Blog Assignment # 4

Don't teach your kids this stuff. Please?

     I really liked this post by Dr. Mcleod. I know that he was being sarcastic and did not really mean the stuff he was saying. I think he was trying to make a point of how many teachers and parents try to make an excuse in order to keep technology out of the classrooms. There are definitely some things that could be viewed as potentially harmful due to technology being used in the classroom. This should not stop us or give us an excuse to do away with it all together.  
     I believe we have to teach students to be responsible with technology just as we teach them to be responsible with other things. We cannot be scared to use technology just because there are bad things that can be associated with it. We will be putting the students we teach at a serious disadvantage if we deny them the use of something that will be very important for them one day. Dr. Scott Mcleod is an Associate Professor in the Educational Administration program at Iowa State University. He is widely recognized as on of the nation's leading academic experts on K-12 school technology leadership issues.

The iSchool Initiative

     This video changed my perception on how I thought technology would be too expensive to be put in all schools. It made me realize that  a lot of money could actually be saved if we used more technology. Less paper would be used and some of the things required like a calculator are already in the iphone or ipad. I think that people sometimes want to believe it would be more expensive just because they are afraid to learn about new things and it would require some changes in the classroom.
     After watching this video, I realize that we are not using enough technology in the classrooms today. We have all these new things today,but we continue to want to stay in the past and not move into the future. Most of the new technology would make things easier on us and would put those we teach at an advantage over those who do not get to use new technology.

The Lost Generation

     I did not like this video at first as it was all negative and seemed to stereotype my generation. Then it switched the words around and it made it into a positive message. I think a lot of people think that this is a lost generation with no hope and that we have strayed away from our past values. All we hear today it seems is negative and not painting a good picture of what our future will hold.
     I do not believe we are a lost generation. We may be looked on that way right now,however I think we have more tools to be successful today than we ever have. We have more technology on hand and if we use it to our advantage we may be known as the generation that saved us instead of the lost generation.

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir

     This video was great! To think that no one ever came together to do this and it was done all on the web is amazing. This video really makes me aware of the things we can now do thanks to new technology. This was really well put together and it sounded beautiful. It was different voices of people from all around the globe coming together to make a beautiful sound. This gives me hope that I can form relationships and get to know people from other countries and possibly work with people that live so far away!

Teaching in the 21st Century

     Teaching in the 21st century is way different than in the past. We have much more information than in the past. Students can now find information on any subject through various ways on a computer. I think teachers sometimes look down on people who come to class with cell phones and computers because they are just assuming that the they are using it for entertainment instead of learning. I like the part in the video where it talks about students engaging with their technology instead of using it simply for entertainment. Engaging is when students take advantage of technology to learn from it. Teaching in the 21st century means taking advantage of all that is out there to teach methods of learning.