The Final Product is a Process, not an iMovie – All about my Final Project

Joy Seed blogs about the experiences of integrating technology and learning in a movie project with Hosoi Sensei

We have had the goal of transforming learning through the integration of specialist subjects, core subjects and digital technologies. We wanted our students to discover important elements of Japanese culture, deepen their understanding of the design process, develop their ability to collaborate, understand that people learn in different ways, practice their instructional writing and experiment with presenting information with imovie

The post has videos that they watched and then describes how they worked with the children to encourage them to take on different movie roles and reflects on the how the students felt about taking part in these processes.

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More kindergartens using technology to encourage learning through play

Samantha Lee writes about a project in Singapore where children are becoming movie directors

The kids write their very own movie script for their stop-motion animation video. With a S$4,000 Innovation Grant from the Ministry of Education Singapore they bought a laptop, digital camera, projector and a screen for this project. The kids then use Lego blocks and other recycled materials as props and photographed the scenes, eventually stringing the photos together to moving illusion (like how we flipped the end of our books to create movement). Through this project, the children learn the basics of animation and understand that Television is really about moving images. They also get to be introduced to technology early in life and be comfortable with technology in future – a basic expectation we have for the generation of tomorrow.

The children use a mix of lego and other recycled materials to create the scenes.

In full, Photos on Asia one

Digital technologies in the operating theatre

Anna Waring discusses an ongoing study where they are looking at the use and impact of digital technologies for students learning to perform operations and experienced surgeons sharing knowledge about their experiences. She features laparoscopies:

The view that is picked up by the laparoscope is then magnified and projected onto screens around the operating table (see Figure). Surgeons can record the laparoscopic view, allowing them to replay the operation afterwards, for instance to reflect on how the operation went or to demonstrate to trainees and patients how a procedure is done. Edited versions of these recordings are sometimes disseminated through Youtube and other platforms, with running commentaries added to the visuals

She provides examples of how video can be used for investigating surgery, learning how to make decisions, learning gestures for operating safely on patients and the effect on the theatre as a learning space.

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Bosnia and Herzegovina gets its first e-classroom

Aldina Dzebo reports on an eClassroom initiative in 2012 aimed at elementary students who can choose their own learning areas and access learning materials and resources as they need.

Courses last between five and ten weeks and all of them include video presentations on their given topics, as well as weekly assignments that students must complete. Upon completion of the course, students are given certificates in both the local language(s) and in English

The areas include arts, music, natural and social sciences, linguistics. The project formally launches in October with courses running from December onwards.
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The London Olympics, NBC, and Education

Jim Shimabukuro reports on the state of the online coverage for London2012 and talks about the implications for learning about the Rio 2016 Olympics, pointing out that NBC has gone increasing digital so what about education?

Information and learning resources as well as synchronous and asynchronous personal and group communications will be literally at their fingertips whenever they want it and wherever they are. The outcome is obvious. Students will expect their course work, learning support services, and teachers to be no less accessible — from anywhere at anytime

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TED’s New Site Turns Any YouTube Video Into a Lesson

Sarah Kessler reports in Mashable about the growing flipping phenomenon which means that TED videos can now be flipped into lessons.

TED Ed isn’t making courses — it’s just making it easy to package YouTube videos in an educational context. What it’s making look more like video worksheets. But handing that ability to everybody could make for an interesting learning library.

In full, also The Top10 most viewed TED talks on Youtube

 

The Problem with TED Ed

Shelly Blake-Plock reflects on how she finds TED Ed inspiring but notes that people listen and consume but wonders what they do as a result.

TED — in the form it is presented online to the masses — is not about doing. It is about watching. Listening. Consuming. Maybe leaving a comment or sharing a link to improve your TEDCred score. Yes, there is a wealth of interesting information and lots to think about. Personally, I find many of the lectures to be inspired. But we shouldn’t confuse an inspiring lecture and provocative ideas with “learning”.

And much of what we have called “lessons” over the decades really aren’t lessons at all — they are consumables

She mentions that we learn by doing and how she  would like to see platforms that encourage this.

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Lets use Video to Reinvent Education

By Salman Khan on TED Talks

Salman Khan talks about how and why he created the remarkable Khan Academy, a carefully structured series of educational videos offering complete curricula in math and, now, other subjects. He shows the power of interactive exercises, and calls for teachers to consider flipping the traditional classroom script — give students video lectures to watch at home, and do “homework” in the classroom with the teacher available to help.

There are over 2700 videos available through the Khan Academy website