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.