Here’s an 8-minute promo movie I made for my school over the last few hours. I share it in case anyone wants a resource that talks through a couple of class projects we did last year in my grade 9 history and English classes - and shamelessly boasts about how special my school is for being the first 1:1 Laptop School in Korea.
The first project is “A Broken World,” a student-created wiki textbook and companion whole-class reflective blog about world history from World War I to World War II and the outbreak of the Cold War. (There’s lots of frustration in the sphere right now about blocked sites in schools, so this might be a useful demonstration of how valuable YouTube, wikis, and blogs are for enhancing creativity and learning.)
(By the way, I’ve been scratching my head lately about what to do with that Broken World wiki textbook. It’s really good stuff, and I’m proud of my students for making such an impressive resource. It seems a shame to just abandon it like one of Graham Wegner’s “learning jalopies” or some piece of digital flotsam. Anybody have any ideas of how to put it to use? I’m open to others fact-checking, extending, editing, using, donating, whatever. I just feel like there’s some experimentation possible here on how to put the “legacy products” we so easily talk about in the theoretical to the much-harder-to-pull-off practical use. In other words: help?)
The second project shown in the video is the first annual 1001 Flat World Tales flat classroom writing workshop on Wikispaces: 130 students at my school, Chris Watson’s school in Honolulu, and Michele Davis & Karl Fisch’s school in Denver. The promo walks through not only the wiki, but the (damnably) still-under-construction but worth-a-peek anyway 1001 Flat World Tales blog and website, featuring the prize-winning stories selected by our international student editorial board, plus author profiles, author podcast readings, editor profiles, student testimonials, and more.
Those student testimonials are highlighted in subtitle bars on the movie, which might be effective for persuading your admin to unblock these sites, again.
I really went over the top promoting my 1:1 Apple Laptop School as being “on the 21st century map,” since the point of the thing is to entice parents to send their kids to my school. It might produce a motivating jealousy in your own admin or school board to go 1:1 so they have such bragging rights themselves.
Or maybe the thing’s just a piece of junk. You tell me. (If nothing else, I got some iMovie practice out of it. Still trying to hone those skills.)
(And if you click on the video, by the way, it’ll take you to my AP Literature class Ning, which is open to the public. Sylvia Martinez of the Generation YES blog, and Diane Cordell of Journeys have both joined my students for literary discussions in the forums. You’re welcome to come inside yourself. Interesting talks about “schooliness” and literacy in there.)Find more videos like this on KIS AP Lit 07-08
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5 Comments
Clay,
I have been following the discussion in your class blog and am impressed by the maturity and eloquence of the students’ replies.
You know how to demand the best of them, and they respond.
Can I get a grant somewhere to come and visit your school!!!
diane
I am very envious. Now I remember who I borrowed the textbook wiki idea from.
Thanks for sharing! So far ours is looking great and its awesome to watch my students get excited about writing their own science text. Wiki work days are even trump lab days this year!
Your kids are awesome!
On the wiki thing, maybe the value is in the process the kids went through, and that’s enough. I know you don’t want to throw it away, but it does stand on its own on the web forever. The next class will make their own, and have their own unique learning journey.
Thanks all. Joe, I’d love it if you’d put your science class sites on the “Classes Doing It” page (see “Sidebar” on wiki) for other science teachers to watch and learn from.
Sylvia, I just “donated” the Broken World wiki textbook to Curriki. We’ll see if that goes anywhere. And thanks to you and Diane for being our guests on the AP Lit Ning
Clay, Great vid. Speaking of the 1001 Tales blog, I just can’t get logged in to save my life. I don’t know. I’d also love to Skype/Twitter soon to talk about how you’ve set up professional development for your school’s laptop program.