We can work IT out

Download

Having gone to NECC08 and being so far away, the only way to participate this year was via the internet.

One of the memorable moments was Dr Gary Stager’s part in the Debate (Keynote 2), which can be viewed in the video above. (Note, the video has been edited to only include Stager’s arguments.)

There were a few aspects that grabbed my attention.

1) Although he wasn’t angry per se, I got the feeling that he was angry about the lack of change in the use of technology, and it was this anger that made me listen to him more than to the other debaters. In particular, his few “don’t tell me …” lines were strong and emotive. You could really feel the passion that the debate topic held for him.

2) Towards the end of the video clip, he compares an article from twenty years ago to what is going on now, to illustrate how little things have actually changed. Having used logo considerably before the world wide web revolution and the use of Web2.0, it is intruiging to consider whether logo programming is still a better use of technology than the bells and whistles of a content driven web2.0 task. Something that I need to think further on.

3) I get the feeling that Stager is not a fan of IWB technology as it would seem that the control is ’still at the front of the room’, ie with the teacher. I agree that this is not great use, but I hope that as teachers in my school develop their skills and understanding that the use of the IWB will become less teacher centred and more student centred. I guess time will tell if IWBs end up being an expensive form of chalk and talk instead of a tool for students to collaborate in rich and authentic tasks.

4) Lastly, the final few lines: “we have network policies that treat teachers and children as either imbeciles or felons, we install iPod labs so that children can be marched down a hall once a week for iPod lessons. We chain laptops to desks so children can’t take them home when that was there point in the first place. … the blame lies in the bankruptcy of our imagination.” go to the heart of the possibilities and also explain why such low level use of technology is dominating our education systems.

Video: source

During last year there were many times that I wished I had recorded my maths lesson for students to refer to later. Not that they were great lessons, just because it would make for an easy reference for students.

I was also dabbling with ActivStudio (IWB software) and made a few flipcharts for the class. But not having daily access to a classroom with an IWB, I didn’t get that far.

This year it is looking likely that I can access a room with a class set of computers and an IWB for most of my maths lessons. So, time to get going with the video snippets.

Rather than have a camcorder recording me in front of an IWB or whiteboard, I thought I would use the video function in ActivStudio3 to record the teaching point.

It took me a few goes to get it how I wanted, then I discovered a neat trick. Instead of re-doing the flipchart to record it, I used the undo tool in ActivStudio, then when I got to the right bit, I just kept pressing redo and my objects would instantly appear in the correct place.

Step 1: Create the flipchart, undo some steps and then record the actions you want to teach about, using the video tool. The file is saved as a .mov file (on a mac). Note 2.5 minutes of video = 3.4Gig file.

Step 2: Import the saved movie into iMovie. Use the voiceover to record the audio as the movie is playing. Export as an avi file. File size is now 27.5MB.

Step 3: Use iSquint (freeware) to reduce the file to be suitable for iPod. File is now 3.2MB and can now be uploaded fairly quickly to blog.

If you would like any further details, just ask, or maybe you have a better method you could share?

Photo: source Some rights reserved