Hi All,
My name is Brandon Rubenstein and I hail from Philadelphia. I am a self-proclaimed Philadelphia-ologist (I even made that word up!) and love almost everything having to do with The City of Brotherly Love.
Other than Philadelphia, my interests involve the summer camp industry (I am the Program Director of a non-profit camp that serves deserving children from the Philly area), sports, video games, the TV shows Scrubs, The Office, Heroes, and Flight of the Conchords, and any activity that provides an outlet for my creativity — especially video production.
I am taking this course because I am deeply interested in exploring innovative and creative ways of using technology to create online communities and enhance existing physical communities. The syllabus for this course could serve as a description of how I spend 85% of the time that I should be working on classwork and other responsibilities. In fact, I will need to be careful that the time I spend working on projects for this class doesn’t consume my entire week.
I would describe my overall comfort level with the use of technology as equivalent to my favorite jeans and t-shirt. Although I appreciate my surroundings and nature and human interaction, I almost feel lost if I am cut off from technology for too long. I would consider myself stronger than most when it comes to technology, but I still aspire to reach the level of ‘nerd’ or ‘geek.’ Perhaps this class will help me reach new heights.
Technology has a prominent role in teaching and learning. I was fortunate enough to student and assistant teach with the teacher who was named Pennsylvania’s Keystone Technology Innovator in 2003 or 2004, so I saw first hand (and used) technology in use in the classroom. We taught thematic units centered around fifth-graders developing PowerPoint presentations that required them to master a myriad of skills in the process. I also led a project where the class participated in a video-sharing project with students at a school in China. There were several other examples, and all fostered in me an understanding for the unlimited number of opportunities that technology can bring to the pedagogical process.
One thing that has always bothered me about the use of technology in the pedagogical process is that many teachers simply try to use classroom practices on internet-based areas, without thinking about how the process translates across the different media. It looks like this class is on the right path, and I hope it is able to set an example for efficient and proper use of technology for teaching and learning.
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