I just wanted to start off by saying how much I enjoyed the video conferencing with the Royal Tyrrell Museum! I had so much fun and was so engaged that I can't imagine how much students would enjoy all of the different activities they have. I see the merit in video conferencing, not only with the museum, but with all of the other areas he showed us because it would keep kids engaged and interested. It is like a guest speaker in the room and at times, you forget you are looking at a screen where the person is miles away. It can fit into the curriculum as well as getting students engaged while using an interesting technology that can be explained to the students beforehand so they understand how it works. It is also probably a little better than Skype as well in the classroom because instead of just talking with another person, there are interactive activities that can happen to engage the class.
Another thing that can be tied in with this module is digital storytelling, which I learned about in today's technology conference. It ties in when talking about different multimedia approaches like video or animation. Digital storytelling can tie all of those together, giving students the chance to make their own video clip with sound, images, drawings and narrations. It can be about anything you think is appropriate for your class to do. Of course, a teacher has to play around with the technology first to know how to use it and teach it and then teach the class how to storyboard and write a script to use. However, I think this is a powerful tool in multimedia (usually iMovie or Windows MovieMaker) because it is the child's creation that they can share and be proud of.
I learned a lot in this class and hope I can use some of the things I learned here in the classroom at Crestwood.
Thank you for everything,
Cytrina
