Throwing around free laptops: The debate over which countries should develop plans to provide their students with free laptops

This project is turning out to be much more interesting than I ever imagined it could be, due to the fact that I am able to incorporate my newest interest (the continent of Africa) with a required assignment. I plan to present the information I have gathered on the $100 laptop initiatives which have been in the works for several years, intended to reach underprivileged students in many African countries. I will also discuss the fact that some of these projects are no longer just a dream here in the U.S. and have actually come to fruition in some states. I am planning to discuss some of the reasons this has already happened, while the idea to provide for students overseas is becoming quite prolonged. In addition, I hope to examine why the laptops are of such importance, rather than some of the more basic resources which could absolutely be of use to these students and their families. I am still trying to ensure that this project can be completed and properly saved here on my iMac, so for that reason I have not yet decided if it will be presented on a PC or Mac.

my website

here is the link to my very raw website . . . . Visit My Website

update

alright, so i feel incredibly out of the loop after missing an entire week of classes (not to mention my job, and everyday life!). i was sick for what seemed like ever, and i am excited to FINALLY be blogging about some progress i have made in terms of my final project. although i fear that my direction may not be completely clear until its moment of completion, for now i must repport that my plan has deviated a bit. while i am still planning on creating a powerpoint presentation (this entails first LEARNING how to do so) on the free laptops for students initiative, throughout the course of my research (i.e. articles on this topic), i've found that this idea seemed to originate a few years ago here in the u.s. i had no idea! please excuse me if others of you knew about this, but anyway as a result of this new information i have decided that my presentation will include the proposals as well as programs that have been created both for students in underprivileged countries as well as here in the u.s. the information i've sifted through so far has been really interesting and i found myself reading articles last night at 1:30 am when i probably should have been catching up on some much needed rest! but i am encouraged to see that this topic is much more relevant (to myself and other prospective educators right here in new york state) than i'd originally thought. I had presumed that i would be looking among articles which consisted only of proposals to present students in libya, nigeria and argentina (to name a few) with their own laptops. BUT, the fact that in some areas of our country this has already happened has also given me an additional direction in my search for information -- what is the basis behind choosing the countries to deliver laptops to children? should we be focusing on providing students in THIS country with complete technological availability, before then looking to do so abroad? are laptops really what students in underdeveloped countries need? * i hope not to make myself sound biased here, because i am not certain what i think about all of this. the articles/arguments i've read are pretty intriguing. my goal, though, is to attempt to play devil's advocate in presenting this interesting technological issue.

moment of enlightenment

as i am looking over the assignments jen donegan has given to her students i am having this realization about myself, about the way i have viewed english classrooms for a long time, maybe even forever. it is popping into my head that i have heard sarah mention in class several times that one of the best things about being able to teach english is that you can choose ANYTHING. i had never thought about that, but now i am finally coming around -- how true that statement is! i feel as though i have been straddling two completely different schools of thought and i was partially unaware of this. i am coming to grips with the fact that i am apparently much more of a traditionalist than i would have pegged myself in terms of what should be taught in the english classroom. you see for me, it was my passion with everything english that hooked me as an aspiring english teacher. i love the language, the use of words -- i love to read and write and spell. and yes, i am laughing at how ridiculously geeky i sound right now! but anyway, i was looking over these assignments and i had this epiphany -- NO MORE RESISTANCE. i am learning so much about myself - mainly that when i oppose something in a way that is intimidating for me to think about, i sometimes deny it entirely. to make myself more clear - i did not see just how frightened i've been about entering into an english classroom and realizing that it might never be what i had thought it would be. it might not be like some of the best experiences i had, because the appearance of an english classrom is changing completely, and the possibilities for what can be integrated are otherwise endless. and the best part of all is that this is a GOOD thing! but when i am unsure about something i somehow process it in a negative way. so, integrating technology into my classroom is scary to me because i do not consider myself comfortable with technology. and finally i am seeing how great that could be -- because i could learn things right along with the students. we could teach each other things, in a collaborative way, which is absolutely something i have always hoped to have in my classroom. so when i was a long-term sub two years ago, and i didn't see as much literature and 'traditional' english assignments planned, i completely panicked. and i am glad that now it is all making so much sense to me. it is ME who needs to make the change and to formulate a plan that will somehow allow me to still include some literature (be it YA or traditional, or god willing - both), as well as technology and other practical and useful assignments that pop up. so, back to how i started this whole ranting post -- i do see how powerful and exciting it is to know that my curriculum can change and update itself over the years, and that i can include so many elements of life into my classroom, none of which needs to be decided upon now. i've always hoped that i would learn how to create assignments that could be viewed simultaneously as fun and educational, and it seems that technology can be a potential answer to that. so anyway, it may seem odd that this long-winded rant has stemmed from my reading over jen donegan's assignments, but you just never know how something so small is going to affect you . . . . . and i can only hope that someday a student may say that about my class!

self-assessment of iMovie

I must apologize for taking so long to blog recently. I honestly have not had anything interesting to write about, but the main reason is that I simply have not had the time. So, I will probably be blogging a whole lot more in the next day or two in an attempt to make up for it, now that I have the time to spend in front of my computer!
Anyway, although no one has seen my iMovie yet, I will attempt to assess it the best I can, and then following Tuesday's class feel free to comment on whether or not I am accurate in my thoughts. First, as I mentioned in a previous blog post, the topic of my movie was not what I'd originally planned. But once I thought about what I assumed to be the whole point behind this assignment (to learn how to use the applications, and to work my way successfully throughout the process of the filming and production), I realized that the content seemed less important than what I'd expected. Since I'd never used a video camera on my own before, other than perhaps a group project in 7th or 8th grade (I know, pathetic right?), I was a bit wary. I was nervous that I may have purcahsed the wrong type of mini dv or that somehow something would go wrong once I had a number of people ready and willing to participate in their first motion picture appearances. I must say that without the enthusiasm of my family members this project would not have been nearly as enjoyable.
There are so many things that I realize now I should have done differently, and I am sitting here with crossed fingers in hopes that my grade will not be affected poorly due to my inexperience and sheer ignorance. For a variety of reasons I did not think that I would end up needing a microphone. I am a bit anxious that the sound will not be clear when it comes time to view the film in class, although when I have listened to it I have not had much of a problem. I will admit that some of my anxieties are related to the fact that I'd thought my podcast was completed successfully, and then somehow none of my pictures had shown up. So now I am guilty of concocting various possibilities that could go wrong when it comes time to share it! I think now that while the idea was funny and worth running with in the beginning, there was probably too much action in my movie, given the fact that I could not follow it closely enough with the camera at times. In addition, the lighting at times could and should have been adjusted. We did actually take the time to play around with different lighting possibilities, but I don't know if we chose wisely! But again, that is something that happens to an amateur who has a very small time slot in which to film. Since I did not have a specific script in which the 'actors' had to adhere to, we discussed the adlibbing ahead of time and agreed upon a few different things. I filmed about 3-4 takes of each little scene, assuming that would be more than enough, but when it came time to edit I found that there were several things I would have liked to have had more (or different) footage on, but unfortunately there was not much I could do about that then.
If I were using an assignment such as this in a class of my own, I absolutely agree that requiring students to work together in groups would be the most beneficial for everyone involved. When it came time to staging and planning, filming and also editing - having at least one other person to work with would have been great for me. In addition, to echo others, it would make it easier from the perspective of the teacher to ensure that things run more smoothly when people are working together in groups. While the outcome of my movie is not nearly as succinct as I would have liked it to have been, I feel better that I completed it on my own for the first time and learned things independently. I realize that it is not something I would ever submit anywhere, but I have learned how to utilize a whole new application, iMovie, even if only in its simplest form. For that reason, I would call this a mild success.