Top Ten Videos Response

This activity is similar to the activities when I went to elementary school. We engaged in similar topics but went about performing and reaching the objectives differently, without technology.  I remember in my 3rd grade class we were doing a unit on sea creatures and as part of the activities we got to make sea creatures our of paper and paint and hung on the ceiling.  It was an engaging activity for its time, but in todays classrooms with all the technology going on in the world we need to now include it in our curriculum as well.  Just as Rebecca Pilver did with her students.  Not only was it engaging for them, but it was also very collaborative and made it easier to make sure all the students were participating and getting something out of the lessons.  A learning style that seemed to jump out was the reading and writing, and the visual.  Students had to read and research and then write their own pages for the site, the visual    was evident in all of the pictures the students got to look up and use to accompany their information, making it more diverse in how the children analyzed what they were seeing and learning about.  I am not surprised at the fact that no text books were used for this project, I would like to use books to a minimum, while embracing the new rich technology and ways of learning.  Though I would also enjoy a lot of hands on projects for an art room setting, this would allow other students who may have a need to learn in a more direct approach.  My biggest concerns are relying to much on the technology, and that we may not be ready for this type of teaching in all schools.  Students may not all have the same experience and background as others, and may still not even have a computer with internet access.  As teachers who would like to use technology more in the classrooms we need to be prepared to teach fundamentals and basics of the computer.