The theme this week in CEP 811 is remixing. Our focus was on the “maker culture.” The maker culture is finding its way into education, as evidenced by the Maker Education Initiative, whose About page states that its mission is to “create more opportunities for young people to make, and, by making, build confidence, foster creativity, and spark interest in science, 
technology, engineering, math, the arts—and learning as a whole.” (from http://www.makered.org/about/) Incorporating this maker culture will require educators to rethink how they deliver instruction and structure the learning experiences in the classroom. The advantage is that we can tap into the curious nature of students who desire to do more than sit in a chair being spoon fed their education. Students are ready, educators need to jump on board as well.
Along with the need to revamp the structure of education, the maker culture also requires educators to tackle the complicated ideas of copyright and fair use. Some, like Kirby Ferguson in his web series Everything is a Remix, argue that copyright law, as it is interpreted today, is far from the original intent of the law. He would like to see a culture that allows for the free use of ideas to help create new and even more amazing things. (2011) Students are ready for a learning experience that allows them to be more creative in expressing their knowledge.
I had a lot of fun working with Popcorn Maker, the tool chosen for our first assignment. Any time I learn about a new technology I tend to think first about how my students could put it to use. Two years ago I had my students use Animoto to create movie style “trailers” for the book we read. Unfortunately, last year my district blocked the use of Animoto, so I immediately saw Popcorn Maker as a replacement for that assignment. Popcorn Maker has even more capabilities than Animoto and would allow for more flexibility and creativity.
Popcorn Maker is one of those tools that, once you have played with it, you could make a nice looking project fairly quickly. It would also be easy to get lost for hours working on the timing, getting just the right clip and finding the perfect audio to match your creation. I’d like to believe that my project for this assignment was a good balance, but in truth, I probably spent a lot more time than I even realized, lining things up just right and making it look the way I wanted.
My project focuses on the educational buzzword; 1:1 technology. This concept is at the forefront of my mind, as my district is in the process of piloting devices to implement a 1:1 program in our schools. In a 1:1 classroom all students have access to an electronic device as an educational tool. As Chris Toy argues in his blog post Top 10 reasons for moving to 1:1 learning technology, there are many positives that can come out of putting devices in every students’ hands. (n.d.) My video highlights some of those things, including: student engagement, development of 21st Century Workplace skills and collaboration.
Take a look at my video on 1:1 Technology
References:
Amplivox, B. (October 31, 2011). Top 10 Reasons to Use Technology in Education: iPad, Tablet, Computer, Listening Centers. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzi2RIt8_nk
Ferguson, K. (2011). Everything is a Remix. http://everythingisaremix.info/about/
Flicker. (n.d.) Each time I think I am close to knowing, she keeps on growing [picture]. Retrieved from https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3895/14898087729_c22beec43d_b.jpg
Free Music Archive. (April 19, 2014). Blue Skies – Silent Partner [POP / HAPPY] free music & no copyright. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E49uHVCLY0Q&list=PLNcapOVUswiB45sxrKJX3h2CP4biW7N1S
Giffy.com. (n.d). Computer [gif]. Retrieved from http://media2.giphy.com/media/NXp9HM6YeuS0U/giphy.gif
Toy, C. (n.d.) The Top 10 Reasons for Moving to 1:1 Learning Technology [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://www.nassp.org/tabid/3788/default.aspx?topic=The_Top_10_Reasons_for_Moving_to_1_1_Learning_Technology
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