Here is the TED video that demonstrates the Wii-Smartboard hack that I mentioned before we took our exam on Thursday. Take a look at the video, and then click the link below for a step-by-step examination of the process that we would need to undertake to put this into practice with the Eastside students. I am fairly certain that this would require two visits to complete. What does everyone else think? If anyone has time, it would be good to get another digital conversation going via the comments component of this post, in the same way that we did with Sole's post last week. By doing so, we can gauge how we all feel about this as a project and we can sort through concerns about its feasibility.
Click here for the step-by-step.
I think that this could actually be something good. Maybe finding a different video on youtube to show the kids what they would be making... something less technical. The next couple of classes could occupy making it and then use the rest of the time with this project on reflection and small projects using the board.
ReplyDeleteHmm - good call. I actually only posted to video for us to look at in order to better explain the project. Up until this point, I hadn't really even thought much about how to present the project to the kids. I will definitely search YouTube for a video that might help us to do that.
ReplyDeleteThis would be interesting. I think it is worth discussing. This could turn out to be pretty cool!
ReplyDeleteSounds good to me. This is something they could do collectively and will be something they can use even after we are no longer visiting. It would also incorporate technology, which the children are obviously interested in and would satsify the school staff as well.
ReplyDeleteWe also need to think about the relation of this praxis-project to theory, especially that of Freire. E.g., How is this smart board project going to function as a "text," "theme," or "codification" for the students to reflect upon and interrogate/question? In the Freirean method, our task is to "problem-pose," to problematize the "theme." What questions could we ask the students, in relation to this project, that would allow them to unveil this reality? All the while, we should direct the students to reflect upon these projects in their journals.
ReplyDeleteThe (ideal) outcome that I see possible is this: the students develop their tools of reflection, they learn to problem-pose themselves (through dialogue), and their "working hands" become "transformative hands" as a result of learning a new skill (making a smart board). Not to mention that the project itself challenges the paternalistic nature of consumerism.
I like the idea of making a smart board, I just do not think we will have time to make it at the school in 30 min intervals. Not to mention what teacher would get it? I thought Mrs. Beach had one already. Is the board just going to get thrown in a closet after it is made just like the trees were mowed over?
ReplyDeleteMy main concerns I guess are time constraints and another let down for the students who participate by having their projects just thrown out as what happened before.
Plus who is going to redo the software so the Wii remote responds to the computer. I got my undergrad in IT, but I'm not that computer savy.
If it works and the kids will be able to participate, then I'm all for it.
ReplyDelete