Blog Assignment #2

1. In Did You Know? 3.0 - A John Strange 2012 Version, I learned a few things about the world of technology that I did not know before. Like how India has more K-12 Honors students than the United States has K-12 students. I believe the point of this video is to make us aware how the technological world has advanced, and that it's only going to keep growing. We, as future educators, are going to be teaching in a world more technologically advanced than it is today. We make fun of the teachers who don't even have a cell phone, but that's how they grew up. When we become teachers, we might be those who get made fun of because we don't have the latest technology fab. This video opened my mind to how fast the world is becoming more reliant on technology.
This video is very knowledgeable, but some of the screenshots need to be up for longer. I couldn't finish reading quite a few of them before it went on to the next fact.

2. I believe Mr. Winkle in Mr. Winkle Wakes showed us something that none of us have noticed. Or at least I haven't noticed it. He showed us that no matter how technologically advanced the world becomes, the schools will still be just a place of lecture and boredom.
We, as future educators, need to be the change in this. Everything we are learning in EDM 310 will help us bring technology into the classrooms and make learning more fun for the students. By incorporating things like making a book trailer instead of doing a poster board with picture clippings on it, kids will be more enthusiastic about completing their projects. I plan on being a technologically literate teacher, do you?

3. In The Importance of Creativity Ken Robinson gives great illustrations on why we need creativity and how the schools kill it. He tells how everyone is born creative and most people slowly grow out of it. The reason he said this happens is because most creative things come from mistakes. He says, "if you're not wrong, you won't be creative." If an artist is painting and makes a mistake, it might turn into something he didn't plan on but is very creative and therefore successful. In school we are scolded for being wrong and that makes us scared to be wrong. So if we do something wrong, we don't look at is as being creative.
He tells a story about Gillian Lynne and how when she was a child her teacher told her mom that she had a learning disorder. He goes on to say that in today's world that would automatically be diagnosed as ADHD and she would be given medication and told to calm down and behave. If this had happened to her, we wouldn't have some of the great operas of all times. Her teacher told her mom that she didn't have a learning disorder, she was a dancer. She had to move to think. This is a form of creativity that I don't understand, but it's out there in hundreds of people. If we medicate everyone who can't sit still in a classroom, how will we know if they were meant for something greater?

4. In A Vision for 21st Century Learning it states, "students come in as raw material, move from one grade to the next, and leave crammed full of facts." They sit and listen to lectures, memorize facts, and read text books. One of the main arguments from this video is that this way of learning does not coincide with our world full of technology. There is technology just waiting to be used in a way to make learning fun for students. The video says that computers already have a central role in the daily lives of children via video games and internet. Why don't we use this to our advantage and teach the children in a fun way? Another main argument is that technology literacy is critical for today's work environment. If we don't teach them now how to use technology in a way that is relevant to how they will be used in the working world, then how will they be able to get a job in the future? The video reveals in the end a way to use video games as a way for children to learn about different cultures and be able to explore the world. I think this would be a great way to integrate technology, but I don't think it would be very successful to replace books with "video game learning." They might learn something out of the game, but it's nothing compared to the knowledge they can gain from a book.

5. Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts is about a teacher who teaches students how to use computers effectively by connecting to other students around the world. Vicki Davis believes that it's hard for every student to learn in a paper and pencil only class. She teaches in a way that accommodates to what the students in the classroom need. So she may teach the curriculum completely different ways each year. She teaches the students to be comfortable with technology. One thing she does that I might use in my classroom is not defining everything. She expects her students to look up a word and learn it on their own if they don't know what it means. She allows the students to teach her how to do some things. I think she is a great role model for educators. She is teaching in a new way and everyone could learn something from her.