Thursday, October 1, 2009

Week 1: Using Media In The Classroom



Using media in the classroom is an opportunity that is not new to teachers, but an idea that has technologically evolved over the past couple of decades. Students are becoming more collaborative as technologies continue to change and improve. Who would have thought that just ten years ago you would have complete access to the Internet simply by clicking a couple of buttons on your phone.

A good example to see what I'm talking about can simply be seen by going to this website: http://www.thinkport.org/classroom/default.tp

Teachers no longer can just rely on playing a VHS tape and letting students watch content that is anywhere between 3-5 years old. Students can now access information that may be as new as 5 seconds ago. They can collaborate. Share. Edit. No longer is information controlled by the few. Now everyone has a voice; and this has changed the landscape of the classroom.

Maryland isn't the only state that has a digital classroom portal. Take a look at this one from Ohio: http://www.ohiodigitalclassroom.org/media/strategies.php

And lastly, here is a good site that highlights 13 "enlightening" case studies arguing for the positive benefits of using media to teach 21st Century Students: http://bestonlineuniversities.com/2009/13-enlightening-case-studies-of-social-media-in-the-classroom/

Odessa, Ever (2007, June 12). Guidelines for using media in the classroom. Retrieved from http://www.associatedcontent.com/video/8633/guidelines_for_using_media_in_the_classroom.html?cat=4

2 comments:

  1. Michael, I want to thank you for adding this entry to your blog! My thesis is centered around Social Networking in the classroom and you have given me resources that I had yet to discover. I do agree with you about teachers can't rely on VHS tapes from several years ago. I face the same problem with my business classes. The videos that were sitting in the classroom when I was hired were from late 90's early 00's. They bored the heck out of me so I can only imagine what they would do to my students. So instead I search YouTube and other sites for relevant videos that will reinforce what I am teaching.

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  2. VHS tape, that would be for a history class, right?

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