My google map

This is map of a few places that I’ve travelled to go to concerts.

Podcast Experience

I have enjoyed looking up podcasts and listening to them. Using itunes is a lot easier than I thought it would be. I usually listen to podcasts about music, or comedy because these are areas that interest me. I even downloaded a video podcast. I find that I usually listen to podcasts when I get home from class. It is my time to relax before I start into the homework. I have found a lot of music podcasts about albums and tours of a variety of artists, so if anyone is interested in that area I advise they check it out.

poem podcast

   http://flickr.com/photos/fransmayra/    

   I enjoy reading and writing poetry and found this podcast called an Intro to Poetry. Many people dislike poetry, because it can sometimes be hard to understand it.  I enjoyed this podcast because it has a few poetry readings of very classic poems. My favourite podcast is Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night, by Dylan Thomas. I also found an analysis by Linda Sue Grimes as to help anyone who might need it to understand the poem.

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?i=23096608&id=271594172

 

Thriller

I was checking out some podcasts and realized that I really enjoy listening to podcasts. I don’t own an ipod, but when I’m home I have found it convenient to let them play as I do housework, paint, or laundry. It is a way to me to expand my knowledge without having to sit. I found these podcasts and thought they were worth checking out.

Thriller Lovers                      

This podcast is in celebration of Michael Jackson’s hit song Thriller. This podcast is a series of interviews with Nick Cannon, Shane Sparks, Quincy Jones and other artists as they explain their first experience with the album, Thriller. I found it to be interesting and would like to share my first experience as well.

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?i=23527514&id=273157848

I was twelve years old the first time I heard the song, and instantly fell in love with it. I enjoyed the catchy beat and knew all the words, but would always turn it off before the creepy laughing at the end.  About two years ago I received a Cd from my friend which he titled Michael Jackson’s Greatest Hits. Of course Thriller was on it. There were many occasions when I would drive around listening and singing really loud to his mesmerizing voice. One day at my friends house we checked out the music video on You tube. I have to say I have never been so captured by a music video before. I felt very much the same way Shane Sparks felt when he watched the video. I won’t tell you how he felt because I want you to check out the podcast.

Voicethread

Hope you enjoy my voicethread.

<object width=”800″ height=”600″><param name=”movie” value=”http://voicethread.com/book.swf?b=77503″></param><param name=”wmode” value=”transparent”></param><embed src=”http://voicethread.com/book.swf?b=77503” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” wmode=”transparent” width=”800″ height=”600″></embed></object>

History of Colour

In my Film 100 Class we are soon to have an upcoming exam on Cinematography. Part of cinematography has to do with colour. Before 1936 films were all considered to be in black and white. In order to create moods for the films in colour they would use different colours of film tints.  For example blue for a mellow mood, or red for an intense mood (like a murder story or suspense film). Around 1936 colour was introduced, but it was only used in children’s films because it wasn’t considered “mature” or “serious” enough for other films. It was not until 1968 that colour was approved for all films. The invention of Technicolor   in 1941 helped out with this approval.

I just found it interesting to see how this technology has developed. Nowadays, all films are in colour and it is considered artistic to produce a film in black and white. The reason black and white is not used as much is because it is expensive, and it is cheaper to film things in Technicolor.

                                                                  http://flickr.com/photos/dramaqueennorma/

 

As a potential Arts Ed teacher, I would like to encourage my students to appreciate both types of film. I find that when students see a film in black and white, they automatically assume that it is going to be boring. The truth is there are many great films that are in black and white instead of colour and I think it is important to appreciate both.

Question?

I’m having some issues trying to upload my video to you tube. I have an account, but not sure where to copy and paste the code. If anyone can help me out that would be fantastic.

Tech task 8 ….Me

Sorry this is so small, my computer has problems sizing things. If you click on it, it should get bigger and easier to view.

Internet Safety

Yesterday I attended Westcast 2008 at the Ramada and attended a seminar called “Keeping Adolescents Safe Online”. The presentation was given by Joseph Dumont, a school counsellor from Alberta. Now that we are talking about using technology into our classes, I often wondered how teachers and parents can keep young people safe online. There are many chilling stories of adolescents who have been mentally of physically harmed by people online.  Luckily, there are a few things parents and teachers can do to protect adolescents.

                In the case of the internet, teachers need to create awareness about its flexibility. Anybody at anytime can view sites, and can access information, including personal information if students are not careful. I think that teachers need to collaborate with parents about protecting their children online. Together they need to establish some rules or guidelines for students to follow at school and at home. At school such polices are put in place, but home could be a different story. Dumont gave us some tips for keeping students safe at home.

1.       Keep the computer in a public area of the home such as the kitchen, living room, or rec room instead of an office in the basement.

2.       Parents should be able to see their IM’s, personal web profiles, text messages, blogs, and emails. (Establish rules, “If you don’t want parents to see, do you want the whole world to see?”)

3.       Tell adolescents that talking online, is just like talking face to face.

4.       Create a code of internet conduct like at school.

5.       Lastly tell adolescents NEVER to give out personal information (date of birth, real names,) email, contact info, school name, address, or pictures to anyone they do not know, or post this information on a public site.

                                                 http://www.iusb.edu/~cted/Computer.JPG   (Image URL)

I think these rules are important in keeping youth safe. Teachers and parents need to collaborate together to protect students. They need to know the programs their adolescents are using, and how to use them as well. If teachers want to introduce technology into the classroom, they HAVE to discuss it with parents and talk about the code of conduct. Teachers need to keep their students safe, and parents trust teachers to do that. The internet is a great tool to use for collaboration, research, and entertainment, as long as it is used properly and safely.

Reflection on Feb 13 online session

I really enjoyed our last online class about Digital Storytelling and Power point. My first experience will digital storytelling was in grade 7 when we used a program (I can’t remember what it was called) to create our own stories. We drew our own pictures on the program, added text and used pre-recorded audio to make our stories come alive. Mine was about a little frog; however I can no longer remember what the significance of his adventure was. I found this to be fun and exciting in the classroom and with the advancements of online tools such as creative commons for images, stories can be much more personal. 

                The points we talked about with power point were very helpful to me as well. I am used to creating posters and power points in a simple format because I thought it appeared more professional, however I did not think it was so necessary to do so. I thought I was just boring. Anyway, by focusing on content, simple design and professional delivery I think my power points will continue to be boring but easy to understand. The hard part will be not to “unjazzify” my power point, but to make my speaking parts “jazzy” and entertaining instead.

                                                                    

Just a little joke about how not to use power point.   http://www.crab.rutgers.edu/~goertzel/PowerPointTorture.jpg