Futuring

I watched "Fox Becomes a Better Person" and "School Train" at home, and though I seriously considered busting out the assigned two paragraphs right then and there, I decided to legitimately adhere to the directive guidelines and showed them to one of my host teachers, Bob Davis.

Boy am I glad I did that. Where my brain was struggling to think of what type of rubric I could use to assess these pieces, and how I could masterfully BS an entire paragraph about a lousy rubric, Bob's brain produced (with impressive immediacy) a much more practical and relevant response. Bob declared, "The first thing I'd need to know in order to assess these products is how much time was spent on them." Ah-ha. A very good point indeed.

If students are spending many days or even weeks on producing a video to prove that they have a firm grasp on the concept of "metaphor," do they have time to learn anything else about language arts? Of course, students are learning technology and perhaps creative collaboration, but will that help them when they sit alone in front of an old-school style exam? The kids from Glen Bledsoe's 4th grade class might feel more like they're being run over by a train at that moment in time.

Despite the lesser graphics, Hannah's retelling of "Fox becomes a Better Person" actually shows a broader range of learning, and her work might make a better argument against Bob's initial distrust. Hannah's knowledge of story mapping and written vs oral story telling is apparent in her video (see Jason Ohler's article in Educational Leadership vol. 63, no 4), which incorporates a variety of complex concepts rather than just a singular literary device such as metaphor. I agree with Bob that the time taken to produce these videos has to be balanced with amount of actual material being learned.


Responding to the "epic2015" video is a little harder since I haven't been able to enjoy it in more than six to ten words at a time between loooong, irritating pauses, but I'll take a stab at it anyway.

• The possible future portrayed in this video could certainly have a huge impact in the classroom. Podcasting might turn out to be a highly effective means of squelching out the epic dilemma of nasty writings on bathroom walls. Why, with all the fun they'll be having on those ipods, kids will probably never even dream of graffiti, violence, drug use or most other behavioral nuisances. Of course, they might not frequent class at all as they stare, spellbound, into those tiny screens, podcasting this and podcasting that.
• The image is almost as haunting as the bit about Googlzon personalizing the advertisement webs to spin around individual consumers. It brings my Amazon account to mind: "Jamie, we have recommendations for you!" Titillating.
• The last seconds of the video, however, left an unexpected impression of putting the power in the hands of the "podder." Listening to the podders alert drivers to traffic delays and alternate routes and announcing amateur weather forecasts (which are sure to be 95% more reliable that the professional ones), I had a brief and tantalizing vision of technology obliterating the media.

Could it be that the media might just abate their own usefulness and impact right as they were within a finger's breadth of world domination with their stunning new devices and gimmicks? We shall see...perhaps even from a 2 inch by 2 inch pod screen. Maybe I'll finally buy one myself this year and join the growing ranks of the REAL, 21st Century Pod People.