Blog Post 4

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?

In this poem it is basically pointing out all the negative aspects of the use of internet in schools. It touches on the idea students will just use the internet for porn. It say's pen and paper are not going anywhere, but I beg to differ. Pen and paper may still be here but they will not be used nearly as much. The world is growing to new times and technology seems to be the key to the future. Sure some of the negative things that were mentioned may happen but everything has flaws. If people do not ever take chances and try something new they can not be open for advancement. If everyone always played it safe we might still think the earth was flat. The internet can be used for so many great things that I do not see how people can use these few negative reasons as an argument to not use the internet in school settings.

Scott Mcleod has several different prestiges titles and awards. Dr.Mcleod is an Associate Professor in the Educational Administration program at Iowa State University. He post on several different blogs about technology these include dangerouslyirrelevant.org and occasionally at The Huffington Post. He also is the Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education, which is the nations only academic center dedicated to the technology needs of school administrators.

The iSchool Initiative

Schools are always looking to save money due to the fact that they are government funded. So why not look at the iSchool Initiative? The iSchool Initiative is based off every student in the class and the teacher only using an iTouch. All assignments are turned in using email on the iTouch. Books will be downloaded to the iTouch. The internet will be restricted to only allow academic use.

Now that you know a little about the iSchool Initiative let me tell you some of the instant benefits. For one by downloading the books to their iTouch they do not have to carry around a bunch of heavy textbooks. They have instant access to communicate with their teachers and classmates with email and texting at their finger tips. Students can not use the excuse that they forgot their homework. Now some people may say its too expensive to buy everyone an iTouch but these people have not ever bought a classroom set of textbooks, which are quite expensive and not to mention go out of date every couple of years, and this will be instantly saving the schools money.

Watch The Lost Generation

I think in many ways this video is very true. People in our day and age go out of their way to destroy the environment. I feel a change does need to be made in the way people are living their lives. Since when is your profession more important than your own flesh and blood. People need to step back and look at the way they are living their lives. a Change can be made if enough people do something about it. The way her video was delivered was interesting. She stated a list of facts that were scrolling downwards, when she got done she said "all of this will come true unless we choose to rewrite it" then scrolling upwards she rewords everything she just stated but in the opposite order it was said in the beginning. This was a really creative way of getting her point across.

Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir

In this video it just goes to show how the internet connects people from all over the world. I thought it was amazing how these people have never met but can get together on the internet and have such a wonderful performance. It also makes you wander what all can we accomplish on the internet. I cant even imagine how they got everybody together to perform something to this extent. I know that i still have a ton to learn about using the internet to it's full potential.

Teaching in the 21st Century

This video makes you think, are our schools teaching students what they need to know. What teachers are trying to teach the students can be found easily on the internet. Should we teach our children the facts or how to find the facts? The world is changing constantly and everyday we become more technologically equipped. I think we need to teach our kids on what they will need to know when they graduate, which is technology.