These Kids are Amazing!

I am literally speechless after watching these amazing kids. This teacher is such a blessing to her students; I know she understands what a huge impact she is making on their lives. They are learning so many life valuable tools that will help them excel far beyond other students their age. If only we could make every classroom like this...

The best part to me was when the students were sitting at a round table and every single one of them had a laptop! That was truly a beautiful picture. I think that all school systems should budget better and make sure that PLENTY of money is set aside for technology. These videos showed interactive learning at its best and how effective it is. You could see how these kids were extremely interested in what they were learning. It is a new age in time and teachers should understand that sitting kids in a desk with a book in front of their face is not always going to cut it. Teachers are always complaining about how their students are not interested in school whatsoever and I think these teachers need to understand that you have to use modern technological advances to keep their attention.

The part where the students were on Skype with a geologist a university was so advanced and interesting. I am in college and have never done anything that cool in a classroom. It was also great that the students were keeping in touch and sharing their work with a classroom in Alabama. You know, when I was their age, I remember my class being pen pals with a class in a different state. It would take weeks for our letters to go back and forth. Now, it is only a matter of seconds for students to interact with children their age, and it is utterly wonderful.

I only want to mention a more things I found to be interesting. ( I could write for days on this!) One, the fact that the teacher was incorporating technology and literacy lessons! While the students were obviously becoming more technologically advanced, they were sharing how they were learning how to read and write better. Two, the fact that their families were getting involved! School Systems are always having trouble getting parents involved and this is certainly a solution. I know that my mom would have loved to leave me a comment on my blog rather than looking at some test scores that my teacher sent home. This is a perfect way for parents to keep up with what their children are learning, and actually be a part of it!

Podcast, Podcast.

These things are pretty cool, and very helpful! : ) I have to admit, they are WAY TOO LONG. Half of the information presented is completely and utterly useless! I would certainly enjoy "vod"casts more. Being able to visualize what is being talked about would certainly boost my interest level. I think if I listened to something that I was really into then I might have enjoyed it more.

As far as thinking about how they are done, I imagine these people wearing big headphones sitting in a recording studio in front of a microphone. Although, I know it is much more modern that that. I really enjoyed the SmartBoard lessons, because the guy gave a tip of the day while waiting in line at the coffee shop. I am assuming that he would use some sort of an IPod to record and upload this.

I did some googling on podcasts and found some pretty interesting stuff. One website compared blogging to podcasts. It said that blogging has allowed anyone with a computer to virtually become a reporter, while podcasting has allowed anyone with a computer to become a disc jockey, talk show host, or recording artist. I thought this was a pretty accurate compasrison. One of the coolest things I found while googling was the amount of interaction between education and podcasts. This tool has become increasingly useful in classrooms around the world. I truly can not wait until I can make my own podcast and upload it to SmartBoard and apply visual content to make an easy technology friendly lesson.

One of the episodes that I particularly enjoyed, I believe in EdTechTalk was a discussion on the newly released IPad. The hosts were comparing it to Kindel, and I learned some pretty useful information about the two products. I am now convinced that I would purchase an IPAd instead of a Kindel. I also enjoyed how the SmartBoard lessons allowed teacher from all over the US to call in and give examples and useful information on how they use their Boards. I took quite a few notes on some ideas that I will certainly use one day!

1,2,3... Whoa!

When watching this and thinking about my career, I do feel scared. I think these facts are scary for any student going into any field. I think we have two options. We can sit and be scared, or we can be a part of this change. If you choose the first option, you might not be very successful, in a professional sense. I know that I need to be the best possible teacher for my students, so I will roll with the change. I do not want to be in a discussion with my first graders and have no idea what programs or web pages they are even talking about.

I also think it is important for me to be a part of such things so I can be a role model for my kids. I am sure that many kids in the world would not have access to Blogger, Facebook, etc. if it was not for their teachers. I do not want to be the reason that my students are oblivious to what is going on in the world around them. I do not want to be the reason that they fall behind in life, and the reason that they do not explore tools other than textbooks.

The Fisch Bowl Is...

BOLD!! I like it. This man speaks his mind and it is very inspiring. Assuming that it is okay for me to speak my mind, I think some of his ideas are extreme. Now, if technologically illiterate means that a teacher looks at a computer screen and does not know where to start, then yes we may have a big problem. But if we are meaning that a teacher is not up to date on the very latest invention, then that certainly does not mean that he or she will not be a successful educator.

I feel that as a teacher, I will be more concerned with the material being presented, and finding creative ways to teach and learn, rather than sitting on my behind staring at a computer screen for hours on end trying to learn new programs. YES, I will try and find interesting ways to incorporate tech stuff into my lessons, but I do not think it needs to be the basis behind education itself. Once again, I wish I knew what the definition of technologically illiterate was. I think it is an important aspect of any field, but I do not feel it is an extreme necessity like it is made out to be.

We Need Motivation

This was by far my favorite piece of work that we have been assigned to. I feel like this person completely read my thoughts and put them in a blog. It does seem that society thinks that technology will make the school system a better place. I think that is the idea because it is an easy idea. it is simple to stick a few more computers in the classroom and teach the kids how to use a few new programs, but that will not FIX anything. I do not even think we should be using the term, "fix". We should be thinking about improving, collaborating, creating, and re-building. I feel those are better ideas.

Technology is powerful and wonderful, yes, but we need motivating and inspired teachers to use it. Incorporating new technology into a lesson will have massive effects, but first off, the teacher has to believe in what he or she is teaching for anything to have a positive effect. Let's say that we do bring all kinds of amazing new technology into the classroom, it still will NOT improve anything if the teacher is not willing to be motivated to learn and explore.

Yeah KSU!

I am sure this video accurately represent a good portion of college students' experiences. My favorite part was learning that a college day equals 26.5 hours. Nice. To me, this institution is more of a stressful program that costs too much money, than a positive learning experience. It would be nice to come to class and just learn, instead of worrying about due dates and cramming for tests. One of my fears in life is that I will not be ready to enter the educational field after graduating.

I am not sure what I would add to this video. I loved that there were never any spoken words. It was like the students were being silenced and only had thoughts about their college experiences. It was like they were not allowed to talk about it. I think some of the signs should have expressed feelings and not just facts, just to mix it up a little. I'm not sure about this yet, but it might have been neat for the students to be dressed as they were, and then the next shot have them in the same room, but wearing all one color. I don't know; it would almost be as if they were expressing they were as one whole, whether that be good or bad.

Ms. Davis gets an A+ in Digital Smarts.

Vicki Davis' class reminds me of our new and different EDM 310 course at South Alabama. It is a breath of fresh air to find a teacher whose goal is not to feed students materials to be memorized. I am sure it would be simple to teach a computing class and simply explain to the students different programs and how they are useful. Although this would be helpful for sure, Ms. Davis is letting her students explore programs on their own, teach their fellow classmates, and even enlighten the teacher on how to use a new software program.

This form of education is pretty powerful. Not only are these students learning tools that will help them in the future, but they are gaining confidence as an individual, they are learning to be a part of a positive learning community, and they are making friends from a completely different culture! I would have to say this goes deeper than any everyday computer lesson. Watching this video makes me excited to be a part of this revised 310 course. I know I am going to learn so many useful teaching strategies for my classroom, but I am also going to become aware of how important it is for my students to explore new technology and to be creative and open minded about the endless possibilities.

It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. -Albert Einstein

Did You Know?


This was entertaining, and a little extreme, in my opinion. The facts and the way the video presented the facts had a very creative and suspenseful energy, but deep down I think most of human society would not be surprised that these facts were true. I think it was interesting that the video gave mixed feelings and signals, which made me speechless by the end of the presentation. By mixed feelings I mean that a lot of the material presented was pretty exciting and futuristic, while the remaining material left me feeling scared and hopeless for our country.

I think the good and the bad facts stem back down to one concept: Education. The fact that education is ever changing and new technologies are being invented for no apparent reason is amazing! It is definitely a positive aspect that programs like MySpace and Facebook are connecting the entire world at a number of 200 million; It only expands our field to grow, teach, learn and introduce ideas.

On the flip side, it is apparent that our educational principles are failing in some areas. The fact that India has more honor kids than America even has kids is beyond horrifying. As educators, it is our job to introduce new ideas to our children, to let them explore their creative range, to get involved in different cultures, to become fascinated with math and science...and the list of possibilities is endless.

"She's Not Sick, She's a Dancer."

Snaps for you, Ken Robinson.

Man oh man, this guy is great. Not only is he a hoot to watch, he is bold, brave, and well, creative! I could not have agreed with this man more, being that I have danced for going on nineteen years now. When I think back to my elementary education, I only remember the creative learning experiences. I do not recall sitting in my desk reading about Columbus sailing the ocean blue, but I do remember going to my dance class and learning how to do a grande jete for the first time. I think the important thing is not that we replace the hierarchy of subjects, but that we incorporate and customize our teaching strategies with creative and unordinary forms of learning for our students.

I think Mr. Robinson was brilliant when saying that we are educated out of being wrong. I agree with him in that being wrong and being creative go hand in hand. As a society, we would never discover new ideas, new products, etc., if we had never failed at a task. I think it is beyond vital that we take time out of the day of planned materials and readings to let our children CREATE, to let them explore the movement of their bodies, the movement of a paint brush, and just simply, the movement of their minds.

Mr. Winkle, Change is Inevitable.

Poor Mr. Winkle was so scared; if only he knew that his comfort zone was the scariest of all.
My feelings are quite torn about this movie. I think the concept was great; it was entertaining for certain. I do feel that our educational system uses technology more than what was displayed by Mr. Needleman, but it is not used as much as it should be. I feel that the original and "old school" form of education, such as sitting in desks with a teacher and a book in front of you, is the way to go, but I do think that technology such as smart boards should be incorporated to this.

New technology and change is wonderful, yes, but I think that we should spend less time with online courses and just stick to the basics. Students are going to get a positive learning experience from listening to a passionate and knowledgable teacher or professor, rather than staring at a computer screen memorizing what is supposed to be memorized.

I guess the point I am trying to make is that the movie was funny and interesting, but I think the message was a little extreme. There is only so much time in the day that school systems can devote to technology, but yes I feel that smartboards are an extremely important tool that every school should upgrade to, and yes I do think that schools could introduce newer forms of software, learning games, etc.