- I don't know to tell the truth.
- The purpose of School Train was for the students to prove that they understood the meaning of a metaphor, and so they correlated being in school to being on a train. The main question for someone would be to ask him or herself if the students properly addressed the purpose of the project. If part of the grading rubric was related to how well the students used technology, then they would obviously receive high marks. Personally, although I liked it, it gives me a headache every time I watch it. The grading would not reflect this, but my desire to watch it over and over again would be reflected. They obviously understood that they could associate being in school to being on a train, and their project proves that they can comprehend what a metaphor is, and how it is used.
- Fox Becomes a Better Person would also require me to create a grading rubric. For this, I would also have to grade according to how well they incorporated Native story-telling with technology; was it seamless, or was it a difficult transition? Hannah did an excellent job incorporating Native story-telling elements seamlessly into digital story-telling. Did every student have to use technology, or was it optional? Were Native Alaskan traditions incorporated, and how so? Were they reflected accurately? What was the purpose?
- Despite all these questions, I think both School Train and Fox Becomes a Better Person met the criteria each would have required in my classroom. I wouldn't have the same standard for each project, since each one is different and unique. On the other hand, they would set the bar.
Part B. What impacts could the developments portrayed in epic2015 have on your classroom, particularly with respect to things like podcasting?
- Wow. I watched this with my fiance, and he scoffed at the idea of Google and Amazon becoming a joint enterprise. Though he scoffed, I was intrigued at the proposal. epic2015 was not so "out there" as others may think. It definitely lends itself to variety of lessons we can learn about ourselves and technology, the first of which is how invasive it can be in regards to privacy, yet how liberating when one thinks of podcasting. I can send my thoughts out to people I don't know, converse with students all around the globe, each with experiences and perspectives that differ from my own. I can debate with them on a variety of topics in ways that were not available to my parents when they were my age. Yet, at the same time, I can simply spill my guts out to my computer and a few select friends who choose to listen in to my rants on different topics. I could also choose to keep it anonymous, or let myself be known. The options are endless. In my classroom, podcasting could make or break relationships. It could be an outlet for students who are shy to let their thoughts be heard, yet it could just be one more place where a student simply podcasts to hear him/herself podcast. It could serve as an option for those students who wish to continue discussing topics outside of class, or just serve as a place for the class to socialize. Podcasting depends on the student, teacher, classroom dynamics, and atmosphere. I think it could be put to good use, but it would require monitoring. Blogging could also become useful in the same way.
Part C. How might you use Sabrina's piece as a model for something you would do with your own students?
- Funny you should mention this. My mentor, Mr. Campbell, is implementing digital story-telling into our English-10's this year. It is turning out to be very similar to Sabrina's piece, in that we want the students to tell us about themselves, something concrete, and relate it to their futures, or where they want to be in their futures. I think this would be an excellent example of something they could do.
