The Great Debate

Is media merely a vehicle that delivers instruction as Clark states or how can media be used to influence learning as Kozma states is the great debate that is still being asked.  Clark states that media does not influence the learning outcome; method of instruction does. Kozma states that media can influence the learning of students.

I don’t agree with Clark but at the same time don’t 100% agree with Kozma either. I agree with Kozma in the way that media does influence learning but it has to be used correctly. As teachers we have access to so much technology, but if we aren’t using it in a way that is effective to our student’s learning it won’t make a difference how much media we have access to. If we show a video to our students and don’t make a connection with the skill they are learning; showing the video was a waste of time. In my opinion media on its own isn’t effective without the teacher. As Becker states, “Nothing works better than a good teacher, unless it’s a good teacher with descent tools.” (Becker, 2010)

In today’s world our students are born into a world of technology. We see children as young as two years of age with cell phones, tablets, or computers. These are the children that will be on our schools in the future. These children are “digital natives”. (Prensky, 2001) As educators we need to build our lessons with the knowledge that the students in our classrooms need more than just a lecture; we need to reach them in an way that they will be engaged and what better way than through media which is what they are used to.

Sources

Becker, K. (n.d.). The Clark-Kozma Debate in the 21^st Century. Retrieved November 17, 2016, from http://www.academia.edu/462857/The_Clark-Kozma_Debate_in_the_21^st_Century

Prensky, M. (2001, October). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On The Horizon (MCB University Press), 9(5). Retrieved from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky - Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants - Part1.pdf

Podcasts

     There are so many ways that Podcasts can be used in the classroom and library. Students can create short radio broadcasts summarizing books they have read, teachers can create podcasts on homework and have students listen to them at home, or students can perform interviews and create podcasts of them. Technology has so much to offer to keep our classrooms and libraries exciting for our students.
     I first looked at Podomatic it was very easy to sign up for and it was free too. It gives you plenty of options of whom to follow. It was easy to upload and share your podcasts. It also gives you what's trending. It allows you up to fifteen GB per month.
    The next podcast service I looked at was Audioboom, this one was also easy to register for, but they are very exclusive of whom they choose to broadcast. It also offers plenty of channels to follow.     The last one I looked at was Soundcloud which is the one I chose to broadcast my podcast. It was very easy to register for and record. I found this one to be the easiest to one to record on compared to the other two services I looked at. I decided to create my podcast on a read aloud. It is a great way to have students listen to read alouds. Teachers can create a channel where students can listen to a read aloud on a weekly basis. I created the following one.


Pete The Cat and The Missing Cupcakes

    

Sources

 Macpherson, E. (2014, August 7). 10 Podcasting Projects Teachers Should Try In The Classroom. Retrieved November 10, 2016, from http://www.weareteachers.com/10-podcasting-projects-teachers-should-try-in-the-classroom-2/ 

  

Cartoons and Comics

     I had so much fun working on this assignment. Didn't know how easy it was to make comic strips. It's such an easy and fun way to get students engaged in our lessons.
     First I explored ToonDoo. It was easy to register for it. It asked you for the basics such as your email, name, and password. It has so much variety to choose from. There are backgrounds, characters, layouts, text, props, and you can even upload your own pictures. It is so easy to create a comic strip and even a book. All you have to do is drag what you selected onto each panel and fix it how you wan it. Then you choose the type of text bubble you want and enter your text. When your done you can save it and send it by email to anyone you would like to. Here is the comic strip I created. Since I am a writing teacher I decided to create my comic strip on writing.

      Second, I registered for Pixton. This one too was easy to register for. It asked for the same information as ToonDoo. One huge difference that I noticed was that this one is free but only for fifteen days unlike ToonDoo. ToonDoo didn't mention that it was only for fifteen days. This had a lot more variety of backgrounds, characters, and props to choose from. It also gave you the option to upload your own pictures. What I liked about Pixton is that it gave you templates to choose from according to what you said you were. It gave you the option to choose if you were a student, educator, or work environment. I didn't see that on ToonDoo, unless I overlooked them. It had a templet of a comic strip on homophones and that's where I got the idea to create mine from. It is such a clever way to teach homophones. My students have so much trouble using some homophones and by creating comic strips is a fun and engaging way for them to learn homophones. I loved this idea! Here is the comic strip I created on Pixton.

      Lastly, I explored MakeBeliefsComix. This one we didn't have to register for. You can simply just start creating your comic strip. Some characters on this tool are in motion. Their mouth and eyes move. Like the other two this one also has a variety of characters and backgrounds to choose from. It was really easy to create and save. 

     There are so many ways to use comic strips in our classrooms. You can use it in any subject. For example, instead of giving students problem solving on paper we can give them each a comic strip with problem solving on them. Students are still learning to solve problems but in a more engaging way. It's fun for students, yet they are still doing the same work.