Peer Editing
I chose to comment on my peers blog. I don't feel that i had an adequate blog to comment on as the author made it very clear that she did not care to do the assignment. I simply hope that she reads my response and might possibly take to heart that school and class, no matter what it may be, is of the utmost importance.
Technology in Special Education by Stephanie Tyler
This assignment is based on being to able to describe how technology can help our teaching. I completely agree with the notion that that technology can ABSOLUTELY help our students in their understanding, retention, and growth of knowledge. I do in this blog, however, want to hit on two points. One, how technology can help our students, and two, how as we have done in the past with critiquing; this blog aims to show one side of a story that has too many facets to address in a simple six minute video.
First off, I am an adamant believer that technology not only will help our students, but it is also the only way too truly keep them current with their futures in society. The work it has done, for not only special needs, but every single student out there is unquestionable. Of course special needs children needs more help, it's in the name, but technology has made crossing certain barriers easier than ever before. We are able to reach children on their level like we haven't been able to do in the history of time by speaking to them on their chosen form of communication. This cannot be discounted at all. Technology has more implications for the future of teaching than any other form of communication out there, and must be respected in its entirety.
Secondly, I feel that this did not discus fairly and impartially the shortcomings of technology in helping special needs children. I am completely sympathetic to the plight of these children, but Ms. Tyler simply spewed her one sided propaganda, and it sort of turned me off. Her side to all this seemed to come off as technology simply can fix these children's problems, and that with the right amount of technology we can feel free to discount whatever their problems may be. I feel that she fed a lot of these children the answers she was looking to receive and that in itself, seems horribly wrong to me. Don't get me wrong, what she is doing is an extremely admirable thing, but to deliberately show such a lop sided view just turned me off on her message, which is a true shame.
The implication oaf the "iPad apps" have absolutely no boundaries in teaching. The season being that apps distributed have no limits other than that of the creators. The apps shown in this blog are incredible for the learning acumen of these children, and the app creators should be commended by more than just the money they receive from selling their apps. But to my original point, the applications of "apps" in teaching have zero boundaries, as technological innovation has zero boundaries. So until someone is able to definitavly reign in the ingenuity of human beings. We have no where to look but up, for mankind and education as whole.
Gary Hayes Social Media Count
This counter and the accompanying data is definitely an eye opener and shows the enormity that social media has on today's society. The fact that these extraordinary numbers of social media inputs are being done at once on different platforms is just a glance at the unmistakeable fact: social media is not only here to stay, but will most likely grow in importance in the future.
As far as how this phenomenon affects the careers of both current and prospective teachers, I would have to say that anyone wanting to stay relevant in the world is going to have to hop on the social media bandwagon or be left behind. Staying current with changes of this magnitude is imperative for any teacher who has a desire to prepare their students for anything outside of the classroom. How on earth would a teacher be able to say that they have prepared a student to get out into the real world without at least somewhat exposing them to social media, which has, is, and will be changing society in ways we have never seen before. Odds are that teachers will also begin having to use these means of communication in the near future to even conduct the day to day teaching. Social media is here to stay and the numbers don't lie, so I think its imperative that we stay current, if not at least attempt to actually lead the way.
A Vision of Students Today
Michael Wesch did a wonderful job creating such an intresting and entertaining video about some of the problems in higher education that students seem to face. The students reiterated some of the same themes from previous assignments such as, working in careers that don't exist today and how students are actually using social media like Facebook during class instead of learning. The students also seemed very disenchanted with the whole structure and reasoning behind education and did not seem to grasp why they were there at all really.
I think that students are not seeing the importance of what they are doing in higher education as much as they used to for a couple of reasons. First, students see this as just some right of passage as can be seen by how many students played through class rather listen and learn. They are respecting what an opportunity they have, because they feel they are not really going to have much of a leg up on the competition by the time they get out anyway. Another reason I think the students in the video are so unhappy is that the cost of school in many ways is not worth what some students will get out of it in a financial sense. As the girl who stated that she will be $20,000 in debt when she graduates, she may or may not be able to pay off for many years, depending on what field she enters into.
The modern student seems to have more worries than they used to. It used to be that a student could get a higher education and be guaranteed a better life than someone who did not have that education at all. Now, there are way more distractions and absolutely no guarantees in life then in the past. In closing, I think that we as teachers have to work harder than ever to keep our students inspired and focused on the task at hand, not just in school but at success in life.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Blog Post #2
Did You Know??
In this video Dr. Strange does a remake of Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod's video about how much technology and the world as a whole are rapidly changing. These videos speak about two major topics in the world today. First, the changing societies of scale and how they will be drastically different in the near future. Second, the need for education to adapt to our teaching methods to these changes so that our students are better prepared to succeed in our major changing world.
China and India's population is growing at a much faster pace than the United States. Also, both are growing in both overall education and knowledge of the English language, so it is super important to understand and respect that the world will be a much more global and integrated market place. That marketplace, is exactly what we as teachers are responsible for getting our students to be more prepared to compete and live in. So teachers had better respect and embrace these changes rather than fight them, and teach our students to do the same.
As far as the paradigm of being able to teach and prepare our students for jobs and technologies that don't exist yet, it is my belief that teaching students to be creative and open-minded is the best course of action. While teaching analytical skills should NEVER be discounted, it is the nurturing of creativity that produces innovation, and it will keep students more able to adapt to newer innovations.
Mr. Winkle Wakes
Matthew Needleman did a phenomenal job on this video. This video is a social narrative on two fronts. On one front this video starts off describing the changes that technology has brought to our society and how they might be seen by some one from the outside. Mr. Winkle is scared and made to feel somewhat lost by the changes that he is encountering. We cannot imagine what this would be like as we have watched these innovations blossom before our eyes.
The second point that this video makes is that the school system in America is the only aspect of our lives that has not caught up to the innovations of the rest of our live. It's ironic that those innovations inevitably being brought to us, but none other, than one time school children. Mr. Winkle feels comfortable and at ease in the school setting, because there are no signs that times have changed or that innovation has brought about any significant changes in learning whatsoever, other than the dusty computer in the back that is.
This video has done an excellent job of showing two very common extremes in our society today and how technology and innovation has changed them, or not changed them.. This societal narrative in an entertaining manner thru using a man who has been asleep for 100 years has shown our great triumphs and our great pitfalls.
The Importance of Creativity
Sir Ken Robinson's talk on the importance of creativity has been one of the most entertaining pieces i have watched, and I personally found this piece to be the most thought provoking. Sir Robinson's speech at the TED conference brings to light a growing epidemic in our modern school systems and that is the shying away from the importance of creativity and the creative arts. As he states in the beginning, the world's school systems underwent a transformation around the turn of the century "to meet the needs of industrialization." This process of taking our children's education and consciously focusing it away from creativity quite possibly could be one of the worst mistakes in human history, with repercussions that could last forever.
Sir Robinson talks of the brilliant people that were told the things they were good at did not matter or worse. In doing so, it took some of the worlds greatest minds and shut them out from ever achieving what they capable of achieving. Creativity to Sir Robinson is "the process of having regional ideas that have value." If that is true, which I believe it to be, then no matter what field these creative endeavors are in, whether it be music, art, technology, dance, literature or anything else, then the idea has VALUE and should not be overlooked, or even discounted in the least. In fact, I think that these "valuable" ideas should be nurtured to their fullest. I am reminded of a line from Mr. Hollands Opus where Richard Dreyfus says that "if kids don't have music or art, then they won't have anything to read or write about." Sir Robinson is following the ideas of Mr. Dreyfus, and I think they are simply trying to say that the analytical thinkers of the world can only do so much; it will take creative thinkers to make this world as great as it truly can be. All of that being said, if an educational system is not willing to put the necessary emphasis on these things, then we as teachers should whatever we can to encourage these creative ideas as much as possible while our students are with us and beyond.
Vision for 21st Century Learning
The main argument in this short video, it seems to me, is that not enough children are literate in the current technologies of today. I can't say that I completely agree with this argument. I absolutely agree that some children have no exposure to modern technologies,which is a huge burden for those children. I feel that the amount of children without exposure to modern technology is so small compared to the opposite, that it is not really something of much concern. From previous blogs,I have seen more information to the contrary of this one that I just can't give it much consideration, other than agreeing that any child who does not have exposure to modern tech is at a disadvantage.
Digital Smarts
Vicki Davis is a very inspirational teacher and one that I think we should all strive to be somewhat like. Whether it is technology, the arts, or anything else for which you have a passion; Ms. Davis shows that with with passion and a little "out of the box" thinking, you can always get your point across and inspire your students to new levels at the same time.
The work she is doing with connecting her students to new virtual software as well as making a definite effort to connect them with others across the globe, is some of the most forward thinking that I have seen to date by a teacher. The fact that she understands the global societal shifts in both technologies and societies as a whole and can bring al lot that to a school on rural south georgia is amazing, kudos to her!
In this video Dr. Strange does a remake of Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod's video about how much technology and the world as a whole are rapidly changing. These videos speak about two major topics in the world today. First, the changing societies of scale and how they will be drastically different in the near future. Second, the need for education to adapt to our teaching methods to these changes so that our students are better prepared to succeed in our major changing world.
China and India's population is growing at a much faster pace than the United States. Also, both are growing in both overall education and knowledge of the English language, so it is super important to understand and respect that the world will be a much more global and integrated market place. That marketplace, is exactly what we as teachers are responsible for getting our students to be more prepared to compete and live in. So teachers had better respect and embrace these changes rather than fight them, and teach our students to do the same.
As far as the paradigm of being able to teach and prepare our students for jobs and technologies that don't exist yet, it is my belief that teaching students to be creative and open-minded is the best course of action. While teaching analytical skills should NEVER be discounted, it is the nurturing of creativity that produces innovation, and it will keep students more able to adapt to newer innovations.
Mr. Winkle Wakes
Matthew Needleman did a phenomenal job on this video. This video is a social narrative on two fronts. On one front this video starts off describing the changes that technology has brought to our society and how they might be seen by some one from the outside. Mr. Winkle is scared and made to feel somewhat lost by the changes that he is encountering. We cannot imagine what this would be like as we have watched these innovations blossom before our eyes.
This video has done an excellent job of showing two very common extremes in our society today and how technology and innovation has changed them, or not changed them.. This societal narrative in an entertaining manner thru using a man who has been asleep for 100 years has shown our great triumphs and our great pitfalls.
The Importance of Creativity
Sir Ken Robinson's talk on the importance of creativity has been one of the most entertaining pieces i have watched, and I personally found this piece to be the most thought provoking. Sir Robinson's speech at the TED conference brings to light a growing epidemic in our modern school systems and that is the shying away from the importance of creativity and the creative arts. As he states in the beginning, the world's school systems underwent a transformation around the turn of the century "to meet the needs of industrialization." This process of taking our children's education and consciously focusing it away from creativity quite possibly could be one of the worst mistakes in human history, with repercussions that could last forever.
Sir Robinson talks of the brilliant people that were told the things they were good at did not matter or worse. In doing so, it took some of the worlds greatest minds and shut them out from ever achieving what they capable of achieving. Creativity to Sir Robinson is "the process of having regional ideas that have value." If that is true, which I believe it to be, then no matter what field these creative endeavors are in, whether it be music, art, technology, dance, literature or anything else, then the idea has VALUE and should not be overlooked, or even discounted in the least. In fact, I think that these "valuable" ideas should be nurtured to their fullest. I am reminded of a line from Mr. Hollands Opus where Richard Dreyfus says that "if kids don't have music or art, then they won't have anything to read or write about." Sir Robinson is following the ideas of Mr. Dreyfus, and I think they are simply trying to say that the analytical thinkers of the world can only do so much; it will take creative thinkers to make this world as great as it truly can be. All of that being said, if an educational system is not willing to put the necessary emphasis on these things, then we as teachers should whatever we can to encourage these creative ideas as much as possible while our students are with us and beyond.
Vision for 21st Century Learning
The main argument in this short video, it seems to me, is that not enough children are literate in the current technologies of today. I can't say that I completely agree with this argument. I absolutely agree that some children have no exposure to modern technologies,which is a huge burden for those children. I feel that the amount of children without exposure to modern technology is so small compared to the opposite, that it is not really something of much concern. From previous blogs,I have seen more information to the contrary of this one that I just can't give it much consideration, other than agreeing that any child who does not have exposure to modern tech is at a disadvantage.
Digital Smarts
Vicki Davis is a very inspirational teacher and one that I think we should all strive to be somewhat like. Whether it is technology, the arts, or anything else for which you have a passion; Ms. Davis shows that with with passion and a little "out of the box" thinking, you can always get your point across and inspire your students to new levels at the same time.
The work she is doing with connecting her students to new virtual software as well as making a definite effort to connect them with others across the globe, is some of the most forward thinking that I have seen to date by a teacher. The fact that she understands the global societal shifts in both technologies and societies as a whole and can bring al lot that to a school on rural south georgia is amazing, kudos to her!
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