I'm listening

The remainder of the presentations were just as good as the other half, but I must say that garage band stole the show. I swear if I had that program on my computer that I would be playing with it all the time. I am such a techno geek that I would just sit and explore every possible option until I understood the whole thing. However I barely have time to sit and read a book so thats not going to happen anytime soon. In reality I can see this happening over and over again as new fun programs and gadgets come out; and the truth of the matter is that my future students will most likely know these programs better. When I hit that point I am going to have to take it in stride and let my students teach me about something that I don't know. Much like I am sure I have taught many of my teachers little things about technology. The next generation, in fact the ones are due to start school shortly, they will be more technologically rich from having growing up in an environment where technology is everywhere from phones to microwaves. I just want to say that I remember phones that didn't need electricity to run, ones that didn't have push buttons or light-up screens. While on today's side of things there are some kids might not even have a home phone. I grew at the birth of the internet, students know are fully computer literate and savy beyond what I was at their age.

Wow, wow, I digress. The truth of the matter is Garage band=awesome tons of fun, and I can see numerous options and uses for it in a classroom. End of story, done.

I never knew 15min was so long...

Though we were unable to finish all of the presentations because in the world of new media 15 minutes can last a rather long time, I really enjoyed all the dialoguing we were bale to do after the presntation had finished. I think it really gave us all a chance to get to knwo one abother better and more fully understand the place we have all come from. The topics everyone chose truly spoke to each of as individuals and think that is an important fact that many educators soon forget when they allow students to choose a topic at will. I really like the fact that you could tell everyone was really passionate about the topic they were presenting on because we all were able to talk at lengths about the intricacies and the possible classroom application to no end.

I was really amazed at hoe much I had forgotten when it came to calculators and was wowed at all the different options there were when it came to smart boards. Along with the fall backs of bot, over reliance of technology can hinder us in the short run of things. However integrating technology into our classrooms while still utilizing traditional methods allows to use technology but not fall victim to it when for some reason it is not cooperating.

Music notes...

Well well well, to say that this class was informative would be a great understatement. I'd like to think of myself as fairly computer savvy and considering that I've had my own computer since I was five helps me think that I may be right. But all the different compression rates of music just sent me for a ride. That was just an area that I was not oblivious to but wildly inept at. Now that I have been exposed to it all it is painfully easy for me to understand. In essence it is much like live action photography or digital compression of videos. Where you may not get every single millisecond of detail but as the viewer you wouldn't be the wiser. In many cases if there are two frames are identical they may condense that section into one image, or if there are multiple frames but the majority of the frame remains unchanged then those bits of information instead of being repeated over and over again will just be re-used.

The same concept applies to music that is begin compressed and to my amazement you can barely hear a difference for a large amount of the different compression rates. Knowing all this information has allowed me think about how I will utilize this information in a classroom. For many instances there is no need to have super high bit rate of sound especially if it is a class project that is being listened to on line or something else along those lines.

Rip and burn part two

The second half of this rather lengthy lecture was far more interesting to me than the previous half. I think the reasoning for this was because the material in the second half was more relevant to me and my life. Not to say that the great beta-max controversy didn't have an affect on my life or the shape of the future i currently find myself in; because it did and still does have an affect on how easily I can receive and transmit information and media. For example had things not turned out the way they did then there would be a very good chance that not only would i not have the opportunity to blog but i highly doubt i would enrolled in a new media in the classroom course.

The shift from CD's to a more internet centered media spectrum has literally re-written the way the music is distributed and listened to. I think the really exciting thing as that I was alive and actively part of this transition. I clearly remember the first days of napster and ipods when they were a rare occurrence. And now everybody and their 5 year old cousin has an ipod and the skills to buy music and put them on their media device, which most likely is some sort of ipod.

The truth of the matter that media is becoming more and more a part of our culture and classroom; and maybe instead of just blindly using technology we can enlighten our students to be more aware and consciousness of where all this technology came from and how it is now available to us. I feel that more and more today students don't know the background of what they doing/learning and so-on. People along with students have no idea what has happened or transpired in order for things to occur presently