Visit The EDM310 Alumni Blog Amazing! An Alumni Blog! Thanks to Jackie Gorski and all of her co-authors!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

The Science of Sarcasm? Yeah, Right

Sarcasm

If I had another week, this would be a Blog assignment.

The Science of Sarcasm? Yeah, Right

Read it. And if your response is "Yeah, right" here are some of the key quotes from the article:
Studies have shown that exposure to sarcasm enhances creative problem solving...

An inability to understand sarcasm [by kindergarten] may be a sign of brain disease.

...23% if the time the phrase "yeah, right" was used [on the telephone], it was uttered sarcastically

Sarcasm seems to exercise the brain more than sincere statements do.

...brains have to work harder to understand sarcasm.

Richard Chin, Smithsonian.com, November 14, 2011
And more. Read the article. You can say "yeah, right." But read the article! And leave a comment here.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Ramsey Willis Stars in E Brooks' Green Screen Demo

Ramsey in a tree

Did you miss the Green Screen demonstration by Elizabeth Brooks? Watch it HERE.




Video By Elizabeth Brooks
Demonstration by Elizabeth Brooks
Software: Premiere on the PC
Screen Recording Software: Debut Video Capture
Starring: Ramsey Willis

You really should watch this to understand how chroma key works!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Blog Post #13 Now Complete in Revised Blogpost Assignments (Version5)

Change ahead

In the first four versions of Blogpost Assignments, Blog Assignment #13 had two options which were "to be announced." They are now included in the latest version of Blog Post Assignments (Version5).

Monday, November 7, 2011

C4K # 10 Due 11/13/11 - SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS

Mrs. Yollis' Class Blog

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS

C4K Assignment #10 Due 11/13/2011 is a different kind of assignment than usual. It has two distinct parts. Part 1 is different than what you normally are assigned to do. Read these instructions CAREFULLY.

Part 1.
A.You will be visiting Ms. Yollis' 3rd Grade Class in California. Do you know who Ms. Yollis is? She is the teacher who rejected 3 comments from EDM310 students because they did not meet her spelling, punctuation and grammar rules for 3rd graders. I hope you have read the post How's Your A? Some of You Wont't Make It Through the 3rd Grade. PROOFREAD your comment. I do not want an email from Ms. Yollis about your spelling, punctuation or grammar!
B: Thoroughly examine Ms. Yollis' Class Blog. That means clicking on all links and tabs; reviewing the material in the blog; exploring and understanding how she uses her blog; how she involves the students; how she involves parents; how she involves classes from around the world. Think about the instructional purposes of her blog. Be sure you watch the video on how to comment. You should also see the Cluster Map of visitors to her blog. Her count started just 2 days before EDM310's did. How do the number of visits compare? I ask you this to demonstrate that you must keep your eyes open AND think when you review her class blog. Ask yourself similar questions. Click on ALL links.
C: When you have finished this part of your assignment, write a thorough description and analysis of Mrs. Yollis' Class Blog, and all of its parts and links. Publish your post. This concludes Part 1 of your C4K#10 assignment.
Part 2 consists of a standard comment on some portion of Mrs. Yollis' Class Blog. Specific instructions are found in the C4K Assignment in your Google Docs. REMEMBER: PROOFREAD your comment before you click the OK button!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Metaphors - A Time to Learn

Time to Learn

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:..." Despite the many opposites contained in the time for list found in Ecclesiastes, there is no mention of a time to learn. So I'll add that. I like to think that the reason to learn is not included is that there is no time we should not be learning. We do find "a time to seek and a time to lose." But we do not find a time to learn and a time not to learn. So we will take that as an encouragement to always learn.

This week we have the opportunity to learn about metaphors. Actually, most of you already know about metaphors. You certainly encounter them regularly. And you use them. If you are a Christian and you go to church, or if you read your Bible, you cannot escape metaphors. If you read children's books, metaphors are all around you. If you are a parent, you know about storks that deliver babies and a big jolly old man as large as I am who delivers presents to "good little boys and girls." If you watched the very first assignment in EDM310 you encountered Mr. Winkle.

I had expected you to substitute computers for pencils in the Tom Johnson assignment due last Sunday. Well, maybe I didn't expect that since many EDM310 students miss the metaphor (or allegory). It happens every semester. I guess that the correct statement is that I hoped that you would understand the metaphor, or that you would at least be suspicious that the post was not literally true. I was wrong. And I once again blame the situation on the type of schooling you have experienced in which you are taught that the teacher delivers truth; that you should memorize that truth; that you should burp it back on command; and then forget it after all the tests are complete.

So we now have a wonderful opportunity for learning.

Here are the results of the metaphor assignment:

119 still enrolled (started with 154)
109 active (10 never do anything but have not dropped course.)
20 clearly identified the metaphor. Five of these 20 wrote excellent commentaries.
9 identified metaphor after self described research or reading comments on the post
7 missed the metaphor but had suspicions it was not literal
50 missed the metaphor
23 active students did not do the assignment. My guess: they did not know what was happening in the post. If you did not do the post on time you should consider yourself as having missed the metaphor. You are hereby assigned the Missed the Metaphor Special Assignment.
10 inactive students did not do the assignment
119 Total

What is the Missed the Metaphor Special Assignment? This is it:

Read these three posts:

1. Metaphors: What They Are and Why We Use Them

In that post there is a Special Assignment. Do that assignment in a new post which is Additional Post #1. It does NOT substitute for Blog Post #14 as it did in the Spring semester.

Due midnight Sunday November 20, 2011.

2. Metaphor Discussion Update

3. Jennifer Asked: Why Use Metaphors? Here is My Answer

4. For more information also see:
You Missed the Point! It's Not A Pencil…"

Great Metaphor Posts This Semester

I am awarding a special prize to the 5 students whose posts on last week's assignment were especially outstanding. They will each receive a Kindle copy of the four educational books written by John T Spencer @johntspencer. Mr. Spencer uses the pen name Tom Johnson for some of his writings.

Here are the five prize winning posts:

Gretchen McPherson
Gina Phillips
Angela Pitts
Jenna Reynolds
Ramsey Willis

Prize For Others Who Got the Metaphor

I am awarding a Kindle copy of Mr. Spencer's book Pencil Me In: A Journey in the Fight for Graphite to the 24 other students who got the metaphor.

We all have an opportunity to learn. Even those who got the metaphor. Here is their assignment:

Special Assignment #1 for those who Got the Metaphor

Write a post about why we use metaphors. Give examples in history and literature and even EDM310. Due Sunday November 20, 2011.

And I have an opportunity to learn as well. My question is: Why do metaphors fail to work so often with college students? Or a better question: When do metaphors work with college students? And still another question: "Does the way people are taught affect their perceptions of what schools are about so much that metaphors (and sarcasm0 get lost in the process? If you have any thoughts on these three questions I would greatly appreciate your sharing them with me.

So off we go to learn. A never ending process!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Tweeting Tom Johnson

Tweet

Look at tweets in #EDM310 for instructions on how to Tweet Tom Johnson.

50,000 Visits to EDM310

50 thousand visits!



At approximately 11:57:24 PM CDT October 31, 2011 we welcomed our 50,000th visitor since January 9, 2010 to the EDM310 Class Blog. That is 661 days or an average of 75.6 visits a day. Our current traffic count is approximately 125 visits a day. The 50,000th visitor is from Quakers Hill, New South Wales, Australia, surfing with Safari and using an Apple product. They came directly to our web site at 15:57 (3:57pm) on November 1, 2011 (Australia time). If you are our 50,000th visitor, leave us a comment so that we can personally thank you!

map of Australia locating Quaker Hill near Sydney

We thank all of our visitors. We hope you have seen how we are trying to prepare students to use technology in teaching.

Come back soon!