This week in Web-based Technologies the class did their first digital artifact presentation. I could really appreciate the variety of underserved populations that were being addressed in class. My classmates did a great job of creatively presenting these populations and the technological resources that they were using to promote learning.
Anthony did a phenomenal job using audio to bring to life his research on youth career radio. I was also impressed by the passion Yaa displayed in her iMovie for Street Kids. Jacob also did and iMovie which displayed how people living in war zone areas within the Middle East were being educated in order to bring about peace and communication. I would love for Jacob to follow up on the research being done on this topic.
Katy was another class member whose artifact made an impression on me. She placed emphasis on a rural population I wouldn’t normally consider and made their obstacles for advancement real. I can tend to leave people who deal with agriculture on the farm and fail to see that they need to be acclimated to a mainstream network of education.
I was tickled by Paul’s website presentation, as it was simple, but full of cultural topics of concern to that population. Paul’s presentation displayed influential Hawaiian figures and the technological efforts that they were making to motivate and educate there at risk population. It is great that Paul caught a passion for the culture and built such a wonderful repor with influential Hawaiian natives in his travel and work with the community.
I also enjoyed Christopher’s use of a simple data table to communicate the characteristics of bullies, in comparison to the bullied and spectators. He has done a lot with his previous elementary school to advocate against bullying. Catherine also kept things simple, by using a concept map, to illustrate the major effects of childhood depression. I could tell she put a lot of thought and consideration into her presentation. I also like that she was able to draw comparisons between her topic and Christopher’s, with regard to powerlessness and self-esteem.
By the end of the presentations, you could see that there was not a lot of technology being used to service these populations effectively and what was being used was on a small scale and lent itself to further investigation and testing for large scale cultural impact. This is rather unfortunate, but it lets us know that there is a lot we have to offer to these marginalized communities. Overall, I appreciate the novelty of my peers and they addressed their topics of deep interest. They appealed to the viewer in me, while dignifying their subject.
Two Thumbs Up!!
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