Thanks to technology, our kids are growing up in an amazing time. Homework assignments that I would have had to use construction paper, crayons and Elmer’s Glue to complete are now being accomplished with laptops and PowerPoint.  Stacks of papers and notebooks have been replaced by files on key chain sized USB drives.  Those are just some of the obvious uses of technology in the classroom. With all the cool “web 2.0” and “Social Media” tools available kids are coming up with new and creative ways to fulfill their homework assignments and recently I was happy to make a suggestion that that helped my son get an “A.”
The Animated Ghost of Christmas Present…
My son was frustrated with an assignment to act out “Stave 3” of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”  Most of his class was going to create a skit of the scene between Ebenezer Scrooge and the second of the three spirits he would encounter, however my son was having a hard time getting together with his classmates to write and rehearse a skit.
I suggested, “Why don’t you make a cartoon?”  He looked at me like I was crazy.  “Seriously,” I said.  “I saw this really cool animation called ‘The Social Media Guru’ that was made using a website where you type the script, direct the characters, and it spits out a YouTube video!”  He was intrigued.  I pointed him to www.xtranormal.com and he was off to the races.
While the hysterical Social Media Guru video is NOT SAFE FOR WORK OR KIDS, my son’s assignment for his class is, and it is embedded below.
How have your kids used new technology tools for their class assignments?  Please let us know in the comments.
Jeff Sass is the proud dad of ZEO (Zach, 21, Ethan, 19 and Olivia, 18). He is also a seasoned entertainment and technology exec and active social media enthusiast. You can see more of Jeff’s writing at Sassholes! and Social Networking Rehab.
Photo Credit: Jane – Fotolia.com
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Hey Jeff, the social media Guru video is hilarious. My oldest is six and so far hasn’t had a project that struck me as computer friendly. I look forward to that day. Great idea on the movie for you son. It’s good to know the teachers are embracing the kids use of the technology this way.
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Hey Jeff, the social media Guru video is hilarious. My oldest is six and so far hasn't had a project that struck me as computer friendly. I look forward to that day. Great idea on the movie for you son. It's good to know the teachers are embracing the kids use of the technology this way.
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Hey Jeff, the social media Guru video is hilarious. My oldest is six and so far hasn't had a project that struck me as computer friendly. I look forward to that day. Great idea on the movie for you son. It's good to know the teachers are embracing the kids use of the technology this way.
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Even at 6 I suspect it won’t be long before you see your child using “tech” in school. There is some awesome “pre-school” and “grade school” software available, and even things like “Paint” on a PC are fun for a kid to creatively experiment with (and less messy than finger painting — but probably NOT as much fun now that I think about it… lol.)
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Even at 6 I suspect it won't be long before you see your child using “tech” in school. There is some awesome “pre-school” and “grade school” software available, and even things like “Paint” on a PC are fun for a kid to creatively experiment with (and less messy than finger painting — but probably NOT as much fun now that I think about it… lol.)
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Even at 6 I suspect it won't be long before you see your child using “tech” in school. There is some awesome “pre-school” and “grade school” software available, and even things like “Paint” on a PC are fun for a kid to creatively experiment with (and less messy than finger painting — but probably NOT as much fun now that I think about it… lol.)
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Jeff, Don’t get me wrong. My daughter is actually using a lot of tech in school. She has CP and we’ve worked with the school to get some pretty cool applications in for her to work with including an application that does predictive typing increadibly well. I’ll cover those in a post here someday. I guess what I mean is that we haven’t had any projects that have allowed for creative solutions yet. Or maybe I just haven’t been looking hard enough. I guess we’ll have to look for the opportuities to present themselves.
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Jeff, Don't get me wrong. My daughter is actually using a lot of tech in school. She has CP and we've worked with the school to get some pretty cool applications in for her to work with including an application that does predictive typing increadibly well. I'll cover those in a post here someday. I guess what I mean is that we haven't had any projects that have allowed for creative solutions yet. Or maybe I just haven't been looking hard enough. I guess we'll have to look for the opportuities to present themselves.
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Jeff, Don't get me wrong. My daughter is actually using a lot of tech in school. She has CP and we've worked with the school to get some pretty cool applications in for her to work with including an application that does predictive typing increadibly well. I'll cover those in a post here someday. I guess what I mean is that we haven't had any projects that have allowed for creative solutions yet. Or maybe I just haven't been looking hard enough. I guess we'll have to look for the opportuities to present themselves.
#
Even at 6 I suspect it won't be long before you see your child using “tech” in school. There is some awesome “pre-school” and “grade school” software available, and even things like “Paint” on a PC are fun for a kid to creatively experiment with (and less messy than finger painting — but probably NOT as much fun now that I think about it… lol.)
#
Even at 6 I suspect it won't be long before you see your child using “tech” in school. There is some awesome “pre-school” and “grade school” software available, and even things like “Paint” on a PC are fun for a kid to creatively experiment with (and less messy than finger painting — but probably NOT as much fun now that I think about it… lol.)
#
Jeff, Don't get me wrong. My daughter is actually using a lot of tech in school. She has CP and we've worked with the school to get some pretty cool applications in for her to work with including an application that does predictive typing increadibly well. I'll cover those in a post here someday. I guess what I mean is that we haven't had any projects that have allowed for creative solutions yet. Or maybe I just haven't been looking hard enough. I guess we'll have to look for the opportuities to present themselves.
#
Jeff, Don't get me wrong. My daughter is actually using a lot of tech in school. She has CP and we've worked with the school to get some pretty cool applications in for her to work with including an application that does predictive typing increadibly well. I'll cover those in a post here someday. I guess what I mean is that we haven't had any projects that have allowed for creative solutions yet. Or maybe I just haven't been looking hard enough. I guess we'll have to look for the opportuities to present themselves.