Sunday, February 5, 2012

Blog Assignment 2

paint palet, paint brush, pencil and other colorful learning tools

Did You Know? 3.0 - A John Strange 2012 Version
Did You Know? 3.0 - A John Strange 2012 Version is based off of the original Did You Know? 3.0 video by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod. It is a total eye opener! The video is basically showing many statistics about how technology has changed over the years and where it is going in the future, along with other statistics about our country and students of today. Some of the statistics it gave were: there are more K-12 Honors students in India than the entire K-12 population of the United States, 93% of all 8-18 year old Untied States children had computers in 2010, and the top jobs ten years from now do not even exist yet and will use technologies that have not yet been invented.

This information is just mind-boggling! It's kind of scary to think about how much technology has advanced and how much more it is going to continue to advance in years to come. This video also put more pressure on me as a future educator. Like it said, we will be teaching and training our students for jobs and technologies that haven't even been invented yet. How do we do that? Our role is so important, and this video really puts it into perspective. I am ready for the challenge of getting our future students equipped for the unknown, and am hopeful that they will have a major impact on our upcoming society because we taught them well.

Mr. Winkle Wakes
Mr. Winke Wakes by Mathew Needleman is a short video describing how Mr. Winkle woke up after more than 100 years and found nothing to be the same as it was when he went to sleep that long time ago. He went into a business and saw many computers and printers and people talking to one another through the computers. He felt overwhelmed there, so then he managed to find himself at a hospital where he also felt like he didn't fit in. There were machines that were breathing for people and keeping them alive. All of this was nothing like he had ever seen before. He left there and continued walking until he came upon a school. This place looked very familiar to him, so he entered. He sat in a classroom and watched as the teacher lectured and the students listened and took notes attentively. This was exactly how he remembered schools being over 100 years ago.


Why are schools still so outdated compared to hospitals and offices, when schools should be one of the top places incorporating technology? Maybe it's the budget that schools are on. It is difficult for schools to find funding for even the most necessary things. Or, maybe it's the teachers and faculty that don't want to have to use so much technology because even they do not know how to use it efficiently. Whatever the case may be, there needs to be more technology being used in classrooms. Technology is a huge part of our everyday lives, and it's only going to become even more so. There is no way of really getting around it, so schools really need to get the students exposed to learning with the use of technology. A class to keep teachers informed on the lasted technologies and how to use them would be a good idea also. 


Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
Sir Ken Robinson talks about The Importance of Creativity and points out that schools are killing it. He says that children are born with creativity, but as they get older, the majority of kids tend to lose their creativeness because they are being raised to think that the arts won't get them anywhere in life. Math and science are at the top of the curriculum for schools around the world, while music, drama, and other types of art are at the very bottom. When schools have to start cutting classes and programs due to funding shortages, what is the first to go? Art classes of any shape and form always get cut first. Yes, math and science and other core classes are very important in education, and one can't really succeed in the work force without them, but creativity is also very important.
small boy holding his painting hands in front of his face for the camera.

Students should not have to hide their creativeness in the classrooms, but rather incorporate it into their studies. Allowing students to be more creative could heighten some students' grades because not every person learns the same way. Where some people may find learning and studying better in quiet, peaceful areas, others may need a place that is more loud and open. Every student is different, so there should be different ways of learning and teachings allowed. Children shouldn't get punished or put down for being different because they are creative, rather they should get praised for being artsy and thinking originally and not being scared of making mistakes.

A Vision for 21st Century Learning
A Vision for 21st Century Learning describes how our world is today. We seem very busy and occupied all the time, always on the move. We use cell phones, computers, internet, so much technology every single day. That is what our lives are consumed with. Since technology is so prevalent in our everyday lives, why isn't it incorporated into schools more? Schools seem to be one of the very few places today that still lack technology, or a good use of it. However, classrooms should be one of the top places that technology is at. That is where our children are learning and being trained for the future.

Do I think that technology should completely replace everything that runs classrooms now? No, some things should still be left the same. Students still need to be able to make crafty projects that illustrate what they have been learning in class, and they should still learn much of a subject like math by a teacher that is in front of them teaching it because it is already such a difficult subject for so many. Technology is meant to make things better and easier for us, not harder. Children are already using technology everyday at their homes and anywhere else they may be, so why not add more technology usage in the classroom?

Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
In the Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts video, Vicki Davis, a school teacher in rural Georgia teaches her students to use technology in everything they do in her class. That class reminded me a lot of the class we are all taking right now, EDM310. Her students write blogs, tweet, make videos, and talk to other students from across the world. Ms. Davis seems to be very passionate about what she does, and really wants her students to succeed in their future careers.

Like I said earlier, technology is becoming so important in our education, and can even hinder us from doing as well in our classes if we are not technology literate because more and more classes are starting to depend on technology than ever before. As illustrated in the video, using blogs and other ways of teaching make it more fun and interactive for children. Some may even forget that they are actually learning because they are enjoying what they're doing so much.



3 comments:

  1. Hey Ariel,
    This is Susie Salter. I was assigned to comment on your blog this week. I really think you did a good job summing up all of the videos. If I had not watched any of the videos, I would have been able to see what they were about just by reading your explanation. Your opinions were very short and concise. That is good, but if I were you, I might want to put a little bit more of my view into an analysis of the ideas in the videos. I liked what you said about feeling pressured as an educator because of all the technology. I feel pressured, too. Part of me wants to stick with tradition, and the other part of me says that teaching should advance along with everything else. Who knows what the "correct" answer is. I really enjoyed your post.
    Sincerely,
    Susie Salter

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  2. "I am ready for the challenge of getting our future students equipped for the unknown, ..." Great. But there are even more surprises to come!

    "It is difficult for schools to find funding for even the most necessary things." Oh, they make choices. Just look at Baldwin County when a new superintendent arrived!

    "That class reminded me a lot of the class we are all taking right now, EDM310." We are part of a growing movement!

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  3. Certainly training would help teachers. However, many teachers have personal iPhones, iPads, and Androids. They know how to use those devices quite well and yet they have no idea how to use the technology in the classroom.

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