Factual: Just the Facts. Yes, All of Them.

Article

          This New York Times' article focuses on a site that provides information that is proved to be factual. The site, Factual, was founded by an investor and inventor, Gil Elbaz. Gil Elbaz was particularly interested on creating a site that provides solely facts, even "unusual facts". I found this article to be interesting because it is a site that can be trusted by schools, teachers, and students for gathering all kinds of data.

          Factual, if proved to contain only accurate data, can be a very helpful tool for people in the educational field to use. As a current student and former teacher, I always question the accuracy of information found on online websites when I am doing research for an assignment. I have heard repeatedly from some teachers to not use Wikipedia or sources that end with .com or .org. For so many of my research papers, I have had to rely on databases such as Jstor or EbscoHost. However, I can not always find what I am looking for, especially if it is information that is not given much attention to. After reading this article, I realized that Factual could be the perfect site for students to use when completing assignments that require research. As Gil Elbaz stated, Factual would not only include popular information but also very unusual information that is not given much thought. It can act as another reliable source of information alongside the other most commonly used databases when students are required to do some research. This would be a nice tool for student's in my English class to use when they are brainstorming for and constructing research papers.

         Also, Factual can also be used for other curiosities. As stated in the article, it provides information on schools. This would be an excellent tool for parents to use when trying to learn more about their children's school district and community. If Elbaz's goals are achieved, Factual can serve as a useful technological tool for students, parents, and teachers.

Interactivity #4

Click here: Dance Lesson Plan Spreadsheet

          The lesson plan I chose, Bob Fosse and Dance in America: From Broadway, "Fosse", caught my attention because it incorporated multiple forms of technology. I had not yet found a lesson plan with this much incorporation of media until this one. It is interesting because it relies on past media such as clips of Fosse's choreography from 1973 and music videos from present day television.

        Although this lesson plan idea was brilliant, it lacked organization of the standards and materials/ technologies. For instance, only two of the dance standards were listed on the lesson plan when the activities covered several more of them. The only materials listed at the beginning of the lesson plan were the movies that were to be viewed in class. There was no mention of the technologies that the students needed to have access to in order to complete the assignments. 

       In order to reach the goals of the lesson, all the technologies listed on the spreadsheet are needed. However, because student's might not have access to these outside of school, it is important for the teacher to be sure these technologies are accessible in school to proceed with the lesson's activities. If students are unable to complete the homework assignment because they do not have video recorders, the teacher can modify the lesson. However, the technologies must be available somewhere to successfully perform the activities and for the students to view and analyze these dances. These technologies are necessary for the students to fully understand Fosse and distinguish between choreographic structures, artistic influences and styles, and the meanings behind dances.