C4T April

C4T April #1
Meet Steven Anderson
He is from Winston Salem, North Carolina and you need to visit his blog to view his long list of credentials. His passion for technology far outweighs mine and his list of credentials gives me credential envy.
What excited me most was his blog post from Friday, April 11, 2014. My last C4T was Eric Langhorst. Eric had a post about Edcamps. So when I visited Steven's blog and saw his post about Edcamps, I was intrigued. The particular Edcamp Steven was discussing is Edcamp USDOE. Now that sounds fun. Edcamps are know as "unconferences" where the schedule is created as attendees arrive and decide what they want to discuss that particular day. This site contains a video that explains how Edcamp is run. A list of upcoming Edcamps can be found at the Edcamp Wiki. I want to attend the Birmingham and New Orleans events. And just in case you were wondering, the most party time I would have in New Orleans is a cup of coffee and chicory with a plate of beignets.
The post Steven had April 13, 2014 was about Sphero. This is the next phase of augmented reality. The sphero is a game, personal trainer, programming teacher and babysitter in one. Steven was excited about the potential shpero has to teach children how to build programs. I know nothing about building programs, but see the value in students being proficient in this skill. Steven's blog contains a link to other videos and information about sphero.

C4T April #2
So,What has been one of the easiest, most versatile tools I have come across this semester? Well, YouTube, of course. I was happy to see that Mr. Anderson also found YouTube to be a great tool.

I was able to find tools on how to edit in YouTube on Eric Langhorst's website. Some of those mentioned in Mr. Anderson's most recent blog post were new to me. Quiet Tube lets you watch videos without all the commercials and crap. Tube Chop lets you clip only the portions of video you need for presentations or lessons. Drag On Tape lets you add video upon video as you create custom video clips. Watch2gether lets you create private viewing rooms where you can have visitors watch videos together. This is great for collaborative projects.
YouTube is accessible to virtually every person with internet access. Why wouldn't I be excited to teach children how to do more than put "Wisdom Tooth Extraction" videos on YouTube. YouTube gives students the ability to express what they have learned across all curriculum and receive real feedback. Now, these new tools will help them produce quality videos instead of a quantity of crap. These tools will also enable me to present valuable explanations, investigations and illustrations without all the extra junk, including commercials and inappropriate images after the selected video ends.
I hope Mr. Anderson hears the collective sigh of relief from teachers and parents for giving us these great tools. Thank you!