Below is a sneak peek into the inspiration behind what our group is planning to do for our movie making project. It was the best idea we ever had.


(GIF found at: http://giphy.com/gifs/season-9-the-simpsons-9x18-3orifheTRvwyCCyAKY )

But on a more serious note, I am liking the progress that our group has made in terms of figuring out our game plan and beginning to do a bit of filming. I think that we should be able to come up with something pretty good if we are able to actually do the editing the same way on the computer as we can in our imaginations. Hopefully early next week we can get the filming completed and begin to work with the editing software. I'm looking forward to it actually, mostly because we've been discussing maker spaces and learning through play all week in our Science Methods course, and it was something that I remember playing around with in my free time when I was younger. So it should feel good to pick up and play with again. It definitely will be better than making unit and lesson plans which I need to stop putting off.

Just a little blurb about our presentation by John Finch from Tuesday's class, I thought that he gave us some really good information that will be useful for us as educators in the future. It was actually sort of two mini presentations that he gave, one on copyright issues and one around literacy in ICT. I feel like I took a few things away from each mini presentation. Notables around copyright include that playing music in the gymnasium or in a classroom is copyright infringement unless it is for educational purposes, and that playing movies have to be directly related to education for everyone watching it (so students can't sit in on another class to watch the film) or else you are in copyright infringement; two things I did not previously know. With regards to literacy in ICT being taught to students, it just makes sense that it is now being stressed even more so. It was also nice to see the graphics he provided to relate the processes being used by students practicing these skills is not very different from the scientific process that I am more familiar with. I thought that John also had some good stories that kept everyone engaged on his presentations; it was obvious that he has given them a few times now. Actually, I think that I've taken at least one or two things away from every presenter we've had in ICT so far, which definitely is a good thing. But I am beginning to ramble again so I will end this there.. Or maybe here. Mm.. Back there was better. Stop reading, go back. Forget this ever happened. It's done now.

This week in ICT

So this week in our ICT class we were introduced to some cool little websites to help with creating multimedia (and even the copyright free and legal way), as well as some digital storytelling programs. I thought that the Animoto website that we were given a demo on was super easy to use, and was easily able to create a pretty nice looking slideshow and with accompanying music track. Just pick a theme and upload some pictures and videos, and BINGO-BANGO-BONGO you're basically done. After that, you just have to make some minor tweaks and adjustments to make sure its up to your own liking, pick the music track that you like the best, and then you get to be happy with the results.

Next week we're moving onwards to creating our own digital story or little video, about 2 to 5 minutes worth. I'm looking forward to having to do this, although I still am not too sure at all what I am planning on doing for it. Hopefully a long weekend back home will allow me some time to brainstorm ideas and figure it out, as well as decompress and maybe even catch up on lesson plans and readings that seem to be never ending. Wishing everyone else is able to enjoy their long weekends as well. Cheers everyone!


(GIF found at: http://natslife6.blogspot.ca/2016/01/five-on-friday.html )

Building an e-portfolio

This past weekend I have tried to spend my free time working on the e-portfolio / professional website that was asked of us. I definitely seen the merit in creating one for yourself to have, I feel like it would be the best way to make sure that you present yourself in a way that is to your liking. You can create a resource that a prospective employer can look into at their leisure, and helps to create a positive and professional electronic footprint or web presence for yourself. Instead of having to leave hard copies of valuable resources after an interview, you could simply give out a web address which would have all of the same documents, as well as more about yourself, presented in a neat and ordered manner, with added flare of what you feel sets you apart from other applicants. All good things.

With that all being said however, there were times during the process where I wanted to smash my computer like the gentleman in the GIF at the bottom of this post. I used Weebly to create the website for myself, and I felt like it was pretty finicky and definitely annoying. I felt like I was restricted by the theme I chose at the start, and then didn't want to switch the theme or switch to Wix (which I heard from others was a better site to use) and to possibly lose everything that I had already put in and formatted. I did pick up the hang of using Weebly once I figured out how to handle the glitches and lagging movements, etc. but it still was frustrating to me.

On a side note, in class on Tuesday we were given a short demo on different quiz taking websites or programs. Specifically we were asked to participate in the quiz about what we had learned thus far in our ICT class, on a program running from the web address of kahoot.it. I found it to be a great site, I liked the appearance, and the way that it became a game to try and answer quickly and correctly. One downfall is that participants needed to look at the main screen to see the questions and possible answers, and then to answer on their personal devices. This does however keep the entire class engaged and focused on the same thing, and move through the work at the same time, so that isn't actually too huge of a pitfall in my opinion. I am hoping to make use something similar to this once I am in my next student placement.

(GIF found at: http://frndlydigital.com/ )

Embrace the Future

 
(GIF found at: https://www.tenor.co/view/technology-gif-6072767 ) 

A common theme surrounding the ICT classes this week (and for the duration of the course for that matter) involved embracing technology and using it to your advantage. In class on Tuesday we were introduced to a number of different websites which could be used to create websites for yourself, and told some of the benefits of doing so in order to create an online presence; we also were given examples of the benefits of creating an electronic portfolio. I feel like it is a great idea, since technology is only becoming more prevalent in everyone's lives. By creating a website or e-portfolio online, you have some level of control over what your presence on the web will be, and it can even be used to help you in getting a job. By creating a virtual portfolio, one could give a web address out instead of just a resume and hard copies of documents, which those prospective business associates can then browse at their leisure. By spending some extra time on creating this, it also can help to showcase your own personality and what you are all about even better, in hopes that it can help make you stand out compared to everyone else.  

On Thursday we attended a presentation by John Evans from Manitoba Education, who gave us some insight into how we could use MAPLE FOREM to our advantage; however this time it is was about how to collaborate with others instead of how to stand out amongst them. I signed up for the service and tried to browse through the site a little bit; from what I saw it has very high potential for being something that will definitely help in the future. What is great about it is the fact that it allows for open collaboration amongst the educational community, in whatever areas are most suited to you. You can join different groups to share resources and ideas, and to stay informed in what is going on out there in the educational community to help with your own professional development. I think that sharing ideas with others is an invaluable resource to have, and from what I have witnessed, educators are some of the most willing people to share those resources with others. I feel like it is something that simply benefits everybody involved, and it is absolutely great for me to see as I begin to think about gathering resources for the future. By using social networking sites such as MAPLE or even Twitter and Facebook to collaborate and share ideas with other educators, or to just stay informed on ideas and advances in the field, it is a way of embracing the future and is a way of using technology in the right way to become a better, more professionally developed educator in general.