Jackie's+Edutopia+Videos

=Jackie's Video Summaries=

[] This video was about a school that uses one-to-one computing to enhance student learning through “learning expeditions”. Project-based learning allows students to solve real-world problems and to work across all disciplines. After watching the video, it makes me realize what the possibilities are in Millville, considering all of my sixth grade students have laptops this year. I think that project-based learning is definitely the way to go, but requires all teachers to work together in planning and executing the project. One of my goals for next school year is to incorporate more project-based learning activities in my classroom, and I feel that this video really showed me how it is valuable. [] This video describes some of the positive and negative aspects of “learning expeditions”. I thought it was very interesting that one of the teachers said that all of the products that the students produced were equally well done. It seems like when students feel ownership and responsibility for completing a project, they work very hard to make the end result something that they can be proud of. [] This video talks about the Digital Youth Network that Chicago city schools use to teach their students about how to use technology. It seems like the students really were excited about learning the technology and using it. They participate in the classroom but also after school. I think the idea of teaching the students HOW to use the technology after school is helpful for when it comes time during class to use it for learning and project. I find that I spend a lot of time teaching how to use different programs, when I could be using that time to teach my content area. Any support that after school programs can offer would be a tremendous help. [] This video talks about different initiatives to make students more active physically in schools. I thought it was an interesting topic, and at first, I couldn’t figure out why it fit into “Technology Integration”. Then, they started talking about how some schools are using heart rate monitors and collecting data to follow the students’ fitness levels. Then, in one school, they are trying to make the students more active in sports so that they will be better motivated. It was interesting how they were using technology to incorporate math and science skills in with the different sports they were participating in. I think that students would absolutely love this type of learning. Many of them are involved in sports, and I don’t think they need to be studying their specific sport to be engaged in the learning that can be accomplished when applying sports to the fields of math and science, while tying in physical education and fitness into the curriculum. [] I really enjoyed this video. I found it fascinating how this school is really teaching their students through real-world problems. All of the students are engaged and responsible for contributing to the projects. I feel that sometimes getting everyone to feel confident enough to contribute is difficult. I thought that the circus that they put on is a great way of getting the students out of their comfort zone. It seems that when students experience things that they may not immediately feel comfortable with, they get such a feeling of accomplishment. That feeling carries over into everything they do at school. Great video! [] I think that using your students to teach you about technology is a great idea! This video shows teachers that learn from their students. Our students are exposed to so much, and they need to know how to use so much when it comes to computers. As adults, it’s hard to keep up. I see it all the time in my school. I think that the idea of kids teaching adults scares some teachers, but if everyone would be as open-minded as these teachers, we could all learn a lot. Students teaching about what they know also helps to reinforce their skills as they explain it to someone else.