Saturday, March 3, 2012

Educational TED Talk: Stuart Brown Says Play is More Than Fun


Educational TED Talk

What is the purpose of this media/information resource?
Shares the research made by Stuart Brown about the importance of play and how it should be part of anybody’s upbringing. Adults who have grown up dedicating some time to play, grow up to be well rounded beings who are able to analyze, think critically, creatively and to problem solve efficiently (higher order thinking skills).  In the end we become adults who are able to innovate and have a better approach to life.

How is this produced?
Dr. Stuart Brown is presenting at the 2008 Art Center Design Conference.  He is presenting with the aid of a slide show of a couple pictures and closes his presentation with the use of a video.

Who created it?
Dr. Stuart Brown, a play researcher and psychiatrist.

Who is the intended audience? How do you know?
It is targeted at educators in general.  It might seem that it targets early Childhood educators, but most MS, US and even college Educators need to be reminded of the importance of play in life.
It also serves to provide information to parents, counselors, therapist and anybody that is involved in educating and raising children in any type of society.

What is the main message?
That play, from an early age influences on our adult life into happier, smarter adults.  However play is not only limited to our childhood, keeping it up through our lives can make us smarter at any age.

Who benefits and what do they gain?
The world!  We have forgotten how important it is to allow ourselves to be connected with our feelings and emotions. We have left aside play because we feel that as adults it just doesn’t fit in our busy and hectic lives. If there is no humor in life we become a negative version of who we could have been, there is depression, so let loose and allow yourself to feel the joy of play in any way it presents itself.

What would have been my information needs that would have led me to this video?
We are Early Childhood Educators who understand the importance of playing in the early years. We know that allowing children to play in different ways (constructive, imaginative, team free play)  builds up their social, emotional and cognitive skills. We thought that it would touch on play in the early years and even though it does, it goes beyond the early years, it actually tries to make adults understand how much we need play in life in order to be well adjusted.

How would you organize and assess the information found?
The information we found in the video was interesting. The researcher brought up different points of view to the importance of play. He included the scientific, social, emotional and  physical aspects of play. In the end he tried to explain the relationship between all of the already mention aspects and how they all contribute to the quality of our adult life.  We assess this talk as a reliable source because he is an expert in his field and the video comes from a respectable educational source.

Identify and explain the Big6 steps you're applying in this activity.
Task definition- Understanding the objective of this activity.  To find a video on TED talks and answer the questions that followed by posting them on our professional blog.
Information Seeking Strategies- The fact that I we are  interested in ECC topics led us to this video.  When we looked for videos we automatically discard anything that we felt wasn’t relevant for us The word “play” was the one that attracted to us to it.
Location and Access- Go to TED.com and find an educational talk that would suit our needs.
Use of Information- We used the information given in the video to properly address the questions.
Synthesis- We analyzed how this information can be applied in our everyday teaching as well as how it could be applied to different aspects of our personal lives.
Evaluation- After working without a time pressure and having the freedom to look for a video that was appealing to both of us, we were able to focus on the task and work at our own pace.  This helped us to critically evaluate the information better and create a more effective response.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Donut Hunt Experience (Web Quest)

During this activity we learned that there are many uses to applications that we had not used before or that we believed to use for certain purposes only only.  The i-nigma QR scanner was applied to take us from one clue to another by directing us to different web images.  Before this activity I had only seen the codes on different magazines and just wondered without really looking int what they were, mush less with out even considering if they could be of any use in my life.  Once I was instructed to download the application barely looked into what they were, but now thanks to this activity I actually learned hands on to different uses of the QR codes.  Basically I learned that there are many more uses to our mobile devices, and library resources than those most of us even imagine, wether they are to conduct a treasure hunt or inside a classroom.

I also learned that I don't know how to do APA citation.

Google vs. Databases

Google vs. Databases.
We typed the exact same key words on Google and on Ebsco database in order to evaluate the top five hits on each one.

From our research we conclude that both databases and Google offer informative and useful results.  However, both have positive and negative characteristics when using them as research tools.  
The positive characteristics in using Google are:
  • Internet sites offer attractive layout and color, which if used properly can make the user feel motivated to keep on reading.
  • Many sites offer useful links that may enhance your search while making it interactive.
  • It is fast and simple to use.

Some negative aspects of Google could include:
  • Large amount of unreliable or unaccountable sources.
  • Different layouts may confuse navigators.  (Too many ads, crowded information, too many colors, popups.)

Databases pros:
  • Information is reliable and accountable.
  • Results may be more specific for certain topics.

Databases cons:
  • Results are very limited to specific areas and may not necessarily cover what we are searching for.
  • Databases are not very attractive to read and may discourage users from even reading the article.


Sunday, February 26, 2012

Response to Figure 1: Key Outcomes/Elements of Media and Information Literacy


It is important to realize the connection between information literacy and media literacy as they go hand by hand.  The processes are similar, the purposes of both are not, and yet the final outcome of both, which is to promote effective information seeking is the same.  Information literacy’s focus is on accessing information and making good and efficient use of it, while media literacy focuses on the idea of understanding how the media works and how to use it to your best interest.

The primary concern for us as teachers is to get our student body to be information literate.  To create a strong frame of thinking critically about the information they are looking at, and the information they are applying.  Once this step is achieved you can move on to media literacy.  At the same time, it is becoming harder to separate one from the other.    It is important to consider both literacies, as evaluating information can no longer be separated from the source it comes from.  The more information and sources are available the more obvious the need for these competencies is.

Friday, February 24, 2012

ADE 634: Assignment 7


I strongly believe that being information literate is of upmost importance not only for the future of our students but also for OUR present.  It is a skill that everybody who wants to succeed must master in order to be a successful lifelong learner.  More than ever there is an increasing amount of information available to us.  One could argue that this fact makes our lives easier, when in fact it is now on our hands to be more cautious and conscious to what information we are looking for, looking at, and its true value and reliability.  There are so many basic level resources that may fulfill basic needs, but when an issue of importance or life changing matter arises, we cannot base ourselves on any information that is merely presented to us by the top ten hits in Google or Wikipedia. 
The “new” social networks and tools available to us are another example of a sea of information.  Some may be insightful while most may derail you from your original search or purpose.  This is why having a clear idea of what you want is vital.  What do you need? Where could this information come from that is of academic value? Who (out there) is typing about these issues on blogs or social media that you respect and follow?
Education institutions should focus their attention on training their faculty on information technology.  As most of faculty and staff are technology immigrants they may be having a harder time adjusting to this BLAST of new information, yet WE are the ones teaching tomorrows generations. 
As long as information literacy skills are introduced from an early age, be it kindergarten or elementary school years, it will come as second nature to students in the future.  We must model and set the basis for our students to make their decisions on what sources will be applicable to their specific person (be it a project or in their onw life).

ADE 634: Assignment 6

RSS Feed Aggregator Screen Shot