Edible Garden and Night in Global Village

These two videocasts open my eyes to many things. The Edible Garden was a video about a garden that was started as a way to make school lunches better. It evolved into a great learning oppurtunity. The garden allowed the students to cover content material such as Math and Science. It covered Math by measuring the items grown in the garden to make food. The teacher used examples such as cups and teaspoons. The garden integrated Science by photosythesis and bacterica sucjects. It allowed students to get a hands on experience.

The Night in a Global Village was a video about students and teachers putting themselves in the shoes of those less fortunate than themselves. They set up different villages and assigned students to each village. There were different villages and a refugee camp. Each village had one item the others did not, and the students has to negotiate in order to recieve some of that item, such as water. During the stay, the participants learned information about sanitation. The students were able to act out as if they were really in the situation of hunger and poverty.

An educator can take both of these videos and use them in his/her classroom. In the Edible Garden, the teacher could use this example to bring other things into classroom content. It allows the students to get a different approach to learning. Even if the teacher was not allowed to plant a garden, he/she could bring baking items into the classroom and have the students measure things out. To integrate science, the teacher could bring plants and other things to help students relate to the subject.

Every American student should watch the Night in a Global Village. I think it could be a real eye opener to how lucky some students are. A teacher could play the video in the classroom. Then assign a day for students to bring lunches. The teacher could set up different areas around the class and label them as different villages. Then the students could be divided, and sent to different "villages". This will help get the students to work together to get the items they need.

Podcasting

I would like to start out by saying I am rather suprised by podcasting. Before taking EDM 310, I had heard in podcasts, but I had never really been interested. I was suprised at how informative and interesting podcasts can be. I think they are excellent resources for teachers to use. It is especially helpful for teachers looking to start the process of using technology in the classroom. Podcasts are great for teachers who are running short on time, which are most of the educators in our nation. If a teacher wants to learn information about a topic, they can download the podcast to an ipod or cd. In my personal opinion, it is a great breakthrough in technology.

The most interesting of the assigned podcast I listened to was the Smartboard Lessons. This was created by Ben Hazzard and Joan Badger brodcasting from Canada. I liked the interaction between the two of them. It seemed to keep me interested. It is easier to listen to the multiple-speaker podcast then the single-speaker podcast. This podcast gave teachers ideas on effective ways to use the smartboard in the classroom. They explained the teachers should keep the material interesting. Especially if he/she uses the smartboard often. They mentioned using different backgrounds, timers, and bright colors to fraw the students attention to the smartboard.

When speaking on the same subject, they told educators to let the students come up and give their ideas about the lesson on the smartboard. This is an excellent idea, because it is reaching another aspect of the learning process. It is engaging students and allowing them to give their point of view. Ben and Joan told teachers to engage in video conferences. This lets students see other people's ideas about the subject they are convering.

It was hard for the KidCast speaker, Ben Schmit, to keep my attention. I did not like him being the only speaker. Not necessarily because he was the only speaker, but he was simply not entertaining to listen to. He used his podcast on informing teacher on how to use podcast and gave tips to use when recording and making podcasts. Then, I listened to This Week in Photography. These speakers are very entertaining. The portion I listened to they were talking about Cameras.

All and all, most of these podcasts were intructing teachers on how to use the technology. This is very useful, because many of the current teachers do not know about all of the recent technology. It will help the educators engage in a new world of learning.

"The Last Lecture"

Randy Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but he was determined not to let it slow him down. He lived by his own saying which is, "You can't help the cards you are dealt, but how you play the hand." He was invtied to Carnigie Melonie to deliver a speech. This was going to be his last lecture before his death, and he was determined to make it the best. When he arrived to give the speech, the auditorium was packed, and millions tuned in on video. He was successful in making it a great speech, and he has left behind a legacy. Not only was his speech an amazing one, but he wrote a book titled "The Last Lecture" which has become a best seller.

He had named his speech "How to Achieve your Childhood Dreams", and he told the audience a few of his childhood dreams. He wanted to be Captain Kirk, to play pro-football, be a disney imagineer, to win a big stuffed animal, and a few more. Although he did not fully achieve some of his dreams, he does touch base with most of them. Of course, Randy could not BE Captain Kirk, but he was allowed to meet him. Actually, Captain Kirk came to Randy for the meeting. He did mentioned that he came to a few "Brick Walls" along the way to conquering his dreams, but he never stop him from finding another way to achieve them. Randy Pausch stated that brick walls aren't there to stop someone from acheiving something. They are there to show dedication and how bad something is wanted.

Randy Pausch talked about his schooling and teaching years. He told about his experience with his students and coulleges. He told a story about one of the classes he taught was giving an assignment. When they submitted the assignment, he was blown away by the creativy and originality of his students. During the next class meeting, instead of boasting on his students he did what he called "Raising the Bar". He told his students that he was impressed, but he believed they could do better on the assignment. He talked about never giving up on people and believing in the students. I agree with this. If the educators do not believe in the students, who will? I talked about one thing he liked to do during teaching which is called a " head fake". He believed the best way to educate students was to teach them material without knowing they are learning the content.

He discussed some exkperiences with his coulleges and bosses. He gave advice that he learned through working with them. He told his aduience to listen to critisim. He said it is the best way to improve your work. When given a task, Randy said do not complain just work harder. He also talked about everyone needs to be good at something. It is very awarding to be able to offer something to the table and have something that seperates you from everyone else.

Randy Pausch's idea that touched me the most was to focus on others and not yourself. Once he stated that I began to think back through his entire lecture. I realized that even though this was his last lecture, he focused mostly on others. Even though he was stating how they helped him along his journey through life. During the lecture, he brought out a birthday cake and had the audience sing his wife happy birthday. The greatest thing about the lecture was his head fakes. Even though he mentioned head fakes earlier, I did not think he was actually doing not one, but two, head fakes during his lecture. The first was the title of the lecture. The lecture was not trully about how to achieve your childhood dreams, but how to live your life. The second head fake was the lecture was not for the audience. It was for his children. He wanted to leave something to help them through life. I think when his children are older, he will teach them and touch their hearts in many way through this lecture. I know he has already does this with so many others, including myself.