Well, now that I've finished my unit plan (even though I feel like I could justify all my ICTs more, i.e. I really needed more than 500 words) I'm starting to wonder whether ICTs can be used for more than just teaching academically. And of course I know that they can. But after looking at Jill's post and Jesse's post I was wondering, why aren't students making more videos, animations, music, games, website etc. in their spare time. When I was in school, I remember a group of our friends made vlogs everyday because they walked home together. But we don't hear a lot about kids making millions of dollars through Youtube channels. We hear a lot about adults making millions with Youtube channels, as in, it becomes their income. I know there is one channel of some little kids who cook online (they were on sunrise this morning).
However, I have seen a lot of youtube videos of young girls asking the online public to 'rate' them, and tell them they are pretty or ugly. This, (insert rant face and rant voice here) is disgusting and horrible use of the internet. The girls themselves should not be asking those sorts of questions, they shouldn't have to, and people should not be responding in a negative way. This is legitimately the reason why students commit suicide. And I don't like that.
So, how am I going to change this? Well, going through that PD, there are some basic things I can do, teach students how to respond and how to prevent. But also, I need to make sure that my classroom is a place where students can express themselves safely.
Which brings me back to vlogging and videos, animations, music etc. Through all of these websites that help students to create stuff. Students, through these mediums, can truly express who they are, and can in some instances find their purpose/career path.
For example, when I was on prac, I had one student that wanted to learn how to mix music. I knew one of the teachers kind of knew how to do some stuff, so I referred him on, and he found a niche :).
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