Week+-+9+-+March+15,+2010


 * Reading: Literacy is not Enough by Ian Jukes**

Ian Jukes makes many valid points about the importance of technology in the 21st Century and the need to teach students fluencies such as Solution, Information, Creativity, Media and Collaboration. However, Ian makes a few points that I don't necessarily agree with. Despite my counter beliefs I do think that Ian makes a few good points. The one I was most interested in is his point about **video games and how they ask students to make a decision every second and offer positive rewards every 7-12 seconds.** While I think this is a bit much to expect out of the teach I do believe that students should be more involved in their learning process and in support of teachers I do think they have been tryiong to do this. I believe students need to be more involved and should have more positive reinforcements.
 * Ian does not credit the fact that schools are trying to acknowledge a change in education** and the need for more technology based learning. This can be seen in the media studies portion of the curriculum documents. Ian also suggests that currently we are not giving assignments that ask for higher order thinking. More and more I have seen a movement towards these kinds of assignments.
 * Ian also states that students do not need to be taught technology skills because they have grown up with technology and they already have these skills.** I disagree. During my practicum, even though students had grown up with internet access they lacked research skills. They only had basics skills surrounding google and wikipedia. Many students experienced difficulty searching the web. This is why lessons such as the one Amanda and I presented are needed in todays schools. Students do need to be taught technology skills.

Photoshop Photoshop is a great program. I first encountered photoshop when working in the Photolab in Wal-mart. the one downfall of this program is the difficulty of navigating it. There are a lot of hidden tricks. I have had to look online a few times to find tips about how to complete a project I wanted to do. However once you have learned the basics it is really useful and you can do some fun things with it. In a classroom you could have students use this program to create ad busters: Ads that mimic popular ads but give a different message. **
 * Software:



I had never encountered Photostory until this class. I find it similiar to Windows media Maker. It may be a little easier to navigate. I think students would enjoy using this program. One way to have them use it is to have them create a photostory about an event in History, as opposed to writing an essay. Below is my beginning of a Photostory about the building of the Canadian Railway. given more time I would add more slides and add music: perhaps "I've Been Working on the Railroad". media type="file" key="PhotoStory1_2.wmv"**
 * Photostory