The Importance of Video

Sports Update:
Giants Lost :( Can't stay undefeated forever
Yankees are up 2 games to 0 against the Angels. They are playing and winning right now. Hopefully by the end of this post, they will be 3-0.

Educational entertainment has taken over. Michael Moore pokes fun at politics, the economy, and big businesses all while keeping his audience entertained and educated at the same time. Youtube has become addictive. Whether I need a tutorial video to help with downloading app's on my iphone, or a quick laugh watching the best man stumble giving the groom the ring and knocking the bride and the priest off the alter and into the pool, Youtube is helpful, humorous and a hell of a good pastime.

In my classroom, I intend to use videos found online to help my students learn the material better while keeping them both entertained and involved. I can teach the kids about dinosaurs and show them a video about the hunting habits of the most successful dinosaurs. I can view videos that other teachers have bookmarked and found to be beneficial in their classrooms. I can watch a video of a teacher teaching a lesson to his/her class and use tips to incorporate in my own classroom. I can educate myself about the material I am teaching by watching video tutorials and documentaries before I start my lesson.

Videos could have helped me while I was an undergrad as well. Incorporating links to videos that pertain to the information I was presenting a project on would have kept my presentation a bit more interesting while keeping a few seniors awake. Presenting my senior project on Serial Killers to my entire Criminology class might have earned me a higher grade. Finding interviews, news coverage and crime scene video of Ted Bundy's mas acres would have been pretty cool. As I type into Google: Video, Serial Killers this pops right up..."Whether or not your looking for a 20 second video on Charles Manson, or a 1 hour video on Richard Ramirez, YouTube.com has exactly what you want". ...
I wish I knew that before I presented my project. Could have turned that B+ to an A-.

Well the Yankees and Angels are tied 3-3 right now in the bottom of the 7th. You'll hopefully understand that I have to end this blog and get back to watching this game before I miss something that I will have to later find of Youtube.

Chapter 8 & Success in the Net Gen

Well..by now you may know that the NY Giants are 4-0, and the NY Yankees won the AL East. I'll keep the updates coming...

Chapter 8: When I graduated in 2007 (only a little over 2 years ago) I never took an online course. I never blogged. I never read an online text. I never communicated with my professors via email. Today, I am blogging, reading, reacting, and emailing daily. Education through the Internet has grown incredibly. The active learning that can be accomplished is remarkable. Online live lectures and webinars have replaced uninteresting and tedious monotoned in class sermons. Blogs have replaced classroom journals. Online text books have replaced the over priced real things. And although we can never fully replace traditional forms of educational resources, we can continue to learn and explore the Internet and the educational materials that it has to offer.

To be successful in the Net Generation, I must continue to update myself with information. Continue to use online resources like social bookmarking and blogging. I must attend all that is out there. Webinars, seminars, lectures, and conventions. Communicate with teachers all over the world to gain new ideas for the classroom. I must integrate what I learn from the Internet and share it with my students in the classroom. I must listen to my students because eventually they will know more about the Internet and technology than I will. Communicate, Listen, Share and Explore are vital to be successful in the Net Gen.