You can just go to . . . !

[EDIM 516: Unit 1]

“Go to” resources for me --- outside of standard textbooks & reading packets --- include anything that fits the curricula. But, finding that “anything” can become a drawn-out chore. I’ve often spent hours trawling Youtube, Vines, Netflix, Soundcloud, DVD’s, Schoology Groups, etc., for just the right app or resource. I don’t (usually) begrudge the hours spent because it’s most often like a treasure hunt; fun entertaining downtime. But, it does still take time, sometimes more than others.

I teach what you might consider non-traditional courses, ethics & inter-religious dialogue, in a high-end, Catholic, college-prep high school. And, unfortunately, I’ve found that most of what you can find on the internet comes from the lunatic fringe, left or right wing, it doesn’t matter. The bias is just so hard to balance that it strikes most items off the menu. So, many of my teaching resources are ones that I’ve created, borrowed, or adapted from things shared in my PLN.

My colleagues at Fenwick are a rich source of professional support. I’m blessed to be a member of a faculty that regularly meets for professional development. We hear one another’s success stories, rosy-cheeked failures, & projects in progress. The theology faculty is particularly adventuresome. They’re a tech savvy bunch, more than ready to share a latest enthusiasm --- often ad nauseam! :)

The greatest challenges that I’ve found come from those few faculty who fear & resist the necessary move toward intelligently integrating technology into instruction. Some few are Luddites, some are just plain stubborn & don’t want to learn new tricks. Another, even more surprising challenge, comes from the students themselves. Until recently, their entire experience of education has been feet flat on the floor, face front, take notes, & pay attention to the talking head in front of the room. They don’t want to re-learn how to learn & to succeed. A less common, but not uncommon challenge, comes from parents suspicious of LMS’s, dropboxes, online discussions, & flipping classrooms.

So, I rely on what I have. I create what I don’t, or (even better) borrow it from friends. I respond to challenges ad hoc, while trying to use technologies in the classroom in ways that forward teaching goals, enhance instruction, and enable authentic learning.

Don't I know you?

EDIM 516 [Introduction]

Hello, Colleagues!

I don't have a webcam, so I thought that the next best thing would be an audio intro. Please pardon the snorting & snuffling . . . I'm just getting over a Chicago-cold.

Doug.
Audio recording and upload >>

Why the Divine Comedy?  The world behind the world of the Divine Comedy, 16^th century Italy, is a lot like our own.  But, the religious worldview is something so foreign that it is incomprehensible. The goal of the lessons on the Divine Comedy is to help students to understand and to critique received beliefs about the afterlife, so that they can intelligently integrate what is actually known about the afterlife into their religious worldview today.

I hope to help students to develop their respectful mind by helping them to see how an idea that takes shape in one historical period, in one culture, can affect what we think and what we believe today.  So, rather than be tempted to ignore what Dante has to teach us about the nature of good and evil, which is couched in the language and thought forms of his era, they might retrieve and make practical use of the wisdom of a former age.

The Divine Comedy is a study in morality and ethics.  In the Inferno, Dante teaches us how to recognize evil in all its grotesquerie; in the Purgatorio, how to atone for it; and in the Paradiso, the goal of human striving.  Human beings, whether religious or not, often delude ourselves about the quality of our actions.  Dante allows us to suffer none of our own best illusions about evil, or about good.  These are lessons that all might benefit from today as we attempt to lead ethical lives.

The padlet “wall” contains (almost) all of the resources that I would use to teach Dante, The Divine Comedy.  I included links to introductory lectures, online texts in the original Tuscan and several English translations, various maps, and the iconic art of Dore. There is also an audio file of the nine most famous lines of the Inferno, i.e., Canto III, Lines 1-9, Abandon all hope . . . , and a <.pdf> that introduces students to the metaphysics of good and evil.

I used padlet because it has a lot of bang for the buck. It is very simple to use.  Just double-click, type, and use the command ribbon to create --- in this case --- an archive.  Ours includes uploaded texts, audio files, and links to online resources.  Padlet also has a webcam feature, but I am not sure why a selfie might be useful.  Padlet also provides exceptional technical support.  The only thing I found that I could not do was to embed a padlet within a padlet.  You have to settle for a link.

My students are currently using the padlet as personal and group archives for a research project.  Their final deliverable will be a completed padlet archive, bibliography, and link to a multimedia presentation.  The padlet will help them to put it all together in one place.

Created with Padlet

“What fresh hell can this be?” ~ Dorothy Parker

This assignment was a bit challenging at the start. I had first to learn what “video blog”meant. I had in mind the short videos that Beyonce made with a camcorder each night while on tour, which I think is called a “vlog.” I was glad to learn that the “video blog” has a few different forms because I just do not like being on video; I’m not such of a fan of photos, either. Don’t ask me why, because I don’t know! :)

I dawdled for a long time trying to decide which web-based apps to use. There are so many & I am just familiar enough with enough of them to make the choice tricky. I finally decided to use Prezi for presentation, and Vocaroo to record the audio.

Prezi has a rather steep learning curve. But, if you spend an afternoon watching Prezi's Official Tutorials on Youtube, you’ll find that it’s not as hard to use as you might first think. There are only two things that I’ve found to be a bit irritating about it. There just aren’t enough templates to choose from. I typically just start from scratch, but I was lucky to find one that met the design needs of this project. It’s also a bit of a bother that you have to record an .mp3 for each “zoom.” But, adding them is really quite easy.

I used Vocaroo to record audio files. It’s straightforward & easy to use. It provides an unvarnished recording, so if you want to make edits, e.g., cuts, noise reduction, background music, etc.,  you’ll have to use something like Audacity, or GarageBand.

The most time-intensive part of this project was creating a script. Sourcing & creating the Prezi took two - three hours. I finished the .mp3’s in under an hour with Vocaroo.