Week 2--Simple: More Complicated Than It Seems

Wow! What a great response! There are nearly 50 of you taking this class (and over on the Elementary version, there's another 50). Way to be a life-long learner! If you haven't checked out people's comments from last week, you should take a quick look at the huge variety of participants' backgrounds and interests. We've got a great group. One clarification, some of you indicated that you thought you would be learning about blogging in this class. Indeed, you will learn a little bit about blogging since we're using one. But while there will be at least one or two posts specifically related to blogging, our real goal is to expose you to a whole variety of tech tools and resources. So, in that vein, let's get started with this week's topic.

Last week I mentioned the folks at Common Craft and their Plain English videos. One of the things I find so intriguing about their product (simple explanations) is that the technology they use to make their videos has been around for decades. Twenty years ago, if you had some dry erase markers, a white board, paper, scissors, and a video camera (and a clever mind, of course), you too could have made similar videos.

However, it’s only in the last few years that you could have so easily created a market for your product. Social media like YouTube, Twitter, and blogs allow content like that offered by Common Craft to be shared both effortlessly and quickly. Indeed, the world our students will live and work in is rapidly changing. Someone with a good idea and an internet connection can start a business, find an audience, and/or collaborate with others from around the world.

This week I’d like you to do two things:

1. Visit the Common Craft site and do some self-directed learning. Want to know more about Twitter? Watch Twitter in Plain English. Want to really understand how the Electoral College works? Watch Electing a U.S. President in Plain English. Or, perhaps you’re new to social networking—check out Protecting Reputations Online in Plain English.

2. Consider how the simple explanations that Common Craft produce actually require some fairly high-level thinking. In order to produce a simple explanation for a general audience one needs to have a thorough understanding of the concept and the ability to tease out its essential components, an understanding of people’s background knowledge, possible misconceptions, etc. Sounds like complex thinking to me.

Now for your prompt: How might you capitalize on the thinking required to make such videos? What possibilities exist in your class for students to demonstrate their understanding of a concept by making a “plain English” video? Share a concept from your content area that you could ask students to demonstrate in this manner. Then, identify one criteria you would want to include in a rubric if you were actually going to assign and grade a project like this. (Essentially, I'm asking you to offer characteristics of what makes a good "plain English" explanation.)