Futuring

a. How would you “grade” or assess Fox Becomes a Better Person, and School Train?

School Train

The students who worked collaboratively to produce School Train definitely deserve full marks. It is evident that they not only grasp the meaning of metaphor, but that they can utilize the concept in a practical setting to communicate their feelings about school and contextualize what they have learned in a way that is relevant to them. In addition to participating in and contributing to the production they have effectively used role-play, a method of learning that will help them remember the unit. The fact that it is difficult to get the repetitive chant of your head will probably serve as a memory-aid also. They also translated the train metaphor into Spanish, showing their ability to be culturally inclusive.

Fox Becomes a Better Person

Hannah is a natural storyteller and narrates a culturally rich story extremely well. Her original artwork forms the backdrop to the narration. The finished product provides Hannah with a digital recording of a production that is entirely personal. She certainly deserves full marks for her animated and memorable storytelling style and for her talented artwork.


b. What impacts could the developments portrayed in epic2015 have on your classroom, particularly with respect to things like podcasting?

If EPIC (Evolving Personalized Information Construct) existed, a personalized version of current affairs and historical data could be created for every class. The students' blogs, MySpace pages, schoolwork and contributions that compile the class website would be screened for group preferences and interests that the students have in common. Reading materials, movies, trivia and news items that are relevant to topics covered in class could be highlighted to generate a custom-made information package tailored specifically to content that would benefit the class.

Podcasting could be used for G.P.S. tagged school-wide broadcasts. School-wide podcasts could be used to:

• Inform students where their art class is located


• Locate students using G.P.S.
  
• Alert staff and students to the danger in a lock-down situation


• List electives that are available with feedback incorporated from students who have taken the classes


• Recognize student achievement and announce it to the school
• Create cross-cultural communication with students from other countries during a unit about culture, or for foreign language practice.

News would certainly be more interactive if students could give their input, make comments and give each other feedback on items that provoke their response. The ability to enter meaningful dialog with the news would validate the personal contributions of the students.

c. How might you use Sabrina’s piece as a model for something you would do with your own students?

Sabrina Journey is a useful model of a video clip that combines photographs and a voice recording to tell a personal story. I could play my students this piece to provide them with a non-threatening context to introduce themselves to other students in their school in a meaningful and personal way. They could choose what pictures to include in their own version, and create a monologue that they are comfortable with. A piece like this would be particularly useful at the beginning of the school year when many students don't know the names or backrounds of their classmates. If each student prepared their own production and was expecting to broadcast it in front of the class, they would make an effort to produce a polished and presentable finished product. The individual pieces could be combined into a DVD that includes a representative narrative from each of the individuals in the class.