Blog Assignment 2

Did You Know? 3.0 - A John Strange 2012 Version

In the video Did You Know? 3.0 - A John Strange 2012 Version, many eye opening statistics are shown one right after another.  Dr. Strange made this video based on Did You Know 3.0 by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod.   Technology has changed so much over the years and it is could really cause conflict in the classroom.  I thought it was crazy to see the statistics about how advanced technology has become just in the past few years.

I watched Dr. Strange's video with a friend and both of us were saying during the video, "That's much higher now."  We were referring to the high school students who own a cell phone.  I even know some middle school students who carry around a cell phone.  This video made me realize how important it is to pay attention to the new technologies so I will be able to keep up with the younger generations that I will be teaching.


Mr. Winkle Wakes
Mr. Winkle Wakes is a short video about how a man awakens from sleep after 100 years.  He finds everything to be very different, except the school.  Mr. Winkle goes to an office and he sees all these crazy machines that he has never seen before.  When he goes to the hospital he sees x-ray machines and breathing machines that were keeping people alive.  Over the past 100 years the technology had changed so much that Mr. Winkle didn't know what anything was anymore, until he walked into the school.  Nothing had changed in the school.  The teachers lectured and the students took notes all day and the computers were never used. he felt comfortable because the school was how he remembered life 100 years ago.

I thought this video perfectly displayed how technology in most schools is not used to its fullest.  When you walk into an office building or a hospital, you see top of the line technology.  I understand that it's very important for those types of places to have top of the line technology, but what about the schools who are educating the next generation? I feel like the schools need to have the funding to be able to supply schools with things like computers, smart boards, and other new technologies.  These things are going to be vital in the upcoming generation because technology is expanding so rapidly.

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
Ken Robinson in The Importance of Creativity discusses the idea that schools today are stripping the students of their creativity.  He related creativity to being as important as literacy which I agree with.  I think that students need to have a creative mind to be able to express their feelings.  One of his mains points in the discussion was that students are scared to be wrong.  I know I have felt this way in the past.  If I felt like my answer was wrong, I wouldn't want to speak up.  Teachers are looking for the "right" answer, when in the end this is is robbing the child of their creative side.

Student's creativity should be incorporated in their leaning.  They should be able to express themselves whether it be through art, music, or dance.  If you don't allow them to be creative you "educated them out of creativity."  Robinson kept emphasizing how important it is to allow students to be creative and show that side of them and to not penalize them for being themselves.

A Vision for 21st Century Learning
In the video, A Vision for 21st Century Learning, they bring up the idea of fully merging the classroom with technology.  They say that classrooms today are too passive and that children are memorizing facts and reading textbooks and not really "learning" the information.  They want to bring to life a more hands on type of learning in the classroom by creating a type of video game that allows you to play your way through history.  I think this is a great idea because I feel like most students will enjoy doing this without even realize they are learning.  I also, on the other hand, feel like this could take away the real need of a teacher.  If the teacher hands their students a video game and tells them to play it where is the need for the teacher anymore?  I don't think technology should go as far as replacing a teacher because teachers have such an impact on so many students.

Vikki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
In the video, Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts, a teacher in south Georgia is allowing her students to collaborate and learn about all the new technologies there are out there.  They use blogs, create avatars, use twitter, and they connect with the world.  Not only are the students learning, but their teacher is learning as well.  I think that is very important in the classroom when everyone is working together to learn.

For the most part, I agree with this video because to get by in this world you really need to understand technology and how to collaborate with others to solve problems.  I feel like students need to use the technology, but they still need to be learning all of their subjects like math, science, history, etc.  Just having knowledge in technology will not get you very far, but it would be very helpful.