Give Em' an Inch and They'll Take a Mile

So it's finally happened. A school system has made something great and made it better? I don't think so!!!

As I'm sure many of you have already heard that the Philadelphia school system has a federal court case against it in regards to it's 1:1 program. Apparently, they've been snapping photos of their students at home, doing whatever it is they do there. They even think that one of the perpetrators may have been a voyeur. WOW!!!!! You can see the article HERE. They allegedly took photos of the students half naked, in bed, and other completely 100% private activities. The only way anyone found out is that one of the administrators approached the student and told him that he was engaging in inappropriate behavior. That "behavior" was supposedly pill popping in which the parents informed the school that they had been Mike and Ike's candy. Unbelievable.

Now of course they're going to get sued and they'll probably lose which in my opinion is great. Definitely some Constitutional issues there. When did it become the case that school officials felt like they needed to invade the privacy of the bedroom? Sure, it's important for teachers to know what is going on in their students lives but in this case, somebody went WAY overboard. If they did it with the best of intentions, which I'm not sure what they could be, then I would love to hear them. On the other hand, if this was some criminal act by one individual, by all means throw the book at em'. Yes sir, if you give them an inch, they'll take a mile.

Photo Source: http://search.creativecommons.org/#

What's the Game Deal?!?

Alright, so we all know how much time kids spend on the internet and playing video games; why hasn't anyone developed any decent video games for the students that use them most, high schoolers?!? I go to class and I hear the younger college students talk about the new God of War video game or Medal of Honor or whatever the new fad is but I don't understand why someone hasn't come up with something that is of the same quality but actually TEACHES you something!!!

Sure, you've got your cute little math games and obviously your language arts games but how bout something a little more interesting? What wouldn't be interesting about a Lewis and Clark Expedition game? Heck, call it something else so that students don't know that they're actually learning something productive when they have to figure out a way to traverse a river, climb a mountain, or risk life and limb fighting the indigenous wildlife.

I honestly believe there could be quite a market for something like this. All I ever hear about are bloody war games or fantasy games when I enter my classes. Think of the possibilities of a historically accurate Civil War or World War II game; I can think of few things more graphic. Perhaps a Napoleonic game as you play Napoleon rising to power, having to escape Elba only to be defeated again.

Instead, we have games like THIS!!! Now what 17 year old kid is going to be interested in anything even remotely similar to these games? "Secrets of the Vatican"? Seriously!

Now, on the other hand, the History Channel has some games that have potential. They have to be downloaded onto your computer and they are huge files but there is some definite potential there. The graphics aren't bad and the sound is decent however, the controls are a bit touchy but who cares?!? If there is some educational value there, use it.

But, I digress. With all the money made on video gaming and the lack of money in the education system, especially now, I just find it difficult to understand why some big video game company isn't looking more into it. Heck, the military is using it. Check out this game developed by Rebellion and funded by the Army National Guard. It's called Prism and I bet that any kid interested in the military would love it. And of course, the militia gets more money than education does. Oops, I better digress again.

Alright everyone, it's a beautiful sunny Monday morning, you all have a tremendous day and I'll keep searching for that perfect video game to use in my classroom.

Image Source: http://search.creativecommons.org/#

More on Wiki's.

So I think everyone knows what a Wiki is don't they? Rather than defining it for you, here is the link to Wikipedia, which is probably one of the most commonly used Wiki's, much to the dismay of many educators.

Reading an article in Guide2Digital learning entitled, "Turbo Charged Wiki's: Technology Embraces Cooperative Learning," I found that there was much more involved in Wiki's than I first thought.

Now of course, you don't throw a website at your students and tell them to run with it but this article has some great points on how to get not only your Wiki started but how to get your students to positively interact and cooperate effectively with one another. What a great concept; plan before you do.

Summarizing, the article suggests that the students should be doing collaborative work before ever attempting a Wiki. Also, the project must possess two things: a authentic problem which must be solved collaboratively and the final product must be of some use to someone else, some other audience, like perhaps the rest of the class. And of course, for the Wiki to succeed, the educator must instill the five properties of collaborative learning, which as a new education student, were pretty much foreign to me, at least in writing.

Regardless, I would like to know what amazing things that you all, whomever is reading this, is doing with Wiki's. I would also love to know the major downfalls and difficulties you are having with them for I truly believe that they could have a tremendous positive impact on collaborative learning.

Image Source: WikiMedia Commons