Copyright

Ted Talk Youtube and Copyright
In this video, I learned that Youtube checks for copyrights from every single video that is uploaded. That means, that in one day, one-hundred years of video is looked through. Furthermore, in one minutes, twenty hours of video is checked! I also learned that each copyrighted video is more complicated than it seems because one video can have multiple owners and copyrights from each company.

I agree that most video owners benefit greatly when their video is reused. However, if this is the case, then I feel as though I do not agree with copyrights. Many copyrights are loose so their videos can be used and benefit larger corporations. If it benefits so much as to many owners letting copyrights go, why do they exist?

Digital Storytelling

"Digital stories need to be used to strengthen students' critical thinking, report writing, and media literacy skills."
Digital storytelling supports learning in school because it allows students to think critically to design a story that not only incorporates education but their own opinions. It promotes healthy growth in student developments. It also allows students to form opinions and think critically about what they are researching. The digital storytelling professor from the reading said that he believed the focus should be the story, and not the digital media. I believe that one of the strongest element of digital storytelling is the media used. Many children tell stories all day long; stories of their families, pets, etc. However, teaching a child to put that story into pictures and digital stories is a real treasure. The reading stated that the purpose of digital storytelling was for the "students to develop the power of their own voices." Digital storytelling allows students to not only voice their opinions, but share their opinions and skills with the worldwide web.

Take this school, for example, in Kentucky. These students offer their opinions on multiple subjects via digital storytelling! I would definitely use this approach in my future classroom for all kinds of topics.This is a fantastic way to judge students' grasp on subjects and gain their opinions for everything.

WebQuest

Click the image above to view our WebQuest!

Our WebQuest can be considered a real WebQuest through the use of essential internet resources, open-ended questions, and individual expertise.

"Activities that point students only to encyclopedic briefs, textbook digests, or worse—word searches and coloring books—do not take advantage of Internet resources that are interactive, media-rich, contemporary, contextualized, or of varied perspectives."

 It perfects the use of essential internet resources by requiring that students research all information. Students are also encouraged to use multiple sources, both digital and traditional print if it can be found, to ensure the validity of their stories. They are also using Voki, which is an interactive website designed around avatar worlds. The interactive part allows the students to create an avatar to tell their news stories. This engages the students further to let them be creative while learning. Each researched event will have a different take on the event, but the students are looking to see that the facts should remain the same, regardless of varied opinion.

"Open-ended questions activate students’ prior knowledge and create a personal curiosity that inspires investigation and brings about a more robust understanding of the material."

In our evaluation section, the students are asked to fill out a google form containing four open-ended questions about the sixties, their connection with the book The Outsiders before and after their research, and the comparison between modern age and the times back then. This allows the students to actually know the material they are studying; not  just glance over it or guess with multiple choice questions. It also will hopefully encourage them to pay attention to their research and want to gain a better understanding of life in the sixties. 

"A preliminary stage, which we call Background for Everyone, helps all students gain a common foundation of knowledge in the general subject before developing expertise from one perspective."

Last, our WebQuest works brilliantly to perfect the use of individual expertise. Each student begins the same amount of knowledge. They are all asked to read S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders. They are then asked to watch a short video review and answer questions. After they are broken into groups, each students is asked to research one section. There are four altogether: the sixties, The Outsiders, sixties entertainment, and sixties sports. Each student will become extremely familiar with their section and the stories they decide to work with. After they check facts and know their stories, they create a Voki of the information they have learned. The stories are real-life situations and each student (the different groups, at least two students in the class will have the same topic) will have a different opinion on how or why the event began. 

WebQuest Rubric

Webquest - 60's News

WebQuest Site - Click Here

Overall Aesthetics 

• Overall Visual Appeal - 4pt : There are several graphics which all contribute to the theme of the WebQuest. It is not too cluttered, and it is easy to read. 
• Navigation & Flow - 4pt: It gives every person in the group clear directions on what each of them needs to accomplish. 
• Mechanical Aspects - 1pt: There are just a few broken links, but everything else looks good.

Introduction

• Motivational Effectiveness of Introduction - 2pt. The introduction is intriguing and draws the students in. 
• Cognitive Effectiveness of the Introduction - 2pt. The students have read the book, "The Outsider" and now they are going to learn a little bit more about the time period it was written in.

Task

• Connection of Task to Standards - 1pt : The standards are not referenced in the WebQuest but the assignment can be related to some standards.
• Cognitive Level of Task- 6pt. The students have to put themselves in the time period of the 1960's and find several sources for their news broadcast where they will take a stand about an issue.

Process

• Clarity of Process - 4pt. The instructions are clearly stated for each member of the group. It is very easy to follow. 
• Scaffolding of Process - 6pt - This assignment takes organizational skills as well as different levels of strategy. 
• Richness of Process- 2pt. Each student in the group takes on a different role in their broadcast with different perspectives.

Resources 

• Relevance & Quantity of Resources - 4pt. The sources for this assignment are basically The Outsider's book and accesses to the internet to research the 1960's. Students have the access they need to complete the assignment.
• Quality of Resources- 2pt. I gave this one 2pt because there are several links but just a couple of them do not work. The links that do work give carry sufficient information for the assignment.

Evaluation

• Clarity of Evaluation Criteria- 4pt. There is a clear rubric for evaluation that describes what students must do in order to successfully complete the Webquest.
  

Final Score: 42 points

Collaborative Learning in the Digital Age

Storybird
Standard 3b:
Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation.
 The storybirds were a great collaborative tool. The younger class not only got to use their imagination to create their own story, but also witness older students wanting to collaborate, hear their ideas, and create alongside them. This allowed the students to view (for the most part) correct spelling and grammar from the older students, that is some form of learning. The students were able to begin their own story, so they created a scenario (sometimes bizarre) to share with their peer. One thing that I saw while reading student stories that really caught my eye was the use of morality that made it into stories. They wrote of eavesdropping, being kind to friends, accepting one another as they are, and one even wrote of manners and kindness (such as saying please and thank you). I felt very confident in the students' writing that they would be successful.

 "Learning is sometimes defined as a process of growing in the ability to participate in the culture of their community. With this definition, it seems that collaboration and learning to collaborate is (or should be) an essential activity for schools."
The modern age workforce is all teamwork. From office to labor, very few jobs require that you work individually. Some business jobs even work over email, phone calls, video chats, etc and rarely in the office. The ability to work alongside a team is essential in our new world. Schools today fail at preparing students for collaborative jobs because almost all work is done individually and the project that do require groups, are often unfair. One or two students get stuck with doing the work while the others take credit. As i mentioned previously, many jobs are travel-based and require video chats.

"Technology can add flexibility of time and space as students collaborate with anyone at any time and place."
Because many businesses have become so universal, it is difficult for everyone to meet at one time and place. This is where using video chat tools such as facetime, skype, tango, etc. becomes a necessary skill to have in life. It is very difficult for most people to pick up and learn a technological skill in a short period of time and most employers will not allow step-ins or assistants to help with such tasks, which is why it is essential to start children early and prepare them for a digital world.

Develop 21st Century Skills - WebQuest Worksheet

Your Role

___Efficiency Expert

___Affiliator

__X_Altitudinist

___Technophile

Your Impressions

WebQuest	Strengths	Weaknesses
*Grow School Greens	-Allows children to work together and be creative in designing a garden -After internet research, children will get the chance to tend to their gardens and keep track of statistics of their plants	-Uses a lot of straight internet research in the beginning
Where is My Hero?	Allows students to look into the lives of others	-All internet research, the students are not actively engaged in learning concrete material, just characteristics
*Underground Railroad	Encourages children to take on another role to learn about history -not just factual learning. It also encourages students to be creative in dress, presentation, etc.	-sentiment to child
Ice Cream	-Children work creatively to come up with their own ice cream flavor  -forced to work cooperatively	-There is not much emphasis on the lesson plan or thinking critically  - Students are most likely too excited about ice cream and don't retain information
Ancient Egypt	Using technology other than internet research	-using factual information with little room for creative minds other than artistically.

Individual:

My favorite WebQuest was the Underground Railroad. I liked it because it encouraged children to not only learn but use their imagination to act their part as well. It is one thing to learn of another's part in life but to be encouraged to be that person for a day makes their hardships much more clear. The Underground Railroad activity does not just provide children with factual information. 

My least favorite was the Ice Cream because I feel it did not really have a learning base. The students for the most part are expected to just follow instructions that the teacher feeds. They do get to act creative choosing an ice cream flavor and they also need to learn to work cooperatively with others in their group. My biggest concern with this lesson plan (and I would expect it to happen) is that the children would become overly-excited for the ice cream that they really would not retain the information they should have.

Group:

Favorite - Grow School Greens: The group decided that this was best because it incorporated a little bit of everything. Group work, individual work, technology, and measurements and statistics the children would take themselves.

Worst - Ice Cream: The group decided that there was little lesson basis and it would not hold attention of kids in the learning area. 

Designing Digital Age Learning Activities

Lesson Plan: Erosion

CSO:

SC.O.5.2.21

compare and explain the different rates of weathering, erosion and deposition on various materials.

Objective:
Identify and explain the process of erosion and it's impact on the environment.

Students will create a multimedia project in google that demonstrates their understanding and skills in science and information and communication technologies.

Prezi Presentation


ISTE-NETS T
Standard 2a:
Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.

Do you remember learning about Erosion in school? The dry textbook with worn, outdated pictures. While science is usually very interesting, once you get into erosion, there is really no fun projects to aid teachers in interesting discussions. Now there is a new way to teach young children the importance of this issue without boring them! With this lesson plan, the students will use a combination of digital media to outline the process of erosion. They will use an internet source or book source to research what erosion is, how it happens, and what could possibly be done to stop it. After completing their research, each student (or pair) will choose images that they feel best represent their research. They will use google forms as pre-writing to outline a presentation in either Prezi or Microsoft Powerpoint. Google forms is a great tool when students need to layout ideas beforehand. Google forms are also great for quizzes and other classroom aids. It has become a widely loved app for students and teachers in the 21st century.
As you can see, google applications are a fantastic way to get students involved in their work. They can be creative in their learning environment while gaining important 21st century media skills and apps they can use throughout their school career. They can even teach their instructors!