Sunday, September 12, 2010

Blog Assignment 4

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?

Reading this post was very interesting and I'll be honest at first I was very confused. I wasn't sure how to take this post at first. I couldn't decide if it was serious or sarcastic but after about a quarter of the way through I got the sarcastic vibe. I agreed with what Dr. McLeod was saying and what his point was. People say that it is not right to teach children how to work with technology or to teach them with technology but really it is the way of the future. I understand putting restrictions on some sites and things like that but you cannot schelter a child's technologic learning experience. It is important for children to learn about technology and to learn through technology. There are so many advantages to learning this way. I feel as if there are way more advantages than disadvantages of using technology to learn. I feel as if it is essential for children to have some or most of their education through technology because it is where the future is taking us whether you like it or not. As Mr. McLeod states in his post "can't wait to see who has a leg up in a decade or two, can you?". I thought that was a great way to close his post :) Scott McLeod is an Associate Professor of Educational Administration at Iowa State University. He is also the Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE). Mr. McLeod is the co-created of Did You Know? videos!

Lost Generation

This video was awesome. I really enojoyed watching it. When it begins reading the script it is pretty depressing and makes you feel a little hopeless. Honestly I was kind of bummed after the first reading. I thought the video was over until the script started rolling backwards to the top. When the narrator started reading again it took me a line or two to catch on that she was just reading the lines backwards. It was like my attitude was totally changed. To me this video meant that YOU make the decisions in your life and you can make yourself happy. It means to me that you do not have to be a statistic or follow those statistics. You be your own person and believe in yourself. The technique was extremely clever and seemed like it took a lot of planning. I also thought it was a great technique because it catches you off guard and can change your attitude about life in general.

The iSchool Initiative

iPod Touch


All I can say about this video is WOW. I am totally blown away by this seventeen year olds proposal for iSchool. I think this idea of iSchool is totally awesome and I think it would be successful in school systems with students and teachers. It would be extremely beneficial to have iSchool for several reasons. I think it would save time, paper, ink, pencils, supplies, etc. The list can go on and on. I honestly would take this iSchool proposal seriously and try and get this idea rolling.

The argument Travis makes in this video is that there is no real need for "paper and pencil" learning in the classroom. Students and teachers can keep track of virtually everything on their iSchool (iTouch). Travis has many great ideas and he shows the options that are already available for learning on the iTouch. Travis then goes on to explain the options and how they would be beneficial for a student to learn and a teacher to teach. After presenting the options that are already available and successful, Travis goes on to give examples of what options could be created and used with iSchool. He gives examples of lunch menu applications and calendar applications. He also proposes some assignment applications and grade tracking applications that would be extremely helpful in learning. In my opinion only good could come from iSchool and it would be really beneficial for education and the school systems.

Eric Whitaker's Virtual Choir

I thought this video was very enjoyable. I thought it was a great way to use the internet and I would have never thought of something like that. It goes to show you that you can do anything through the internet. You can have a live choir streaming on the internet. I thought that was so awesome. It was really crazy to see the director of the choir and the people of the choir as flat "screens". It is cool to think that all of the members of the choir possibly from all around the world and can meet through the internet and sing beautifully together. It is just so amazing that these choir members have never met but have practiced over there internet and performed over the internet as well. This video was totally amazing.

3 comments:

  1. Thoughtful, well written, interesting. hanks!

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  2. Thanks! Not "hanks." You did not make me cry. I just liked your post.

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  3. I am glad you liked it! "hanks", I figured it was a typo! :)

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