What is the fraction of pieces shaded?
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Comments 4 Kids #1, #2, & #3
My first comments4kids assignment was on Jonathan R.'s blog in Ms. Naugle's class. Jonathan is a fourth grade student in New Orleans, LA. In his recent post he created a math word problem for his blog. He then posted a visual picture to help his readers answer his question. I answered Jonathan's question and encouraged him to share it with his classmates. I told him that he did a very good job illustrating his problem. Below is the photo that Jonathan shared in his blog:
My second comment was on another student in Ms. Naugle's class, Dairon D.'s blog. Dairon's post is about benchmark fractions. Dairon gives us a math word problem illustrated with pizza slices. He also goes on to add an additional photo showing us how benchmark fractions can be broken down. I let Dairon know that he did a really good job and I really liked the pictures he added to his blog. I told him to keep up the good work! This is the photo Dairon posted with the question
What is the fraction of pieces shaded?
The last student I was assigned for this section is a little girl in a classroom in New Zealand. This is a "year 5" class of 8 and 9 year old's. This school just returned on the 7th of this month from what we would consider "summer break". Because of that they have just moved up in classes and the student I was assigned to, Mya, has only done one post showing a picture of herself as an introduction. I think it is really amazing what this school is doing with blogging, emailing, and Google Docs. I let Mya know that I checked out her blog from last year out and encouraged her to keep up the good work this school year.
What is the fraction of pieces shaded?
Blog Post #6
The Networked Student
This is a short movie that was created by a group of high school students in Ms. Wendy Drexler's class. Ms. Drexler is currently a professor at the University of Florida. She specializes in education technology and seems very passionate about coming up with solutions to incorporate technology into K-12 classrooms. Ms. Drexler does this using the theory of connectivism, which is a belief that learning is facilitated through technology by tying together many social networks and databases. In this video, her students summarize how to achieve just that.
The speaker uses a very basic cartoon approach to show how students can be linked through various networks and then use those networks to reach out to people they would have previously had no way to communicate with. The video also lists several helpful websites that students can use to enhance their PNL, such as Delicious and Google Scholar. This is an excellent illustration on how students' learning can be enhanced by correctly using technology. As a current online student, I can most certainly appreciate the information provided in this video. It is an excellent demonstration on just how connected and involved we can be with other teachers and classmates.
As a future educator, I think the most important part of the video was our purpose as teachers. It shows that teachers are no longer responsible for simply imputing information into our students and hope they can output it in the same form. When I graduate, I plan to teach first or second grade. That being said I do not think that this amount of online time will be spent in my classroom because of the age of my students. However, I do believe that it will be my job to prepare my students for this type of learning. The internet is an ever-increasing part of our lives. Students as young as first grade need to know how to properly use it, and what simple tools like Google can be used for. I think teachers today underestimate the ability of very young children to understand connectivism. I believe if we properly show children of this age how technology is helpful, and start them on their paths of a creating a learning network, it will excite them for what tomorrow holds.
A 7th Grader's PLE
Wow! I think this is one of my favorite assigned videos so far! This student has really got it down, and it's so refreshing to hear a student's point of view. It seems like most the videos we watch in EDM310 are about exceptional teachers and the ways the make technology useful. It was very encouraging to watch this video because it shows what students at this age are capable of! She's made a great PLN, and shows that she is capable of linking everything she's learned into a variety of projects. When I saw that this was going to be a demonstration of 7th grader's PLN, before I watched the video, I thought it would be much more basic, I was wrong! Although, I use almost all of the same websites and applications in my PLN, I really appreciated how she organized it and think I can take some tips from her! She did a great job!
The Use of Smartboards in the Classroom
The two articles we were assigned Why Smartboards Are a Dumb Initiative and Why I Hate Interactive Whiteboards point out the disadvantages of Smartboards in a classroom setting. I can't help but start off by saying that I totally disagree. I currently observe a few times a week in a fourth grade classroom. Although, I don't agree with all the ways that the teacher instructs her students, she's got her Smartboard lesson plans down pat. Her students are excited the minute the board is turned on, and let's keep in mind, it's February, they've had this board since August, so it's not a "new gadget" anymore. Just last week I watched her teach a lesson on long division on the board. A couple of students were assigned different color markers to use. The lesson would automatically generate a problem based on the specs that the teacher chose. The first student would then come up to solve it. If his/her partners thought the solver made an error, they would help their classmate in a different color while teaching them where they went wrong (aren't we always told the best way to learn is to teach?). Once everyone in the group agreed the problem was done correctly, they would write their answer in the answer spot on the Smartboard and it would automatically tell them if it was wrong or right. I'm telling you, these kids jump out of their seats at the hopes of "playing" with the Smartboard! I'm positive my generation never got that excited about writing on a transparency. Some of the points in these articles made me laugh out loud. For example, when Michael Staton said, "Or, you could take a picture of the whiteboard with a camera.". Are you kidding me?! Not to be rude, but this is a self-professed "Innovative Teacher" giving us the solution of taking a picture of white board instead of using the up to date technology available on a Smartboard. That is better HOW? The only point I could possibly see viable in their arguments are the issue on cost. I read all the way through their articles and thought, I bet these are the same arguments teachers had 10+ years ago at the thought of bringing computers in the classroom. The same arguments could be used: "Can't we put to the money to better use?" "They're too expensive and need too much training!" "The library can do the same thing!". The fact of the matter is (in my opinion), Smartboards help excite students and they create new ways of learning through technology. Can you really put a price on that? The video I've posted below is an example of a teacher using a Smartboard in a elementary setting...try doing that with a white board or transparency...
The speaker uses a very basic cartoon approach to show how students can be linked through various networks and then use those networks to reach out to people they would have previously had no way to communicate with. The video also lists several helpful websites that students can use to enhance their PNL, such as Delicious and Google Scholar. This is an excellent illustration on how students' learning can be enhanced by correctly using technology. As a current online student, I can most certainly appreciate the information provided in this video. It is an excellent demonstration on just how connected and involved we can be with other teachers and classmates.
As a future educator, I think the most important part of the video was our purpose as teachers. It shows that teachers are no longer responsible for simply imputing information into our students and hope they can output it in the same form. When I graduate, I plan to teach first or second grade. That being said I do not think that this amount of online time will be spent in my classroom because of the age of my students. However, I do believe that it will be my job to prepare my students for this type of learning. The internet is an ever-increasing part of our lives. Students as young as first grade need to know how to properly use it, and what simple tools like Google can be used for. I think teachers today underestimate the ability of very young children to understand connectivism. I believe if we properly show children of this age how technology is helpful, and start them on their paths of a creating a learning network, it will excite them for what tomorrow holds.
A 7th Grader's PLE
Wow! I think this is one of my favorite assigned videos so far! This student has really got it down, and it's so refreshing to hear a student's point of view. It seems like most the videos we watch in EDM310 are about exceptional teachers and the ways the make technology useful. It was very encouraging to watch this video because it shows what students at this age are capable of! She's made a great PLN, and shows that she is capable of linking everything she's learned into a variety of projects. When I saw that this was going to be a demonstration of 7th grader's PLN, before I watched the video, I thought it would be much more basic, I was wrong! Although, I use almost all of the same websites and applications in my PLN, I really appreciated how she organized it and think I can take some tips from her! She did a great job!
The Use of Smartboards in the Classroom
The two articles we were assigned Why Smartboards Are a Dumb Initiative and Why I Hate Interactive Whiteboards point out the disadvantages of Smartboards in a classroom setting. I can't help but start off by saying that I totally disagree. I currently observe a few times a week in a fourth grade classroom. Although, I don't agree with all the ways that the teacher instructs her students, she's got her Smartboard lesson plans down pat. Her students are excited the minute the board is turned on, and let's keep in mind, it's February, they've had this board since August, so it's not a "new gadget" anymore. Just last week I watched her teach a lesson on long division on the board. A couple of students were assigned different color markers to use. The lesson would automatically generate a problem based on the specs that the teacher chose. The first student would then come up to solve it. If his/her partners thought the solver made an error, they would help their classmate in a different color while teaching them where they went wrong (aren't we always told the best way to learn is to teach?). Once everyone in the group agreed the problem was done correctly, they would write their answer in the answer spot on the Smartboard and it would automatically tell them if it was wrong or right. I'm telling you, these kids jump out of their seats at the hopes of "playing" with the Smartboard! I'm positive my generation never got that excited about writing on a transparency. Some of the points in these articles made me laugh out loud. For example, when Michael Staton said, "Or, you could take a picture of the whiteboard with a camera.". Are you kidding me?! Not to be rude, but this is a self-professed "Innovative Teacher" giving us the solution of taking a picture of white board instead of using the up to date technology available on a Smartboard. That is better HOW? The only point I could possibly see viable in their arguments are the issue on cost. I read all the way through their articles and thought, I bet these are the same arguments teachers had 10+ years ago at the thought of bringing computers in the classroom. The same arguments could be used: "Can't we put to the money to better use?" "They're too expensive and need too much training!" "The library can do the same thing!". The fact of the matter is (in my opinion), Smartboards help excite students and they create new ways of learning through technology. Can you really put a price on that? The video I've posted below is an example of a teacher using a Smartboard in a elementary setting...try doing that with a white board or transparency...
Project #8: Podcast
Is Facebook Beneficial In the Classroom?
My group and I choose this topic because we felt it was both relevant and currently controversial around Mobile County. Please feel free to share your opinion with us! Enjoy!
My group and I choose this topic because we felt it was both relevant and currently controversial around Mobile County. Please feel free to share your opinion with us! Enjoy!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Blog Post #5
The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom
This is a podcast created by Joe Dale that demonstrates ways to use podcasting in the classroom. Mr. Dale is a middle school teacher and he shows several ways that he has incorporated this form of technology into his classroom. The vodcast that he created was extremely helpful to me and I plan to use this way of teaching in my classroom. He demonstrates how teachers could use a podcast to aid students who were too sick to come into school, I wish my teachers used this when I was in school! He also showed examples of students creating their own podcast to help them become involved and learn. What a great idea! I believe students learn SO much more from project based learning. Mr. Dale is not only engaging his students, but he is teaching them to use tools that will help them through the rest of their schooling. Through the several examples that he used he gave me something to think about when I record my own podcast this week.
100 Ways to Use Your iPod to Learn and Study Better
As I've said in my earlier posts, I own an iPad and use it daily, so I really appreciated this list! It never ceases to amaze me all the different ways to use technology. I'd never even thought about podcasting in the classroom until I started EDM 310. This list gives examples of a variety of apps available on the app store that use podcasting. Some examples are GoogleGet, which keeps you up to date with current news, Spanish to Go, which teaches you Spanish though a podcast (how cool is that?!), and Brainquest, an educational based game for kids. It's fascinating all the different apps that are created with podcasts and available to help teach children.
This list also has a tutorials section. This was most beneficial for my upcoming podcast project. The website provides a variety of links that demonstrates how to create a podcast and how to use it to benefit students in the classroom. I think this is a list I will have to bookmark and go back to when I'm looking for different ways to use my iPad or to use podcasting in the teaching.
Podcast Collection
This is a lesson plan that Judy Scharf, a teacher in New York, has put together on how to teach using podcasts. Judy first gives a detailed explanation on what a podcast and the benefits on using them in the classroom. She encourages teachers, saying "Give podcasting a try; you may be the inspiration for your students’ successful careers!". Judy really goes into depth in this post. She breaks down complete lesson guide, lists possible topics to use, and iTunes files on how to use podcast. She even includes an example grading scale, rubric, and examples of excellent podcasts. She has obviously done an extensive amount of research on the subject and I think it's amazing the she is willing to share this with other educators. The tutorials she posted will definitely help me in creating my own podcast and her grading scale will be a huge benefit in my own classroom.
This is a podcast created by Joe Dale that demonstrates ways to use podcasting in the classroom. Mr. Dale is a middle school teacher and he shows several ways that he has incorporated this form of technology into his classroom. The vodcast that he created was extremely helpful to me and I plan to use this way of teaching in my classroom. He demonstrates how teachers could use a podcast to aid students who were too sick to come into school, I wish my teachers used this when I was in school! He also showed examples of students creating their own podcast to help them become involved and learn. What a great idea! I believe students learn SO much more from project based learning. Mr. Dale is not only engaging his students, but he is teaching them to use tools that will help them through the rest of their schooling. Through the several examples that he used he gave me something to think about when I record my own podcast this week.
100 Ways to Use Your iPod to Learn and Study Better
As I've said in my earlier posts, I own an iPad and use it daily, so I really appreciated this list! It never ceases to amaze me all the different ways to use technology. I'd never even thought about podcasting in the classroom until I started EDM 310. This list gives examples of a variety of apps available on the app store that use podcasting. Some examples are GoogleGet, which keeps you up to date with current news, Spanish to Go, which teaches you Spanish though a podcast (how cool is that?!), and Brainquest, an educational based game for kids. It's fascinating all the different apps that are created with podcasts and available to help teach children.
This list also has a tutorials section. This was most beneficial for my upcoming podcast project. The website provides a variety of links that demonstrates how to create a podcast and how to use it to benefit students in the classroom. I think this is a list I will have to bookmark and go back to when I'm looking for different ways to use my iPad or to use podcasting in the teaching.
This is a lesson plan that Judy Scharf, a teacher in New York, has put together on how to teach using podcasts. Judy first gives a detailed explanation on what a podcast and the benefits on using them in the classroom. She encourages teachers, saying "Give podcasting a try; you may be the inspiration for your students’ successful careers!". Judy really goes into depth in this post. She breaks down complete lesson guide, lists possible topics to use, and iTunes files on how to use podcast. She even includes an example grading scale, rubric, and examples of excellent podcasts. She has obviously done an extensive amount of research on the subject and I think it's amazing the she is willing to share this with other educators. The tutorials she posted will definitely help me in creating my own podcast and her grading scale will be a huge benefit in my own classroom.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
This Is My Sentence
This is the picture I made to go along with my video. I attempted to add it in the video but it was a mirrored image, so I decided to just share on my blog.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Blog Post #4
Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?
This is a blog called Dangerously Irrelevant by Scott McLeod, who is a professor at Iowa State University. Mr. McLeod is a leader in promoting technology in the classroom, as well as a co-producer of the Did You Know? video posted in my first blog. He is also the director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE). All that being said, he knows his stuff when it comes to how to efficiently use technology in schools.
In his post in August 2009, he writes a poem sarcastically emphasizing the lack of technology in classrooms. He points out all the fears that some parents and teachers have about the internet and how this causes them to attempt to shut their students away from it. He lists several ways technology can be used but in a sarcastic tone says "block it all, lock it down, keep it out".
I have to say, I agree with Scott! Teachers and parents tend to use fear as a motivating factor or an excuse to keep technology away from students. We need to be focusing on teaching our kids how to correctly use the internet and then show them all it can do!
The iSchool Initiative
This video is right up my alley! As I was watching this I kept thinking, I wish they had made this after the iPad came out, because I use my iPad DAILY in school! So I went to the website to see what they thought about Apple's newest product and it seems the creators of the iSchool Initiative share my enthusiasm for it. Apple's iPad platform literally takes everything I normally would have carried in a book bag and puts it into a one and a half pound, incredibly slim device. It's amazing!
The creators of this initiative dared to explore the possibility of a school operating solely on this system. Just think of the applications we could use if every student had access to an iPad or iTouch and we could connect to each other. I've saved over $300 (that's over half what the iPad cost) in the last two semesters on textbooks alone! And that's not to mention calculators, notepads, and flashcards! For those of you who think it would too difficult to read a textbook on an iPad, I took a screenshot of one of my books.
It looks just like a normal textbook page doesn't it? Using this application, I can easily flip from one book to the other and zoom in and out to get better views of photos. I can also highlight, bookmark, and post "sticky notes" on the pages. I hope that more students, and especially teachers, start to take ideas like the iSchool Initiative seriously. The possibilities are endless!
The Lost Generation
Wow! What an interesting concept for a YouTube video. In less than two minutes the creators take you from feeling sicken by what the future holds to feeling inspired to create change. I really loved how it was put it together, definitely unexpected. It makes you think about the issues that surround us. I've realized in the last couple of years that I was raised differently from the majority of the people I know, including my husband. My parents made sure that my siblings and I sat down to dinner together every night, worked hard to earn our spending money, and attended church on Sundays. Unfortunately a large part of my generation did not have similar childhoods. This video points out that too often we forget what's important, we expect handouts, or we think money is the cure to all problems. I appreciate how technology was used here to put our minds in prospective.
Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir
I have never seen anything like this! That is a truly beautiful performance and it is unreal that these are singers who have never even met each other! This was so creative! They used technology to unite this choir and bring their voices together. The emotions in the faces of the performers really makes it special. I can't imagine that this would have been easy but I want to see more work done like this!
Teaching in the 21st Century
I really liked the points that this video brings up. As future educators, we need to consider that our jobs are going to be very different from the teachers we knew as students. With so many ways to use technology in the classroom, we need to be constant lifelong learners. We need to be able to teach students in a modernized way, using the internet to our benefit. I really liked the quote "Students do not need to be ENTERTAINED they need to be ENGAGED". Teachers who oppose the use of technology seem to think that arguments for incorporating it in classrooms is about letting students play with their "toys". This is not the case at all! New devices are constantly being created that allow students to connect and create and whole new ways. It is the responsibility of educators to teach students how use technology in their day to day lives.
This is a blog called Dangerously Irrelevant by Scott McLeod, who is a professor at Iowa State University. Mr. McLeod is a leader in promoting technology in the classroom, as well as a co-producer of the Did You Know? video posted in my first blog. He is also the director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE). All that being said, he knows his stuff when it comes to how to efficiently use technology in schools.
In his post in August 2009, he writes a poem sarcastically emphasizing the lack of technology in classrooms. He points out all the fears that some parents and teachers have about the internet and how this causes them to attempt to shut their students away from it. He lists several ways technology can be used but in a sarcastic tone says "block it all, lock it down, keep it out".
I have to say, I agree with Scott! Teachers and parents tend to use fear as a motivating factor or an excuse to keep technology away from students. We need to be focusing on teaching our kids how to correctly use the internet and then show them all it can do!
The iSchool Initiative
This video is right up my alley! As I was watching this I kept thinking, I wish they had made this after the iPad came out, because I use my iPad DAILY in school! So I went to the website to see what they thought about Apple's newest product and it seems the creators of the iSchool Initiative share my enthusiasm for it. Apple's iPad platform literally takes everything I normally would have carried in a book bag and puts it into a one and a half pound, incredibly slim device. It's amazing!
The creators of this initiative dared to explore the possibility of a school operating solely on this system. Just think of the applications we could use if every student had access to an iPad or iTouch and we could connect to each other. I've saved over $300 (that's over half what the iPad cost) in the last two semesters on textbooks alone! And that's not to mention calculators, notepads, and flashcards! For those of you who think it would too difficult to read a textbook on an iPad, I took a screenshot of one of my books.
The Lost Generation
Wow! What an interesting concept for a YouTube video. In less than two minutes the creators take you from feeling sicken by what the future holds to feeling inspired to create change. I really loved how it was put it together, definitely unexpected. It makes you think about the issues that surround us. I've realized in the last couple of years that I was raised differently from the majority of the people I know, including my husband. My parents made sure that my siblings and I sat down to dinner together every night, worked hard to earn our spending money, and attended church on Sundays. Unfortunately a large part of my generation did not have similar childhoods. This video points out that too often we forget what's important, we expect handouts, or we think money is the cure to all problems. I appreciate how technology was used here to put our minds in prospective.
Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir
I have never seen anything like this! That is a truly beautiful performance and it is unreal that these are singers who have never even met each other! This was so creative! They used technology to unite this choir and bring their voices together. The emotions in the faces of the performers really makes it special. I can't imagine that this would have been easy but I want to see more work done like this!
Teaching in the 21st Century
I really liked the points that this video brings up. As future educators, we need to consider that our jobs are going to be very different from the teachers we knew as students. With so many ways to use technology in the classroom, we need to be constant lifelong learners. We need to be able to teach students in a modernized way, using the internet to our benefit. I really liked the quote "Students do not need to be ENTERTAINED they need to be ENGAGED". Teachers who oppose the use of technology seem to think that arguments for incorporating it in classrooms is about letting students play with their "toys". This is not the case at all! New devices are constantly being created that allow students to connect and create and whole new ways. It is the responsibility of educators to teach students how use technology in their day to day lives.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Comments 4 Teachers #1
The first blog I read and commented on is by Mathew Needleman titled Creating Lifelong Learners. Mathew's recent blog is called "More Comprehension Resources" and it is an overview of various reading resources he has been experimenting with on his students. He is a teacher in Los Angeles and is attempting to raise the low test scores in his school. In his blog he lists a variety of strategies he has tried to complete this task and what his opinion is on each strategy. He explains that he has a group of 2-12 students anywhere from 20-60 minutes. That being said, he describes the reason various activities were ineffective for him due to lack of time. In what he calls "plan B", he explains how he has begun to use EnglishForEveryone.org for free comprehension passages. Mathew seems to find these worksheets easy to use because they are just one page, which allows him time to work out problems with the students and then to allow them to try problems on their own. He's primary using these worksheets for lower level learning. He says that for higher level thinking he has found the Mind Benders books effective. These are logic and puzzle books that are read aloud to students and allow them to think through and solve verbal passages. I commented to Mathew that I appreciated him sharing his successes and failures on what he's using in his classroom. I also said that I look forward to trying the techniques he's used in "plan B" when I have my own students who need help with reading. When I have my own classroom I think it will be very beneficially to use blogs of fellow teachers to learn different ways to help my students learn.
The second post that I read by Mathew is titled "Increase Reading Fluency with Fluency Timer". As I stated earlier, Mathew is a teacher in California that is helping diagnosed students reading problems and work to increase their test scores. In the most recent blog Mathew shares with us that he has created a software for a fluency timer. This software is used to record students reading into a computer, time it, then allow the students to play back the recording in order to hear their mistakes. Mathew has found that his students will generally hear themselves and then have a desire to repeat this process in order to fix passages they may have made mistakes on. Mathew states that this software has "made reading fluency into a game so that it’s no longer tedious to practice". He has created a website in order to share this program with other teachers. It is an app that is available from iTunes for $6.99 and seems like a great investment!
I let Mathew know through my comment that I thought his idea was incredible! I told him it is a very interesting concept and that I'm sure several teachers are going to benefit from his idea. I plan to read his blog in the future and try out some of the ways he's made reading fun for his students.
I let Mathew know through my comment that I thought his idea was incredible! I told him it is a very interesting concept and that I'm sure several teachers are going to benefit from his idea. I plan to read his blog in the future and try out some of the ways he's made reading fun for his students.
Blog Post #3
A Vision Of Students Today
This is a YouTube video posted by students from Kansas State University. The beginning of my college experience was similar to the answers that these students gave. Right out of high school, I was more interested in what was new on Twitter and Facebook then what was going on in my history class. Like most of my friends, I spent several hours watching TV, talking on my phone, or browsing the web. I spent about one third or less of my day going to class and studying. I took a few years off school after my sophomore year and since then my mindset has changed. I now have a full time job and I pay for school with my own money. I make sure that I go to class everyday and I try to focus on everything the teacher says, no matter how boring I may find it. I think there is a huge difference in what students are willing to work for when their own money is on the line. A possible suggestion for this video would be the percentage of students on scholarship or using outside funding to go to college.
I feel like the question this video is asking is WHY? Why are college students more interested in technology then the paying attention in an old fashioned classroom. I'm now 23 years old, and in my opinion I come from a generation ABSORBED in technology. We love the internet, we love social media websites, and we've spent a hundred more hours Googling a question rather than using a dictionary or encyclopedia. Schools should be spending time and resources learning how to evolve with my generation's way of learning. We are technology capable, so let's use it to our advantage. Incorporate technology into an everyday class and I believe students would wake up, they'd be interested, and they'd be able to relate and learn.
It's Not About Technology
This is a post written by Kelly Hines on her opinions about technology and today's teachers. Kelly starts off by writing in the first paragraph that "learning in the 21st century is not about the technology". When I first read this I thought, wait a minute... isn't this what EDM310 is about? OF COURSE learning in this century should be about technology! But as I read on the author breaks down what she means in a logical explanation.
Kelly suggests that there are many steps that teachers must grasp before they can use technology to their advantage. She explains that teachers must have a desire to learn new things and be innovated in their classrooms. She also describes the teachers should see each lesson from a students point of view, and find ways to make learning possible for them. I really agreed with her relation between innovated teachers and technology. If you don't have an innovated teacher, trying to improve them with technology is pointless. Kelly made several good view points in her post and I think in the end most readers would agree, it's not as much about technology as it is about innovation.
Is It Okay To Be a Technology Illiterate Teacher?
Karl Fisch really hits the nail on the head with this post! He brought up points in his blog that I think others are too afraid to say. As I've said in my earlier posts, I work in a field surrounded by technology. I create sales solutions for customers in cell phones, internet, and television services. The most frustrating thing in my job is dealing with customers that a.) know nothing about the devices they purchase b.) refuse to learn and c.) make the comment "I've just never been good with all this technology stuff". The other day I had a 30 year old woman come in with a list of numbers written down for us to program into her cell phone address book. When I tried to demonstrate how this was done, she said "Can you just do it for me? I'll just bring it into the store when I have new numbers to enter." WHAT?! As a sales representative all I can do is enter her numbers and shake my head. You can't help those who refuse to help themselves. Sadly enough this attitude is obviously carried over into our education systems.
I really appreciated how Mr. Fisch compared the use of technology today to the ability to read and write in the 20th century. That's an eye opener isn't it? Technology is the way of the future, period. There's no longer wiggle room to put it off, or refuse to learn. Educators of today need to be learners/teachers/doers/leaders. I really liked one of his concluding thoughts "You need to demonstrate continual learning, lifelong learning – for your students, or you will continue to teach your students how to be successful in an age that no longer exists." I think this sums it up. As future teachers we need to be prepared to teach them for tomorrow, and how to learn to teach themselves.
Gary's Social Media Count
I posted this to my blog because I like to see it as a constant reminder of how rapidly technology is growing (look at the number of texts that are sent each day!). As a future educator this means I have to be ready for anything. Teachers have to be an example for students in ways to mold technology into our everyday lives. If we're not giving students the opportunity to discover for their own where will they be when they leave the classroom? I know when I was in middle school, blogging (not that I even knew what blogging was then) was never something I thought would be a college assignment!
This is a YouTube video posted by students from Kansas State University. The beginning of my college experience was similar to the answers that these students gave. Right out of high school, I was more interested in what was new on Twitter and Facebook then what was going on in my history class. Like most of my friends, I spent several hours watching TV, talking on my phone, or browsing the web. I spent about one third or less of my day going to class and studying. I took a few years off school after my sophomore year and since then my mindset has changed. I now have a full time job and I pay for school with my own money. I make sure that I go to class everyday and I try to focus on everything the teacher says, no matter how boring I may find it. I think there is a huge difference in what students are willing to work for when their own money is on the line. A possible suggestion for this video would be the percentage of students on scholarship or using outside funding to go to college.
I feel like the question this video is asking is WHY? Why are college students more interested in technology then the paying attention in an old fashioned classroom. I'm now 23 years old, and in my opinion I come from a generation ABSORBED in technology. We love the internet, we love social media websites, and we've spent a hundred more hours Googling a question rather than using a dictionary or encyclopedia. Schools should be spending time and resources learning how to evolve with my generation's way of learning. We are technology capable, so let's use it to our advantage. Incorporate technology into an everyday class and I believe students would wake up, they'd be interested, and they'd be able to relate and learn.
It's Not About Technology
This is a post written by Kelly Hines on her opinions about technology and today's teachers. Kelly starts off by writing in the first paragraph that "learning in the 21st century is not about the technology". When I first read this I thought, wait a minute... isn't this what EDM310 is about? OF COURSE learning in this century should be about technology! But as I read on the author breaks down what she means in a logical explanation.
Kelly suggests that there are many steps that teachers must grasp before they can use technology to their advantage. She explains that teachers must have a desire to learn new things and be innovated in their classrooms. She also describes the teachers should see each lesson from a students point of view, and find ways to make learning possible for them. I really agreed with her relation between innovated teachers and technology. If you don't have an innovated teacher, trying to improve them with technology is pointless. Kelly made several good view points in her post and I think in the end most readers would agree, it's not as much about technology as it is about innovation.
Is It Okay To Be a Technology Illiterate Teacher?
I really appreciated how Mr. Fisch compared the use of technology today to the ability to read and write in the 20th century. That's an eye opener isn't it? Technology is the way of the future, period. There's no longer wiggle room to put it off, or refuse to learn. Educators of today need to be learners/teachers/doers/leaders. I really liked one of his concluding thoughts "You need to demonstrate continual learning, lifelong learning – for your students, or you will continue to teach your students how to be successful in an age that no longer exists." I think this sums it up. As future teachers we need to be prepared to teach them for tomorrow, and how to learn to teach themselves.
Gary's Social Media Count
I posted this to my blog because I like to see it as a constant reminder of how rapidly technology is growing (look at the number of texts that are sent each day!). As a future educator this means I have to be ready for anything. Teachers have to be an example for students in ways to mold technology into our everyday lives. If we're not giving students the opportunity to discover for their own where will they be when they leave the classroom? I know when I was in middle school, blogging (not that I even knew what blogging was then) was never something I thought would be a college assignment!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)