Copywrite Blog

I agree with the way Youtube handles copyrighting and ownership. It gives the owner of the video the ability to manage how their media is distributed as they see fit. I would think that a lot of companies would take advantage of others uploading their remakes/copies of their videos for their own benefit  instead of just blocking any video that has their content on it. My question would be who gets priority when multiple people have copyrights to one thing.

Photo Story

A Digital Story is "a form of short narrative, usually a personal narrative told in the first person, presented as a short movie for display on a television or computer monitor, or projected onto a screen " digital storytelling would help students in school by giving them tools to express themselves with media and technology in ways they would not be able to in other situations. It is an outlet in which they might feel more comfortable opening up in, and thus, their results would be better. It gives them the options to use multi-media pictures, music, and recorded voice in their digital story.

This is a digital story by students in Scott County Schools in Kentucky.

My Photo Story

WebQuest Project

Audia/Haggerty WebQuest

I felt like the idea of a WebQuest was a very powerful tool when used in a school setting. It allows students to get the same information, and in many cases more information than they would with a normal lesson plan, along with the added benefit of learning how to do research on the internet, which is a valuable skill to have in today's world.

Game Design and Learning

Scratch helps support the development of 21st century skills by its use of sharing and collaboration. As the reading says "One of the main goals of the Scratch online community is to foster the idea of learning from each other by building on other people’s ideas or projects". 

Scratch gives students the ability do be creative and inventive in making their projects, with all the different possibilities that are available.

The Scratch project that I found helps support MU.S.GMK Standard-2.1 Performing.

WebQuest Rubric

	Beginning	Developing	Accomplished	Score
Overall Aesthetics (This refers to the WebQuest page itself, not the external resources linked to it.)
Overall Visual Appeal	0 points There are few or no graphic elements. No variation in layout or typography. OR Color is garish and/or typographic variations are overused and legibility suffers. Background interferes with the readability.	2 points Graphic elements sometimes, but not always, contribute to the understanding of concepts, ideas and relationships. There is some variation in type size, color, and layout.	4 points Appropriate and thematic graphic elements are used to make visual connections that contribute to the understanding of concepts, ideas and relationships. Differences in type size and/or color are used well and consistently.  See Fine Points Checklist.	4
Navigation & Flow	0 points Getting through the lesson is confusing and unconventional. Pages can't be found easily and/or the way back isn't clear.	2 points There are a few places where the learner can get lost and not know where to go next.	4 points Navigation is seamless. It is always clear to the learner what all the pieces are and how to get to them.	4
Mechanical Aspects	0 points There are more than 5 broken links, misplaced or missing images, badly sized tables, misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	1 point There are some broken links, misplaced or missing images, badly sized tables, misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	2 points No mechanical problems noted.  See Fine Points Checklist.	2
Introduction
Motivational Effectiveness of Introduction	0 points The introduction is purely factual, with no appeal to relevance or social importance OR The scenario posed is transparently bogus and doesn't respect the media literacy of today's learners.	1 point The introduction relates somewhat to the learner's interests and/or describes a compelling question or problem.	2 points The introduction draws the reader into the lesson by relating to the learner's interests or goals and/or engagingly describing a compelling question or problem.	2
Cognitive Effectiveness of the Introduction	0 points The introduction doesn't prepare the reader for what is to come, or build on what the learner already knows.	1 point The introduction makes some reference to learner's prior knowledge and previews to some extent what the lesson is about.	2 points The introduction builds on learner's prior knowledge and effectively prepares the learner by foreshadowing what the lesson is about.	2
Task (The task is the end result of student efforts... not the steps involved in getting there.)
Connection of Task to Standards	0 points The task is not related to standards.	2 point The task is referenced to standards but is not clearly connected to what students must know and be able to do to achieve proficiency of those standards.	4 points The task is referenced to standards and is clearly connected to what students must know and be able to do to achieve proficiency of those standards.	2
Cognitive Level of the Task	0 points Task requires simply comprehending or retelling of information found on web pages and answering factual questions.	3 points Task is doable but is limited in its significance to students' lives. The task requires analysis of information and/or putting together information from several sources.	6 points Task is doable and engaging, and elicits thinking that goes beyond rote comprehension. The task requires synthesis of multiple sources of information, and/or taking a position, and/or going beyond the data given and making a generalization or creative product. See WebQuest Taskonomy.
Process (The process is the step-by-step description of how students will accomplish the task.)
Clarity of Process	0 points Process is not clearly stated. Students would not know exactly what they were supposed to do just from reading this.	2 points Some directions are given, but there is missing information. Students might be confused.	4 points Every step is clearly stated. Most students would know exactly where they are at each step of the process and know what to do next.	4
Scaffolding of Process	0 points The process lacks strategies and organizational tools needed for students to gain the knowledge needed to complete the task. Activities are of little significance to one another and/or to the accomplishment of the task.	3 points Strategies and organizational tools embedded in the process are insufficient to ensure that all students will gain the knowledge needed to complete the task. Some of the activities do not relate specifically to the accomplishment of the task.	6 points The process provides students coming in at different entry levels with strategies and organizational tools to access and gain the knowledge needed to complete the task. Activities are clearly related and designed to take the students from basic knowledge to higher level thinking. Checks for understanding are built in to assess whether students are getting it. See: Process Guides A Taxonomy of Information Patterns Language Arts Standards and Technology WebQuest Enhancement Tools Reception, Transformation & Production Scaffolds	3
Richness of Process	0 points Few steps, no separate roles assigned.	1 points Some separate tasks or roles assigned. More complex activities required.	2 points Different roles are assigned to help students understand different perspectives and/or share responsibility in accomplishing the task.	2
Resources (Note: you should evaluate all resources linked to the page, even if they are in sections other than the Process block. Also note that books, video and other off-line resources can and should be used where appropriate.)
Relevance & Quantity of Resources	0 points Resources provided are not sufficient for students to accomplish the task. OR There are too many resources for learners to look at in a reasonable time.	2 point There is some connection between the resources and the information needed for students to accomplish the task. Some resources don't add anything new.	4 points There is a clear and meaningful connection between all the resources and the information needed for students to accomplish the task. Every resource carries its weight.	4
Quality of Resources	0 points Links are mundane. They lead to information that could be found in a classroom encyclopedia.	2 points Some links carry information not ordinarily found in a classroom.	4 points Links make excellent use of the Web's timeliness and colorfulness. Varied resources provide enough meaningful information for students to think deeply.	4
Evaluation
Clarity of Evaluation Criteria	0 points Criteria for success are not described.	3 points Criteria for success are at least partially described.	6 points Criteria for success are clearly stated in the form of a rubric. Criteria include qualitative as well as quantitative descriptors. The evaluation instrument clearly measures what students must know and be able to do to accomplish the task. See Creating a Rubric.	6
Total Score				45/50

This is the Webquest Rubric for me and Jeff Audia

Web Quest Worksheet

Your Role

___Efficiency Expert

___Affiliator

_X_Altitudinist

___Technophile

Your Impressions

WebQuest	Strengths	Weaknesses
Gorillas	It strengths are that it gives a good project to think about.	It doesn't give them a starting point for research.
Shakespeare	It gives students standards on which to base their research.	Does not give an effective grading scale.
Earthquake	It gives students a list of web sites to conduct their research.	Grading scales gives to much leeway in points for students who did not do the work.
Foreign Country	It gives a web site list and a way to organize	Doesn't give a detailed explanation of what is required.
Waves & Sound	It gives lots of resources.	Difficulty level is too high.

Bernie Dodge, Department of Educational Technology, SDSU

I and the group felt that Earthquake and Shakespeare were the best two Web Quests because they both give the students a good starting point for the students to begin their research.

We both felt Waves & Sound and Gorillas were the worst two Web Quests because, for Gorillas, it didn't give a good starting point, and Waves was to hard for the level the students are on and was very dry in its delivery.

Best to us means that the students gain information and learn more from using the internet as a resource tool.

And worst means that the students don't learn more from the lesson plan and that they didn't not give a good starting point for research.

Language Blog Posting

While reading the article Are Digital Media Changing Language I was surprised by the quote "quantitative analysis of instant messaging conversations and text messages revel that abbreviations, acronyms, and even misspellings are comparatively infrequent, at least among college age students"

This took me by surprise just because of my personal experience with college age students and their messaging habits. I do not believe that digital media is destroying the ability of young people to construct sentences, because it has not yet affected the way we speak when we interact face to face. Not only is it not affecting our language skills in a harmful way, but the University of British Columbia offers a course that incorporates digital media into modern literacy.

Media Literacy Lesson Plan

Using Media Literacy in a performing arts class like music can be difficult for someone just starting out. However the more you dig into it, the more you will find that you can use. In this lesson plan you are shown how listening to albums like Paul Simon's Graceland can help students identify the music of other cultures based off of rhythm, speed, and what musical scale the song is using, and lyrics. This meets the ISTE.NETS standard 3. Research and Information Fluency giving students the ability to:

·         Plan strategies to guide inquiry

·         Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media

·         Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks

·         Process data and report results

The Pros of Video Conferencing

Video conferencing is a new and upcoming technological tool that is starting to be integrated into the classroom with great results. Using video conferencing in the classroom helps teachers and students in many ways. It gives students:

·          the ability to collaborate with other people from almost anywhere in the world, thus giving them experience with people of other cultures.

·         the ability to see and speak with experts of different topics that they might not otherwise get to see.   

Using Video Conferencingin the Classroom is a web site that supports the use of video conferencing, and has different lesson plans, preparation, and resources to help the teacher use video conferencing in their classroom. It also gives excellent reasons why it should be used in classrooms, such as:

·         collaboration

·         planning

·         guest experts

·         virtual field trips

·         and team learning

Photo Analysis

In my opinion this is the photo of President Obama that gives me the most faith in his ability to lead this country. On of the first things you notice is his open arms and palms give us the impression that he is being open and honest with us. You also notice his confident demeanor in this situation, like he is a man with a plan. The sleeves of his shirt are pulled up, giving us the impression on a man working, and taking his job seriously. In the background the two things that stand out the most is the response map behind him, and the American flag, instilling in us a sense of patriotism.  The camera angle appears to be on the same level as the president, giving the impression that he is not any better than anyone else.

I believe that this photograph is posed, as these are two very important people seemingly explaining the situation, when someone of a lesser stature could be doing that. The fact that the American flag is in the background also leads me to assume that the photograph is posed. The photograph is meant to instill confidence in President Obama’s leadership abilities during a time of crisis.

Something that might change my opinion of Obama's leadership ability is if he looked more stressed, or angry in the picture, as that sort of situation might dictate. It would show that he is not to the more difficult challenges that you must face as president.  

My views on Video Games and Learning

            After watching the videos on how video games help with a person’s learning abilities I believe that we should be trying to find ways in which to incorporate the games into our curriculum and into the classroom itself.

As shown in the videos some things claims the back this are that students are shown to have better decision making reaction time,  video games help people with learning by constantly giving them new scenarios, which help make brain matter, and there is an environment where kids can fail, and learn from their mistakes without adverse consequences.

Here is a link to Professor Leonard A. Annettas, an Assistant Professor of science education at North Carolina State University, view on video games in the school system.

Video Games and Learnig

You’reBrain on Video Games

            The main argument of the video ‘You’re Brain on Video Games’ is that playing video games, such as violent first person shooter games, helps with your over health. People who play video games more than non players have shown to:

·         have better eyesight

·         better decision making reaction time

·         are able to better keep track of objects

·         are able to switch back and forth between tasks with ease

It tells how you can’t compare two completely different forms on media tasking, such as video games and multimedia, because the effects of both are completely different. The presenter ends by reiterating how, in small dosages, video games can help with a person’s learning, and that we need more games that have more in them to help with that learning.

AreGames Making Your Kids Smarter?

      The video ‘Are Games Making Your Kids Smarter’ also gives support to the idea the having children play video games is good for them. The presenter lists the following:

·         people who are able to multitask many different things in the video game world, while also dealing with the outside world

·         video games help people with learning by constantly giving them new scenarios, which help make brain matter

·         video games are made to be pleasurable to people, thus releasing dopamine, thus having the person keep going back to the video games looking for new scenarios

He also describes how games are going into other aspects of our lives, and that in a few years, will dominate the way we live. He also says that we need to stop fighting the gaming trends an become one with them, so that we are closer to the children who are playing them.

BigThinkers: Katie Salen on Learning with Games

            In the video ‘Learning with Games’ Katie Salen describes how helps build skills used in the 21^st century. Some of those skills include:

·         collaboration

·         team building

·         problem solving

·         take on new identities/new way of acting

·         an environment where kids can fail and learn from their mistakes without adverse consequences

One of the things she wants to do is close the gap between learning and games. She says that is hard to do, because we don’t always see the learning that is going on when we see people play games, because we normally see games as leisure time. She also says that she believes the reason students seem to be so successful at games, and not in the classroom is because they know that the game has been designed for them to be successful, and they don’t always view the classroom like that.

Picasso Head and Learning Styles

My Picasso head painting is meant to represent an MI of Musical Intelligence. In the picture I tried to convey the image of someone listening to music and being at peace with the world.

A learning style is a student's consistent way of responding to and using stimuli in the context of learning. My views on learning styles are that they should be used on a one on bases with a student, and not with an entire group or class of them, as they all have different ways of learning and processing information. As Stephen Downes said,

“There is no good understanding of learning styles as it stands. But it certainly does not follow that we all learn the same way—the senses may well work in concert, but (as someone with thick glasses, I can attest) some senses work more or less well, meaning that each individual may combine the senses differently.”

Some people, such as Harold E. Pashler, a professor of psychology at the University of California at San Diego, believe that teaching styles should not be used at all, because there is very little evidence that teaching in one certain style will adversely affect a student that doesn’t have that learning style in the long run, if at all. He states,

"We were startled to find that there is so much research published on learning styles, but that so little of the research used experimental designs that had the potential to provide decisive evidence."

It is my opinion that learning styles can be used with students to great effect, by only on individual bases.

Think Aloud Part II

I think that the Think Aloud project goes along best with ISTE NETS Standard 1C: Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes. The whole purpose of Think Aloud is for the students to write exactly what they are thinking as they are reading, as it correlates with the online research that they are doing, so that they better understand the information given. Planning and creative processes also go along with the power point side of the project, with the students deciding a layout for the slides, and the order in which the slides must go in order to make sense.

Think Aloud Post

Haggerty, hitt power point from bhaggerty

Website Worksheet

Is there an author? Is the page signed?	Yes
Is the author qualified and/or reputable? An expert?	Yes
Who is the sponsor?	CNN
Is the sponsor of the page reputable? How reputable?	Yes
Are there links that take you outside of the site?	Yes

Is the information reliable and error-free?	Yes
Is there an editor or someone who verifies/checks the information?	Yes
Where doubt exists, can the information be cross-checked with a reliable source?	Yes

Does the information show a minimum of bias?	Yes
Is the page designed to sway opinion?	Yes
Is there any advertising on the page?	No

Is the page dated?	Yes
If so, when was the last update?	12-19-12
How current are the links? Have some expired or moved?	No

Is there an indication that the page has been completed, and is not still under construction?	No
What topics are covered? How in-depth is the material?	The article covers that the author believes that teachers should not be able to carry guns and school, and offers links to two states that are in the process of granting teachers the right to guns on school grounds, and not giving them it.

Type of file (could say ftp:// or telnet://)	Domain name (computer file is on and its location on the Internet)	Path or directory on the computer to this file	Name of file, usually ending in .html or .htm
http://	www.cnn.com	/2012/12/19/opinion/granderson-guns-in-schools

Editors Reliability

With the exception of Mr. Stephen Schulz, who seemed to have the credibility to be updating the wikipedia pages, I could not find any evidence that J. Johnson or Susan Lesch had any credibility what-so-ever.

Wikipedia Reliability Worksheet Student: Brandon Haggerty Article title: Music Education Answer the following questions to see how reliable a Wikipedia article is. Start with the main page. Does it have any cleanup banners that have been placed there to indicate problems with the article? (A complete list is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Template_messages/ Cleanup.) Any one of the following cleanup banners means the article is an unreliable source: This article or section has multiple issues. No    This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No The neutrality of this article is disputed.  No The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. No This needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling. No This may contain material not appropriate for an encyclopedia. No This article only describes one highly specialized aspect of its associated subject. No This article requires authentication or verification by an expert. No This article or section needs to be updated. No This article may not provide balanced geographical coverage on a region. No This is missing citations or needs footnotes. No This article does not cite any references or sources. No Read through the article and see if it meets the following requirements: Is it written in a clear and organized way? Yes     Is the tone neutral (not taking sides)?  Yes Are all important facts referenced (you're told where they come from)?  Yes  Does the information provided seem complete or does it look like there are gaps (or just one side of the story)?  Yes Scroll down to the article's References and open them in new windows or tabs. Do they seem like reliable sources? Reliable references: *International Society for Philosophy of Music Education Possibly unreliable references: Definitely unreliable references:   Click on the Discussion tab. How is the article rated on the Rating Scale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_History/Assessment#Quality_scale  (Stub, Start, C, B, GA, A, FA)? What issues around the article are being discussed? Do any of them make you doubt the article's reliability? The article has received excellent ratings. Based on the above questions, give the article an overall ranking of Reliable, Partially Reliable or Unreliable. You may use a Reliable article as a source (but remember that even if a Wikipedia article is reliable, it should never be your only source on a topic!) You may use a Partially Reliable article as a starting point for your research, and may use some of its references as sources, but do not us it as a source. You should not use an Unreliable article as a source or a starting point. Research the same topic in a different encyclopedia. How did you rank this article (Reliable, Partially Reliable or Unreliable)? Give at least three reasons to support your answer. 1.      I find this article reliable because it discusses the most popular and effective music teaching methods. 2.      I find this article reliable because it gives a history of music education. 3.      I find this article reliable because it gives a complete list of the current standards and objectives.