Voice Thread

I loved the VoiceThread assignment! I thought this is going to be the new way of online schooling. I can't imagine how much more interesting it would be to comment on peers' voice thread compared to the dry and boring discussion we are mandated to do in many classes which rarely ever sparks a real discussion. I also agree with the fact that many online school, leave a feeling of disconnect from professors and peers the alike. I think by listening to a lecture online compared to reading a chapter would be much more interesting. (I feel I must add that I do love online schooling though). When beginning this assignment I loaded the first video link on my computer and found it very entertaining but I was not too sure I fully agreed with the speakers thoughts, then after watching the second video I thought that although the speaker may have been a bit of an extremist in many ways, he hooked me with the research study and the data about ADHD medicine. I then clicked the Voicethread link, created an account, and voiced my opinion. Very Simple and I love the fact that nothing needs to be downloaded onto my computer. I think this experience built on my knowledge as a student more than a professional in a sense because I feel the excitement of eventually taking classes were voicethread is the main source of communication. I do think this activity would allow teachers to set up stations for student when maybe working with a focus group. This could be done by giving instuctions or basic recaps of the previous day before students could begin with their assignment. In a sense, it would give teacher the ability to "lower the ratio" of student to teacher by teaching multuple groups at one time. I feel that given the video content in which we had to watch and learn from the most appropriate NETS standard would have to be Standard one: Facilitate and Inspire Learning and Creativity. Even though the voicethread assignment may not have been the most inspirational assignment for the classroom we have completed this far, it has inspired me to believe children still need creativity in the classroom and need time to learn from others. I believe one inspiring quote from the video is "Looking at other people's work in school is cheating...in the real world it's called collaboration." I think we should take a moment to think about that. And this defiantly touches Standard 2: Develope Digital Age Learning. This allows teachers to teach through means of texting, voicethreads, instant messaging, and animating, all in which are way to engage our students.