I’ve given a snapshot of Week 1 of the Flickr project, Through global lenses. This has been cross-posted from the blog Through global lenses.
Post by post I intend to give an overview of what was posted: students’ contributions to the project – photos, descriptive writing, comments and conversation – one week at a time.
The first week’s assignment was:
Take a photo that represents you as a person, and write about yourself.
I’ve selected a few examples of students’ contributions as examples. For a first assigment it was deceptively difficult; not only were they to find a photo which captured who they were, but they also had to think about representation and unpack the concept. I think they did very well, and the examples here show what all the students have in common, as well as their diversity.
My football boots are a strong representation of who i am as a person. I have been playing Australian rules football since I was 5 years old and it has become a big part of my life. Australian rules football has taught me many valuable life skills such as: respect, teamwork, courage, bravery and to aspire for greater things in life. I will carry these memories and skills throughout the rest of my life. I think of football as so much more than just a sport, it has helped me develop so much as a person physically and mentally. I do not see football as a stressful or time consuming chore, football for me, is in many ways my release time.
In this picture, the figurine or “toy” represents Chinese New Year, I chose this because Chinese New Year plays an important role in our Tradition of a new “beginning”.
Most of you may be thinking why is there a hammer in my picture, it is there because it symbolises my interest in fixing thing or construct something. Also it reminds me to stay strong in myself.
The drum sticks represent my musical talent. I have played the drums for a while. It’s always been fun and gives me a feeling that all is free when I play. The set up of the iPod and the drum sticks is messy and the background of rocks shows not everything is clean and smooth but bumpy and sometimes you might need to clean up some mess before moving on.
Comment:
I really like your metaphor on the rocks and everything is not clean and that before moving on you need to clean up your own mess. I thought that was very interesting!
In my picture I have included a cook book. I have an Italian background so I love to eat and I love to cook as well. I can cook many things and I like to help out in the kitchen. I can cook things like risottos and casseroles and things like that.
Comment:
I find it interesting that you included a cook book to represent you. What’s your favorite meal? What’s the one thing you enjoy preparing the most?
The Australian flag represents my country which I have never left and don’t plan on leaving. The tennis ball is for my love of tennis, it is a great sport which I am always happy to play. The shoes depict my enjoyment of all sports. The scarf is for my footy team, North Melbourne/Kangaroos. I have put these items on my bed to say how I love to sleep.
Comment:
I’m honestly not sure on what footy team means but it must be something good !
Although the students are from different parts of the world, a love of music, sport and family seem to be common ground. I’m surprised that the boys (aged 16 on average), expressed themselves so openly. The assignment provided the opportunity for them to evaluate who they were and how their passions represented them. I like the way they looked at their own identity before getting to know others in the group.
Thinking about evaluation
Contributed by Darren Kuropatwa in Flickr Group Great quotes about learning and change (pool).
I’ve been collaborating with Marie Coleman (Florida) and Sinikka Laakio-Whybrow (Finland) through Flickr to bring our students together in a photo-journal project. Yesterday I interviewed some of the students for feedback and, once I figure out how to edit these avi files, I’ll be sharing these very interesting interviews here.
This has been cross-posted from Through global lenses.
Our Flickr project has come to an end, and I haven’t even been able to keep up with what’s been happening.
Nevertheless!
I’m not going to let the opportunity for reflection, evaluation and showcasing escape. It will be done – eventually.
This week I hope to start asking students and teachers for feedback. This will take the form of questioning on the ning, as well as recording interviews which I hope to start today.
Here are some questions for student evaluation:
1. What did you enjoy the most about the Flickr project?
2. What, in your opinion, didn’t work for you?
3. How could this project have been improved or done differently?
4. What sorts of things have you learned?
5. What was the most valuable thing you learned?
6. What do you enjoy about connecting with students from other countries?
7. How important is the photo in the writing assignment?
8. What did you enjoy about other people’s photos?
9. What did you learn about taking photos?
10. What was your favourite/What were your favourite weekly theme(s)?
11. What was the most interesting thing you learned from another student?
12. What have you learned about other cultures?
13. What sorts of things do you have in common with students of other cultures?
14. What do you think are the main differences between you and students of other cultures?
15. Would you like to visit/live in the USA or Finland? How has the project influenced your answer?
Some questions to ask teachers:
1. Did you enjoy the project? What were the highlights?
2. What did you expect from the project at the outset?
3. Did the project meet/exceed your expectations? In what ways?
4. How did you find the collaboration? online/global aspect; time differences; school term differences, etc.
5. What difficulties did you experience during the project? What worked and what didn’t?
6. How would you do the project differently if you did it again?
7. What do you think students gained from the project?
8. In your opinion, how important a role did the photo play in the writing?
9. Was this project an enhancement for students? Which ones in particular (were there any surprises)?
I’ll be responding to these questions myself because I think that an evaluation is the only way to truly learn from something. Some of these things are only half-formulated in my mind, so this exercise should help me think more deeply and define what I think.
So what does the quote – If all your kids do is learn to read and write, they won’t be literate – mean to me?
There’s a bigger answer to this, but for now I’ll give the smaller answer, the answer relevant to the objectives and outcomes of this project.
The learning that has taken place here has been learning with and from other people – students who share interests and passions with each other regardless of their geographical location.
Instead of learning from a book, a fact sheet or article provided by the teacher, our students have learned from each other.
Their learning has been sparked by curiosity, a desire to connect with peers, natural dialogue, and an opportunity to share and be creative within a stuctured but relaxed framework.
They have learned by asking, by reading each others’ contributions – within an online community.
They have done this with respect for each other and through positive comments. This is much more than just ‘reading and writing’.
More about this later….
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