Some sweet stuff to watch!

Before the camp started we practiced doing some of the things the kids would do. Here is a clay animation that Michelle (a classmate) and I made. I did the audio and voice over, its pretty funny!

http://plaza.ufl.edu/sarahc84/Digital%20Kids%20Tech%20Camp/gumby.mov

Here is a video that one of the students at the camp made:

http://plaza.ufl.edu/sarahc84/Digital%20Kids%20Tech%20Camp/Spongebob%20Becomes%20King.mov
The movie was his idea. I just helped him execute it and work with the camera and software.

Finally, here is a podcast the same student made which narrates a video game he made at the camp:

http://plaza.ufl.edu/sarahc84/Digital%20Kids%20Tech%20Camp/My%20podcast.mp3

These links are pretty neat so check 'em out! If you have any questions about the programs used or content let me know!

Another Week of Camp

So, one week of camp down, one more to go! Lsst week I was able to work with gamemaker (a little more than I would have liked to...) I still don't feel that comfortable working with it, which I think has to do with me being less interested in gaming aspects of technolgy. I do think that gaming is "worth it" though because there are great games available. I also think it is a valuable resource because it get skids familiar with technology in general. (This may sound similar to an earlier posting...)

I also was able to work with podcasting, garage band and stop animations. I will post the examples of my work later!

Today, I helped a student take a pivot- stuck figure animation and put it into a movie, where he even made his own music!

Video Games

In the past two days, I have seen almost all of the kids at the camp work on video games. I always thought that video games were not educational before hand. I feel differently now, these students are able to learn alot from making games. They are able to showcase their ease of working with computers. It is amazing to me that there is no explanantion needed for most of the programs, and they need just a little bit of guidance.. Honestly, most of the questions they have are too advanced for me to answer so with help we figure it out together!

I also think that the skills that they are learning in this camp could be used later to showcase their knowledge of another subject. They could make a video game that represents a struggle studied in socail studies, or maybe even an animation for their art class. From talking to the kids, they seem interested in downloading some of these programs and workign with them for fun at home.

I think that this goes back to the digital natives vs. digital immigrants issue. These students are able to learn so fluently because thay have always lived in an environment with video games, and technology.

Digital Kids Tech camp

For part of my technology specialization I am helping with the digital kids technology camp. This is our second day and it has been a fun learning experience. Before we started the summer camp we learned a little bit about making video games and other animation programs. We used scratch, gamemaker, pivot, garage band, and Imovie. While preparing for camp I made short platform and maze games, I don't think that I excelled at this very much. I really liked working with Imovie though, I made a clay animation movie with my friend Michelle; it was a Gumby movie. I also made a cut paper animation video with cutting clips out a magazine. I used Godzilla, the donkey from Shrek and a character from flushed away. Preparing for the camp was a fun learning experience... the kids at the camp caught on so much faster than I did though!

Here is the URL if you want to experiment with stick figure animation: http://www.snapfiles.com/get/stickfigure.html

Here is the URL if you want to experiment with some game making: http://scratch.mit.edu/

Here is my new favorite commercial, I found it on you tube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEJJUGJZxpU

Bush Brother advocates for technology

I recently read a technology related article about the curriculum on wheels program that is being pushed by Neil Bush. His view is that technology is exciting and that his programs will get kids interested in the topics that they are learning about. I agree with him in this respect, technology is exciting.
A problem that I have with is program is that it seems as if it is a glorified powerpoint/ video projector with specific films or programs based around a topic. These programs are also very expensive. I understand that everyone has ot make a buck to survive, but why would we buy these programs when creative teachers can come up wiht similar programs?
I am glad that he is advocating the use of technology, but to his own gain is unfortunate. There are so many other ways to implement technology that is already available to us in our schools.

Schemo, D. (2007, May 30). A Bush Brother Spreads His Vision of Computerized Teaching Programs. The New York Times, p. A23.

Billy Donovan

As a gator fan, I am quite upset that Billy D is leaving. I think others think he is just as crazy for leaving. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=2889465&sportCat=ncf
I think that Forde asks a question many of us in Gainesville are asking- why leave a good thing?

Well I guess we will have a few Zook years in Basketball to come...

Recent graduate from UF

I am very excited to begin implementing some of the practices I learned while in undergrad.

Games and Simulations- are they worth it?

I think that they can be worth it. There are a great deal of games available thata aren't worth it because they are simply drill and practice or point and shoot games. Some games require students to quickly do math problems to go through some sort of race, while this makes them go fast it does not necessarily equal fluency or accuracy. I think that tghere needs to be some sort of evaluation of all games before ou hsould allow studenst to use them for educational use.
Games and simulations can also be used in the sense that they provide technological fluency and help studenst become comfortable with computers. I also think that it is important to note that students should not pay too much, because they should focus on eeducational aspects also.