Podcast Project #8

Timetoast Timeline Individual Project #9a

Blog Post 5

Don’t Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?
By: Scott McLeod
www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org

I really enjoyed reading Dr. McLeod’s blog post. His sarcasm definitely made the post even better. I feel that Dr. McLeod did a great job expressing to parents how important technology and the internet can be to their children. Parents are saying the reason they will not allow their children to use the internet is because there is too much bad stuff out there. True, but with the right protection and instruction their children will be able to learn and explore things that will only help them better their education.
Dr. Scott McLeod is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Kentucky. Dr. McLeod is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading academic experts on K-12 school technology leadership issues. He is the founding director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education. He has received many national awards for his technology leadership work, including recognitions from the cable industry, Phi Delta Kappa, and the National School Boards Association. All of the information that I have included about Dr. Scott McLeod I got from http://scottmcleod.net/bio/.


The iSchool Initiative
By: Travis Allen
www.youtube.com

I thought that Travis Allen’s iSchool idea was really neat. Although it was really interesting, I am not so sure that I like it. While Allen’s idea will save public school systems a large amount of money each year, I am just not so sure about it. The iPhone has many tool and apps on it that can be very useful to the teachers, students, and parents, but it also has some negatives.
By doing away with textbooks and making students read information from a computer cannot be very good for their eyes. I personally think that writing notes down is very beneficial to me, so I think doing away with paper would only hurt students. I feel that the iSchool idea could help in some ways, but I think that completely taking away the traditional methods of teaching is not going to help solve the problems of the educational system.



Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir
www.techliterateteacher.blogspot.com

This video was really awesome. After watching it all I could say was WOW! It is so cool that 185 people, who are in all different places around the world, can be brought together and sound so good. It is so cool to me how a person can use technology and create something so incredible like this performance. This just goes to show that you can do pretty much anything with technology.



Teaching in the 21st Century
By Kevin Roberts
www.youtube.com

This video is one that really makes you think. In this video Kevin Roberts expresses that the curriculum used in teaching today should be focused more on skill than facts and content. When teaching a concept teachers need to show how to validate and problem solve with the information. I like the point that Roberts makes, “students do not need to be entertained, they need to be engaged.” It is important for teachers to challenge their students, to get them interested, and to make them want to learn. Today students not only obtain knowledge from their teachers, but technology has allowed them to learn from searching the internet. It is the job of teachers to show students how to use and apply technology in a way that will be beneficial them. Teaching has changed so much over the years, and I think it is a good thing.

My Sentence Video

Blog Post 4

The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom
by :Joe Dale
www.joedale.typepad.com

I never realized how useful and helpful that podcasting can be until I watched this video. The thing that stuck out to me the most is how helpful podcasting can be for students who have been absent. Podcasting is a great way for teachers to record their lectures and put online for students. Not only is podcasting a great tool for students who are absent, but it is also will allow students to go back and listen to lectures while reviewing for tests. Podcasting also provides students a fun way to learn. There are many projects that students can do which involve them learning to make their own podcast. I know that I will definitely be using podcast in my classroom.



100 Ways to Use Your IPod to Learn and Study Better
www.bspcn.com

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of an IPod is that you use it while listening to music. While that is true, the IPod is used in many other helpful ways. Students use their IPods not only to listen to music, but also to listen to podcasts, read books, and play games. Apple provides a large selection of apps which can be very useful in helping children learn. I think that the IPod, when used the right way, can be a great way to help students and teachers.



Langwitches
www.langwitches.org

“1st Graders Create Their Own Read-Along Audio Book” is an article about a class that creates a podcast. The students in the class were recorded reading parts of a story and then the teacher took those recordings and put them on the internet for a podcast. Then the teacher made a booklet so the students could follow their own voices as they read. What a great reading exercise! The teacher recognized the fact that some students learn better when they hear something rather than seeing it. Making this podcast was a great and creative way to help the students learn and I will definitely be trying ideas like this in the future.

Project 5

C4T 1

I was assigned to read Mr. Frank Noschese's blog. In the first post that I read, Mr. Noschese talked about students being afraid to step out and take chances. He stated that the reason why students were not open to taking chances is because they are afraid of messing up. I commented on his post and agreed with him. I told him I also think that students are scared of failure. I said that students become discouraged when they hit their first road block and they do not want to keep trying. I stated that I feel that it is important that teachers stress to students that it is okay to mess up. People normally do not solve a problem on the first try, it takes time. Messing up is okay.
In Mr. Noschese's second post, he posted a blog from Daryl Taylor. Mr. Taylor is a high school physics and astronomy teacher in Connecticut. Mr. Taylor travels to different schools all over the world and runs collaborations in classrooms. In my comment, I told Mr. Noschese that I thought that the best thing about Mr. Taylor's response is that it shows how much emphasis he puts on different ways of teaching. Collaborations are very useful in keeping students interested and helping them to have an open mind and Mr. Taylor uses this strategy very well.

Blog Post 3

For my C4C assignment, I left my classmate a comment on her blog. I enjoyed reading her post, and agreed with her views about where technology is headed and how it will affect the classroom. I did give her a few suggestions in the area of sentence transitions and grammar. I chose to comment on her blog rather than send her an email because I think it is okay to mess up. Everyone messes up, and I think it is a good thing to be corrected.



“It’s Not About the Technology” by Kelly Hines

In her post, Kelly Hines talks about technology in the class room today. The world today is busy discussing and deciding what new technology is needed in future classrooms to help change teaching for the better. Kelly Hines states in her post,” I do not believe these things are the first things we need to initiate in our classrooms.” I agree, everyone should recognize the need for an overall change in the approach of teaching and learning.
She gives a list of four things that she thinks teachers must recognize that will help students in the new generation of learning. Hines first states that teachers must be learners. Teachers must be invested in their profession and must be up to date on the trends and tools. As Kelly Hines states, teachers must know what their students are doing and where they are coming from when they enter the classroom. Secondly, learning and teaching is not the same thing. Hines says, “If a student has not learned, no matter how much effort has been put out, no teaching has been done.” Different people learn in different ways and not everyone learns at the same pace. Thirdly, Technology is useless without a good teacher. A lot of money is put out every year in order for schools to be up to date on technology. Teachers must be willing to learn how to use these tools in order for them to be beneficial. If teachers are not open to learning how to use them and use them the right way, then they go to waste. New technology can help better teaching if it is used in the right way. Lastly, be a 21st century teacher without the technology. Teachers do not need technology to help better their teaching. Using exercises such as critical thinking and problem solving are things that will benefit students. By allowing students to think and use their creativity, teachers will help better prepare students for what they will face in the future.




Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

After reading this post, I have to say I agree with Mr. Fisch and his ideas. There are many teachers these days that are technologically illiterate, and I believe that is a hindrance in the classroom. I think a lot of the teachers who are not up to date on technology are the teachers who have been teaching for thirty years or more. I can kind of understand where they are coming from. If I had been teaching for thirty years and I had to change my way of teaching after all those years, I am not so sure that I would be open to that change. On the other hand there are the teachers who are just stubborn and do not like change.
I agree with Karl Fisch, I think that teachers who choose to be technologically illiterate are just hurting themselves in the long run. Principals are most likely going to hire a student who knows how a lot about technology and who knows how to use it over a teacher who is technologically illiterate. I am with Fisch, I think that teachers need to explore right along with their students. Teachers need to be up to date on technology and know what their students are experiencing.



Gary Hayes Social Media Count


Viewing the Social Media Counter made me realize how much social media affects our world. The counter is a useful tool to show prospective teachers what lies ahead in the teaching profession. I believe that social media will continue to thrive and dominate our society and further influence the teaching profession. I believe it is our job as future teachers to be ready for all aspects of the job, including social media and how it affects the classroom.
Mr. Hayes’ Counter shows how social media is growing. I believe that social media will continue to grow and further impact classrooms. I believe that future teachers will need to continue to keep an open mind and research upcoming social media ideas. A key part of teaching is connecting with students and understanding where they are coming from, understanding social media is just another way to do that.



Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today


After watching this video, the thing that stood out to me the most was how busy the video said the students were. According to the video, students were twenty six and a half hours each day. This is an impossible statistic, but I get what point they were trying to make. What I got from the video is that students are very busy, so it is crucial for teachers to make very good use of their time in the classroom.
An easy way to make better use of class time could be the use of technology. Although the video stated that some students sit on Facebook in class or use their computers for non class related things, if teachers knew how to properly use technology, students would participate.

Blog Post 2

Did You Know? 3.0
www.youtube.com by Karl Fisch and Scott Mcleod

I found this video very interesting because it highlights how far technology has progressed and how fast improvements can be made and applied. The video is effective because it is able to show the importance of technology through statistics about different aspects of technology. The video repeatedly shows facts about how quickly our present world is changing and highlights the sudden changes in technology.
I believe that while the video had catchy music, cool graphics, and great statistics, the video’s best quality is the case it makes for technology in education. Though the video may not say that technology makes education better, the facts alone cannot be ignored. With how much technology has advanced, we should be making technology more available in classrooms.


Mr. Winkle Wakes
www.youtube.com by Mathew Needleman

Mr. Winkle is an old man who just awoke from a 100 years sleep. He awakes to find that the world he once lived in has made some major changes. Computers and fax machines are now used in offices. Lasers are used in hospitals during surgery, as well as machines that are keeping people alive. In his last visit of the day, he visits a school where a teacher is lecturing the class and only one computer is used in the back of the room. Mr. Winkle was comfortable in the school atmosphere and was glad to see that one thing had not changed.
This video made it clear that our schools are very behind where they should be when it comes to technology. I think that in schools is where modern technology is needed the most. I feel as if students are being cheated by not having access to the technology they need to help them understand things that their teacher cannot teach them.


The Importance of Creativity
www.ted.com by Sir Ken Robinson

Sir Randy Robinson does a great job talking about how schools today do not realize the importance of creativity. Schools today are so caught up in teaching the core subjects such as math, science, and English that they have no time for any kind of art. In his talk, Sir Randy argues that the arts are just as important as any other core subject.
By ignoring the arts in school, students are not allowed to express themselves. I think this plays a big role in a child’s lack of imagination. By allowing the children the freedom of doing art, music, and dance, it allows them to express themselves and also to develop a creative imagination.


Cecelia Gault(Young Student in Finland) Interviews Sir Ken Robinson
blogs.scholastic.com

As a teacher, I would make sure to recognize that every student learns and expresses themselves creatively differently. I think that the reason why Cecelia seems so educated is because she was able to take part in an encouraging learning environment. I agree with Cecelia’s concerns about the U.S. and her view that the country needs to pick up the pace in terms of education. I think that Cecelia’s conversation with Sir Ken Robinson encouraged her because she was able to see that there are people out there who are pushing for the encouragement of creativity in the classroom. What I can do as a teacher to make sure the students like Cecelia have a good education is to be encouraging, open-minded, and to remember that every student is different.



Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
edutopia.org

Teacher Vicki Davis shows how effective technology in the classroom can be. She not only teaches things on the computer, but through her computer work she teaches literacy and other life skills. Ms. Davis uses her classroom to let her students communicate with other youth across the world through a social network, she teaches the students new computer programs, and also lets her students teach her. Vicki Davis, through her knowledge of technology and how it can help a student learn, has transformed the way her students think about school and problem solving.

I think that Vicki Davis has done a great job of letting the students work on their own and figure out things for themselves by using technology. She has figured out that her students all learn differently and that they can learn even better if they are given the opportunity to learn in different ways. She understands that no student is the same, and she has been awarded for being a creative, original, and understanding teacher.