Blog Post # 5

Don't Teach Your Kids This. Please?

Dr. Scott McLeod is an associate professor at the University of Kentucky and the founding director for the Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE). He also was the co-creator for a popular video series called Did You Know? (Shift Happens). I had to read through this reading a few times to formulate what I really got out of it because it was like a 12-6 curve ball at first glance. The format of the post was all on the lefts side and sidetracked me a little from what the message was. Then I got through it a second time and asked myself why we would want to shelter youngsters from this information when we have been shown how useful it can be in class via you tube videos, blog posts, and other articles throughout this semester?

To me it seems that there needs to be certain supervision when getting these kids started. I think that this was a more sarcastic approach to get parents thinking about the things kids will be missing out on and the set backs they will have when they are our age and in college for the first time. I may be wrong but after watching a few of Dr. McLeod's "Did You Know" videos, he has a unique way of getting his message across to his audience. If I'm on the same page then I agree with his approach because it explains all the positives throughout and then says that's what he's doing. I'm not sure why he chose this method to deliver it but it is a interesting way to open eyes at the least. 

iSchool Initiative

Travis Allen came up with a very unique way to save money and expand our learning ability as a nation. We would be saving on school supplies, books, paper, pencils, and other materials that strict school budgets can't meet. Through the itouch device everything that a class room would use and need would be provided on the phone. Teachers, students, and even parents would be able to view assignments and complete them via the internet. Money is also being saved for the parents because extra materials such as calculators are included on the itouch. Interactive calenders and notebooks are available to keep students on track and on the same page with the class.

I think it's a great idea and excellent initiative to propose such a plan and I hope one day we will have that type of class room environment across the country. I'm always skeptical of how the flow of money in this country however. I think there are a lot of jobs that would be lost in not only the education field but also the different industries that provide school supplies. I think a gradual transition over time and an eventual switch would be the most effective approach. There would have to be some way for schools to be able to afford itouch's for the students and stay within their budget for that scenario to work. It will be interesting to see if this method is able to be implemented and if so how it works. 

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir

I personally had zero interest in this. I think it is neat that people are able to put compositions like this together. I don't know enough about this sort of thing to really give an opinion on what pros and cons this type of use of the internet has to offer. I do know that I don't think I would ever use the internet in this type of fashion. I had a hard time paying attention to this but I may be able to use this clip if I'm ever having a hard time falling asleep. I think that in the musical realm this would be a great way to share different forms of music.  It is impressive in its own respect I just don't see the use in it.

Teaching in the 21st Century

There is a sense of a constant push being created in the beginning of the videos of importance of expanding the way we relay information from ourselves to others. Excuses will always be made no matter what we try to pass on to someone else. Give someone a cell phone for 10 minutes and I bet that individual will be able to pull up an answer for any question you can think of. Technology is amazing and its potential is so great that we can't even begin to think where to start and how it should be applied. 

I watched the video all the way through and then picked through it a second time to rethink a few points of the video that made a lot of sense to me. One of the best points that was made is that students don't need to be entertained but that they need to be involved. We are not going to be baby sitters we are going to be teachers. I for one am not going to sit up in front of the class and hope that some kid will get what I'm saying and I'm not good at juggling so it is up to me to figure out how to get my class to learn. Learning can be fun if involvement is applied because otherwise you are just fighting the sandman the whole time.