Blog Assignment Week 3

SmartBoard Lessons Podcast

I listened to episode 131 of the podcast. It was entitled "Design & Innovation." On this podcast, the hosts interviewed Arnold Westman, a speaker at the Microsoft Innovative Teachers Conference. I really liked that they introduced the podcast with music, and both of the speakers had very good speaking voices. The entire podcast was smooth and pleasant to listen to, while also providing beneficial facts about teaching innovations. The speakers were also very descriptive when speaking about the different programs and applications for computers. This helped since you can't actually view anything with podcasts, you may only listen to them.

Kidcast

Episode 17: Oprah Has My Book was the episode of my choice for this particular podcast. I instantly noticed how they introduced the episode with what sounded like a robotic voice. I found this to be very creative. A song was also included in the podcast and, like most people, I love music. Therefore, just as I was starting to become distracted, a song begins to play, and my attention was quickly directed back to the podcast. He then discussed the origin of the song that was played, and explained that the singer was actually Swedish. He then elaborated on how global America is today.


Ed Tech Talk

I listened to Conversation #62 of this podcast. Three teachers discussed their favorite ipod and itouch applications for the classroom. I love my itouch so after hearing the topic of the conversation, I was immediately interested. What also immediately caught my attention was that one of the teachers was across the world. It was 2:30a.m. in Australia. Compared to the two previous podcasts that I watched, this one did sound a bit less clear. The voices did not go over as well, probably due to the fact that the people participating were in different parts of the world. The volume was also much lower.

Macbreak Weekly

I found this podcast to be particularly interesting because I enjoy learning about new technology. I'm very pleased with my itouch, and I'm eager to learn more about the ipad. Just as the speakers discussed the name of the new invention, I had the same discussion with some of my fellow honors program members just the other day. We all agreed that the name fit the product adequately. They discussed whether or not "regular" people on the street would buy the product and concluded that yes, they would because the device is appealing to several different types of people.

This Week In Photography

I chose to listen to episode 126 of this podcast. It was entitled "Racism in Photography: Don't Blink!" The speakers of this podcast were Alex Lindsay and Frederick Van Johnson. The topic of the discussion was "racist cameras." They first discussed how cameras can now detect when you blink, smile, ect. A certain type of Sony camera continually showed that all Asians in pictures kept blinking. It was decided that they might not have thoroughly tested the cameras before putting them on the market. For a camera to even be able to detect such slight movement is incredibly fascinating to me.

GeekSpeak

I found this podcast on the link provided in the syllabus. I listened to the episode entitled "Liquid Diamonds and Cold Eyeballs." It was the most recent episode. They discussed both safari and google chrome. This podcast also used music in its presentation. The only thing I find that I dislike about podcasts is that it is sometimes hard to visualize some of the things the hosts discuss. However, this podcast posts their news on their website. I found this to be beneficial.

Media Literacy in the First Grade

Wow!! First graders blogging?? I'm almost embarrassed to say I was a bit scared of the thought of blogging at first! I've quickly learned that it's a great way to communicate with people all over the world and learn new things. In looking back to when I was in first grade, I realize how things have changed dramatically. We did not even have computers in the class room. We went to computer lab about once a week, and there we just learned basic principles such as typing. The students in the video also seem to be very knowledgeable about what to say and what not to say when blogging. One little boy mentioned that you should never say anything hurtful, only helpful things online. Not only has Mrs. Cassidy taught the students how to blog, but she has also taught them how to do so politely.

Little Kids, Big Potential

The most important thing I saw in the video was that the kids are not only learning how to use to the internet and how to blog, but they are also learning how to be safe online. Though the internet can be a great resource, it is also scary to think what kids can get into these days. There are all types of predators in the world, and a child's safety is very important. That said, it seems that they are benefiting in many ways by blogging. Their writing improves, and the children get excited to see comments on their blogs from family and friends.

Here's What's Coming!

I found it amazing that the child was showing an interest in technology at such an early age. I'm also a little intimidated to think that one day I will be teaching these children who are growing up with such technology. There wasn't much technology when I was growing up, so I'm still getting used to the whole idea of it in the classroom. I'm excited, however, to implement such new inventions in order to help each student achieve academic success. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for my classroom!

Here is a picture of my favorite golf course located in Vancleave, MS.

A Link To My University

Click here to go to the University of South Alabama's website

Blog Assignment Week 2

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

As a student at the University of South Alabama, I can relate to most of the statistics in the video. I am now a sophomore, and during my first year of college, I had major time management issues. I had to get used to making to-do lists and writing everything in a calendar just to be able to function. The video mentioned multi-tasking. That's something that has become a normal part of my life, especially since I drive about an hour to school everyday. I'm enrolled in 15 hours worth of classes, work 20 hours a week, and drive a total of about 2 1/2 hours a day. Plus, I have hours of homework and studying, and I am active in my church. Though, sometimes it seems like life never slows down, and I'm completely worn out, I know that it will all be worth it in the end.

The video also mentioned facebook a couple of times. I do have an account and use it to communicate with some of my teachers and classmates. While it has come into great use for many students, I have seen students using their phones or laptops to login while in class. It's generally more of a distraction. Another statement in the video I can relate to is that many of the students paid for very expensive books and never even opened them. This was the case in several of my classes in my first year of college. Today, nearly everything is online and several classes can be taught without the use of a text book.

"It's Not About The Technology"

Hines made four major points in her blog post. Of the three, the one that stood out the most to me was the second. It explained that learning and teaching are not the same things. If the student does not understand the material the teacher has presented and has not learned the concept, then there has actually been no teaching done. She used a basic physics principle to illustrate this. If force is applied on an object, and the object does not move, no work has been done. Regardless of how much force has been applied.

The third point Hines made in her post was that teachers must put the technology to good use. Every classroom could be filled with the newest technology, but without innovative teachers, it's pointless. It's also a waste for schools to spend an excessive amount of money in order to provide the newest technology to schools if there are no teachers motivated to put it to its best use. She also mentioned that the teachers are in need of proper training to learn how to use the technology, such as smartboards.

"The Fischbowl: Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?"

The first thing that stood out to me in the post was Karl's list of standards for teachers. He first stated that everyone needs to be technologically literate and that if you aren't, you should be "embarrassed, not proud," to say so in public. He also stated that if Universities let technologically illiterate students graduate, they should have their license or funding audited. He also stated that we need to quit being so nice because the future of the next generation is in our hands.

I completely agree with Karl in every aspect that he mentioned in his post. It's not fair to cheat the next generation out of learning just because we are too stubborn to learn what is needed to best benefit them. It is not uncommon for people to joke about being technologically illiterate. This is a very serious matter, however. Some might believe that he sounds harsh, but this is the harsh reality.

Gary Hayes' Social Media Counts

I found this website to be very interesting. It's shocking to see how the statistics change dramatically every second. In less than 5 minutes, there were over 1000 new users on Facebook. It is clear that the entire world is constantly becoming more technologically literate. This will effect my career as a future teacher. I will be expected to know more about technology and how to effectively use it in the classroom. It will probably be a norm for many teachers to posts blogs and even assignments online. Since this is actually the first blog I have ever had, I feel that I am slowly becoming more technologically literate.

Blog Assignment Week 1

"Did You Know 3.0?"

As I first started watching the video, I was shocked by some of the statistics. It's crazy to think how fast the world is changing. The most shocking fact was that soon that half of what you learn your freshmen year of college will completely change by the time you're a junior in college. This fact is almost discouraging, however it simply shows how much research is being done every year and how much knowledge is being gained. Another shocking statistic is that India has more honors kids than America has kids total. This may prove that America is not pushing its children to their fullest potential.

I was also surprised to see that there are only 540,000 words in the English language. Though that is a lot, I was sure there might be more. However, the video did state that this is 5x what was in the English language during Shakespeare's time. At the end of the video, the statistics regarding the number of births in America, China, and India were larger than expected. Their growing population is outrageous.

"Mr. Winkle Wakes"

This video can easily be related to the previous one, "Did You Know 3.0?". So much time has past after Mr. Winkle wakes that he is unfamiliar with all the world's new technology. Just as the previous video proved, technology is changing by the minute. To one unfamiliar with such, this could be somewhat scary, I imagine. In today's world, it may sometimes be harder for the older generations to accept and familiarize themselves with this empowering new technology.

I found it interesting that Mr. Winkle felt comfortable and safe in the classroom because there did not seem to be as many changes there as there were in the office building and hospital. Classroooms everywhere are changing just as fast as the latter. Today, we now have smart boards and other media to educate our children. Teachers are finding new ways to explain different material, and we are no longer limit to simply textbook learning.

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity

As an honors and gifted student, I found this video to be particularly interesting. I agree with the fact that creativity is being supressed in today's classrooms. Not every child learns things the same way, and many yearn to explore things beyond mathematics and language arts lectured in the classroom. Sir Ken Robinson explained that if you are afraid of having the wrong answer, you'll never discover anything original. Because creativity is being supressed today, it can almost be certain that less orginial material is being discovered. What does this say about education in future generations? Scary thought, in my opinion.

The No Child Left Behind Act seems to be a possible contributer to the supressing of creativity. Classes are centered around standardized testing, and therefore, teachers are limited in what they may be able to cover in class. Robinson asks the question, "Why is dance not taught in classrooms?" and compares dance to mathematics. Well, the answer seems simple; You cannot test children on dancing the way that you might test them on mathematics and language arts. In an attempt to improve academics, creativity has been tossed aside.

"Vickie Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts"

The most valuable concept I grasped from the video was the teachers do not have to know EVERYTHING in order to teach. This is relieving. It was interesting to see the students actually teaching the teacher about technology. It is apparent that you are always able to learn something from other people. Davis also allowed the students to teach the class which I thought was very neat because sometimes it is easier to learn from people your own age.

Davis emphasized how she used new terms, and the students were expected to google them if they did not know what they meant. They were in charge of their own learning. They used their own creativity to discover new things and didn't just watch the teacher perform a task and repeat it. It was cool to see how a small rural town in Georgia became connected with people all around the world and even went to the Middle East to attend a conference.