Wk 1 Reading: We Can Copy, Right?

I graduated High School in 1999 and was starting my freshmen year of college when the mp3 boom began. I had just moved out of my parents house and moved into my first apartment with my friend Mike. We were the type of guys who loved to be on the forefront of everything especially the internet. My buddy Mike got a Job working for the cable company, who at the time were rolling out lightning fast (slow by today's comparison) cable modems. These modems were to replace the old dial-up connection that many of us first encountered in the old AOL days of the internet. Little did we know that this modem would open up a whole new world to us and put us on a path to total local celebrity status. We first entered a chat room in using a little known program called My Internet Relay Chat or Mirc for short. Here we found a whole community of collectors of a small music file known as an mp3. The first songs that we downloaded were the classics like The Beastie Boys Fight for your right (to party), or Ozzy Osborn's Crazy Train. Soon we discovered a new program making its way around the channels known as Napster. This was a revolution in the Person to Person, or P2P file transfer protocol that we were using in Mirc. The only difference was that you did not need to ask people if they had the file, here all you had to do was type in the name in their search engine and you were shown multiple hits of the file, and which location had the fastest connection to retrieve it. It was an amazing concept that me and my friend Mike wished we had come up with.

Soon we were having people come over challenging them to find the most rare songs they could think of, like Bob Marley's Guava Jelly or Slick Rick's original Ladi Dodi. With all these fiends coming over to complete their searches we amassed a large library of songs, and soon became the go to apartment for parties and music lounging sessions. Many people would ask where the music was coming from and I would reply "From my computer." No one believed me so I would always give them a tour and show them my setup and my playlist on the original mp3 computer program WinAmp. They were amazed, but many of my friends believed this was a fad and would soon go away like 8-tracks. I was so sure this was not a fad that I used the topic of mp3s and the future of music as my final persuasive argument in my public speaking class.It was a great time of my life broadening my love for music and making my first few year of college completely worth while.

Why did I start this blog off with this story? Because even though I believe an artist has the right to protect his work, I also believe that the trading of mp3's is not the nail in the coffin that record industry makes it out to be. I remember when I was about 4 or 5 years old hearing how the VCR was going to kill movies and ruin the art of cinema being seen on the big screen. The industry soon found out that the proliferation of home media not only helped the industry, but added on a whole new consumer base that they had never thought possible. I believe the same can be said for the mp3's. The proliferation of the mp3 only adds to the appreciation of music thus raising music to a new and higher standard than ever before. Before mp3's I lead a sheltered life, only buying the occasional CD for bands that the radio told me were popular. After I started downloading mp3's my musical education grew, exposing me to the rich sounds of reggae, the unique rhymes of rappers like Biggie and Tupac, and the eclectic sounds like radiohead. Mp3's forced me to broaden my horizons, listen to new bands on a whim, and go to more live shows and concerts than ever before. The mp3 was a game changer for many young people back in the early 2000's and I believe it still is for many youths today. The fact is, I spent more money on music after the mp3 age than I did before.

Sure there are those that abuse the system and take take take, but don't forget about those how give back. Today we see a plethora of  musicians trying to make a mark in today's industry who may not have ever had a chance before. Take Justin Bieber (no really take him, haha), he got his start by posting videos of his talents on YouTube, a video site with its roots stemming from the mp3 sub-culture of the early 2000's. With this new medium many more artist can fill the world with their talents, or lack there of, allowing the American culture to determine who is worthy of praise and who is not. This I believe is what the recording industry is afraid of, we the people now have the power to determine who is popular, not the gigantic spin machine that we call the Recording Industry Association of America. The RIAA now in today's world seems insignificant, the power is now placed into the peoples internet. Artists now see that they can produce and market their art on their own with only a simple $1000 computer and an internet connection. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails fame found this out when he released his own album off the internet all on his own and asked for donations instead of a set price. It are these situations that the big corporate giants hate because there is no need for a middle man any more.

The creation of the Creative Commons is the next evolutionary step of the P2P transfer protocol, that was so famously smashed with the demise of napster, bearshare, and limewire. This new P2P system places artist right directly on the property the individuals wish to use or listen to from their own computer. By placing the option of fair use back into the hands of the creator we limit the corporate stranglehold our ideas and though have been suffocating from for so long. Creative commons is a breath of fresh air for the little man who normal stands beneath the shadows of the corporate giants.

  

Month 11 is HERE!!!!

Great Job everyone, 10 months down and two to go!! Keep up all the great work.

BP8_Links to Comments

Follow this link to my comments on Kim's RILS on Educator Studio/Blog

Follow this link to my comments on Cynthia's RILS on Educator Studio/Blog

ETC_Final_Project_RILS_Join_The_Fight!!!

Educational Uprising...Join the Fight Today!!!!!
Watch below for more details:



For my RILS Final video i decided to produce a persuasive message prompting educators to declare war on the technologically illiterate teachers of America.  Teachers must educate themselves in the ways of technology in order to stay relevant to the new class of student which are filling our classes every year. It is important to incorporate new and innovative strategies of teachings including, but not limited to, Web2.0 tools, Videos, Virtual environments, and other technologies already available to us on the web. Join the fight against boredom. Enlist Today!!!

RILS Blue Print:

Relevant and Innovative Learning Scenario

Name: Joe Marquez

 Brief Overview:

Using interactive power points and teacher created multimedia video, students will learn about forces and Newton’s three laws of motion. Students will view power point slides and participate in interactive classroom activities using football bags, cross bows, and rolling carts to learn about this important standard in physics. Students will then be given a short 5 questions assessment to determine the strength of the lesson.

1. Target Audience-

The students who will participate in this lesson are my 8^th grade science students who range in ages between 12 and 14.

2. Materials–

·       Interactive power point with imbedded videos

·       Projector and Screen

·       iMovie created by me staring Darth Vader and myself  teaching the students about forces.

·       Crossbow to reinforce the idea of potential and kinetic energy

·       Football bags and rolling cart to demonstrate Newton’s three laws of motion

·       5 question assessment

·       Illuminate web based assessment software

·       Document Camera ( students will use this to score their tests)

3. Objectives–

At the end of this lesson students will be able to:

Understand the meaning of the following terms.

·       Forces

·       Net Force

·       Unbalance/Balance Force

·       Newton’s three laws of motion

Analyze situations and identify Newton’s three laws of motion in various scenarios produced in class.

Create a scenario they encounter in their everyday life that shows Newton’s three laws of motion in action. The students will create this scenario using the web2.0 tool MakeBeliefsComix.com, in which they will create a story showing one or all of Newton’s three laws of motion.

1. Procedure–

·       Students will complete a starter asking them to identify various terms dealing with our unit on forces. Go over as a class.

·       Students will Watch a video introducing forces to them staring Darth Vader and myself.

·       Students will participate in a power point lecture introducing them to Forces using slides and videos.

·       Students will actively participate in a classroom activity involving a crossbow, football bags, and rolling cart to demonstrate the differences between Newton’s three laws.

·       Students will take a five question quiz.

·       Quizzes will be scanned by web based assessment program illuminate to analyze student progress.

·       Upon students return to class, I will re-teach any part of the lesson the quiz showed low comprehension.

2. Web 2.0 Tool–

I will be using the web based assessment software known as illuminate to analyze my student’s achievement during this lesson. Illuminated.com is an assessment program which track student’s achievement per class and per school. The student will also be using a web2.0 tool called MakeBeliefsComix.com in which the students will create a four panned comic depicting a scenario in which Newton’s Laws of motion are occurring.

3. Social Participation/Social Learning–

After the students learn about Newton’s three laws from the power point the student will participate in an in class demonstration of what Newton’s three laws look like in the environment. Students will learn about Newton’s first Law by rolling on a cart that suddenly stops, but they do not as they fall into a pile of bags. Students will see Newton’s second law in action as they try to knock me over using force by changing their acceleration. Students will learn about Newton’s third law by running into a wall of bags and seeing what the bags do right back to them.

4. Making Connections–

a)    Previous knowledge will be shown through the opening of the class completing a starter and during the lecture I will be asking the students about situations they have come across while involved in sports or other activities they may be involved in. 

b)    Students will be shown a video staring Darth Vader and myself. The student will love the fact that their teacher is talking to the Dark Lord in their classroom.

c)    Students will participate in in-class activities involving football bags and carts. I will relate these activities to Professional sports they may be watching on Sunday.

d)   Students will use what they learned during the lesson and create a comic using the MakeBeliefsComic.com Web 2.0 tool. Example posted below.

1. Create/Produce –

The Students will create a comic strip using the web2.0 tool on MakeBeliefsComix.com, in which the students will show their knowledge of Newton’s three laws of motion in action. Using the information they have just learned the students will produce a short comic which will inform the other students of the three laws of motion they may encounter outside the classroom. This will be a great activity in which not only the students will be able to apply what they have learned, but share and teach the other students what they have learned by presenting the comic to the class. Example posted below:

2. Assessment –

The students will participate in a 5 question quiz which will help me as instructor determine which parts of the lesson work and what did not.

5-4 correct is Proficient

3 correct is Basic

2 correct is below Basic

1-0 correct is Far below Basic

3. Reflection – The reflection for the RILS must have two parts.

a.     Students will be given a starter on the next school session which will ask them to restate Newton’s three laws in their own words by giving examples they may have seen in their everyday life.

b.     As an educator I will view the results of the assessment and determine which part of the lesson the students need to be re-taught. Any question which has lower than 50% passing rate will be re-taught during the next school session.  

  Educator Studio RILS Link:
http://www.educatorstudio.com/lessons/newtons-three-laws-motion

PE5_Illuminate_MeakeBeliefsComix_Continued

After Playing around with the Web2.0 tool MakeBeliefsComix.com, I have decide that this is a super fun way to have my students prove to me they know what Newton's three laws of motion are. I feel that any student can read a book, memorize, and recite information their teacher has given them. A true test of learning is to see if the students can relate what they have learned to real life situations, this truly shows mastery of the subject material. In MakeBeliefsComix.com i was able to produce a short comic in minutes and email it to myself to prove it can be done. The following comic is what was produced from all of my tinkering.

 Not too shabby if I do say so myself...

Illuminate was a success as well. The students took their quiz and within a matter of minutes I was able to calculate and compare the results of 185 students!!! With this great program i was able to calculate my class averages and see which standards the students are falling behind on. As you can see in the image below, question 2 was the most missed question for all of my classes. The following day after the test was given, i was able to reteach the lesson and give the quiz once more verbally to my students. I feel that this is the best way to help our students truly learn the material.

PE4_Illuminate and MakeBeliefsComix

For my up coming Relevant and Innovative Learning Scenario (RILS) I have decided to use two web2.0 tools which will help me assess student learning within my classroom. I will be using Illuminateed.com to grade and assess my 5 question quiz on Newton's Laws of motion and I will also have my students create a short comic strip on MakeBeliefsComix.com on an everyday occurrence they can associate with one of Newton's three laws of motion. Illuminate is a powerful assessment wich allows teachers from across the distric share benchmarks and data in seconds that would otherwise take weeks or months to collect and distribute.

 Illuminate scans a self created bubble sheet using the in classroom document camera to instantly give you feedback on individual students or the class as a whole. No longer do I need to collect the tests and take time out of my day to find a scanning machine to correct the tests. The information I instantly receive tells me what are the most missed concepts the class needs redirection on, and before the class ends I can begin to retach the students the concepts they are weaker on.

For the students to participate in a web2.0 tool, I have decided to ask them to make a short comic strip on Newtons three laws using the website MakeBeliefsComics.com. This is an easy to use program which allows the students to create a comic strip up to 4 panes to tell a story. The story i have asked my students to tell is one of a real life experience which fits into the category of one of Newton's three laws of motion. I feel that anyone can memorize Newton's three laws, but to really learn it one must be able to identify it in the world around them. Once the student finishes his or her comic the web site allows you to send the link to my email where i can then view and assess the comic they have created. A real fun way to end the lesson.

PE3_iMovie

Oh Yeah!!!

The Video is finished!! It is a little longer than the requested time, but as i was working on the project i realized that if i was going to use this in class, I needed to create a video that was able to convey all the information i needed to say. As I was putting the video together i realized that a lot of time must be put into setting up the filming project. It took a lot of trial and error to get the timing of the conversation between Darth Vader and myself in sync the way i wanted to get it. The green screen that i used in my background should have had more light on it to prevent some unwanted shadows in the background, and I probably could have found a better clip from star wars to use in the background. Over all I believe the video is worth showing to my students and to all of you out there as well. I hope my iMovie skills continue to improve and i become better at producing more movies in the future. I had a lot of fun completing this project and i realized the only way to do something right is to do it wrong at least 10 times!!!




I hope you like it