Though my blogging seems to be going by the way side, the technology I’m always talking about is in near constant use in my class. I seem to have had my kids playing with computers this year far more than ever before. Maybe it’s motivation and maybe it’s opportunity, but the kids have been hard at it.
We did a little audio recording using Audacity with my Grade 11 history class. The historical fiction they recorded about the Loyalists was interesting overall, but as a technical production the quality was generally (how do I say this nicely?) really, really weak. They over produced it not only disguising their voices (which is good) but making them almost impossible to understand at times (which is bad). They all used some copyrighted music (which is bad) which also means I can’t post their work (which is bad). Even so, they learned a lot about how to record and understand, just a bit, how easy it is and how powerful (which is good).
We got some good wikis going where my students researched Canadian political parties in conjunction with the Canadian election. That went fairly well and was encouraging.
I’ve also had a chance to get some of the teachers playing with more computer technology. I’ve been working with a few with wikis, got one started on social bookmarking, and still one more will start playing with stop motion animation with me.
Overall it’s been a pretty good start to the school year. I haven’t got to play with technology as much as I do at other times, but I’ve certainly had a great time getting it in use.