2B? Nt2B?

I came across this article while searching for information on Shakespeare and texting, and it raises a couple of good points. I am intrigued by the pedagogical possibilities, but at the same time wary of getting side-tracked by gimics.       2b? Nt2b? Shakespeare GetsTexting Treatment

Would getting students to translate lines of Shakepeare into text language be a good way of helping them demystify and decode the sometimes complicated Elizabethan language he used, and to get them to relate the universal themes to their own lives? I intend to find out. Watch this space…

One argument for incorporating  texting into a lesson on Shakespeare might be that it is a way of supporting literacy. Educationalist James Britton, who coined the phrase ‘write to learn, learn to write”  argued that for students to be able to process abstract concepts and acquire new skills, they need to be able to practice this understanding by writing in their everyday, ‘expressive’ language. The use of more formal, academic language can be approached after they have ‘practiced’ the concept in this way. (see ref below for more information on Britton).  I think texting, and also tweeting fall into this category 0f expressive language. Although these languages are codified, they also reflect the everyday mode students use to communicate with each other. I think you could incorporate texting into the field building part of a unit on Shakespeare, so that students are able to experience the language of Shakespeare ‘translated into their expressive language. Comprehension would also be aided. In an exercise requiring students to text or tweet lines of speech in character (say, the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet), they must first be able to understand the core meaning of the lines, in order to translate accurately: the process of writing is therefore supporting interpretation.

Britton, J., Burgess, T., Martin, N., McLeod, A. & Rosen, H. (1975) The Development of Writing Abilities (11-18) London: Macmillan

 

American History in the Age of Youtube

If only I was a history teacher! I’m desperately trying to find a good use for this in the classroom. How to create a short, dramatic piece on video? Turning your  research assignment into a visual response? Using humour for dramatic effect? Help me out here, people.

Playing pop music via paper posters with conductive ink

hunnnnhhh!

Just when you think technology is your friend, the whole ’embedding’ thing refuses to play ball! Luckily, the TED link works. I tried, I really did. Be warned: keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. Here’s what it looks like as html (that’s not hotmail, people.)

<object width=”526″ height=”374″>
<param name=”movie” value=”http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf”></param&gt;
<param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true” />
<param name=”allowScriptAccess” value=”always”/>
<param name=”wmode” value=”transparent”></param>
<param name=”bgColor” value=”#ffffff”></param>
<param name=”flashvars” value=”vu=http://video.ted.com/talk/stream/2010/Blank/SirKenRobinson_2010-320k.mp4&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/SirKenRobinson-2010.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=512&vh=288&ap=0&ti=865&lang=&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution;year=2010;theme=how_the_mind_works;theme=whipsmart_comedy;theme=master_storytellers;theme=the_rise_of_collaboration;theme=the_creative_spark;theme=how_we_learn;event=TED2010;tag=children;tag=creativity;tag=education;tag=invention;&preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512×288;” />

</object>

I think of it as a kind of Boolean poetry. Haiku, be damned.

Ernest Hemingway on Fakebook

I love this concept. Teachers and students can create “fake” facebook pages for famous people, fictional characters etc, and then are able to comment, debate and interact in a safe forum that mimics social networking sites. Videos, audio, text and images may all be embedded in the page, like the real Facebook, and a list of friends may be created. Teachers are able to monitor posts and make comments. Brilliant. I can see this having a lot of application in class, particularly for the younger year levels, 4 and 5.

This tool provides broad scope for addressing particular outcomes, such as 1 (a student responds to and composes texts for understanding, interpretation, critical analysis and pleasure), with reference to 1.2 & 1.4 (Students learn to manipulate, combine and challenge different text types in order to compose new texts that address specific purposes, audiences and contexts) and 1.16 (learn about… conventions associated with generic definitions of literary, film, television and other multimedia, information, everyday and workplace texts), and also 7 ( a student thinks critically and interpretively about information ideas and arguments to respond to and compose texts), with reference to 7.1 (students learn to locate, assess, select, synthesise and use information, ideas and arguments from texts) and 7.15 (students learn about ways of organising information, ideas and arguments textually or visually…)

Here’s one I made for Ernest Hemingway:

http://www.classtools.net/fb/74/JBAdKV

“Girl, you like a tall glass of ice cold water, and I’m thirsty…”

I’ve found my new favourite, favourite site, one that brings tears to my eyes. This would be so fantastic to use in a class on poetry, on character p.o.v..How much more fun would a research assignment be if you could present it like this? Much more, that’s how much.

Blabberize.com Richard

Bring on the Revolution

I just watched an amazing TED lecture by English educator Sir Ken Robinson, which really highlighted for me the importance of mastering ict in the classroom. If we want to engage kids in the wonder of learning, we have to be ready and willing to engage in modes of teaching that speak to a 21st century student cohort. If we mediate learning through the multifarious media forms now available to us, we have a much better chance of doing this. Plus we look so much cooler. As Robinson points out, there are many different intelligences, and simply lecturing from the front of the classroom no longer cuts the mustard. Technology is central to engaging these diverse intelligences.

‘as our case is new, so must we think anew…’   Abraham Lincoln

TED Ken Robinson ‘Bring On The Revolution’

Mea Culpa

To begin with, a confession. I am the person who translated html as ‘hotmail’, who didn’t think to move around with my laptop, who calls tech support and has to ask the meaning of terms such as ‘browser’ and i.p., who thought the webcam had to be plugged in to be connected to the internet, who wasn’t sure if I had wi-fi or dial-up… I could go on (no, really: I could), but I might have to crawl into a hole and hide.

Hello Brave New world!

This gallery contains 6 photos.

Welcome to my wonderful world of ict.  As a former luddite, I have spent many long, and lonely hours wrestling with technology.  I love Fritz Lang’s Metropolis for this reason. It  is technology gone mad, the Romantic hero pitted against the diabolical forces of the machine age, as his lovely Maria is transformed into an […]