Project 9a

Blog Post 5

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff, Please?

In this article by Scott McLeod, he wrote a satirical poem about the supposed "dangers" of teaching children about the internet and how to use it, making his point in the end that he was doing all of this with his own kids, who would have the advantage when they grew up.

First, I've never really thought about the internet as something to teach kids. It's something I learned to navigate on my own, because it's not like I had tech-savvy parents or friends when I was growing up. I learned the ins and outs of posting stuff on the internet a long time ago. Of course I don't know everything, but I know enough to do what I like to do, and if something pops up that I need to know, I just figure it out on my own. So, actually, the idea that we could teach children all of this is appealing! Because while I did figure out all of this on my own, it took me a very long time.

If I'd had someone who could have shown me all this stuff, it would have been so much easier. For instance, I still don't know what an RSS Feed is. I could look it up, but so far my life has been just fine without it. If I'd learned about it when I was just starting out, though, maybe I'd consider it more important. And I've always wanted to learn to make Flash videos, but that requires software I don't have and is sometimes expensive. If I had someone to teach me, or if I could have learned this in school, I wouldn't sit here and sigh in envy whenever I watch a really good Flash video.

In case you haven't gotten the idea: I totally agree with Scott McLeod. Kids should definitely be taught about the internet and how to navigate it and utilize everything on it. Reading some of the comments, I noticed a lot of people think kids should have someone watching them every time they get near the computer. I don't think kids have to be constantly monitored at the computer, they just need to be told certain things more than once (don't give out personal information, for example). A little monitoring isn't out of the question, but I think it depends on how old the child is. The younger they are, the more they may require. But it would also largely depend on the individual kid. But give the kids some freedom to explore! Hanging over them constantly isn't going to make them safer--they'll just learn that you don't trust them with a computer, and try to hide everything they're doing, suspect or not.

I had no idea who Scott McLeod was before this class. When I first saw his name, I thought he was the cartoonist Scott McCloud, whose book, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, I had read. But, I quickly found McLeod's bio page. He is considered "one of the nation's leading academic experts on K-12 school technology leadership issues." So, he sounds pretty cool to me.




The iSchool Initiative

Travis Allen makes some strong arguments in favor of using the iTouch as a base for education in his video. It would reduce the amount spent on each student by about $600 dollars; it would simplify how students and teachers communicate, turn in assignments, and keep up with dates; it would be a greener way to learn, using the iSchool rather than wasting tons of paper and pencils; textbooks could be read on it; and it would have many apps that would be useful in the classroom, such as "Chemical Touch" (a periodic table that displays information on every element), "WorldWiki" (a map app that could replace globes and maps in the class), and a graphing calculator app.

I think this is amazing, and it would be great if schools used this. The only problem with this is actually getting schools to use this. It's awesome that Travis Allen has received such recognition for his project, but it needs more than that. School boards would have to be convinced that this new method would be better than our current one, and while Travis Allen's video should be more than enough, it doesn't guarantee anything. Some people believe that what we have going for us now is just fine, why should we upgrade when what we have works? Those would be the people needing convincing. I'd really like to see this happen one day, because I think it would be amazing. Until then, I'll try not to hold my breath.


Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir

This is actually not new to me. I've never seen this video before, but I've seen the Doctor Who Fan Orchestra do this with instruments as they perform music from the British Sci-Fi show Doctor Who in celebration of Murray Gold's fantastic compositions (My personal favorite, and their largest to date, is "Rose's Theme/Doomsday"). Though they do not use as many people as in the Virtual Choir, I think it's amazing nonetheless, getting people together from all over the world for one collaborative effort about something they enjoy immensely.

It makes you wonder about how else this use of the internet could be applied. Students could collaborate with other students around the world on projects like this or anything else.


Teaching in the 21st Century

Kevin Roberts' view on teaching in the 21st century seems to be, from what I understand of the video, being able to teach students how to use the internet to problem solve, communicate, collaborate; using it to create; and teaching responsibility, reliability, and integrity. Students should definitely learn how to do these things using the internet and technology. It's not something we're taught by our parents or friends normally, and it takes longer to learn all of this on your own. If we were to straight up teach students this, we'd probably use computers to communicate with students more than anything else.

Reading Rockets

The Reading Rockets website is an amazing compilation of resources for not just teachers, but librarians, parents, and even school counselors, among other professions. Some of the resources I found would be very useful for when I become a teacher. There are resources for first year teachers, which includes advice, what to expect, and a self-study course. There are resources for finding free or cheap books for the classroom, which features foundations and programs that provides books for students. Since I'm going to be an English teacher, this could be a valuable resource to use in getting books for my own students.

There are articles on developing a literacy-rich environment, plenty on helping students with learning disabilities, and posts on how stories relate to readers. This is an excellent website, and there are tons of resources for helping students with reading and literacy. It's perfect for me, since I'll be an English teacher, though the main focus of the website seems to be teaching younger students. That's no problem, since there's still plenty to learn, even from articles aimed at teachers with young students.

Blog Post 4

Langwitches - 1st Graders Create Own Read Along Book

I think it's a really interesting idea to get students to create their own audio books. It has a lot of benefits in the reading and comprehension departments, but also in writing if the students are helping to write the script, which would be better because it would mean that they're more involved and more invested in things turning out correctly. Instead of just winging it with the discussion part of our podcast or having a "general idea of what we want to say", it would be great if we worked out a script, so we wouldn't forget what we wanted to say and wouldn't ramble on for too long. Help control the length of the podcast.


Langwitches - Listening-Comprehension-Podcasting

I never thought podcasting could be used in such a way. It seems so obvious--that it would be one of the best ways to learn a new language. By repeating a word over and over, hearing it used in context, it makes it easier to learn. The same could be said of anything else, really. When we create our podcast, that's one way we could make sure our audience understands what we want them to know--explaining the main ideas in as many ways possible, getting them used to the feel of it, so they understand exactly what we mean.


Langwitches - Podcasting With First Grade

Sure wish we'd done stuff like this when I was in elementary school. This definitely benefits the communication part of a child's education, besides everything else (listening, speaking, comprehension, writing). After all, it's an interview style script, so the students have to talk with each other to make sure the questions and answers in the script sound alright. Plus, when they're acting for the podcast, they have to make it sound more natural by not reading directly off of the script. That would be something we could use to improve our podcast--instead of reading directly off of our script when we record, have it memorized, maybe with some cue cards to help out when we lose our place. If it were only audio we could cut out any blips in the conversation, but being a video podcast, it's best to be completely prepared beforehand.

Project #6 My Sentence Video

Project #5 - Google Presentation

C4T 1

Post 1

Russ Goerend, who teaches 6th graders Language Arts, wrote on his blog Learning is Life about how computer teachers at his school are switching roles to "Technology Facilitators." Initially delighted by the idea, he gave it some thought and had a change of heart, explaining why it would be better to have both Technology Facilitators and computing classes. What he means by technology facilitators is they help their colleagues become proficient at computing and able to keep learning and applying it as time passes and technology advances.

I agreed with him, that it would be great if they, and schools in general, had both computing classes and Facilitators. I mentioned that at my high school, we'd had only a typing class and business technology class (which taught how to make a resume and use Microsoft Office, but nothing else), and how learning more about actual computing would have been much more useful. That those who were interested in a technology-based career would have a base to start from and those unsure of what they wanted could try it out.


Post 2

In his post before that, Goerend talks about asking questions to get his students to think. He posed the question, "When did you first realize your family loved you?" to them, but none of them seemed to know what to think or how to answer. He talked to them about questions that require you to think about your answers versus those that have factual answers you can spit out without much thought. He's saying that teachers ask too many recall questions, although he knows this isn't exactly a revelation, and says, "My students’ struggles today are as much my fault as anyone else’s."

I thought it was a very interesting question, though, and that students might have an easier time answering such a question if it were phrased differently. I said that, if asked, I wouldn't know how to answer either. There are all kinds of variables when it comes to a question like that--maybe that moment hasn't come, or they can't remember it. It's very subjective. But I really liked that he was getting his students to think about themselves in a way they probably haven't before.

Blog Post 3

Technology in Special Education

Lacy Cook's video was about how technology improved learning in special education classes. Throughout the video, she showed us her students and the outdated learning methods they were stuck with, such as cards with the alphabet printed on them; a simple, wooden, raised platform for a book to sit on; and how one of her students needed someone to read to him in the hall during silent reading.

Just having a computer greatly improved the conditions in which they learned. A regular computer, something most of us don't really think much of or make a great fuss over having, really helps some of these students to do their assignments and learn. An iPhone is used as an audio book for the same student who had to have his books read to him in the hall. Audio books are, while not exactly cheap, certainly much cheaper than an iPhone. You wouldn't even really need the iPhone unless there's no audio book, in which case you could download an ebook and software that reads what's on the screen to you, much like some blind people use for computers. There's so many different ways of using technology I'd never thought of before watching this video, and it was definitely enjoyable for the kids in the video.


iPad Apps in the Classroom

After watching How the iPad Works with Academics for Autism, I decided "Futaba" would be a great app to use in a classroom with special needs students. It's a matching game that up to four people can play. Images come onto the screen, and the first person to match the word presented with the correct image gets a point. First person with three point wins.

It seems pretty simple, but it would be good for teaching students the meaning of harder words. And since you can insert your own images and words, allowing for a wide range of customization, you could conceivably teach anything with this, from science to English. Plus the competition of the game would motivate the student to try harder, to earn the points and win the game.


Gary Hayes Social Media Count

I actually have no problem believing these numbers. In the last 80 seconds over 800,000 items have been shared on facebook? I can see that. Though I do wonder where this information comes from, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Even when it says that in the last 120 seconds over 1,000 new facebook accounts have been made, it's not that surprising. It might seem weird, because wouldn't you think that everyone who cares already has a facebook? But accounts are made for all kinds of things--authors, authors' publishers, specific books, characters from books, characters from shows, clubs, TV programs, production companies--you name it, there's probably a facebook page for it.

But I don't know what this could mean for my professional career as a teacher. That communication is steadily becoming digitized? I imagine it will be like my move from high school to college. In high school, we didn't use much technology or the web in the classroom or for assignments, unless it was to write a paper. That's what schools--or at least schools around here--are like now. But in the future, perhaps it will become like courses at college. Some courses are half online, like this class, EDM310. Maybe a system like eCollege or Sekai will be integrated, so that students can submit their assignment online. It seems to me that the progress of technology use in elementary and high school will be like the leap in technology when going from high school to college.


Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

I don't think I've ever seen a more accurate representation of college classes. When I sit in class it's a serious struggle not to fall asleep; to resist the urge to open a book I actually want to read; and to watch others with their laptops, getting on facebook, and not pull out my own and get on Tumblr. I want to pass the class, I want a good GPA, but it's hard to care about a class when it has absolutely no impact on what I'll be doing in the future. And it's sometimes sad to think that I can pass a class doing the bare minimal amount of work possible, yet stress over it more than most things in life.

Classes fill up students' lives with clutter that latter on in life won't matter, that they probably won't even remember. Conversely, teachers are stuck with the same curriculum that they know won't affect a student beyond the walls of the classroom. If classes were more--I don't know, relevant?--to the issues of today's world, they'd be worth more. It would be worth more to say, "I've got an education," when that education includes knowledge relevant to the issues the world faces every day.

Blog Post 2

Did You Know? 3.0 - A John Strange 2012 Version

This brief video by Dr. John Strange is exactly what it says on the tin--it's a video of interesting facts. And by "interesting" I mean "overwhelming." Like the fact that the top 25% of India (that is, those with the highest IQ scores), outnumbers the United States. As in, 25% of India is more than 100% of the U.S. According to Census.gov, there are 312,968,665 people in the U.S. This number is so vast, so mind-boggling that you'd think this would be common knowledge. Another of the interesting/overwhelming facts is that, by 2025, there will probably be more English-speaking Chinese people than native English speakers in the world.

There are also facts about the average number of texts sent a day in school students, percentage of school students who own a computer, and other numbers. But the thing about China and India? I can't get that out of my head. You'd think with all the English speakers in China, and those learning it, that we would have a better relationship with them. Maybe we will one day. This makes me think of all the Sci-Fi media I've seen, where China comes to dominate/co-dominate the world/galaxy. I wonder if that's in our future.


Mr. Winkle Wakes

I was amused at Mathew Needleman's video at first, imagining that if Rip Van Winkle really did awaken in our time there would be wider repercussions than him simply wandering around, observing our technology. He'd probably be driven mad by the rush our society has become. Imagine a man who knows nothing about cars stepping out into traffic, or anyone simply letting a strange old man walk into a school or classroom without a word. But I understood the point of the video, that education is stuck in the past and we need to make use of technology, etc., etc.

However, I disagree. Education as we know it is much more advanced than a hundred years ago--good common sense says that. We've learned better teaching techniques, we know that hitting students probably isn't going to make them learn better, we know how to help those with learning disabilities, and we encourage students' individuality through their assignments--all in all, I'd say the teachers of a hundred years ago would find the way current teachers operate downright ludicrous. I will admit, though, that we could stand to use some of the technology developed in the last few years in education.


The Importance of Creativity

This video was the most enjoyable to watch, and I almost wish there had been more, that it had been longer. Sir Ken Robinson is a wonderful speaker, humorous and illuminating, and I'm sure my public speaking teacher would have taken to him instantly. He talked about how the educational system breeds out creativity for more desirable and "productive traits," like the knowledge of math. I loved his anecdotes about children, especially about the girl drawing God. But he pointed out something very intriguing about the educational system that I hadn't thought of, and yet it's the very reason I am going into education.

"Educational Inflation," (which is the perfect term for it) whereby you have to have a better degree now for a job that that, years ago, would need nothing more than a Bachelor's or, even better, none at all. I am going to be a teacher because I cannot be a librarian without a Master's in Library Science, but a long time ago you would only need the equivalent of a high school education to become one. I would love to simply work in a library without need of further schooling. It would be perfect. But that's not the case is it?

In any case, I really agree with many of Sir Robinson's points, not just about the Educational Inflation thing, but also about how schools now struggle to squash creativity because it is seen as something that won't lead anywhere productive, or that you won't be able to support yourself or have a "proper" life if you go into something related to the Arts. It's a shame that the educational system works like that, but completely true. I'm definitely planning on picking up the book he mentioned, called Epiphany at the time the video was made, but published in 2009 as The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything.


A Vision for 21st Century Learning

I thought this was really interesting, I'll give it that. Incorporating video game technology into learning? Kids would go nuts, of course. But it doesn't really address how to do that, which is, I suppose, why the title of the video merely has "Vision" in it. It also has a few flaws. A lot of people think learning by computer, taking online classes, things like that, makes learning easier, but it all depends on the person doing the learning. I would be horrible at such a learning game, I can say that right now. Because I would be more interested in goofing off, exploiting glitches, and having fun than doing work. I would be treating it like a video game, because it is one. I don't associate video games with work, I associate them with fun. The temptation to just do what I want would be too great.

Just like if I sit down at my computer to write a paper, the chances that I will immediately get started on it and not pause to get on any fun websites is absolutely zero percent. Because a computer means fun to me. I associate it with doing what I want,  having fun, taking a break. I don't associate computers with work because I rarely use them for work. Of course I write many school papers on my computer, but I spend far more time goofing off on it than doing any serious work. I'm not saying the idea would completely fall apart, just that it would really need to be closely monitored.


Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

While I think it's cool, being able to learn through video simulation like this, I guess I just can't let go of traditional methods. It's all I've ever used, and just being forced to use eCollege irritates me. I do like the idea of some of the things Vicki Davis talks about, like using blogs, wikis, things like that. We had to use a wiki in my government class in high school, and while it irritated me to no end, having to check it every week and comment on what other students wrote, it wasn't so bad when an interesting discussion was brought up. And using a blog in this class hasn't been too bad so far. But as soon as I read that I would need Twitter, I couldn't help shuddering inside.

I feel like I should be excited about such innovations, but there's something about good old book and paper that appeals to me. Maybe it's like reading--doing it for pleasure is the best thing in the world, but as soon as I'm required to read a book for school it becomes a tiresome burden. The obligation seems to drain all the fun out of it.