There’s no doubt another post that needs to come out the 50 or so comments on in the most amazing previous thread. But for now, the one that’s really got me shaking my head is Karl’s report that his Did You Know? video has been viewed over two million times. Now I know that’s a rough estimate, and that we don’t really know what “viewed” means. But you have to look at that at just think “Oh. My. Goodness.”
A couple of stories: The other day I get an e-mail from our friend who is our school board president titled “An Item of Interest.” Guess where the link led…
Yesterday in a workshop I was giving, a staff developer told me they had shown Karl’s video at a staff meeting. The reaction? “Blown away.”
Rob told me a few weeks ago that he had shown it at a faculty meeting at my old school. Same response.
So what does it mean? Obviously it’s hard to say. Certainly, Karl’s video has no doubt gone viral, which is the first time something like that’s happened in this community, I think. It’s probably done more to set the table for the “big” conversation that just about anything else we’ve collectively done. And it’s certainly done much to bring people into our world.
So what’s next?
What conversation does it set the table for? The Chinese are coming? Beware the yellow horde? Skynet will enslave your child?
Tom: You’re right. There’s nothing to talk about here. Move along.
Will,
It was a pleasure listening, discovering and “opening” new doors with you yesterday at Wissahickon.
Reaffirming that change is what our students’ lives (as well as our own) will be about was important. The ability to adapt to change will make us stronger but that will not happen in a vacuum. Using the tools that we used yesterday will open the doors to collaboration, knowledge and the real power in a global community.
As the session was closing yesterday, one of the teachers I work with came to me and sketched out a poetry project in which she wants to use a Poetry Blog to allow students to publish and comment on each other’s work. The conversation then turned to the eventual PodCast we create of the Classroom Poetry Cafe where the students will get to perform their work. Did I mention this was a 2nd Grade teacher?
The fun is just beginning.
Thanks,
Bob
Will, Great reply to Tom.
I’ve got to admit, however, I am nervous. Two million views of Did You Know – but I’ve still got to ask, do they know? Will, technology is so unbelievable simple to use – but how do we get people to take the first steps.
Maybe I’m just being too pessimistic.
But then again, I asked a teacher how he used technology the other day and he said that he had an LCD projector in his classroom. An LCD projector – I wonder if he uses it any differently than he used an overhead?
Andrew Pass
http://www.pass-ed.com/blogger.html
I wonder if they’ve seen it in Bloomfield Hills, MI. The district just banned MySpace. The surprising part is that their AUP also apparently covers students at home.
“”I think we’ve got a long way to go because it’s a very difficult situation to grasp in its entirety,” Lynch said. “There’s so many things going on on the Internet and there’s so much vulnerability for children.”
Those students who have existing MySpace.com accounts must delete them if they wish to continue going to school there. Students who do not delete their accounts cannot attend the school, Van Velzen said.”
I’d love to see how their enforcing this one.
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/11331017/detail.html
Funny Enough – On Friday. I was helping set up for a Curriculum Coordinators meeting with the Curriculum and Accountability Superintendant, and I was asked to download a video to play at that meeting. One of the corrdinators wanted to show it to the group.
It was “Did You Know”, and they had asked if I had seen it before. (I had to hold back the laughs)
I have shown this great video to my 12th grade students in media class. I was expecting them to yawn after the 3rd slide and go back to their computers. To my amazement they were glued. It was not mandatory to watch since they were working independently on their own projects. It was a spur of the moment thing that I presented it to them. They have been discussing it ever since by making comments back and forth in their normal conversations. I am going to post it on our wiki for our teachers.(sidneymit.wikispaces.com)
J.D. – Just FYI, I would guess some folks in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan have seen it – since the State Superintendent of Public Instruction is apparently showing a Michigan remix of Did You Know.
Will, I feel compelled to comment :-). But as I started to comment, it kept getting longer and longer and longer and I realized that it probably needs to be a post of my own. I’m working on that, but it might still be a few days – I’ll come back and let you know when it’s done. I’m not sure I have any answers for “what’s next?” – but I have learned a few things from Did You Know? about what we shouldn’t do . . .
OK, I took a closer look:
http://www.tuttlesvc.org/2007/03/did-you-know-i-want-to-believe.html
Did anyone else actually check out any of his numbers?
I’ve shown it to HS students, parents, teachers, and tomorrow it is the second piece of my presentation. When you have something good….use it!
For what it’s worth:
Over Two Million Served
What’s Next?
Did You Know – The Sequel?
My take on the You Tube: Did you know? was:
It was edutainment. I felt some of the facts were accurate. For me it did the task of making me think. It has become a viral video (more than 2 million viewings) that hopefully stimulates educators to find new ways to enrich the learning experience for students.
I always struggle with the validity and reliability of online material. This is one more way to demonstrate to students to be wary of presented information. I did find a blog that did question the information: Challenges stats on did you know
http://www.tuttlesvc.org/2007/03/did-you-know-i-want-to-believe.html
I hope there is a sequel! It has stimulated alot of talk and thoughts.