First off, anyone who does not have access to Discovery Education, please forgive me if the above site does not work. I will add the references this project used to the bottom of the post, in case you are interested in exploring.
This was my first time using the Discovery Digital Board.
For the most part it was easy to use. I had some issues with spacing, and was
disappointed that TedX videos were too large to upload. I also played around a
bit with glogster, which has more options to make things interesting, but was
also more confusing. To be honest, I am not likely to use either of these
resources again as they require a paid subscription.
Some of the other applications we have used, such as smore
and prezi, would work for a similar purpose, and were free. (I suppose the
advantage of Discovery's Digital Board was that you could attach quizzes. I am
more likely to you a writing prompt, and give students information on how I
want that writing submitted.)
The basic idea of a digital board, I think is a useful one.
I can see it being used by a teacher to introduce a variety of resources, in
essence creating an online textbook. I can also see it being used by students
to create their own presentations. I actually had both things in mind with my
son’s well project. In my mind I wanted to introduce him to different angles
of the problem, and give him some resources and tools to explore the issue. For
his own work, I want him to be able to create a presentation which he can show
other people when asking for donations.
One aspect which I believe Gardner (2008) would approve of is that
my son had to look at different perspectives, encouraging not just compassion
(which is a wonderful starting point), but eventually leading to respect and a
more analytical approach. Part of developing the “ethical” mind was to look at situations
in a more abstract manner, and really thinking about them. Hopefully, looking
at these different perspectives helped my son do this.
References
Charity navigator [web page]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.charitynavigator.org/
Ethiopian girls carrying water [photo]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/waterdotorg/3695895711/
Gardner, H. (2008). Five minds for the future. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.
Kelly, A. (March 2009). Money 'wasted' on water projects in Africa. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/society/katineblog/2009/mar/26/water-projects-wasted-money
Mwenda, A. (June 2007). Aid fro Africa: No thanks [web video]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_mwenda_takes_a_new_look_at_africa?language=en
Okonjo-Iweala, N. (March 2007). Want to help Africa? Do business here [web video]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/ngozi_okonjo_iweala_on_doing_business_in_africa?language=en
Seven water organizations you should know. (April 12th, 2013). Retrieved from http://www.goodnet.org/articles/1000
The water project [web site]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://thewaterproject.org/clean-water-wells-in-africa
Ugandan girl at well [photo]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ugandan_girl_at_well.JPG#filelinks
Wasik, J. (Nov. 7th, 2013). How to choose a charity wisely. Retrieved from . http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/giving/how-to-choose-a-charity-wisely.html?_r=0
Why water [web page]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.charitywater.org/whywater/
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