Growing Up On-Line

The PBS movie about growing up on line sheds a lot of light about the new challenges facing our students and parents. As a parent I found a lot of it very interesting. I had always thought that the computer should be in a common area of the house to ward off any potential predators, but the things that these kids were doing online were beyond my knowledge. I think that the important thing is to try to be as aware and open with your kids as possible (but that is nothing new). My daughter is 10 and has a cell phone. It is used mostly so we can get a hold of her while she is at her activities, but she does text her friends with it. Wrong or right, I feel that I have the right to check her text messages. I pay the bill, therefore, it is my right. This may change as she gets older and understands more about what is right and wrong, but personally I feel that if I am providing the cell phone, computer, etc, that I have a right to know.

Food Inc.

I really enjoyed the movie. It definitely made me think about what I eat and where it comes from. Having the panel at the end of the movie was great. How awesome to see how small local changes can make a difference.
For me the biggest change I think I am going to make is to grow a garden this summer and to eat out less! I have always had a "black thumb", but I think it is important to give growing a garden a try for my family. We live on a farm and raise our own beef and pork, so I already know where my meat comes from. I am thinking about getting some chickens now though. I think that movies like this are what we need to get the message out about what is going on with the food we eat. I hope more people watch it. I know I am recommending it to everyone!

The ipad debate

Computer world and pc world each published an article about the ipad. The article in Computer World takes the view that the ipad will be the next big thing. That it will appeal to a wide variety of people and be able to do things the net books do plus more. The man who wrote the article in PC World believes that it is just the latest thing that won't last. That the netbooks are affordable and are more what consumers need.
I personally feel that the ipad will do well. I think that it will appeal to many different types of people and it is user friendly. I have the iphone and I LOVE it. The ipad looks like a giant iphone. I think that once it is out for awhile the price will come down and any problems it might have will be worked out.

Garage Band and Presentations

Playing on the garage band was surprisingly easy and fun! I think this is something that students will be able to use probably easier that we did. I always love to learn some new technology that can be used in a classroom. I have been wanting to learn podcasts. so can't wait for that. A few semester ago I learn photo story which I now use every year, but I use windows movie maker.
The presentations were good this week. I especially liked the podcast presentation. It was good to see how it can be used in elementary classrooms! Good job everyone!

Class Presentations

Wow! I think there was a lot of good information in the presentations. AND a lot of different information. I liked learning more about the interactive white boards. My district is in the process of getting them and I can't wait to use one in my classroom. The information given was useful and interesting.
Vadim's calculator presentation was great! I personally don't use calculators (teaching pre-k), but it was nice to see the discussion on whether or not they should be used!
Kerri's PBL presentation was interesting. It sounds like a fun way to teach, but also different then what we were taught. I think it would take a lot of work and a lot of support from your district. In an ideal world, an ideal class and an ideal administration!
Thanks for all the great info!!!!

Web cam lawsuit

I found the lawsuit against the school district that used web cameras to track down missing computers pretty intriguing. I could see both sides of the argument. On the one hand the school district has put a lot of money into these computers to not use some sort of safety measures in protecting their investment. On the other hand, I see the families point of view where it could be looked at as spying. I think the moral of this story is to be up front with your students, parents and the public. When things are kept in secrecy is when there is problems. Personally as a parent I would have been fine knowing they would use these cameras if the computer was stolen, but I would not be okay with it if they did not inform me of it.

Rip, Mix and Burn

I found the video about the lawsuits on former types of media very interesting. I had no idea that there was so much controversy with things like the ff button and the video tape. I knew that copyrighted material couldn't be shown in a classroom (however I think it is absurd). I know that in my district teachers use videos in their classroom and no one says anything about it. When using a video for educational purposes it seems that should be allowed. Ii'm interested to see the remainder of the video to hear about CD's,DVD's and itunes and napster.