as i was watching the "what is art" claymation piece from racinian's recent blog entry, i started thinking about how i miss making creative pieces about theoretical concepts. we did that in high school kind of a lot, but instead of stop-motion we did collages, videos, and some other stuff.

for a literature class, we filmed a version of the show, "the dating game," where the three possible choices to date were portia (from julius caesar), scout (to kill a mockingbird), and veruca salt (willy wonka and the chocolate factory). it was hilarious, but really analytical as well with the comments we threw in. my friends and i had so much fun writing the script and doing the acting. this class was AP and very well-taught, yet still fun.

We’ve talked a bit about Second Life in class, how they have their own economy, news bureau, etc… But it seems now that Second Life is also becoming involved in the world of education. I read an article this morning, and apparently over 60 schools and other educational organizations are beginning to use Second Life as a pedagogical tool. One of the major ways in which it’s being utilized is with distance learning programs. The article uses a law school class from Harvard as an example. The class is offered both to students who are residents and distance learners. Class discussions, the professor’s office hours, and even some class-related events are held in Second Life. In this case, Second Life can be a way to use 3-D navigable space (props to Manovich!) to create a new, virtual classroom setting. The article also mentioned how this space offers a lot of potential for international students to get involved. This space offers a way for students and professors to interact as a group, regardless of geographical location.

When I met with my potential first reader for thesis, I was very impressed with his ideas for simple, yet practical applications of media to education. The ideas particularly resounded with me, because over the summer I had an internship at the University of California, San Diego, in their Professional Development Institute, which dealt with helping teachers better their techniques. We held a conference for the Los Angeles Unified School District (Local District 6) for ESL (English as a Second Language) kids, as well as a retreat for a new charter school that didn’t know how to find resources. Both could use simple applications of media to help kids in their classroom and find administrative resources. Also, I read some e-newsletters on the use of technology and education with input from teachers on what worked for them, and my potential thesis reader’s ideas were very much inline with the ideas teachers reported worked best. Here are some of his ideas: