Upon prompt from Dr. Cyrus, I scheduled time to participate in a webinar on Tuesday 9/28 10:00am Guam time regarding use of a Science Fiction series called FutureStates (www.futurestates.tv) for the secondary level high school. I was going to attempt to post a question I had about motivating students to learn science that I posted a week before on Classroom20.com. Last week, I posted an inquiry on Classroom2.0 where I did not get a response so I thought maybe I could ask the 26 participants on the webinar. Instead, I was enthralled by the content of the webinar and the ideas brought up by the presenters. The panel had both an English and a Science curriculum developer who are developing unit plans based on these short films. They were sharing science fiction media and lesson plan ideas on how to use this media to motivate student learning, generate discussion and trigger scientific inquiry. This was an educational experience.
I was very impressed by the high quality of the media and presenters’ ideas. They shared their lesson plan ideas and even promised to have sample lesson plans uploaded for public use on futurestates.tv by next week Monday (first week of Oct.). I will definitely take a look and consider using this as a future resource for my classroom. To followup up the usefulness on the content of this webinar, I decided to re-post an inquiry that I had on a particular video on my PLN on Classroom2.0 to generate a discussion on an idea that I had considered for my future classroom.
Unfortunately, I’m rather disappointed so far from my Professional Learning Network on Classroom2.0 (www.classroom20.com). The posted a discussion (http://www.classroom20.com/forum/topics/science-fiction-film-segue-for?xg_source=activity) did not generate any replies or feedback for the last 72 hours. In detail, I solicited feedback regarding the appropriateness of the content for use in a High School classroom. With over 30,000 members, I was hoping to get some feedback as the film content seems very controversial. Unfortunately, 72 hours later and still no response.
Next, I decided to try my Personal Network on Facebook. I don’t have many teachers on my Facebook list but I do have many parents and peers my age. I was hoping they would also see the link, watch the video and startup a discussion. Unfortunately, I still did not receive any feedback within the last 48 hours. Interestingly, I did receive comments within one hour about pictures that I posted recently. Therefore I know that people can see my posts. Perhaps they are more interested in interpersonal drama rather than social/political/science issues that face our greater society.
In conclusion, I am content that although I have many options to share media to my personal and professional network, I am rather disappointed that no too many people have responded to the controversial discussion. I believe that the video and lesson plan idea that I shared was engaging enough but why my Professional or Personal peers have not replied or commented is still a mystery to me. I did not receive the comment or feedback that I was hoping for. Perhaps the drama of the film is too much for the island of Guam or maybe not pertinent to the social/political/scientific issues that we face. I do not believe so. I simply believe that my peers’ social life is more important to garner their attention than my grand interest in social/political/scientific global issues.
Hi:
ReplyDeleteWith thousands of choices on PLNs, BLOGs and social networks, people make decisions about what to participate in. So you need to get your questions and concerns in front of those eyes who might respond, such as FB groups, Twitter groups and webinars. Don't give up. For example, there are 2 groups of students returning to SoE in order to get their certifications in the Master's of Teaching program (MAT).