Bewilderment

Vision

What an awesome video! I watch I and think, "I wish I would have thought of something like that". To say I couldn’t agree or identify with this particular video is an understatement. If a person knows me for who I really am they would know I hate the feeling of someone taking advantage of me.

This video is almost painful to watch. It shows, and tells you just how demanding this time in our lives can be. People say your college years are your best years…yeah right!! They’re the most expensive, grueling high stressed years of your life!

My favorite points made were the ones that dealt with the more “standard” college issues i.e. text book costs, reading, assignments, classmates, and teacher recognition. We pay for college, we are paying to further our education, just like everyone told us to do, but does anyone truly care? A degree has almost lost its meaning. Sometimes it’s just not enough, now we need masters, PhD’s and doctorates. The information we are “required” to know in order to graduate will never be used again.

We spend countless hours on computers, cell phones, downloading, uploading, installing, uninstalling. I now have to have access to a computer to continue my school….All I ask is who made this decision, who said it’s a necessity? I think technology can be a great tool, but should it be a requirement? I guess I should ask the ones who already made the decision for me.

It’s not about the Technology

Mrs. Hines is definitely on my page here. It helped my critical thinking on this technology front. Mrs. Hines, like myself is not against the use of technology. It just needs the proper outlet. “Teachers must be learners, evolving and understanding”, “If a student has not learned, no matter how much effort has been exerted no teaching has been done”. Those quotes speak volumes.

Hines also said that we should prepare children of the future by being creative and innovative. Creativity is lacking in our educational systems. Technology can be used, but we must teach our students instead, we are letting technology teach and shape them.

Technology Illiterate

This was a hard one for me. It definitely makes your mind reel, which I guess is the whole point. I thought it a little harsh at times. I always want to teach to the best of my abilities, and I want to expose my students to all sides of education. However it is hard for me to decide if technology holds the importance as some of our other “basic” foundations. Just writing that that last sentence makes me think of technology like I would think of creativity. I know how I strongly feel about creativity. That it’s a vital aspect of teaching and maybe technology is the same….

I guess this is a battle that I am not quite sure of….yet.

Media Counter

To me, it means that technology is inevitable. That our world is being “taken over” by computers, phones, etc. however I’m not sure it means that my teaching method has to completely change. I think we must evolve and make proper accommodations, to ensure the readiness of our children.

Did you know

"Did You Know"

Did you know was an interesting video. Once the movie started it immediately grabbed my attention. Before I go on you should probably know that I am a sucker for facts and statistics of any kind. So this movie was one of my favorites. The video covers facts from the populations in China to online marriages. It's quite amazing to read how far we have come from years past. The attention grabber facts for me were the facts pertaining to the education of our youth and even ourselves. One fact stated that we are preparing students for jobs that aren't even in existence yet! To read this opened my eyes to a new revelation on how to teach. I think we should try and take in everything around us that is changing, but to always remember the little things.

"Winkle Wakes"

Winkle wakes was a video based around how times have changed within the last 100 years, but how the Educational system has still remained the same. Now I understand the reason and logic behind this creative video, but I'm not totally on board with it as a whole. To say that the Education system hasn't changed is misleading. One clip of the video had Mr. Winkle himself walking into a school and seeing a computer which was "old and dusty" like it have never been used. Working in the school system for a day would show you how much we now rely on computers and other technologies. Although the video made this one error in my opinion, it was otherwise a great video.

"Ken Robinson"

Oh the wonderful creative mind. This movie was my favorite out of the bunch. Ken Robinson not only delivered an important message but was entertaining as well. I thought he was absolutely brilliant in his lecture. His perspective was that children are being shut down creatively and abstractly. If we as Educators would focus on the children as whole, instead of just the academic levels we would see an amazing turn over. Ken also pointed out that as children we all take chances, that we're not afraid of being wrong. I think the reason is because our children are taught to be afraid of being wrong. Academically speaking you always want to be right, there is no room for error, but if you were to look at it from a the creative side it would be a different story. My favorite quote was that of Picasso which simply stated that all children are born artist, the problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. So to all Educators out there let your children remain artist.

"Vikki Davis"

Comfortable with technology in the School. This video presents you with the school system as it is now, and what it is evolving into. You can not deny the fact that we are always moving forward. Vikki is a fearless teacher with a great attitude. She was under some scrutiny with other teachers who were not so happy with her "kids can teach themselves" policy. I think its innovative and a great way to learn having the students find words they didn't know, or to figure out programs together. Under Mrs. Davis program the students are able to interact with students from all over the world. Students were working on class projects, connecting and were able to broaden their communication skills. Much like this course I am in now I believe its a great way to open the door to the future, and allow us to keep moving.