Making Art Class Fun!!!!!!!!!

I was searching youtube for videos on new or emerging technology and came across this fun new brush.

This brush would make a classroom so much fun and students could do so much with this brush. I am not sure how much this brush would cost or how many would be needed in the classroom but nevertheless it is a fun idea.

This can also be used in a college art class, an advertising agency, and graphic designers can also use the brush to create lots of interesting projects....take a look and think about how this brush can be used?

P.S. my favorite is the eye

Scavenger Hunt (I'm Done)

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am done with finding all twenty-five flags. I had difficulties finding flag number 9 because the clue had to do with this past NECC conference which I did not atttend. I went into Second Life today and while in there I met Ms. RavenPhonenix Zenovka (IsteIsland Manager) and she told me a story about the conference which led me to flag #9 SO I AM DONE WITH THE SCAVENGER HUNT, thanks to Ms. Zenovka, yeah.

Here is a pic of me, Ms. Zenovka, and one more person. I had difficulties getting close to her without bumping so I just stood there and took the picture.....

Second Life

Second Life, what can I say but how addicting. I spent close to four hours on ISTE Island exploring and taking pictures for my extra credit assignment. I also had fun making my avatar look more like me. She went through lots of changes before I was satisfied with what I currently have. I still have more changes I would like to add to her but decided to save that for another day because my head began to hurt.

It was fun figuring out what I can make my avatar do such as sit, fly and dance. I also had difficulties getting her up when she landed on the floor after she flew. I had to teleport her to another place on the island to get her up so I'm still learning. I also had fun looking for all the flags but got a little frustrated because I have one more flag to find and I can't find it. I spoke to another avatar on the island but he had no clue what I was talking about because he was just exploring.

It was funny to get off the island and visit other island because I ran into other scary avatars. I tried not to get to close and just went back to where I started.

I will keep you posted of my finding of the last flag.....til then keep searching.

Twitter what's its purpose?

Okay, I'm not sure if I'm the only one but what is the deal with twitter? I mean really what is the purpose? I have been sitting here for about 30 min trying to figure out what to do with it. I have followers and am trying to follow others. I also have options to do nudge some and not others, I added a pic but that's about it. I also read Dr. Z's blog and followed the steps to add it to my computers so okay what now?

I nudge Dr. Z just because, I just wanted to see what it meant. Is twitter like instant messaging? Is that why I added it to my desktop? I need some clarification please?

Jena 6

I am writing a blog on this issue because of the media frenzy it is receiving and also how injustice, racism, and ignorance (whatever you want to call it) is alive and well in 2007.

I understand this has nothing to do with technology but if you have been following this story technology allows us to know what’s going on, it allows us to post our comments about the situation and also allows us to communicate with people from all over.

Examples of media being used….text messaging (cell phones), emails, television, youtube, blogging just to name a few.

Double Standard or Not, You be the judge....

If you are not aware or haven't heard of this story I will summarize it for you.

Jena High School is the center of this controversy. On the grounds of the school was a tree that many believed was used to hang black people in the past (not proven just an assumption). This tree was an area where white students sat during the day at school. One of the football players (black boy) asked an administrator if he could sit under the tree and he was told you can sit wherever you want to, and that’s what he and other black students did, they sat under the tree.

The following day three nooses were hung from that tree and the three white students who hung the nooses where expelled. This expulsion did not stick, their punishment was overturned and they were just suspended for just a couple of days because it was viewed as a prank (wow, I guess, I mean really who plays like that). The FBI viewed this as a hate crime but US Attorney Donald Washington said he saw no need to pursue this issue because the three boys had no priors as far as racist crimes are concerned…. (SAY WHAT!!!!!!!!!!! Wow, I just don’t understand how he could not see this as a hate crime).

Jesse Jackson mentioned something that was very interesting when being interviewed. He stated, if a picture of a swastika is considered a hate crime, why not the hanging of nooses? So I want to know what makes this different, it’s still a symbol of racism.

To continue….This decision and the suspension instead of expulsion cause lots of tension between the black and white communities. Another incident took place at a private party where a 22 year old white male beat up a black high school student and received a slap on the wrist (I want to know what he was doing at a high school party to begin with?). This caused more tension around school. Well after this incident the district attorney, came to school to speak to the students and his comment was, with the stroke of this pen I can change your life (say what, what are you implying and are you talking to everyone or just a certain population?)

But that wasn't it, a white student was at a gas station, felt threaten and because of this feeling he went to his car, got his shot gun for "protection" and walked over to the black boys. The three black boys wrestled the gun out of his hands and one of the three boys was charged with aggravated battery and attempted battery or murder I believe (say what!!!!!!!!!!!! Who is the judge making up these charges because he needs to go back to law school)? Um, can we get premeditated murder or attempt on the white boy that thought about getting his gun and then going to get it...come on people get with the program.

The main incident that we are all focus on is the six black boys who are charged with beating a white boy in a high school fight. There are so many sides to this story, the black students say racial comments were being made and the white students say the black boys just jumped on the white boy for no reason. Well this case was taken to court because the boys were charged with all types of ridiculous charges including murder. Murder was one of the charges because one a tennis shoe was viewed as murder weapon (I’m sorry but this is just a joke to me. I don’t know how many of you were disciplined as young kids but I remember my mom hitting me with a tennis shoe so I guess she should be charged with murder also). Well at their trial no witnesses were called to defend them or to even mention if any of the black boys were even involved in the fight. But the story gets better; one of the boys who hung the nooses on the tree was a key witness and pointed out who was involved in the fight. (Okay people, what is the deal here, are they serious?)

Well the black community is angry, not at the town of Jena but at the charges these young men are facing. The punishment should fit the crime, period. If racism is not a factor why did the white offenders get a slap on the wrist and these young men are getting the book thrown at them?

Well black people from all over supported these young men by leaving their home and going to Jena to protest and to show their support. Some of the big name included, Jesse Jackson, Tyler Perry, MosDef, Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III, and brothers of the Nation of Islam just to name a few. Everyone came out for the same cause, mass emails, text messaging and so on were being sent out to ask people to wear black to support the Jena 6. (I know I wore my black in support of these boys, those that received the text, how many of you wore black?)

Seriously folks, this was not about wearing black or taking a trip to Jena, this was about how in 2007 racism is alive and well. It really vexes me when we have to keep going through this! The only difference with it happening down south is the fact that racism isn’t hidden but I can’t say the same for other places because racism tends to be hidden. What everyone fails to understand is there is one superior leader and that is God (those that don’t believe disregard this sentence because you can believe what you want. But my parents raised me to believe in God and his race of Angles to me are the superior race and will always be).

No matter how superior you think you are you will never be immortal. I get so tired of all this crap because if I cut you on your arm and then myself I bleed blood just like you. I am also so tired of hearing friends tell me they’ve been called monkeys or told to go back to Africa. Well if those individuals consider themselves a superior race, they need to educate themselves about on the evolution of man. I was not born in Africa and am pretty sure most of us weren’t so when they say go back to Africa, they show their ignorance because my ancestors may have been from Africa but I am my current generation were born in places other than Africa.

The black community is not saying these young men are innocent; we just want the charges to be fair, we want the punishment to fit the crime. Equal justice is all we are asking for.

Let me know what you think, it is an interesting topic in my opinion and if not it was nice to let you know a little of what is going on and what is important to me.

image from:www.chinadaily.com.

Podcast on Wikispaces

I listened to the podcast on wikispaces and thought it was very interesting. There were two interviews, one with the creator of wikis (Mr. Adam) and the other with a teacher (Vicki Davis) on how she uses wikis in the classroom.

I went in and actually viewed some of these wikis such as the flat classroom project and horizon. I also found it interesting when Ms. Davis talked about youtube and teachertube as search engines for her student’s search for videos. It is interesting because we use both of these sites for our Ed Media students and it is nice to know that teachers actually use these search engines.

I also like the layout of the flat classroom project because it is just like a unit of instruction/a lesson plan that lays everything out for you so you know what is going on in each section and what the final product will be.

The first time I used a wiki was this past semester and when she talked about the issues of editing, and saving multiple times I related automatically because some of what she mentioned is what I did, saving to many times especially after I made a change.

Adam mentioned how user friendly wikis are for students and how the tools are used especially because the wiki was not created for k-12 use. Very interesting podcast.

My impression on Emerging Technology

As stated before by many of my classmates, Emerging Technology is something new and interesting, something that makes you say that's cool. I also think it is something that is interesting, maybe useful but is still in the developing/testing stage.

I could not find a specific definition for the phrase but decided to break it down;

1.) Emerging had many definitions but the one I chose that best describes what I am looking for is: coming into existence, evolution (dictionary.com)
2. )Technology also had lots of definitions but I chose to go with this one: the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science. (dictionary.com)

To simplify: emergent technology is the coming to existence or evolution of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment.

Here is an article which talks about how emerging technology can reshape learning in a face-to-face or online classroom....(enjoy)
link: http://www.virtual.gmu.edu/pdf/AJDE.PDF