Blog Post #2: Multimedia Montage Project

When deciding on what communities I wanted to join for the Multimedia Montage Project I took into consideration what I would want to learn and get out of a technology course overall. This past semester during my student teaching experience it was evident to me how uneducated many teachers are with technology education and the different tools that are available to them to be utilized with their students. I wanted to join communities that would provide me with the knowledge I would need to utilize different technology tools into my future classroom as well as to be able to professionally develop current educators. A platform that is expanding into many school districts today is the products of Google. Therefore, I decided to join the following communities: Google Classroom Educators, Google Apps Educators and Google for Education. When talking to the principal at Sampson G. Smith she emphasized that there is a huge need for teachers that are familiar and capable of operating the Google products since this is becoming a large aspect of students learning today. With a Google classroom, students can post and share their documents with their classmates and not just their teachers. Elizabeth Daley (2003) discusses in her article Expanding the Concept of Literacy that “the production of multimedia is most often an act of collaboration […] media forms are usually meant for public

distribution and presentation. They are intended to be seen in environments beyond that of their creation” (p. 36). This concept really inspired me to want to follow the Google Classroom, Apps, and Education communities. Google has improved their interface to allow students to collaborate amongst each other throughout projects and assignments and allows students to comment on one another posts. Being able to learn more in-depth about this interface and to be able to share in these communities about different ideas and inspiration will greatly impact my future as an educator. During my student teaching my collaborating teacher and I administered a project to the students where they were going on a shopping trip and had to buy 10 items for their relatives or friends. Within the time of this project, my teacher did not encourage students to work collaboratively on the project however, the students in this classroom were eager in exploring the features that google had to offer and upon themselves shared their projects with one another and began commenting and providing feedback. Through witnessing this happen I was inspired to learn more about the google products and how I can use them to their fullest potential in my classroom in the future. Simon Walker, Jill Jameson and Malcolm Ryan (2010) all pursue the concept that by increasing student participation and by building an academic community, educators will ultimately “support key academic skills [that are utilized] in technology-mediated

learning environments” (p.221-222).  The ultimate goal by learning about Google would be to eliminate the distribution of paper in the classroom, encouraging students to collaborate and provide feedback to one another in and outside of the classroom, and lastly to be able to utilize and become knowledgable of all the accessible tools that Google has to offer which would enable me to focus more on the interaction and creativity that is provided to my students in the classroom. 

References

Daley, E. (2003). Expanding the concept of literacy. EDUCAUSEreview, 33-40.

Walker, S., Jameson, J., & Ryan, M. (2010). Skills strategies for e-learning in a participatory culture. In R. Sharpe, H. Beetham, & S. De Freitas (Eds.), Rethinking learning for a digital age: How learners are shaping their own experiences (pp. 212-223). Routledge.