Thursday, January 14, 2010

Week 1

Did You Know 3.0: Karl Fisch

"If your one in a million in China...there are 1,300 people just like you." 1,300 people just like ME? Now that is scary! Why are so many Chinese learning English? Is it to bridge the gap between us or to make us as Americans feel insignificant? Based on the IQ statement it sure seems that way. Maybe more of us should take the initiative to learn another language and not be so stubborn. I believe they are smarter than us because we are lazier than them. Technology is expanding at an alarming rate. Dating sites were made for 30 year old men that needed to get out of their mothers basement and get a life that does not involve World of Warcraft. I think they are pointless. Get out and do something! Technology is amazing but it is making us lazy. I do not want to be around in 2049 to see what will happen with a computer that great. I love technology but too much is not a good thing. Are computers going to run everything in the world? Will everything be electronic? I hope not. I like my paper money, books, paintings, music, etc. I do not want everything i enjoy accessible by computer. I like reading real books and doing real drawings with my own hands, not on a computer. I hope technology does not affect the music industry more than it needs to. We have enough techno music, it sucks, we do not need anymore!


Mr. Winkle Wakes: Matthew Needleman

This video does a great job showing how much our society has grown and how abundant technology is. Technology can be a very strange thing, but it can be a very useful tool in almost all aspects of life. Businesses prosper because of their use of technology. Lives are saved thanks to our technological advances in the medical field. In my opinion this video is saying that technology is not being used in the classroom because the old conventional way of teaching is a lot more appealing and comfortable to most teachers. More teachers need to brake out of that mold of "old school" teaching, take advantage of the technology available to them and apply to their teachings.

The Importance of Creativity: Sir Ken Robinson

"If you are not prepared to be wrong you will never come up with anything original." Had to quote this. I completely agreed with this section of the video. Children are very creative and are not afraid to just "have a go", as Robinson says. I think its safe to say that when people are creative, whether that person is inventing a revolutionary new product or writing a book, they connect with their inner child. They go back in time to those days where anything was possible and everything imaginable existed. If we fear failure we will never succeed, this is my opinion. This video does an amazing job with stating that our education system has evolved into a system which only allows children to do things "the right way". We are teaching our children a skewed systematic set of rules and regulations to abide by and not allowing them the freedom of imagination.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts: Vicki Davis

This video is an excellent example on how to use technology effectively in a class room. Not only does she show them how to use these programs, she also allows the students to teach her. The students showed her how to do something she had never done before. A good way to understand how to do something is to teach it to someone else. She allows her students to do things on their own and gives them the freedom to figure certain things out on their own. Some may think that her way of teaching may be lazy because she doesn't do it the old fashion way, but students should not be spoon fed the material they need to know. Her way of teaching and her teacher/student relationship shills are amazing. This is a woman that gets the job done.

4 comments:

  1. Very well written and great points of view.
    Re: Mr. Winkle, I think it is the college and universities that are lacking in preparing future educators with the knowledge and capacity to learn new up to date technology.
    I watched Mr. Winkle go to a business and then to the hospital, and the people there were comfortable using these "new technology devices." Teachers are given little advanced preparation or ability to quickly find or use anything modern because teachers are not being trained properly. Go to the medical or business school and see the difference in the level of spending and technology compared to education. We will be training those children to compete and should be willing to grow and learn as much as the students we teach.
    Technology is a foreign language and you are learning how to use one; wither you use it to save on supplies, textbooks, or fuel a child's imagination is up to you.

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  2. It seems as though we have the same thoughts Matt. Technology is great, as long as we do not forget about the arts in the process of keeping up in this technology driven world. We should not end up like the people in Walle, riding around in space seats with a computer directly in front of our face at all times.

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  3. Matt,

    You have a very strong view of technology and its place in the future. How would you use technology in your classroom in the future?

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  4. Technology is a good thing and it is important for us all to be familiar with it. However sometimes it is not the best way to learn.

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