Another channel that I subscribe to that I think is particularly relevant to teaching the Social Studies 20 – World Issues course is No Comment News, courtesy of the EuroNews network. What is great about this channel is that it provides up-to-date current events footage from around the world and offers “no comment” on what is happening. These videos are usually 2 minutes or less and have no newscasters explaining what is happening or the context behind what is being shown. Instead, it is up to the viewer to decipher what is going on and why this event is taking place. If I were showing it to a group of students, I would first ask them questions such as:

1) What do you see happening in this video?
2) What is the historical and/or current context behind what is being shown?
3) Where is this taking place?
4) Who are some of the key people that are being shown in this video and how do you see them being portrayed.

Students would then have an opportunity to investigate these questions further by viewing on-line news reports or newspaper articles that offer up commentary on the current situation.

Once students have a better understanding of what is happening, you could then have them take the assignment one step further and turn it into a multimedia project by embedding these videos into iMovie and have students layer in an accompanying news story where they would offer their own commentary on the video footage. I would expect to find that the commentary between student groups will vary, depending on where they have accessed their information fom. Once each group has offered their insights, you could then take it one step further by investigating the different biases that might be identified within each student group’s piece.

Check out the videos on their site. (Unfortunately, edublogs will not allow me to embed one of their videos I have downloaded because “it does not meet security guidelines”. Does anybody know a way around this?) Images often speak for themselves. As far as comments go, draw your own.

It seems like I’m spending a lot of time on the internet these days without getting much done. I’ve spent the last week just trying to figure out how to make my time on this interconnected web more focused and time-efficient. I generally don’t like spending mass amounts of time in front of my computer, but I feel like as I become increasingly connected to the world through computer, the more time is required to sort through, process and respond accordingly. I realize that it’s going to require some significant investments of my time and energy in order to establish connections with professional learning communities (PLC’s) through the Internet. But how can we integrate the use of computer technology our lives in such a way that it doesn’t end up consuming us? Could it be that “machine is us/ing us” as this video by Michael Wesch suggests. It seems there’s so much to tap into across cyberspace that you end up spending the majority of your time in front of a computer just trying to keep up with it all. My back begins to ache at the thought of how much time I can spend in front of my computer. It doesn’t feel like a healthy endeavor in my mind.

On the other hand, I recognize the enormous potential for computer technology to enhance the learning environment and increase connections with the world around us. I also recognize that I’m going through a major learning curve in my computer efficiency skills right now. For instance, I’m just now beginning to employ the use of keyboard short cuts, and have just recently formatted my iGoogle page to become the primary hub for accessing everything I need when I’m on the internet. There is much more room in my development for improved efficiency but unfortunately, that’s going to take a large amount of time and energy to get it all set-up. Things are changing so rapidly that it’s hard to keep up with it all though. Here’s to trying!