Sunday, January, 24, 2010

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today
This was a fascinating video. It provides a glimpse into the lives of today’s children. The video serves as a reminder of exactly what it is like to be in their shoes. I can definitely relate to MANY if not most of the signs that some of the 200 students in Michael Wesch’s class at Kansas State University were holding. It really got me thinking about issues that I have not considered. Just like my generation, some of the technological opportunities that are at our fingertips do not result in good habits.

Spending an excessive amount of time on social networking sites, like…facebook, is definitely something I am guilty of. When in my apartment, with all of the best intentions in the world, I will start to read to prepare for class the next day or begin studying for a test; then, I become drawn to the computer. I tell myself I’ll only sign on for 5 minutes but more often than not, those 5 minutes turn into an hour or even two!

Knowing the time that I waste, I am thankful that I did not have this “force” distracting me when I was younger. It makes me wonder what will the negative effects be on these young minds.

"It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines
Kelly Hines addressed quite a few factors in this post that I completely agree with. There were four in particular she listed that related to education with technology. The first was teachers must also be learners, the second was on teaching and learning not always being the same thing, the third was related to technology being ineffective and essentially without good teaching, and the fourth factor was on a 21st century without technology.

We need to be willing and open-minded to learning daily. Finding ways to enhance learning is just as crucial and important as learning itself. Going hand-in-hand with that, one of the points Mrs. Hines made was technology being ineffective without good teaching. Technology can make a world of difference, however, teachers much be willing to learn how to use it so they can pass it along to their students otherwise there is a lot of money as well as time being wasted. Technology is a tool that must be used in a 21st century classroom, but with any tool, teachers are still the key component to good teaching.

Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?
Karl Fisch, who is the author of The Fischbowl and Director of Technology for Arapahoe High School posted an essay in 2007, and in it stated: If a teacher today is not technologically literate – and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more – it’s equivalent to a teacher 30 years ago who didn’t know how to read and write. It’s getting increasingly harder for teachers to successfully run the classroom while being technologically illiterate. I’m not saying all teachers have to know about the latest gadgets and everything about technology, however, they must be technologically literate. They must be willing to learn and use technology in the classroom. Students are expected to compete in a global society and be prepared to be problem solvers using technology. Five years ago teachers were challenged with using technology to present material. Now, they should be teaching students to use technology to solve problems and create new products.

The comparison between a teacher who doesn’t know how to read and write and a teacher who doesn’t use technology is harsh, however, with the increasing technological advancement of our world, this comparison is becoming a reality.


Gary Hayes Social Media Count
I think my jaw was wide open not even 10 seconds into watching this. I think astounded and overwhelmed by the numbers are two words to describe how I felt. It is amazing how much these numbers change every single second. This is proof that the world is in constant motion and constantly changing. What does this mean to me as an upcoming teacher? I think this is enough to show how important it is for teachers to have some technological background and understand what is going on not only with technology, but in the world.

The internet has had a booming increase over the past year. Some of the statistics that stuck out the most were: there are 900,000 blog posts that are put up every day. 20 hours of video are uploaded to You Tube every minute and Facebook has 600k new members every single day. These numbers are hard to believe and it really makes you realize just how huge of an industry the web is and how much people rely on it in their daily lives.