Thursday, December 13, 2012

7th Grade Animation Work


7A and 7C have successfully completed their digital animation work for the year. They created their animations using digital cameras and tripods, webcams, and iPads. They were given the choice of  using the following techniques: Pixilation, Stop Motion, Paper Puppets and drawing.

Toki Line test, iStopMotion and Animation Desk were used to produce the animation footage, once the storyboarding was done. The videos were edited on iMovie on the iMacs.  They had a lot of fun working with new applications and and trying things out with the different techniques. They also got a chance to reinforce previous chromakey work with the green  and blue screens. Have a look at some of their finished videos.

Friday, November 30, 2012

Our Favourite Animation Apps for the iPad

By Rodrigo Alfaro




We recently purchased a dozen iPads for teacher and student use in the LRC. These iPads are used for many tasks, including animation. We have found a great many useful apps for animation which we hope others will find useful as well.

  Animation Desk Lite for iPad This app has the most features for classical (drawn) animation. Its greatest limitation is that you can only create three scenes in the Lite version. Even so, it is quite a robust application; it includes different pen and brush types, multiple layers of animation, variable frame rates, onion-skinning and even a digital stamp tool which allows you to cut and paste as well. This application is ideal for patient students who have a drawing vocation and enough passion to pursue the completion of one project for a period of time. This application also feels more intuitive if you use a stylus to draw. Animation Desk will allow you to save a scene to the Photo Library (Camera Roll) as a movie, which can then be emailed or exported to a computer with the USB cable.

iStopMotion 
This application is designed for pixilation (sequential picture) sequences. The interface is very simple to use and understand, because as soon as you open the program there is a small tutorial which guides you through the basic functions of the app. When a clip is created, the front or back camera is activated and you can start shooting right away. The tricky part is to keep the ipad as still as possible, so the animation is not jarring and inconsistent. Often times, the best method involves placing the iPad in a static position in front of where the action will take place. Since this is a purchased app, there is no limit to the amount of scenes available to shoot. You also have the option to play back the animation at different speeds. When your sequence is done, you can export to the Photo Library and email your movie from there.

Animation Express
 This application is simple to use. It is very similar in style to Animation Desk, but the interface is less complicated. Even so, it is powerful enough to be able to do rotoscoping (drawing on pictures). It includes 2 modes: the regular drawing mode (which includes, brushes, colour swatches, a stamp tool and a smudge tool), as well as the animating mode, (which includes adding, subtracting or duplicating frames, variable frame rate, a sound recorder and export functionality to get your video out of the ipad and unto a computer. Other features (with the free version) include a shape tool, a Paint Bucket tool which is used to paint large areas of your drawing. This program is accessible and simple enough for those who find Animation Desk too complicated.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

LRC Festivals of Light Workshops

Do you like arts and crafts? Are you in the holiday spirit? 
Would you like to learn more about other festivals of light that occur during the winter time in the Northern Hemisphere? 

If so watch the video to find out more about the LRC Festivals of Light Workshops.




Festivals of Light Activities will take place at the LRC, for two weeks,starting next Monday. If you like arts and crafts and would like to take part, visit us on the various days. The LRC will provide the materials. 

Schedule for LRC Craft Workshops (2:00-3:00)
Monday 3rd and Wednesday 5th:Christmas
Thursday 6th: Diwali
Monday 10th: Hanukkah
Wednesday 12th: Kwaanzaa
           Thursday 13th: Ramadan

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Favourite Extension and App


I have a huge list of favourite extensions and apps that I love. My Chrome address bar is now minuscule as the result of me adding so many favourite Chrome extensions to my account.

There are only a few extensions in particular however, that I use many times a day without fail. Diigo is definitely one of them. I won't go into that now as I have written about it in the past.

Post to Blog
Diigo Groups for Student Content
My Wish Lists for Diigo and SimplyBox(now defunct)

Evernote clipper is one I plan on using more often, but funny enough one of my most useful extensions is the seemingly measly little goo.gl shortener. Now there are plenty of shortener extensions and apps out there, but this one has been with me from the on start and it works every single time. It is not only reliable, but fast and it generates a little QR code along with the shortened URL. It is this QR code that is so important to me.



Big deal you might say. QR codes are everywhere, they're certainly not new, so what is the big deal? Timeliness and reliability are both important here. I work on both a Mac and an iPad each day as do our students. Emailing links, or even bookmarking and then accessing them on Diigo (which I love) or tweeting them for example, seems to take too long, too many seconds spent opening up applications. Really,  I don't necessarily want these particular links taking up space in my Diigo account etc. Often we need the link in a pinch, while in the midst of a project.  At other times we generate them in advance, to use in directing the kids to starter activities, or as components of our online lessons.  We use one of my favourite iPad apps, i-nigma, to capture these QR Codes.


I have been loving this system for a while and decided that it deserves sharing.

Hold on....i-nigma is another application to open up, so why am I whinging about lost time?


The question is easily answered by answering another...Why do I love it?
It is free, it loads immediately, it is extremely reliable and it captures the QR Code without any kerfuffle. I don't even have to really focus it with the mobile device. I have stood at the front of my classroom and basically waved my iPad across the screen and it captures the code!!!


Getting a link to the iPad in a flash:
Basically what I do is generate the QR Code on the Mac and open it with i-nigma, that other app I absolutely love to bits. This opens it on the iPad where I can then use it in whatever project we are working on. This is great for working with citations of images the kids may have collected and sharing important links with each other.

Generating a link for starters or further investigation:
All you need to do is generate a QR code for the poll, reading selection, video etc, that you are using as a starter and having it up on your computer when the kids come in, ready to capture. I open mine in preview and they zoom very nicely, so even the kids at the back of the room can capture them with ease if needed.

Capturing on the spur of the moment:
Sometimes you may have reason to go off on a tangent and really want to share something with them for later followup or discussion. Just go to the page you want to share. Activate the extension and voila...you have a qr code for them to scan.

i-nigma is free for iPad, Android and Windows Phone, and goo.gl shortner is a free extension from the Chrome Store,so there is no reason not to try it out.






Friday, October 26, 2012

SEMANA DE SALVADOR SALAZAR ARRUE



En el marco de la celebración del día del niño y la niña, la biblioteca de secundaria LRC
organizó a partir del 22 al 26 de octubre diferentes actividades en homenaje a los 113
años del nacimiento del escritor salvadoreño Salvador Salazar Arrué.
Dichas actividades fueron realizadas con alumnos de 6º grado y como material de
apoyo “Cuentos de Cipotes” de Salarrué, edición adaptada para niños escrito por Irene
Piedrasanta, editorial guatemalteca.

El objetivo primordial es fomentar entre los estudiantes el conocimiento de la literatura
salvadoreña, que sirve para representarnos e identificarnos como país, ya que hasta la
fecha tienen vigencia estas lecturas en nuestra identidad cultural.
La actividad contó con la participación de varias invitadas entre las cuales están;
Ligia Salguero, encargada de la Mediateca y actividades infantiles del Centro Cultural
de España en El Salvador. Quien estuvo leyendo algunos cuentos como: “Cipotío que
sacaba la lengua”, “la primeritita comunión de Menchedita Copalchines” y “la muerta
viva tonta. También se disfrutó de los videos de los Cuentos de Cipotes hechos por
dibujos animados producidos por el Museo de la Palabra y la Imagen.

La invitada además enseñó cómo elaborar una bonita manualidad hecha con foamy de
un cipote y cipota colgado de una rama, juego que muchos de nuestros niños lo hacen
siendo parte de su entretenimiento en El Salvador.

La siguiente invitada fue Silvia Elena Regalado poeta, ensayista, académica, antóloga
salvadoreña y Directora de la Casa del Escritor; que estuvo compartiendo con los
alumnos sus vivencias en la Casa del Escritor e interactuando con la mayoría de los
alumnos que se mostraban interesados en la casa que habita el espíritu de Salarrué.
Entre los poemas que compartió están algunos de su propia autoría dedicados a Katya
Miranda:

•Hay una niña que abre un libro de cuentos.

•Ella, palabra de amor, sílaba de sueños.

•Es un jardín de risas, ama a su perro.

•Pinta abrazos y soles para su pelo…

Para los días finales estuvieron de narradoras de los cuentos Yensi Vides e Hilda
Gómez como representación de la biblioteca del LRC.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Theatre Week at the ABC


Theatre Week came to an end last week with a very special LOL. The drama students, with the help of Mrs. Mariona, put together a short skit about how corn came to be. The music was performed by Miss. Leong and a few music students. The masks in the play were made by students and teachers during the after school workshops, held each day outside the LRC. At the end of the presentation, Mr. Keslake gave out two awards from the Art department, for the best Theatre Week Poster. A big thanks to everyone who contributed in making this a special event.

We have included a short video of the event in case you missed the live one.


Friday, September 28, 2012

Banned Books Week

It is Banned Books Week this Week! Many books are banned each year and it has been this way throughout history. What is censorship? Why do people and organisations ban books? 

Do you agree or disagree with this practice? Does the LRC ban books? 

Follow this link if you would like to know more and check out the banned books display in the LRC. 



It is Theatre Week this week!



Come along to the mask making workshops after school in the LRC each day to make cool masks and even help prepare a short performance! 

Take a look at the Who Said That? posters outside of the LRC. Can you figure out which theatrical character spoke those words? Write your answers down on the papers provided and add your own favourite theatrical quotes to the empty speech bubble posters.



Monday, September 24, 2012

Peace One LoL

Welcome back to a new school week!

If you were unable to attend the Peace One Lunch on the Lawn concert, you can always watch it on the LRC Youtube channel or check it out along with pictures from the event on our Facebook Page.


Monday, September 17, 2012

Welcome back to a new school year!




Welcome back to a new school year!

We are really looking forward to this amazing new school year.

We recently updated our ICT Curriculum, with many new and improved learning experiences  for our students to engage in. This year they will be involved in building in virtual worlds on Jokaydia Grid PoraOra and Minecraft,  creating interactive e-books with iBooks Author, Android App programming,  using iPads for research, animation, audio creation and more, and this is  just to name a few. For more details have a look at our vertical schemes online, on the ICT Website.

The new books have been pouring into the library since late summer and are rapidly making their way onto the shelves. Our new audio books are here too and we have invested in a collection of e-books from Follet. This collection will soon be accessible 24/7 by students for browsing and checking out, on their mobile devices, as well as computers.

The back of the LRC is now being utilised as a video recording area with 3 chroma key screens installed and another on the way, special lighting and boom mics. The new iMacs  have arrived bringing the total of bookable desktops to a whopping 36. Add our 12 new iPads and the existing 22 laptops to the mix and we are now able to manage the computing needs of 3 teaching groups at a time!

Our LRC activities have now started and there are plenty to enjoy each month. You can always check on what is coming up using the LRC Calendar on the front page of the LRC website. You can even add this calendar to your own Google Calendar.


Our new 6th grade students visited the LRC last week for orientation. The students came down with their English teachers and were the first to use the new iPads. They used the iPads to help identify and work out clues during a QR code Scavenger hunt. This activity was prepared and run by Yensi and Hilda our Librarians.


The traditional Civic Week tour  also took place last week. The LRC hosted more students than ever this year, from both the Primary and Secondary sections. During the tour students worked in their class groups with the librarians and teachers, to learn more about El Salvador through artefacts,  special puzzles and traditional games. The photos from these activities can be found on the LRC Facebook page.





It has been a great start to the year so far and there is so much more to come. Watch our Facebook Page for updates on Peace One Day, Banned Books Week and Salvadoran Children's Day activities. We also encourage you to take a look at our Website where you can find useful resources, browse our collections, check out the new arrivals and more, as well as follow us on Twitter.

Here's to an amazing SY12/13!

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Summer Opening Hours


Update: We will also be closed on June 21st as we are working with the Stories to change the world 2012 project, which is being held at the Cojutepeque Library.



The LRC will be open this summer for checking out and renewing books, except for the following dates: June 23rd-July 6th & August 3rd-6th. Our summer opening hours will be 7:00-3:00, Monday to Friday. We will close between 12;00-1:00 each day. 


 New books will be arriving all summer long. Use the Shefari Collection to view them and do come in and check some out on the holidays.  Have a great summer holiday everyone!


Wednesday, May 30, 2012

The Positive Effects of Gaming



This evening as I was wandering through posts on Google+, I came across this post by the Frugal Dad.

Now much of this is not news. Many of us have been hearing for years that gamer's brains are getter at certain tasks and that their are physical differences between brains on games and those not. Most of us are also very aware of the educational benefits of gaming,  but didn't you know that video games were being used for pain management in hospitals?  Did you know that after 21 hours of play a week, the benefits are outweighed by negative impact.  I didn't, not until today, so I thought I would share.

The following Info graphic  is worth looking at, so do scroll down.


Gaming is good for you
Source: Frugal Dad

Friday, May 18, 2012

Voting has begun for the ABC DVA!



Only a total of 200 votes will be cast before voting closes so get in their early if you want your vote to count! Students please click  here to vote.

Staff Members  please use the link that was sent to your email.

Monday, May 14, 2012

The ABC DVA is Almost Here!

Check out our great video trailer and join us for one of the biggest events of the school year.


Thursday, May 10, 2012

3D Worlds in KS3

We have been working in virtual worlds in both 6th and 7th grade this month and it has been a roaring success.  It is a sign that you've hit it right on, when kids don't want to leave a lesson and groan when the bell rings, and this is usually what happens when we teach with virtual worlds.

This is the first year we have used PoraOra virtual world with any of our classes. Prior to this we had always used WhyVille to introduce our students to educational virtual worlds and to teach web safety and netiquette. The people at  PoraOra have worked hard to build educational in-world activities  that are linked to the British Key Skills for KS2. PoraOra is full of fun games that help students review and build their skills across subjects. For our 6th graders most of it is review and practice, and they have great fun doing it.


My Horses

In 7th grade we are working with Reaction Grid for the second year running. Our 7th grade students are having a great time learning how to get around, exploring different regions and learning how to build in 3D with their avatars. We have even found a bit of time for shopping at Gridizen's market and customising avatars.

So far the building has been very simple as students learn how each basic shape can be modified, how to import textures and how to link prims together to create complex objects. Our objectives are many, learning how to get around, communicate and build in a 3d environment are core. Very soon however we will be applying these new skills in a very special way. Our students are going to research and then commence the construction of an environmentally friendly homestead. They will do so collaboratively with over 100 students working on it in total.

It is a very exciting project and the first time around for us in attempting something so ambitious. We will play it by ear and if needed, slow down and continue it next year. One thing is certain, the students and the teachers working in RG are thrilled with this project as were the 6s were with PoraOra, to the point of ushering a collective groan every time the bell signals the end of the lesson.

     

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The ABC DVA

The ABC Digital Video Awards are coming up on May 29th. This the second annual event promises to be spectacular. If you are interested in submitting a video do so using the Google Form in your school email, or the form on the ABC DVA website. You have until this Friday to do so. 

https://sites.google.com/a/abc-net.edu.sv/abc-oscars/


Learn By Gaming

This is a great TED Talk on how powerful the the learning is that takes place in when playing MMPOG.
Our World of Warcraft students are a great example of this. The learning that has taken place in-game, since January is exponential. This doesn't even take into account the additional learning they have engaged in through the novel study element of the club.

Games aren't bad and yes books are still good!


Tuesday, May 8, 2012

7th Grade Poetry Booklet Videos

Miss Nixon's class put together some great Poetry Booklets this month, just in time for Poetry Week.
Here is a video that she put together in Animoto  to spotlight the student work.

Poetry Week

It is Poetry Week this week. Help out by filling in a line or two of the incomplete poems around the hallways. Try out the fun tongue twisters, performance poems and other activities in the poetry display in the LRC and join us for a special LOL on Friday to recite a poem, or simply kick back and enjoy poetry readings and raps as wall as great musical performances.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Santa Tecla Children's Libarary

Yesterday we had the great pleasure of visiting the Santa Tecla Children's Library. We took 11 students with us,  from 6th to 11th grade,  to drop off 3 boxes of book donations collected during Book Week.

During this time, the students had a long chat with Debra Gittler, the person in charge of the project. Debra explained her reasons for getting involved with the new library, two of which are the need for access to quality children's book throughout the community and the need to provide quality, engaging reading experiences for the local children.

The library is not quite finished yet, as additional funding is still needed,  but it promises to be a very special place. The students, the English Department and the LRC are committed to helping in the ways we can to support this superb project in our city.

If you would like to find out more about this and other local projects you can do so through  the Contextos website and/or view their YouTube videos.


Poetry Week


It is Poetry Week next week. Help us fill in the unfinished poems posted along corridors, and try out some of the interactive poetry activities in the display at the back of the LRC. 

We will be holding a special Poetry Week LOL on Friday with both musical performances and poetry readings.  This will take place on the lawn, however in the case of rain it will be moved to the mezzanine. 

 Join us in the audience or volunteer to perform or recite. Contact Mrs. Garcia or Miss Pogson if interested.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Presenting Our Project

Last Saturday we had the privilege of presenting our WoW project at the Social Learning Summit .  My co-presenter, who is a 12th grade WoW expert, and myself were really excited about sharing our experiences and those of our students in the club so far. The session was only 30 minutes long so it was a bit of a rush and we couldn't delve into things too much, but we managed to cover the important points. Hopefully through our sharing session we managed to spark an interest in other teachers.

There are two things that really stand out upon reflection on this project. The first is the ability of a blogging platform to facilitate the writing process, and enable students to collaborate, and teach others as they publish their ideas to the world.  The second is the way in a which a game environment not only helps students in thinking strategically, but also moves them towards directing and resourcing their learning.

Our students, took the initiative and began to research the WoW game. They  made it their business to visit and read through forums and wikis. They searched out and watched videos on the game, and they engaged in important discussions with other more experienced player's. Their appetite for learning kicked in and they became ravenous. Funny enough, at no point were they instructed to do so!

So the question is, if kids can turn on this need to learn more, and the appropriate web search and web evaluation skills are in place, enabling them to locate important resources and teach themselves, then how can we shift or redesign other learning experiences, in order to evoke a similar hunger, a similar response?

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Earth Week is Almost Here!

It is Earth Week Next Week. Please take a look at the free afternoon workshops offered by the LRC and sign up for a few.

Link to Earth Week Sign Up Form.


Wednesday, March 28, 2012

The March Newsletter is Out!

Please click on the image below to access our online newsletter and feel free to comment back to us on it in below.


Monday, March 26, 2012

It's Water Week!

It is Water Week this week.

Find a time to come in during the week and try out our interactive "How Much Water ...?" Displays.



Thursday, March 22, 2012

Speed Geeking!

On Saturday March 17th The LRC and ICT Committee held the annual T4L or technology for learning morning.

 

After a lovely breakfast, courtesy of the school, staff were treated to a special keynote session live from London, on  3 trends in education.
Next, everyone engaged in a speed geeking session. Teachers spent 4 minutes at a station in a circuit of 13 stations and moved on to the next station each time the whistle was blown. During each stop they learned about a different T4L tool. Some of the themes included  less traditional teaching and learning tools such as World of Warcraft, Minecraft, Lego and incredibots, as well as newer tools including iPads and digital flip books. There were plenty more amazing ideas shared at this time. They are outlined in the copy of our program below.

Next, staff members participated in 2 digital playground sessions in which they were able further explore the tools  they were most interested in.We chose two sessions as we had more topics than presenters and this allowed us to swap over between the two.
These were all dynamic learning experience, but what made these sessions even more exciting is that many of them were lead by our ABC students.We had a total of 17 students volunteer to run sessions, both speed geeking and in the digital playground. We gave them some guidelines, talked to them about what they could do and they took it from there. They were fantastic! Many members of staff came up to me after the fact to mention how impressed they were by what the students were doing.


PLANNING
 A Google Site was created to house content for the session in the form of web pages, one per idea. The initail Google Docs planning was  also transferred over to the site. This included lists of students, activity rotations  and presenters, circulation maps and links to the program. Google Forms were used to collect attendee lists as well as after session feedback from teachers. This particular site is restricted to staff members only, but you can get a taste of some of the sessions by looking at a few of the pages which I cloned for my Inset Wiki.
Please check out our Flickr Set and Facebook Album for more on this great event!      

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Brain Awareness Week!

 

It is Brain Awareness Week! Come visit the interactive display.  Exercise your brain with our games, puzzles, riddles and brain teaser. Try out fun balancing challenges, collect brain friendly recipes and bookmarks and read up on how to keep your brain healthy. 

Remember to sleep 9 hours a night, eat breakfast each day, and exercise your brain and your body!


Check out the LRCABC Flickr gallery for great photo updates each day.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Read an E-Book Week

It is Read an E-Book Week this week! Join in on the fun, read e-books, have a photograph taken of you reading an e-book and try out the exciting daily competition. You might win one of many great prizes.

See Mrs. Garcia, Yensi or Hilda in the LRC for more information.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Book Week Update Wednesday 29th February, 2012


Spanish Book Drive - A collection box is set up at the front of the LRC for Spanish language book donations.  So far it is completely empty! :-{  
Please drop off your old Spanish children’s books. It is for a great cause.

The Book Fair continues tomorrow and Friday from 8:00-3:00. There is a great selection of books to choose from so come along and check them out.

Character Day is on Friday- Dress up as your favourite book character (or come as Harry Potter on his summer holidays).

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Book Week Update

Book Week Update!
Thank you to all of you who contributed to the  Book Assembly. If you want to join the Hobbit Bookathon but were unable to see Mrs. Garcia please make sure you see her or Mr. Keslake tomorrow and we will arrange a catch up session. We will continue listening each afternoon for the rest of the week, so do come along.

The Book Fair starts tomorrow Wednesday, and will run for the rest of the week, from 8:00-3:00. Come see and buy!

Come along to the LRC today and on Friday to create digital Flip Books with Hilda. Finished books will be published on the web, printed off and bound so that they can be donated to a local library.

Check out our Book Week photos and join in on the fun. Pose for a poster. Check out all our great photos at

Check back for regular updates.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The February Newsletter is Out!

Please click on the image below to access the full newsletter.  We hope you enjoy it. We would love to hear back from you, so please take a minute to write us a comment.

Mrs. Garcia


Monday, February 20, 2012

Special Reminders for This Week!

Here are some important reminders for you.
 Please remember that the Internet Safety Competition comes to a close this Friday. If you intend to participate, please email Mrs.Garcia today and bring your poster and/or video submissions to the LRC by this Friday 3:00.
Book Week is Coming up Fast! Please fill in the form in your email or by clicking here   and share the title of one of your favourite books with us.
 
 
 

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Augmented Reality and SketchUp


I am in SketchUp mode right now, as we are working with the program in our 8th grade lessons. The students have been given a special task. They are to create a room based on a descriptive piece they wrote in English lessons, entitled a Character's Mind as a  Room.

It's the second time we have done this project in two years the culminating activity for which,  is to create a SketchUp video of the models. Yesterday the plans changed a bit something new and exciting appeared on the horizon. I came across a slide share presentation posted by Martin Burrett on augmented reality. The presentation lead me to AR-Media's cool plugin for Google SketchUp. I needed to check this out, one because I have never really investigated augmented reality (except for the time I tried to get it to work in Zooburst, failed and gave up...[Note to self: go back and try this again]), but more importantly because it would be an exciting activity to do with our kids when they complete the unit. They could even screencast themselves manipulating their models.

All anyone needs to do is to download the free plugin from AR-Media then build or open an existing  model. A working webcam is a must, most computers come with built in cameras today, as is a print  off the marker from the AR-media folder in your computer library.

To get a better idea, watch the very short inexpert video demonstration I put together. There are plenty more of these peruse, including one produced by In Globe Technologies, which demonstrates layers management, real time sections and more.


Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The January Newsletter is Out!

Here is our January Newsletter. Do have a read when you get a moment and feel free to comment back to us on this blog.


This is a snapshot. Please click here to read it online.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

When Glitches Bring Gain

                             http://www.islabit.com/6789/corriendo-world-of-warcraft-en-un-iphone.html    http://otrapartida.com/ya-a-la-venta-la-version-completa-de-minecraft/10776/


Each Monday our World of Warcraft group meets to discuss our readings, blog posts and work together in-world. Unfortunately yesterday afternoon, WoW was experiencing difficulties with user log-ins and after a few tries we gave up. The kids then resorted to their next favourite game, Minecraft and a discussion soon began. Some of the students had found out on Twitter that on the 18th (tomorrow) Minecraft might be allow online users to play the complete game for free. They were very excited about this, and since I don't play Minecraft and couldn't access my WoW account,   I decided to delve into it further.

It turns out that many online services have planned activities, amongst these "blackouts" to protest SOPA. We weren't terribly familiar with what that was, so we dug further and found out that it is a piece of US legislation that is meant to protect against online piracy- called the Stop Online Piracy Act. There is a great deal of public opposition to SOPA and as a result many online services have planned a blackout. 


  

What is your Opinion on SOPA?

The kids, our learners of the remix generation, were genuinely interested in what SOPA was and why Wikipedia, Minecraft and many others were so unhappy with it that they would go to these measures. I don't think I have ever had 6th graders ask me to send them news reports before. Yesterday after a brief discussion, many of them requested that I forward on the information to them. 

Thursday, January 12, 2012

The Fullfillment of a New Comment!

It is always very exciting to receive feedback on published work. It generates a feeling of pride, boosts confidence and helps you to realise that you can make a contribution regardless of your age.

Today I received a notification that one of the student videos received a comment. 
Our novice WoWers were able to help someone with the game in their very first video tutorial. 
"gaqol29 has made a comment on Darnassus- transportation for Night Elves.mov: thanks alot this really helped me to get out of the elf world" 

Please do take a moment to comment on our WoW blog when you get a chance. The students are submitting their first homework assignments based on the readings and the game this week.