It's been quite some time since I have written about my "blogging about vlogs" activity. This is the third year and of doing this with my seniors, and they are still going strong. Essentially, through the school year, each student creates a short video commentary on a current event. The rest of the class then posts comments on the video. They are not required to participate in each one, but when they do participate, they are required to go in twice, during two windows of participation. This way the students must pay attention to the conversation. I've described this process before, but our interactions have always been password protected (MobileMe and Blogger have served as our platforms).
This year's group has given me permission to give you a glance at their recent work. Stephanie's video was made right before the U.S.military's engagement in Libya.
Alyson said...
I think because Qaddafi already has brought violence into the situation, it would be almost impossible to enter the scene peacefully. Though if the Libyan army is really as weak as you say, perhaps it would be possible. As Lindsey said, the group of 8 met, and France reported there is no yet agreement on enforcing a non-flight zone. I think to enter the conflict at this juncture would be tragic. An already violent undertaking, Muammar el-Qaddafi seems unstable and I would not be surprised if he took even more drastic action against any intervening troops and his own people if other troops were to enter the scene.
I think because Qaddafi already has brought violence into the situation, it would be almost impossible to enter the scene peacefully. Though if the Libyan army is really as weak as you say, perhaps it would be possible. As Lindsey said, the group of 8 met, and France reported there is no yet agreement on enforcing a non-flight zone. I think to enter the conflict at this juncture would be tragic. An already violent undertaking, Muammar el-Qaddafi seems unstable and I would not be surprised if he took even more drastic action against any intervening troops and his own people if other troops were to enter the scene.
Lauren said...
I think, as a country with a very capable military, we would be wrong not to help the Libyans. As Stephanie said, the Libyan military is pretty weak, and getting involved would not produce a full-blown war. I don't think the no-fly zone would be "ironic". We would not be bombing innocent people, we would be bombing the bad guys in order to protect the innocent people. Instituting the no-fly zone would be a fairly quick engagement, and would save thousands of lives. Qaddafi has control in Libya because no one has tried to stand up to him yet.
Kari said...
I agree fully and absolutely with Alyson. The US does have a notorious reputation as being the ones to always step in and "save the day," to a point where people of other countries hate it, but also expect it and want it. However, this very moment in time, I believe is not the right moment. Going into Lybia now would be a disaster. Alyson is right, I think, that if we were to send force now to try and settle the situation the Lybia government would send more troops against us and its own people--we would be fighting fire with fire. So, I think, for now, we should not send any military force to country already overwhelmed by a military that is their own.
I agree fully and absolutely with Alyson. The US does have a notorious reputation as being the ones to always step in and "save the day," to a point where people of other countries hate it, but also expect it and want it. However, this very moment in time, I believe is not the right moment. Going into Lybia now would be a disaster. Alyson is right, I think, that if we were to send force now to try and settle the situation the Lybia government would send more troops against us and its own people--we would be fighting fire with fire. So, I think, for now, we should not send any military force to country already overwhelmed by a military that is their own.
Carolyn P said . . . .
I agree with a lot of what Alyson said. It's true that Muammar el-Qaddafi seems unstable and completely psycho, but he isn't unstoppable. The U.S. government needs to intervene, and quick. If the UN or the Allies don't do anything now, there's going to be a full-blown genocide in Libya. If the group of 8 doesn't approve of America intervening, does that mean America is just going to stand by and do nothing?! It's like watching someone get bullied but not doing anything to stop it because your friends feel uneasy about what would happen. I don't understand how anyone could say that America should just stay out of it and let this imminent genocide take place. My great grandparents were survivors of the Armenian Genocide by the Turks from 1915-1923. The U.S. government knew exactly what was happening then and didn't do anything to intervene - in fact, they discouraged any other superpowers at the time to refrain from having any involvement at all. As a result, 1.5 million innocent people were killed. History always repeats itself.
I agree with a lot of what Alyson said. It's true that Muammar el-Qaddafi seems unstable and completely psycho, but he isn't unstoppable. The U.S. government needs to intervene, and quick. If the UN or the Allies don't do anything now, there's going to be a full-blown genocide in Libya. If the group of 8 doesn't approve of America intervening, does that mean America is just going to stand by and do nothing?! It's like watching someone get bullied but not doing anything to stop it because your friends feel uneasy about what would happen. I don't understand how anyone could say that America should just stay out of it and let this imminent genocide take place. My great grandparents were survivors of the Armenian Genocide by the Turks from 1915-1923. The U.S. government knew exactly what was happening then and didn't do anything to intervene - in fact, they discouraged any other superpowers at the time to refrain from having any involvement at all. As a result, 1.5 million innocent people were killed. History always repeats itself.
It seems to me that this kind of activity has application across a number of grade levels and courses, and it does not require 1-1 computing. Let me know if you decide to give it a try.
1 comment:
I love being able to see what our girls are doing in class!
This video of Stephanie reminds me of a similar experience I had in college with an internet communication tool called Blackboard. The students would be assigned an article to read and then were required to type up a reaction to the topic (almost like creating a blog). Truthfully, I really disliked these assignments, but here's why. My professor's were assigning the topics, I wasn't able to choose something of interest, a current topic. The subject Stephanie chose seemed to really intrique her.
Also, I think it is nice to watch the student talk about their "issue" instead of typing up a reaction. This way they get a chance to speak on a subject, as well as comment back and forth. What a nice way to practice voicing their opinions!
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