“A Vision of Students Today” (Video)

As usual, before discussing today’s topic (“Internet as a tool for inquiry”), the lesson was started with an in-class video observation. Instead of following our usual assignment, in which we are required to watch, examine, and reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of a particular video lesson, we were presented with two separate Youtube videos that we were asked to compare and contrast.

The first video, entitled “A Vision of Students Today,” was created by Michael Wesch and the students of his “Introduction to Cultural Anthropology” class (during the spring of 2007), at Kansas State University. Opening with a quote from Marshall McLuhan (1957), the tone of the piece was instantly set. Through quick and creative introductions to questions (such as “…if students learn what they do…what are they learning sitting here?”), Dr. Wesch was able to build up to the main focus of the video, “What is it like being a student today?” To answer this question, students were given the opportunity to express their opinion on the subject, and gave over twenty different responses (such as “18% of my teachers know my name…We are multitaskers… only get seven hours of sleep each night”). As I watched this video I not only enjoyed the characteristics mentioned by his students (which I were often able to relate to), but the artistic approach (used signs instead of spoken words), captivating music, and relatable setting.

The second video, entitled “A Vision of K-12 Students Today,” was written and produced by B. Nesbitt and focused on a similar subject. Much like the first video, “A Vision of K-12 Students Today” opened with a mood-setting statement that led into the explanation of why each of these students is “…a 21^st century learner.” Using erasable white boards as signs (which was similar to the approach used by Michael Wesch and his class), the students, without speaking, questioned their current education, encouraged the use of technology in the classroom, and begged educators to “engage” them. I really enjoyed hearing the passionate statements and shocking statistics mentioned by the students, and was impressed by this video’s ability to capture my attention.

After rewatching these presentations, I was actually surprised at how similar these two videos really are. Even though there is a large age difference between the students in each video (K-12 vs. College), they both mentioned similar concerns about their education (“By the year 2016 the largest English speaking country will be China! There are more honor students in China than there are people in North America!”). Also, the students from both groups seemed to believe they knew more about technology than their teachers, constantly used technology in their lives (“Listened to 5 hours of Harry Potter,” “…will read over 2300 web pages and 1281 FB profiles”), desired a more “hands-on” approach to learning (“If we learn by doing…what are we learning sitting here? How do you learn?”), and believed that their future employment does not yet exist. Both groups desire to have technology utilized more often in the classroom, and simply hope to be inspired to learn. It has been suggested in the past that “…technology (alone) can save us,” but only the future can tell.

Although there are many similarities between these videos, there are also a few differences. While the college students seemed frustrated by the lack of attention from their professors as well as the outrageous costs of school (“…average class size of 115, complete 49% of reading assignments with 26% being relative to my life, waste money on textbooks that are never used”), the K-12 students were mainly concerned with becoming more digitally engaged. Also, compared to the K-12 students, the college students tended to abuse their technological privileges more often (“I Facebook through most of my classes, I bring my laptop to class but I’m not working on class stuff”).

"The Machine is Us/ing Us " (Video)

That video was awesome! I’ve seen a lot of interesting Youtube videos in the past, but that was definitely one of the most memorable and unique videos I have seen in a long time. Created by Michal Wesch, the Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University, the video, entitled “The Machine is Us/ing Us,” gave a brief history of the Internet, and highlighted some of its basic uses and features. From beginning to end this video completely captured my attention. Through its quick pace, creative style, and catchy music, this video was not only entertaining but educational. I absolutely loved the transitions between topics, the artistic quality of the piece, and his innovative approach to illustrating this information.

My favorite quote from the video (its title), which states “The machine is us/ing us,” also ties in with a comment that Holly Mathys made on her blog, “Such is Life.” Holly made an interesting point when she mentioned that on the Internet, “What is real and what is not…how does one know the difference?” The Internet is an interesting blend of ideas, opinions, and beliefs, and it is the responsibility of the viewer to keep an open and understanding mind. We have always been cautioned to “…not believe everything that we see on the Internet,” and after watching this video, I will think twice about what I see and hear.

Ms. Kunath's Collage Activity (Video)

Today’s classroom observation video focused on Ms. Jean Kunath, the Art and Photography teacher at Central High School (in Victoria, VA), and her creative collage assignment. Ms. Kunath developed this activity to challenge the 9-12^th grade students of her Photography class to “master” technology that included digital cameras, floppy discs, Microsoft Image Composer, and the Internet, as well as create a digital collage (which would be posted on the school’s website). Before allowing the students to start the assignment, Ms. Kunath first guided the class through the Central High School website and showed them examples of previously completed collages. Ms. Kunath then pointed out the pros and cons (of each collage), discussed the characteristics of a good collage, set expectations for the class, and even made each student complete a practice collage. Once the students had successfully completed the practice collage, Ms. Kunath explained her method of assessment and supplied them with the needed materials.

When watching this video I recognized several strengths in Ms. Kunath’s lesson that helped to make it a success. Ms. Kunath did an excellent job in clearly stating directions, presenting expectations, explaining her method of assessment, including various types of technology, checking class progress, and teaching the importance of respect. Instead of rushing into the assignment, Ms. Kunath took the time to show her students quality examples (which taught them important details like including spaces between pictures, limiting the use of words, never using student names, and only using quality pictures) and taught them, step-by-step, the important functions of Microsoft Image Composer (brightness control, re-positioning pictures, inserting borders and shapes). To me, the most important feature of Ms. Kunath’s lesson was the fact that she checked each of the students work before allowing them to move on to the next step. This not only prevented any confused student from sneaking under the radar, but gave Ms. Kunath the opportunity to follow the progress of her students.

Although Ms. Kunath taught a great lesson, there were a few details that could be considered weaknesses. I believe that Ms. Kunath should not have openly embarrassed one of her students in the middle of class (by stating that she had made a mistake), but should have simply informed the other students of the common mistake and left out the name. Also, Ms. Kunath should have added more to the final assignment, which did not sound like much of a challenge to the students.

"Show Me" Missouri’s Temperatures (Video)

For today’s classroom observation we watched a video about a teacher named Ms. Sally Camden, who was teaching her “Show Me” Missouri’s Temperatures activity to her fourth grade class at Perryville Elementary (in Perryville, Missouri). To start the lesson Ms. Camden first focused on using subjects that were familiar to her students, such as the four seasons and temperature change. Instead of simply discussing these topics, Ms. Camden incorporated the use of music into the lesson by playing the spring portion of Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” and asking each student to think of words that reminded them of spring. The class then discussed and organized their responses on the board. When watching this scene I really enjoyed Ms. Camden’s approach to reviewing these topics. Not only was she able to encourage the class to discuss the seasons, but was able to integrate music and vocabulary skills into the lesson as well.

Once the class had completed this activity, Ms. Camden led the group in filling out a “Know-Wonder-Learned” (K-W-L) chart about Missouri’s weather (temperature and seasons), watched a short video (about the seasons), and used paper cutouts to divide the state into five geographic regions. The students then chose a city from each region, researched its seasonal temperatures, recorded the data onto a spreadsheet, calculated the average temperatures, and created graphs. In order to perform these tasks, tools including the Internet and Microsoft Excel were used.

In the video, when discussing her lesson plan, Ms. Camden states that she “…designed it so that students could integrate skills in math, science, social studies, and language arts.” The fact that Ms. Camden’s approach has given her students an opportunity to gain experience (using technology) as well as improve other various skills (reading, writing, and vocabulary) is certainly one of the many strengths of her lesson plan. Also, Ms. Camden’s pace and use of visual models greatly assisted in the success of her lesson plan. By using a KWL chart Ms. Camden was able to determine the current knowledge of her students, encourage questions, and assess student learning. It was such a cool experience to see Ms. Camden ask her students, “How long does it take the earth to rotate around the sun?” and to instantly see a hand pop up with the answer, “one year.” It is moments like this that make teaching so awesome!

Although Ms. Camden could have given the students more experience working in Microsoft Excel, I think she gave them an excellent lesson that not only taught them about specific subjects, but gave them a number of experiences using different tools and forms of technology.

Mr. Hungerford's Virtual CEO (Video)

Although most high school students certainly know how to spend money, they often lack the fundamental economic skills needed to manage their own personal finances. One way of educating students on the subjects of business and economics involves the use of computer programs, which give the students an opportunity to experience real-life situations in simulated settings. At EXCEL Alternative High School in Marshalltown, Iowa, Mr. Chris Hungerford, the 9-12 grade business teacher, used this method in his classroom. Before assigning each student a virtual corporation, Mr. Hungerford first gave the class a tutorial in the computer program Capitalism Plus and taught them some of the key concepts of economics, such as supply and demand. Once the class was comfortable with these concepts, Mr. Hungerford gave each student the opportunity to create a corporation and compete in the virtual market. Mr. Hungerford also required each student to create a website for their corporation (which contained daily press releases and financial updates), and to use spreadsheets (to organize data and create charts/graphs). To perform these tasks the students were required to use programs such as Microsoft Front Page, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, and Capitalism Plus.

As I observed Mr. Hungerford’s constructivist class, I recognized several strengths that made this lesson a success. These include Mr. Hungerford’s hands-on approach (Capitalism Plus and other programs), relatable real-life examples (Playstation 2 discussion), pace, and ability to capture the students’ interest and attention. Instead of simply lecturing about this subject, Mr. Hungerford incorporated several forms of technology into the lesson (discussed in the previous paragraph), which allowed the students to gain knowledge and experience in a number of areas. Also, the pace at which he progressed through his lesson had a major impact on the students. By first using a tutorial on Capitalism Plus, Mr. Hungerford was able to slowly introduce his students to these new concepts (supply and demand, revenue, profit, quantity sold) through numerous examples, which allowed him to ask questions (“Do you think what we just did is true for the real world?”) and evaluate their understanding.

Even after carefully re-watching the video, I do not believe that there are many weaknesses in Mr. Hungerford’s lesson. Although he did an excellent job questioning his students and testing their knowledge on the subject, the only weakness that I noticed was the fact that he sometimes rushed the student or would answer a question (or correct a mistake on the computer) himself.

After re-reading Mr. Hungerford’s lesson and considering the content covered, I do not think that much more information, if any, should be added to this lesson. Yet, if more material was needed to “expand on student knowledge of business,” I believe that he should continue explaining common economic themes and possibly focus even more on the stock market.

Although Mr. Hungerford covered a lot of information in his lesson plan, no aspects of the lesson should be excluded. Each and every assignment that was given to his class had a purpose, and seemed to help with their understanding of the material and the development (or progression) of skills. It is important for these students to interact with each and every one of these programs, as they are used in almost every field of study.

By having each student declare the goals (both long and short term) of their individual corporations, Mr. Hungerford has encouraged his class to actually think like CEO’s and put themselves in that position. This helps to add a realistic feeling to the assignment, which might assist in motivating and capturing student interest. This might also improve student learning because it gives the students something to strive for and challenges them to work towards achieving it.