<span style="background: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in auto 0.5in;">Online learning provides all students no matter how small or large the district with the same “credits, challenges, and opportunities.” Some schools offer the online learning classes, because they’re cheaper than hiring a teacher for those courses. Also, they have the option to engage in blended learning. This is where teachers instruct in the classroom for part of the course and the other part of the course in completed online. = =<span style="background: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in auto 0.5in;">Online learning offers students the skills they need to succeed in the 21st century by offering them “fluency with technology, online communication, and self-directed learning.” = = · __ [|Project Learning: Expeditions in Portland, Maine] __ = =<span style="background: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in auto 0.5in;">This video is about a Middle School/High School in Portland, Maine. The school is very diverse. Regardless of their low economic status and various language barriers, these students have excelled in scoring “above the state and district averages in every curriculum at every grade level.” = =<span style="background: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in auto 0.5in;">This school is about Expeditionary Learning, which integrates various subjects. The entire school works off an itinerary that is made up to correlate with the Expedition Learning Projects that are geared around the various core subject areas and electives. The students stay with one class until their expedition is complete. They do not change classes every 40 minutes. Students must build or develop various models based on the Expedition. This allows for them to be creative. This type of learning also involves one-to-one learning with each student having a laptop. Students complete work on their laptops along with constructing physical models for the Expeditions. = =<span style="background: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in auto 0.5in;">The students are also visited by experts in the field for each of their expeditions. This allows for the community to be involved with the students learning, which allows for greater retention. In the end, the students share their projects and models with the community. = = · __ [|High Tech, Higher Learning: A School Grows Its Own Teachers] __ = =<span style="background: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in auto 0.5in;">This video is about High Tech High and their goal to have educators that have a “deep content knowledge and passion for their subject area.” They also look for educators that are able to create a student interest in the subject. This school has created an “on-site credentialing program and a graduate school of education,” in order to provide their students with the best teachers. They want teachers that are “interested in what and how kids think.” The goal of this school is to make learning for the students “more efficient and fun.” = = · [|Conquering Technophobia: A Classroom Veteran Warms to Digital Tools]  = =<span style="background: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in auto 0.5in;">This video is about a veteran English teacher that learns to overcome his fear of technology. He has only learned how to use the computer within the past nine years of his 33 years of teaching. His classes began using technology by typing their reports on the computer. They later began to utilize technology more throughout the year by developing PowerPoint and videos. = =<span style="background: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in auto 0.5in;">This teacher believes that technology has allowed him to be more of a facilitator and guide in his classroom. He views this as a positive change. He states that before he had to “drag them (students) through it” when his class was through direct instruction without technology. = =<span style="background: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in auto 0.5in;">The students have become this teacher’s tech support. Also, he has received assistance from a tech coach to help him develop better lesson plans and to become more confident teaching with technology. = = · [|Media Smarts: Kids Learn How to Navigate the Multimedia World]  = =<span style="background: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in auto 0.5in;">This video stresses how that students who are immersed in “6.5 hours of media a day via computer, video games, television…”are unable to perform in school when expected to communicate mainly with the written word and not a form of technology. = =<span style="background: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in auto 0.5in;">George Lucas was interviewed and feels that the educational system “needs to rethink the way we teach communication skills.” Today, “every state incorporates some type of media education in its core curriculum framework.” Students are utilizing the media literacy into understanding films and creating animations or videos. Students are able to depict the messages that they are being exposed to through various media. = = · [|Trading in Books for Bytes: Union City Public Schools]  = =<span style="background: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in auto 0.5in;">This video is about an urban school in New Jersey, which was a failing school until it provided early literacy skills, project-based learning, and the incorporation of technology throughout the entire curriculum. This school believes that no matter the age or grade of the student, learning should be student centered. In this situation, the teachers’ role becomes that of a facilitator. = =<span style="background: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in auto 0.5in;">This school has many budget concerns. They have restructured their budgets to include grants and also to allow for technology for project based learning to take the place of purchasing and using textbooks. So, this school went to web based learning with the teachers as facilitators and students working independently. All classes at this school utilize technology. = =<span style="background: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in auto 0.5in;">This school has a student tech team that repairs the schools hardware and also teaches the teachers how to use the software. Other students focus on building websites to assist teachers in their instruction. There are still other students whose roles are to research the future of technology. = =<span style="background: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in auto 0.5in;">This school has also affected the families and communities of their students. When the students take their laptops home, they are able to share the use of technology with those around them. Some of their families have never even seen, touched, or use a computer. In fact, one parent is now enrolled in college because of the impact that this school and the technology has had on her son and family. = =<span style="background: white; font-family: Times New Roman; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in auto 0.5in;">Many teachers from other states visit this school and its students to view the success of the integration of technology. = <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in;">_

[] This was the cutest video. I love how the students researched from beginning to end and completed a project-based assignment as a group. This really shows people that project-based learning can be done effectively. From watching the video one could clearly see this be completed at any level. It was also clear that the students understood what they were doing and why. There is a sense of maturity that the students displayed. The rose to the occasion and rigor was definitely involved. = = Kristina Messina
 * Five-Year-Olds Pilot Their Own Project-Based Learning **

** Five-Year-Olds Pilot Their Own Project-Based Learning ** http://www.edutopia.org/kindergarten-project-based-learning-video This was the cutest video. I love how the students researched from beginning to end and completed a project-based assignment as a group. This really shows people that project-based learning can be done effectively. From watching the video one could clearly see this be completed at any level. It was also clear that the students understood what they were doing and why. There is a sense of maturity that the students displayed. The rose to the occasion and rigor was definitely involved.

= Big Thinkers: Judy Willis on the Science of Learning = http://www.edutopia.org/big-thinkers-judy-willis-neuroscience-learning-shor... Judy Willis says things most teachers are aware of. I think that the way students are learning is becoming a face that is changing in the education world. Most of the paper and pencil type activities are becoming more and more difficult for students to want to succeed at. They need more interaction and hands on activities. Technology is changing the way students learn and changing the way they are motivated to learn. Computers were a way to reward students for doing a job well done. I think that now it should be used more for the instruction and rewards, not just for one. Judy really helped me make that actualization with her description of how the brain works. = Trading in Books for Bytes: Union City Public Schools = http://www.edutopia.org/union-city-public-schools-district-reform-video This school changed its whole classroom from teacher centered to student center through technology. Students participate in wired classrooms where everything is project based. More and more project-based learning is coming more to the forefront of education. I like how this district also thought about how much money they were spending on consumables and put it into computers and technology. I have never thought of technology that way. It always seems to come down to the fact that districts do not have enough money to fund technology. In fact they can cut from other places like consumables where they are not being utilized as much. = Building a Better School with Brain-Based Learning = http://www.edutopia.org/brain-based-learning-key-largo-school-video This video is very innovative when it comes to meeting the needs of the students. I like how the teacher’s think about lighting, sound, seating, and everything about the environment when it comes to helping students learn. Some things like music or sound really do make a difference in the student output. I also really like how the principal is very receptive to the teacher’s ideas about thinking about how the brain works the best for each student. I might try more of this when it comes to seating and placement with lighting and sound. = = = = = An Introduction to Project-Based Learning = http://www.edutopia.org/project-based-learning-introduction-video Project-Based Learning has me hooked. I can really see how I would love to do this sort of thing with my students in the classroom. It seems exciting for the students and the teachers alike. The students gain much from real world experiences. The end of the year is a time for this sort of pilot lesson. I have fun lessons that I do at the end of the year. I would like to tailor them to technology based theme lessons. The one issue is finding the time to put something like this together for the students as well as obtain all resources needed. = High Expectations: Students Learn to Rise to the Occasion = http://www.edutopia.org/high-expectations-elementary-assessment-video The key idea in this video is collaboration. Collaboration between the students and teachers in the grade level will help students achieve success in their education. The teachers frequently meet and plan out the week’s lessons and collaborate ideas. This is good especially when some teachers are more talented in certain areas. I find it very helpful when I collaborate with my grade partner teacher. Sharing ideas about lessons and activities is a great way to help the students get the most out of their education. <span style="background-color: #94d0f2; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; margin: auto 0in;">__