What Are We Teaching?

Throw this one in the category of philosophical debates, but I sometimes wonder what we are teaching in our digital classrooms? When I first started teaching video, the goal was to create new filmmakers. But there are so many students for so few Speilberg-Lee-Coppolla-type openings. So what are we trying to teach? What kinds of skills are we passing on? And how will our students use them?

The Assimilated Negro Blog has some interesting comments based on reading an article by Malcom Gladwell on Genius : "This sort of pigeontails with my theory on genius, that being that we shouldn't view it as a skill or trait that an individual possesses, but more a zone or a place that we enter and leave. Genius, as I see it, is almost like falling in love. We all have the capacity for it, and perhaps some are more predisposed to fall than others, but everyone has their moments."

He goes on to add: "If you start working a job at 22, and stay there for ten years, at 32 you should be a master. And filmmakers and artists who start at 20, may hit their stride at 30. And of course you can accelerate or slow down the process according to how much you want to focus. And it highlights how you inhibit your potential in one fieldby spreading yourself across many fields."

So what do you think? Are we training young media professionals or giving kids skills that they will then apply to other fields? And if the latter is true, are we spreading them so thin that they will become "Jacks of all trades, Master of none"?

Mac or PC?

"Our tech plan calls for laptop purchases to be made over the summer. We were set to go with PCs, but now a committee member has asked about Apple's new Intel-based Macintosh computers. Should we reconsider?"

In one word: Yes.

Here's how Techlearning answers it

Teachers learning how to use technology to enhance lessons

Now this is what I'm talking about!
Teachers learning how to use technology to enhance lessons

PicLens Software

MacInTouch Announces: "Cooliris released PicLens Beta 1.5, a Safari plug-in that transforms a browser window into an image viewer. The viewer provides a full-screen option, slideshows, playback controls, support for the Apple Remote control, and other features, including support for Flickr, Facebook, Google Images, and Yahoo Images. This release adds Google and Yahoo image searches from within full-screen mode, multi-page browsing, an option to jump directly from PicLens to the image web page, and support for Picasa Web Albums, Friendster, and any web site that supports Media RSS. PicLens is free for Mac OS X 10.4 with Safari 2 and 3."

"Technology is now in the Mainstream of the 21st Century Classroom"

Marin educators creating the 21st century classroom: "CHILDREN in Bryan Nielsen's third-grade class at Sausalito's Bayside Elementary School have moved beyond simple staging of a makeshift skit to become their own video and editing crew - filming their efforts and editing on computer with animation, titles and sound.

'It's a new standard of enthusiasm, I think is the biggest thing,' Neilsen said, describing his students' interest in use of the school's multimedia tools in their production of Aesop's fable, 'The Ant and the Grasshopper.'

But far from being in the vanguard, Nielsen's class is in the mainstream of the 21st century classroom, in which sophisticated high-tech equipment is being used in myriad ways at all levels by students and teachers alike."

New Apple Education Site

With the rollout of Leopard, Apple has revised it's site's look and layout pretty extensively. I think the Education
section is a definite improvement. More streamlined than before. Hopefully all the same content is there...In the past I've gotten some great ideas from looking through others' lesson plans and sample projects.

"Learning Is Messy" Has Great News

Over at the Learning Is Messy Blog, Brian Crosby - a 4th Grade Teacher in Nevada gushes about the plans for his school district.
"The District's Technology Program Coordinator...went on to mention that we have already purchased video iPods for podcasting and vidcasting classes for teachers next year – more digital photo classes – PDA classes – and the possibility of iPhone classes – they are serious!"

This is great news! Not only is his district supporting new technology for students, but also allowing teachers the freedom to develop best practices for their classrooms. Hopefully this trend will continue.

More Posts Soon - Out Shooting

One of the things I love about teaching at various programs, is that it gives me the time to do my own digital projects.

I am currently swamped with shooting and preparing to edit a couple of personal peices. Please feel free to search through what's already here and I promise more articles in the next couple of weeks.

One of My Favorite Shows: Spark on KQED

One of my favorite TV shows - both as an artist and an educator - is Spark*. It's an inspired local arts show produced by the Bay Area PBS station, KQED.

Not only do they have wonderful educator guides like this one on the work of media artist Jesus Aguilar, but they also give leads on great learning/teaching resources like M dot Strange's YouTube site.

For those of you not near San Francisco, you can visit the Spark* web site or browse by artist in the digital archives.