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Steph’s presentation about children and photography was great. When I think about technology it’s usually related to computers, cell phones, and the like. I’ve inadvertently omitted cameras from my repertoire of what I consider technology to be….but no more! For a period of my childhood my father was a photojournalist. His cameras were his livelihood. For this reason my brother and I were prohibited from touching any of his equipment on pain of death. I still remember posing for what seemed like hours for the dreaded “Christmas Card Picture”… “stand close to the tree….not that close…grab one of the presents…don’t rip the wrapping!….stop pinching your brother…you can go to the bathroom in a minute…careful of the manger, if the Baby Jesus falls out don’t expect a visit from Santa this year!” and so it went. I didn’t take pictures or own a camera until my middle teens. Looking back at those pictures, friends and social activities dominate the subject matter. What I appreciate most about digital cameras is the immediacy of the images. In days before digital technology there was a long gap between when a picture was taken and when the finished product could be viewed. Remember getting a roll film developed to see baby pics, first day of school snaps, and high school graduation photos of the same kid? Those rolls of film lay dormant in cameras for a long time; patiently waiting for the next occasion deemed photo worthy. Now, as the internet can attest, it seems every minute of every unknown person’s life deserves to be documented and posted for all to see for eternity. This is the second time the film Born into Brothels has been brought up in class. The first was during our Children’s Rights class earlier this semester. It’s easy to see how children can be captivated by photography. Often children are the subject of pictures, it’s a phenomenal idea to put children on the other side of the lens and use photography as a catalyst for change and a tool for empowerment. I’ve placed a hold at the library for Born into Brothels, and hope to see it soon.
I was very interested in the Cara’s presentation and the discussion about LEGO Mindstorm. Previously, I thought of engineering as something done by engineers. I’m kinda fuzzy on exactly what engineers do, but I know they go to school for a long time, and it involves a lot of math. As thoughts of math generally cause me to break out in a rash, I don’t give engineers or engineering a whole lot of thought…….until now. Cara showed me that even children can be engineers and use technology to design tools that can benefit society, like an automatic hamburger cooker. It’s about time! Years of eating raw beef has resulted in me getting numerous bouts of salmonella poisoning and subsequent hospital visits….but not more! Finally a machine that cooks the meat first, amazing! I can see how Mindstorm could be used in classrooms to engage students in primary, high school, and post secondary classrooms. I visited the website to learn more about the products. The site is very interactive and informative, but the cost could be prohibitive for parents and school boards. The basic kit costs $350 Can. I mentioned Mindstorm to my tech addicted partner, who was of course familiar with the application. He told me Tomy has a similar product: the I-Sobot. This product features fully articulated arms, “hands”, and legs, which in his opinion makes Tomy’s product far superior and ultimately “cooler”. A subsequent web search showed impressive I-Sobot pictures and features as well as a nearby store featuring I-Sobots for an amazing 79.99. Thanks Cara, I’d hoped for a nice dinner out, but instead we’re off to buy a tiny robot!
I was fascinated by our discussion about Neopets. This type of activity is completely new to me. I can see how children (and adults) could spend hours on a site such as this. I question the value of children being exposed to this type of environment. As Ryan and Cathy brought up this site insidiously promotes values such as competition, consumerism, classism, and other negative traits. As was mentioned by Tabitha these factors are all present in out society. While this is true, do we need to inculcate our children with these values at such a young age? This led me to think: what else could children be doing when they’re whiling away the hours on sites like this? Interacting with real people….or being physically active are 2 things that come to mind. I’m frantically searching for a link to my final paper here…..and coming up blank. What I can say about the final paper is that I’m finding it frustrating. I’ve been searching for articles about deaf children and technology…and the pickings are slim. Most of the information I’m fining talks about medical technology in the form of cochlear implants or other assistive devices, but not much on technology and play. Perhaps I’m not using the right search terms.
June 1, 2009
Yael’s presentation with input from Danny was very well done. She incorporated many relevant YouTube clips that were very engaging……I especially liked the Seeso and Woody Guthrie clips. Information about music developed and shared among people without commercialization piqued my interest. Discussion about folk music made me think of my final paper that will focus on technology and deaf children-finally a link! YouTube is used by members of the Deaf community to pass on deaf folklore, literature, poetry, and community events. In this way Deaf culture is preserved and passed on not only to future generations, but to a wider audience that might not otherwise have access to this information. Using this technology it is possible to learn stories about Deaf communities around the world, from members of the community themselves. As we have discussed in class, technology such as YouTube provides opportunities for dialogue among a wide audience that would otherwise not be reached. As we saw tonight with several video responses to Seeso’s original recording, a dialogue was created. This is similar to members of Deaf communities posting vlogs with stories relating deaf identity. Other Deaf people can respond, creating a dialogue and expanding the local Deaf community to a global Deaf community. While some may see this as a positive trait, this is not always so. While working on my annotated bibliography, I came across a study out of Australia that talked about how technology is reducing the need for face-to-face contact among Deaf people. Many Deaf people are using texting and webcam chatting as their primary mode of socialization. This has caused the closure of longstanding Deaf social clubs in some areas. Some Deaf people see this as a negative implication of technology, and a threat to their culture and way of life.
May 27, 2009
Today’s class started with an interesting presentation by Dianne. She is an interesting and engaging speaker, in addition to always being stylishly dressed! Her presentation about meaningful learning caused me to reflect on my own practices when developing and facilitating workshops, as well as my urgent need for a What Not to Wear intervention. Workshop delivery is one of my primary roles in my job. I am constantly looking for strategies to impart information in ways that are both interesting and engaging. Another important factor to consider is the intended audience. My workshop participants come from a variety of cultural and educational backgrounds. This adds another layer of challenge. My presentations in this program-which I fully admit are not always interesting, engaging, or even coherent at times-are often easier to prepare than in “the real world”. Though we come from different disciples, we have similar backgrounds-i.e. we all have experience/education/or interest in children and families. This makes for a more cohesive audience and means I don’t have to provide as much background information…I can get right to the point.
In the second part of the class we visited Second Life (SL). Alex was quick to point out that SL is not a game. I can see how a person could easily get hooked on SL with the possibility to completely reinvent yourself, not to mention the flying part, which has always been an unrealized dream of mine-until now. When the class visited the recreation of the Sistine Chapel, Alex mentioned this vivid reproduction was a detailed replica of the original. With these models available to users of SL people can now say they’ve visited places without actually travelling there. Maybe because of my digital immigrant (and idiot) status, I feel this is an incorrect conclusion. I can visit a beach on SL, but I am under no delusions that I’ve actually been to the beach. Without the sensory input-sand between toes, sun on back, cold drink with umbrella, LL Cool J in a Speedo rubbing sun screen on my…… but I digress-I haven’t really been to the beach, just looked at some pictures, which is not the same thing. Will SL eliminate the need for travel in the real world? I should probably be looking at ways to link this to my final paper-next blog I promise to do this that. Stay tuned. Now to get back to LL and that sunscreen!
May 25, 2009
First chocolatecupcakes, now Marty Uxlay. I’m going to have an identity crisis before this class is over! So I’ve created my avatar. Mary Uxlay is way better looking than I am, not to mention slimmer. There must be a lack of tasty food here in Second Life…or a lot of time to devote to cardio….either way I’m not complaining….for the first time in my life my clothing size is a single digit. Second Life where have you been all these years?! When I first signed in it was really overwhelming. There were a couple of other people hanging out, actually one was dancing. I got nervous that one of them might try to talk to me so I logged out before they could approach. To get more comfortable I checked out some of the links that about things you can do on the site. When I tried to log in again, something went awry and it wouldn’t accept my password. Oh well, I’ll try again later….or ask for help in class. For now I’m not in danger of ditching my real life for the life of Marty Uxlay…but after resolving my password issues who knows? If you don’t see me in class next week, you’ll know why. My second life’s gotta be better than my first!
May 20, 2009
Class three began with a great presentation by Yael about children and play. The discussion around what makes a good parent brought forth interesting points. Obviously many factors must be taken into account such as class, culture, and ethnicity. Issues of the hurried child emerged. I found it interesting to read about children who are so overprogramed with extra curricular activities in hopes of making them competitive adults. This article made me think of some of the children I interact with through my work. Far from being over programmed, many children spend countless hours in front of the television from infancy. Many of these children could benefit from extra curricular activities and play experiences. When I think about my own childhood in dark ages of the 70’s, children were not exposed to as many opportunities as today, at least not in my neighbourhood. I spent a lot of time playing outdoors with neighbourhood children. In terms of programmed activities I participated in swimming lessons, Brownies (must be where my obsession with fudgy desserts started!), and Girl Guides (I admit I got hooked on the cookies). While I enjoyed these pursuits I never felt overwhelmed or stressed. I had ample time to play and these extra activities helped me develop new skills and fond memories (that are mostly cookie related). Would I have felt differently if I’d been involved in more activities? Maybe…financially my family was limited to the number of extra activities they could provide for us, but I don’t feel as though I missed out on anything.
May 13, 2009
Hey there…chocolatecupckes aka Martha is back with another exciting post! Class two: Presentation finished! I always prefer to go first during class presentations when possible. Not because I’m eager to share my vast knowledge with my peers
(that would take all of 10 seconds), but because it’s only gets harder to prepare a presentation when dealing with the looming deadlines of mid term and final papers. Tonight I presented Randy Pausch’s last lecture. I had heard of this lecture previously, but had never had the opportunity to watch it. Pausch is an inspiring speaker. When preparing my presentation for the class I struggled to make the connection between Pausch’s ideas and technological learning. Obviously Pausch’s position as a professor of computer science meant he was learned about technology and its role in the classroom. But Pausch’s last lecture was not about technology-it was about achieving childhood dreams and living your best life. Pausch focused on meaningful learning and how to engage students in the learning process. The class discussion was lively with many participants. The main topic discussed centred on meaningful learning and what that means to our practice as teachers. I showed a short clip about Alice-the program developed by Pausch to engage students in computer programming. I know I consistently try to engage parents and children in my practice….but I’ve never tried to use technology to do this. When I think about what engages me…it’s usually personal interaction and connection, which I don’t feel I get when I’m online as much as face to face.
May 11, 2009
One class down and I’m already feeling overwhelmed! How will a technophobe like me fare in a class about children, technology and play? On the plus side, since I have no prior knowledge about this topic, everything will be new and hopefully, interesting. In the course of this evenings discussion I learned several new terms such as social media, and open media, and Second Life. Second Life seems pretty cool. I hope we get a chance to explore it further. I’ve never blogged before so that’s going to be a new experience. I don’t really have anything interesting or insightful to add, so feel free to stop reading now. J All of the discussions pertaining to technology take me back to the same place: does technology exacerbate the divide between have and have nots?
The majority of families I work with are low income. Many are marginally housed, with limited access basic services such as telephone. In comparison it is almost de rigour for middle class elementary school children to have their own cell phones, iPods, and laptops. How will children from families who cannot afford these tools fare in a future that demands more and more technological savvy? I’m sure future class discussions will help me wrap my head around this…..or as with some past classes, perhaps I’ll be more confounded, time will tell!ttyl
