iEd.U.Tek

Bookmark this blog folks because this is where it happens! This is the page where you will get to visit the country I where live, Ch**na. I’ll use this acronym in order to protect the blog from being blocked. My goal is to help you see what I see through the eyes of my Flip video camera. Some ideas I have are shopping, living, riding bike, checking out everyday life that I observe from my seat.

In order to thrive and survive, one must first learn to speak … or at least play charades. This first video is all about learning Mandarin. There are four tones, use the wrong one and you may be somewhere you won’t want to be. The difference between a fat chicken and and a plane can hardly be heard by the foreign, untrained ear. See if you can pick up the four tones.

Here’s the video: TIC Learning Mandarin

Until next time,
Dave

tags: dcnavis, TIC

It was an interesting morning today. Bullying comes in all shapes and sizes. Today I shared a video with my grade 5 class. What started out as interesting quickly became serious. The 50 second video, Cyberbullying Talent Show, hit them with a shock and awe effect. The discussion that followed was excellent, especially when I helped them to see the words they write can be as destructive as their voice. And then we took it to the level of how your emails can be traced. It does not matter if you delete your email, it can be found.

A second video was even more profound. Let’s fight it together, was produced by Childnet (a non-profit organization working with others to “help make the Internet a great and safe place for children”) for the Department for children, schools and families in England (DCSF).

One person can cause others to follow and in turn destroy another. The students kept wanting to discuss each point as the video played and so that is what we did. I especially liked the way it dealt with a variety of technology, not just emails but real life. It was a real discussion starter.

The videos managed to pack a punch, far more than any information I could relay by simply talking about the issue. Make sure you watch both and think about using them in your classrooms. Thanks to Jenny Luca I’m passing them on to you.

Innovative Educators Using Technology is a blog highlighting the best of the best of innovative educators, thus the name iEduTek. I will be collecting a variety of genre featuring educators, in their classrooms, sharing ideas that integrate technology, show quick tips on managing technology, and organizing their classrooms or their edulife in general. Most of these will come by using the medium of vodcasting (video on demand … think YouTube) and podcasting (think iPod broadcasting).