So the course has come to an end and my blog is seemingly complete. But is it really complete? In my limited experience of blogging over the last ten or so weeks I've found that creating and maintaining a blog can be an organic experience at times, but can also be frustrating and difficult to engage with. This is likely demonstrated in my posts over the weeks, where sometimes I have engaged with the technologies raised in the lecture and other times I have not been fully accepting of their uses in the classroom. My blog is one shaped on experience: I didn't want to post about anything I hadn't first tried myself and I feel this brings a genuine quality to a lot of what I've written. Every post based on technology I have tried to relate back to the fundamental basis of pedagogy and how to implement the technology into the classroom; the key here being integration, not exploitation. I tried to draw on some broader sources as I made my postings; however as I went along I found it more useful for myself to consider how I would use the technologies and in what context(s), as I found this would give me a better grounding if I try to use any of these new technologies later in my career.
The social aspect of my blog that I started with soon fell to the wayside as I found that my classmates were all using their blogs only for this course and I didn't want to move too far off-topic. Still, some postings relating to my life outside of university remain and I hope to keep using the blog for social purposes, adding in people from wider circles to have a look. It was definitely difficult knowing that my classmates would also be reading the blog and were free to make comments. This altogether helped to "smarten" my writing up and make sure I was posting something of relevance and/or interest.
Overall, I've found the blog a useful experience as a means of gathering my thoughts and exploring technologies I would have otherwise never heard of. My blog became a focal point for sharing these experiences of new technologies and for also really engaging with some of my classmates on issues I was truly concerned about. This offered a forum for these discussions that otherwise might never have come up in ordinary conversation. So for that I'm grateful and the blog shall remain as a monument to my thinking, knowledge, understandings and reactions to teaching and learning with new technologies.
Some points of resolution: Simon and I remain friends, despite our message-board meltdown; my trombone troubles still exist and I'm not sure what the cause is, but the short-term plan is rest and relaxation; Love Never Dies comes to Australia next year and I really like the soundtrack; Tinker the Voki character was retired after one posting here and one posting on the ESI blog; the ESI blog remains operational, have a look; Voki remains my favourite tool picked up in this course; I'm really happy I finally learnt how to hyperlink; I'm still waiting on that cease-and-desist letter from Facebook.
And because I want my blog to have a grand finale, here is the grand finale from a great film score: Independence Day by David Arnold.
I believe the startling rapidity of technological advancement we are likely to see over the next decade is not necessarily a bad thing. I would hope that technology expansion throughout the modern world would make having such technologies less expensive and more available to the masses, with those who cannot afford computer technology still being able to connect with more versatile access points. I imagine all students will be able to engage with new technologies as time goes on, either with laptops or mobile devices, but this won't necessarily improve learning outcomes. I imagine that after a prolonged push to increase technology use in classrooms, government policy will scale back ICT's in schools and highlight the need for good teachers and good pedagogy. Books will still exist, but there will be more oportunities for creativity and critiquing for readers - interactive texts ("choose your own adventure"). Interactive desktops will allow students to do everything electronically (but with traditional writing still in place), with finished work automatically sorted and work for assessment sent directly to the teacher, streamlining assessment and feedback practices.
More worrying will be the continuing loss of identity with people spending so much time online, inventing, reshaping and retooling their personas that they can't really tell who they originally were anymore. Second Life will have melded with Facebook to create a one-stop avatar empire that offers everything for humans except organic nourishment. Where does science become fiction and vice versa?
It's a brave new world we are entering, but are we ready? Are teachers, students, schools, parents, politicians, universities, businesses, employees, employers ready for it? In the immortal words of Hans Solo: "I've got a bad feeling about this." Now's the time to begin preparing people for the technological horizon that's approaching, because soon being an active citizen will mean being conversant and capable with all of these technologies.
Some of the creative applications of folksonomies, as shown in yesterday's lecture really appeal to me as a further method for integrating learning areas. I think many students (and teachers) when they think of creativity don't immediately also think of technology. Granted there are visual art projects happening in schools, including photography production and editing, movie making, poster making. Using folksonomy providers such as Tagxedo and Word Mosaic can bridge the gap between literacy and visual art. Folksonomies also put an interesting spin on brainstorming or mind-mapping, with the added bonus of having web-content behind each key word/phrase.
In saying this I'm looking at the aesthetic applications of folksonomies, but there are also the broader need for simplifying or organising information found. The functions of Delicious, whereby you can post a description of your tag has fantastic benefits for working on annotation and note-taking skills and critical literacy skills. Likewise, using Instapaper to then go in and assess what has been written for each tag and give students constructive feedback. Instapaper could also be a good way for developing critical literacy skills and even have students review each other's online work (e.g. students use Instapaper to peer-review other people's blog postings or tag definitions). There are almost endless possibilities.
And that brings me to my next point and something I have been thinking of during the course. We've been talking about information-overload, but what about technology-overload - I feel overwhelmed by the number of tools I've been shown and their applications for classroom use. It's not that I don't want to use these tools in the classroom, it's just that I have one idea and then I find another tool that does something similiar, but takes it in a more interesting direction, then there's another tool that is more like the best of both worlds before I find yet another tool and another and another. I feel like the Ark of the Covenant has now been opened and whilst what's inside is wonderful and mesmerising, it's causing my mind to have a meltdown. I was never all that technically skilled with computer technology, so this is a major learning curb for me and I'm having to prevent myself from running away with these nifty integrated lesson ideas for fear of getting carried away with the technology.
So this again comes down to using the technology as a tool, but also knowing the limitations of my own knowledge and skills, the students' knowledge and skills, the schools resources, the context in which I'm teaching and being able to integrate the technology with a teaching style I'm comfortable with. I imagine getting this balancing act right will come with time and experience as I fiddle around with these new technologies in different contexts.
And finally, my own try at a Tagxedo cloud for my integrated unit:
As I begin to think about my e-Learning assignment and scramble to find learned writings on my chosen topic, I stumbled upon this video that I wish I'd posted sooner:
After all the scary talk about social networking websites and student safety today, I've been wondering how vital it is for primary-aged students to be using any of these sites. I guess I'm just struggling to find things to do that could involve using social networking websites, except perhaps using a networking group page as a class hub. This appeals to me, however I think better ideas would be to use a Wiki, a blog or a walled garden to meet these purposes (my personal preference would be a wiki). A school network would be an interesting idea, where students, staff and parents could all interact in a single hub; however then there are age restrictions to overcome for the main providers of these kinds of services. Something I've just come across is Schools United, which seems like a social networking site designed to link schools across the globe, a kind of penpal system, although it looks like it hasn't been updated since 2008 suggesting it has fallen to the almighty Facebook Empire.
I remember using Neopets when I was in primary school and it was a fun, interesting experience but it didn't have all that much educational value, nor did it add much to me socially. By bringing social networking sites into the school, I fear that they'll be used as a "oh, you've finished your work, OK you can go onto such-and-such website", which undermines the idea of normalising technology in schools. I agree that there is some value in social networking sites in actual (or metaphysical?) social interaction and networking (especially in the teenage years, when some confrontations might be better behind a monitor), but I believe at primary level face-to-face interactions are far more important if we are looking at the bigger picture of moulding socially capable, intelligent and responsible human beings - we can't downplay reality, for all its ugliness.
I was at orchestra rehearsal last night and during a particularly rousing brass part in Vaughn-Williams English Folk Songs Suite my playing cut out and I suddenly realised I was unable to play the notes. This was at once bizarre and terrifying. I took the trombone outside and tried to blast a few notes, but it wasn't working - nothing was working. I've been playing for around eleven years now and played with three trombones and four mouthpieces, but I have never encountered this problem. I felt so helpless, like a runner who suddenly loses eyesight. I've Googled the issue and there are problems associated with brass playing, ranging from a broken embouchure (the position of the mouth to play the instrument) - the severest and career-ending malady, problems with the lips (swollen or chapped), nerve damage in the mouth, muscle damage in facial muscles, facial fatigue - a lot of scary sounding things! I have to play in a concert on Sunday, so I'm having a rest and hoping (and praying) the problem resolves itself. My reason for posting this is just to relay a bizarre event - something I've never thought about, I've always just picked up the 'bone and blown, all-of-a-sudden has fallen apart! I'll keep you posted...
These two articles offer up different methods for approaching critical literacy.
The first article, by Jackie Marsh, emphasises the need for popular culture that students are interested in to be brought into the classroom. Marsh uses the now outdated Pokemon phenomenon as an example, but there have been times when I've used examples from recent kids' movies and TV shows for a particular reason. I agree with Marsh's view that we should use popular culture within our lessons as a way of engaging students with the material; however in terms of critical literacy I wonder if students would be reluctant to criticise something that is important to them.
The second article, by Julie Martello discusses using drama as a critical literacy tool in early childhood. This outlines a definition of critical literacy and then demonstrates how drama may be the best avenue for developing these vital skills for younger students. I also like this idea as drama is always well-received by young students and yes, I agree it could be a simpler way of approaching critical literacy.
Whilst neither article is specifically related to ICT, our discussions surrounding critical literacy suggest that students will benefit more if they are released onto the web with critical literacy skills in place. I would suggest that an integrated approach is required, using a variety of online and offline texts to teach critical literacy skills, with those skills being on a continuum that continues to develop and adapt to new situations.
I've observed a number of early childhood classes, where critical literacy is being taught to the students implicitly in terms of what do good readers and writers do - i.e. text deconstruction strategies. I haven't, however, seen this done involving technologies, but I would argue that introducing critical literacy to younger students using the web is an easier task than using offline texts. The reason I suggest this is because students who have grown up being read to, will often take offline texts (including picture books, novels, films, audiobooks) as being definitive representations of what they are being told. Unless the parents are teaching their children to be critical before they enter school, they won't be looking at texts with a critical eye - and this is OK, I don't think students should have to be aware of critical literacy before entering school as in the pre-school stage an enjoyment of reading should be fostered.
The reason I say using the web to introduce critical literacy to younger students is because it is the web that offers so many more examples of falsified information because little on the web is verified. There is a perception that information that is published in books is more verified than what's on the web and that is true to a certain extent, but especially when dealing with fictional texts there are values and attitudes of the author that the reader needs to take into account. I imagine teaching critical literacy in secondary school would be easier to do using print texts, because the students should have a great enough baseline of knowledge and their own critical literacy skills have been developed during primary school.
To relate this back to early childhood teaching (which seems to have inadvertenly become a theme for me!), I think we still need to demonstrate the purpose of reading for enjoyment and interest, which is why I would suggest making the students (even young ones) aware that they are being critical. For instance, students could have a designated reading time where they can pick a book for enjoyment and just read it without the need for critique or analysis and then a specific critical literacy session (or "Smart Readers" session) could bring in online texts to develop these necessary critical literacy skills, e.g. the students might have read a picturebook on space, or they are interested in space, so the teacher finds an online article on alien life on other planets. This could be a text deconstruction activity, involving critical literacy skills and linked to a writing activity (which could be creative or factual). This kind of approach would work for me, with the eventual aim of having students subconsciously assessing texts as they read, with new skills continually being added to the critical literacy sessions.
Unfortunately, it seems the Voki scene can only be 11 seconds long when inputting text, as opposed to 60 seconds when using a voice recording. I shall experiment with voice recordings over the next week.
Something that concerned me when we were talking about blogs and wikis was that even though they could be used in early childhood classrooms, the written aspects of class blogs and wikis were decidedly teacher-driven. This concerned me because I felt these activities would not necessarily help younger students (ages 5-8) develop their digital literacy if the teacher was the only person openly submitting data to these websites. The plethora of visual-based resources introduced in this week's lecture has given me new hope for integrating web 2.0 technologies into the early childhood years - these audiovisual mediums could be used to engage students in literacy immediately and emphasise the fun side to learning. It also introduces students to digital literacy and critical literacy from a young age, whilst not overburdening the students with written text. I was struggling with the blog I have created for my four-week science program because I think I have pitched the written text side of things at too high a level; however after today's lecture I have some new ideas for keeping the students engaged and will help me to reach literacy, science, SOSE and ICT outcomes.
This is the blog I am experimenting with for my four science lessons. The plan is to update the blog with content and student responses each week, with parents free to comment if they wish.
With news that Twitter's entire backlog of tweets will be headed for the Library of Congress, will this open broader channels for sociology-based research using the micro-blog medium? I'd definitely be interested in a study on celebrities who have foregone their agents wishes and posted incriminating tweets and how this effects their careers. Really, I think this opens up possibilities of assessing Twitter for usefulness - what are people actually Tweeting about and what relevance that holds for the individual, the local community and the global community. There's a lesson in their for students on their contextual use of the internet - what is the bigger picture and what is it really all about. The transparency of posting online content should open our eyes to something more - it makes us community members on a global scale.
I feel I should make a public statement on the discussion board furore that erupted last week. A breakdown in communication led to a confrontation between myself and one of my learned colleagues. Things were said, questions were raised, Wikipedia articles were cited, disciplines were mocked - it got ugly, but I feel I am a wiser person because of it. I now know the pitfalls of discussion boards and how tone does not translate well across monitors. I also now know to think before I post; perhaps an online sarcasm-meter could be experimented upon? My colleague and I have patched things up and all is forgiven.
Something I've been wondering: what is the policy on students signing up for online services for educational purposes, considering Facebook have an age restriction of 13? Do we need to seek permission from parents if we wanted to set up a class Facebook profile or Twitter feed?
It's interesting to see that people have started to revolt against netspeak or textspeak, with a Facebook page created for people against talking "lyk dis". Many of the people I have seen join this page are people I went to school with who I used to get annoyed at when talking to them on messenger. Personally, I've never been a fan and I have gotten much flack from people who ask me why I insist on using full English text in phone messages and chat windows - the answer is simple; I've worked hard to become fluently English, so why should I discount that? I don't think there is a place in school for using netspeak, despite what David Crystal might say. It's not necessary, especially when it seems that it is being phased out (in terms of microblogging, I rarely see abbreviations of vowels in people's Twitter feeds). The basics of English are still having to be taught to many year 7s and above, so I really can't stand up and defend using Netspeak in the classroom at all.
On another note, I'm less enthusiastic about wikis now, as I tried setting one up earlier and got a headache!
Hopefully, a more lighthearted post will appear during the break (I did see Chicago the other week and I'm eager to give a review), so until then...
Who are the people who edit Wikipedia? Yes, it can be done by anyone, but what are the things people are more likely to edit - the things they are interested in or knowledgable about. In the following documentary, people discuss their use of Wikipedia and whether or not it is a reliable source for information. Interesting points for discussion: is the information we want students to look up likely to be wrongfully edited (especially in Simple English Wikipedia); Wikipedia is a collaborative enterprise, i.e. social constructivism at work; the need for students to cross-check references; do the students know how to use Wikipedia appropriately (once again, critical literacy). Here is the documentary, it's an interesting watch:
And Michael Scott's interpretation of Wikipedia and why we need to teach our students the possible dangers of blindly following Wikipedia articles:
Finally, an examination of the pitfalls of Wikipedia (including the Encycolopedia Britannica debate), College Humor Style:
With Andrew Lloyd Webber writing a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, I thought I'd try my hand at coming up with a concept for another musical sequel - Les Miz 2: The Beggar Cometh.
This new musical, following on from Les Miserables and set roughly ten years later at the onset of the First World War. Ms and Mme Thenadier have now relocated to Germany to benefit from the spoils over the War, only for a series of comedic events to occur that eventually end up with Ms Thenadier (here given the name Lewis) being a tank driver on the battlefield and Mme (Cheri) Thenadier becoming a hospital matron. In an amazing turn of events, Lewis comes across Marius (now a commanding French officer) and betrays him, leaving him at the mercy of the Germans. Cosette (disguised as a male officer and infiltrating the Germans) has to decide whether she follows the virtuous path set out for her by Jean Valjean and saves Thenadier, her childhood tormentor, or lets the Germans have their way. Marius, meanwhile tracks down Cheri Thenadier, seeking her help to return Cosette to him from the person who created her dark, tormented side.
The new musical contains songs such as: Revolution!, A Flee In The Dark, Soldier Girl, War Of A Thousand Faces, The Beggar Cometh, The Trouble With Yemen, Bullets and Bombshells, Espionage Of Life, The Marching Song, Master of the Burn Ward, Decadent Deceit and many, many more.
It's a work in progress - I'm open to suggestions.
(This post was written with tongue firmly in cheek - I'm aware Les Miserables takes place a long time before WWI. This disclaimer has been added to prevent Mr Hugo from rolling in his grave).
I find wikis to be the most useful tool to be used in a classroom context that we have covered so far. The more interactivity available in Wikis, as compared to something like a walled garden, appeals to me as a better resource for keeping a class log, but on a more structured level than a blog. Basically, I feel that the use of a wiki is somewhere between a walled garden and a blog. The question remains: what is the best application of a wiki in a classroom setting? I think the concept of using a walled garden as a class hub for students, parents and the teacher can be applied to wikis, with the added bonus that students can edit (and thus have some sense of ownership) of content. There could be a general information page on the class and then specific pages for each learning area. A downside to this would be the possible time limits of the teacher and convincing students and parents to comment or spend time editing pages. A more realistic application of wikis in the classroom would be setting one up for a specific project, tying together a number of learning areas and giving students the chance to post their own comments and link to their own research as they find it. I will write a later post, detailing a worked example of how I see this working.
I'd be happy for suggestions and for comments on what you believe the broader uses of wikis could be? Could wikis be used as a whole-school initiative, i.e. creating a wiki for an entire school?
Just a quick one - Dave Grusin's The Goonies finally saw a release from Varese Sarabande, which I shall have very soon along with Jerry Goldsmith's early effort The Spiral Road. LaLaLand promise to release something major on the 23 March, so I'm anticipating that along with their upcoming release of David Arnold's complete Independence Day score. I picked up Elfman's Alice in Wonderland and it is superb, a true return to form for Danny Elfman. I'd post more, but right now my ears are all for Andrew Lloyd Webber...
After spending the last couple of days closely listening to Andrew Lloyd Webber's newest musical Love Never Dies, my first reaction is that I like it. The story, being a follow-up to his smash-hit The Phantom of the Opera, is perhaps lacking in integrity and plays out like a soap opera, however one could find numerous faults with Webber's adaptation of Gaston Leroux's original horror-romance. It needs to be said, however, that people don't tend to flock to ALW productions for the intricate stories, rather they go for the tunes - and Love Never Dies certainly delivers on that front.
The fact that LND is a sequel to Phantom will immediately prevent a lot of people from giving this new musical a chance, which is a shame because there is certainly some magnificent stuff in it. I've only really known the show for a year, after seeing it live in Perth last March; however in that year Phantom has jumped the ranks to become one of my favourite musicals, only below Les Miserables. The idea of a sequel excited me musically - where could ALW take the voices from Phantom and how would his matured orchestral style benefit the score. The result is a score that bears more resemblance to Sunset Boulevard in it's romanticism than Phantom of the Opera, which isn't an issue since Sunset is easily Webber's best since Phantom (up until now, that is). Love Never Dies is also set in America's Coney Island at the turn of the 20th Century, so it makes sense for the music to be stylistically similar to Sunset. A carnivalesque atmosphere permeates LND, but it's the expected love scenes that really stand out.
HERE BE SPOILERS. YE BE WARNED!!!
The gist of the story is that The Phantom (under the name Mr Y) has set up an attraction on Coney Island called Phantasma, where Meg Giry is the headline act (an ooh-la-la girl) under the watchful guidance of her mother, Madame Giry. It seems that Meg has been smitten by The Phantom after the events of the original and wants to impress him by being the showgirl she thinks he wants. The Phantom, however is still pining for Christine Daae - the woman who was trained to be the best soprano by him and ultimately chose Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny over The Phantom in the original musical's climatic scene. Christine, now married to Raoul and with a ten-year-old son Gustave has accepted an invitation to perform at Phantasma, strangely unaware that it is the Phantom enticing her back into his clutches. Christine and family travel to Coney Island, where it is revealed that her relationship with Raoul is struggling (likely because of the feelings she still holds for the Phantom) and that the Phantom and Christine shared a night of passion before Christine was married to Raoul. From here, it's not a long stretch to realise that Gustave is actually the Phantom's son, something which Raoul is blissfully unaware of. The situation comes to a head when the Phantom makes a deal with Raoul to pay off his gambling debts if he leaves before Christine sings. Raoul ultimately loses and Christine sings, leaving her to finally be the Phantom's prize. Everything would have ended nicely, except that Meg Giry, furious that Christine has returned to take away her fame (and affection from the Phantom), kidnaps Gustave and attempts to drown him. The Phantom rescues the boy, but Meg has found a gun and threatens to kill herself if the Phantom doesn't choose her. The Phantom talks Meg out of it but makes the mistake of saying (or singing) Christine's name, causing Meg to crack and shoot Christine. Christine dies, leaving the Phantom to care for his son. Phew! So, it's not a great story, but again - it's about the music!
"The Coney Island Waltz" sets the mood for the show and builds the tension inherent in revisiting these characters. The Phantom's first appearance in "Til I Hear You Sing" is breathtaking and is what sold the concept of the sequel to me. The revelationary "Beneath A Moonless Sky" is likely the most beautiful piece ALW has ever written, but is probably also the most likely to get the mire of Phans for it's suggestion that Christine and The Phantom consummated their affair. The first meeting of Christine, Meg, Madame Giry and Raoul is a clever waltz, "Dear Old Friends", that reminds of the orignal show's "Prima Donna". Gustave's meeting with the Phantom is an interesting rock-ballad "The Beauty Underneath" that parallels Christine's first meeting with the Phantom in "The Phantom of the Opera". The "Entr'acte" is Lloyd Webber's orchestral sensibilities at their finest, really gearing excitement for the second act. "Devil Take The Hindmost" is my personal favourite from the new show and scores the deal between the Phantom and Raoul and sees the score at its most lyrical. The much-talked about aria the Phantom writes for Christine and is the dramatic highpoint of the show, "Love Never Dies" is indeed a showstopper and despite appearing in past Lloyd Webber productions feels comfortable here. The finale, "Please Miss Giry, I Want To Back..." has all the swells of a typical ALW finale, but brings together the tapestry of motifs created for the show. Overall it is a sumptuous is score and in time I think I'll like it more than The Phantom of the Opera.
In terms of it being a sequel, I feel the music is more about the parallels between this show and the original, rather than outright statements of previous themes. The motifs for "The Angel of Music" and "The Music of the Night" do reappear here, but they are highlighting dramatic moments, such as Gustave entering the Phantom's lair and Meg remembering Christine from long ago. An outright statement of the previous score comes right before "Love Never Dies", with Christine having once again to make a terrible choice between Raoul and the Phantom through song, much like "The Point of No Return" in the original. As I already suggested, "The Beauty Underneath" reflects Christine's first meeting with the Phantom in "The Phantom of the Opera", whereas "Til I Hear You Sing" offers similar chord progressions to "The Music of the Night". "Beneath A Moonless Sky" hints at "All I Ask of You", both musically and lyrically. "Heaven By The Sea" reminds the listener of "Masquerade" in the ensemble performace, whilst here instead of an opera within an opera we have Meg's vaudeville act "Bathing Beauty". It is the parallels to the previous score that remind me that it is a sequel, rather than the altered characters.
Ultimately, I find the score to be sublime and a nexus of Andrew Lloyd Webber's skills as an artist and this is what makes it a musical masterpiece. Will the show be a success? I don't know - the story is weak and screams out "soap-opera", but taking the merits of the music alone it should find some success. I do hope it comes to Australia, because I will gladly go and see it. I'll leave you with some footage of the London show to try and convince you to give the album a listen.
This is how I see a day of changing pedagogical ideas in a primary classroom (year 6):
Students start the morning by signing their name off the class register using the SmartBoard (this sounds mundane, but takes the form of students moving their names into a speech bubble that has been created by the teacher - students can also edit the font and colours of their name, depending on how they are feeling that day). First up there is a fitness session that is tied in with maths: the students need to find an average time for running three laps of the oval (to be put into an upcoming assembly item). Once the students have run and gotten three times, they return to the classroom and as a group come up with the number of laps that can be done in 45 and 20 minutes - this acts as both a lesson in finding averages, changing units and how to use Microsoft Excel.
We now move on to an integrated literacy/Society & Environment session with students viewing ABC's Behind The News (BTN) and the students pick out relevant stories to further investigate. Today's task is based on the note-taking process, whereas previous tasks have been on writing reports or extrapolating the original story. Using one of the reports on BTN, one involving the furore over Peter Garrett's home insulation bungle, we carry out an investigation on why this is such an issue, looking at factors such as what insulation is, how it works, what has gone wrong, the money involved, the politics involved with the aim of making suggestions as to how this problem might be fixed (tying together Science and S&E).
We end the day by practicing the upcoming assembly item, as written by the students and focussing on our recent Healthy Lifestyle unit of work. The students have come up with The Biggest Winner - a TV program based around healthy eating and fitness. The script has been edited as a class (using the SmartBoard) and we are now up to the live performance in the undercover area.
This is partly based on a day I was in school last week, with some minor tweaking of the BTN material. It's interesting to see how student-centred these lessons are and how the use of technology is an accessory to what is actually being learnt. The teacher acts as the driving force, shifting the focus from one subject to the next, with the students doing a lot of investigation and inquiry.
With the increasing interactivity available with Web 2.0, there is a greater need for teachers to be open to experimentation and inquiry-based learning within the classroom. A constructivist approach needs to be used, with ICTs used as a tool and integrated across all learning areas. For this to happen, teachers need to be aware of Web 2.0 functions and students are capable of achieving using the internet. From what I have seen in schools there is a shift taking place amongst students, where new technology is being brought in and teachers are using it in their lessons (sometimes against their will).
A lot of what I see is still very much Web 1.0 based and there seems to be resistance in allowing students to do more complex and interactive Web 2.0 activities. There is still an awe factor in classrooms that make using computers something special, instead of something normal - I've seen students in year 7 shout "Yes!!!" when they are allowed to use the internet for a project. I think teachers are beginning to understand the value of having ICTs in the classroom, but we're still a while away from total normalisation (depending on the school). To change the students' thinking we need to change our teaching, so I propose shifting to Pedagogy 2.0, with more interaction, more questioning, more social construction and more guided discovery. More on that in a later post.
And trust the British to come up with a comedy skit that perfectly demonstrates the "wow" factor of "The Internet" - this is how I currently see the internet being treated in schools and it needs to change. (Unfortunately I'm not able to embed the video, as the embedding has been disabled - but here's the link:)
I thought I'd start iMusings by doing a quick rundown of my most anticipated movies, books and film scores for 2010.
I'll start with books first, as it's a short list. First up there's the latest instalment in the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex. Artemis has been on hiatus for a couple of years, so I'm eager to see where Colfer has taken the character (after initially saying he was done with the character after Book 5: The Time Paradox). No word on a release date yet, but Colfer is confident that it will be release this year. Likewise, the latest Michael Robotham crime thriller is purported to have a release date early next year; however the book has been completed for some time now, so a release date may be pushed forward - not much is known about this one yet.
When it comes to anticipated movies, kids movies tend to figure high on my radar. Coming very soon (March 4) is Tim Burton's take on Alice in Wonderland for Disney. There hasn't been a Tim Burton film I haven't liked (even Planet of the Apes), so I look forward to the visionary spectacle he can bring to Lewis Carroll's timeless novels - plus it's another Johnny Depp collaboration for the director, which is bound to be interesting in the very least. I will post the trailer for the film at the end of this post. My most anticipated film of the year is Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 3. I grew up on the original films and Pixar have gone from strength to strength every year (WALL-E and Up both being superb films). If the trailer is any indication, then the film is sure to be lots of fun and with clever, cute and crafty new characters to play with, I'm betting it will be a hoot.
It is these two films I'm looking forward to most, with nothing else really standing out as must-see entertainment. It doesn't bother me that both are kids movies; as I said Pixar has been steadily rising to greater heights with each new film - so kids movies is where a lot of talent now lies.
When it comes to film music, it's more the specialty labels and re-releases of classic scores that get my attention. My two most anticipated contemporary scores are not surprisingly Alice in Wonderland by Danny Elfman and Toy Story 3 by Randy Newman, based solely on the strength of their previous works for similar productions. The samples I've already heard of Elfman's Wonderland ear-mark it as a front-runner for the best score in his career, whereas Toy Story 3 once again promises to be a lot of orchestral fun, much like TS1, TS2 and Monsters, Inc. before it.
The limited edition market has already taken off this year, with the monumental releases of Jerry Goldsmith's Islands in the Stream from Film Score Monthly (FSM), The Blue Max (Complete) and Players from Intrada and John Williams' Black Sunday from FSM. The release of Alan Silvestri's Back To The Future has paved the way for a number of Universal/Amblin Entertainment releases that I wonder what treasures will be unearthed this year. Upcoming releases from Varese Sarabande (including the oft-requested Spartacus by Alex North), LaLaLand Records, Intrada, FSM and Tadlow Music ensure that over the next few years there'll be no holy grails left. As I've always said, there's nothing I feel like I have to own anymore (not since BTTF finally getting a release), so I approach release dates with interest and if something strikes me as interesting I'll pick it up. Below are some upcoming major release dates and the labels' respective websites: Varese Sarabande - Latest Club Batch released March 1 www.varesesarabande.com LaLaLand - Major Release touted for March 23 www.lalalandrecords.com Intrada - Limited Edition releases every second Monday www.intrada.com FSM - Monthly Limited Edition releases www.filmscoremonthly.com, with retail dealt with through Screen Archives Entertainment - www.screenarchives.com
Alright, that's enough blather from me. I hope everyone has a great week and I hope to post some reviews of limited edition score releases over the coming months, so pop in from time to time if you're interested. In the mean-time, check out the trailers below:
Alice In Wonderland: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9POCgSRVvf0
Toy Story 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNMpa5yBf5o
I have created iMusings as a portal for me to share information on music I am currently into, movies I am eagerly waiting to see (or have seen), books I have read and want to recommend (and some I do not want to recommend), my own writing and often unformed ideas for books, movies and music and lastly (and most importantly) this is a blog for musings on my career and studies: that of primary teaching. Everything comes together in this one place - feel free to leave comments and I will strive to get back to you. Until next we speak, adios.
I'm a 21-year-old, currently studying to be a primary teacher. I'm also an aspiring writer and composer and I like to teach kids how to swim in my spare time. Normally I have far too much on the boil that nothing ever really gets done.
