Asking me what piece of technology I'd like to try is like asking a drowning man if he'd like Aquafina or Dasani. I am already out too deep. What I'd like to do this year is catch my breath, improve my kick, perfect my stroke.
In addition to teaching comp, I teach journalism. Our publication went online four years ago, which meant at age 50 I learned how to manage (a generous term) a WordPress site. I'm no Diana Nyad, but her words are inspiration: "Find a way."
Two years ago my students asked to produce a weekly video news show. As Nancy Reagan's antithesis, I just said yes. Their first attempt was with PhotoBooth, which caused the weather report to show up backwards on the screen. Since then, they've advanced through iMovie and on to Final Cut Pro. They are soaring and I'm the tail on their kite. Luckily a tail doesn't have to know much.
PhotoShop, In-Design, Videolicious, Aurasma, YouTube. Any tech I can do, my students do better, which is as it should be. I try to learn as much as I can, as fast as I can, while my students are learning more and faster yet.
I have no doubt I'll use new technology this year. Just tonight I learned a way to solve a paragraphing issue on our web site and experimented with VSee as a workaround after a Google Hangout snafu. But my goal is to solve problems--not merely to try tech for the sake of trying tech.
Am I in over my head? Probably. But come on in. The water's fine.
Day Two: Write about one piece of technology that you would like to try this year, and why. You might also write about what you’re hoping to see out of this edtech integration.
Reflection: Ick. I had fun writing this, but the turn and the end aren't right yet. I seem to have lost my thesis: that I want to get better at what I'm already using rather than just add more tech. Sigh. Good night, all. Two down, 28 to go.
Granted I've been away from AHSneedle for a little over a year, but I'm still amazed at what the ever-growing AHSjournalism department is able to produce both for the yearbook and for the site itself. I will add that I cringe a bit any time I see something that I wish wasn't there (like the shreds of green paper taped to the wall in the first EON episode as well as the title sequence of all the EON episodes) or see something that I know I could fix or potentially make slightly better (like how video clips are cut together with a transition that cuts short what someone is saying in the previous clip). So aside from everything I've mentioned, I'm still stinkin amazed at the creativenes and the quality content that gets rolled out of AHSneedle studios. :)
ReplyDelete#iMissBeingAnAHSJournalist
HAH! I'm chuckling out loud, Josh! Thanks for the feedback. YES - I have made it clear to EoN that they MUST re-video the opening now that we've re-painted the wall! We ARE a work in progress! #MissJoshSchorle
ReplyDelete