Blog Assignment #2

Did You Know
"Did you know?" is an eye catching video with an excess of interesting facts focusing on technology and its quick development. This video was very interesting the entire time. I learned a lot about technology advances which I can really use because I have never really been a technology person. I never wanted the gadgets that came out when I was younger like my brother and sister. I was very interested in the fact that in just a couple of years a college student who is learning about technology half of their education will be out of date, how does a college student keep up with this speed? This means that we will have to keep ourselves up to date on technology and how to apply it to our classroom in the future. I also noticed that we are learning advanced information supportive to our careers that are actually ahead of our time, this will be helpful in keeping us up to date in our learning and teaching objectives, the way we teach, and how our students will learn. Out students will not learn the same way we did as we were kids. For example, we as kids learned on a chalk or white board, our students will most likely learn on a smart board if that isn’t already outdated by then. Our technology is already so advanced compared to a couple of years ago and I can’t imagine what it is going to be like in a couple of years. Our technology is changing and advancing every single day. I noticed that the video was made in 2008 and all I could think about is how much has technology changed in the past two years. In the video it should that MySpace has 200 million users in 2008, which made me wonder just how many does Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest have or even how many Instagram is going to have soon? Another point that caught my eye was "50 million years to reach a market audience”, radio took 38 years, television took 13 years, internet only took 4 years, iPods taking about 3 years, and last facebook only taking 2 years. Technology is changing everyday and if we do not keep ourselves up to pace in our learning and teaching methods we will be out of date. I now see why technology is extremely important, and why knowing and learning technology is so important.
Mr. Winkle
Mr. Winkle is an elderly man who had fallen sound asleep for 100 years. The point when he fell asleep there was pretty much nothing in technology. When he finally awakes he realizes that he is not in Kansas anymore. Everything looks, sounds, and acts another way now. He notices equipment in the offices that prints stuff and even equipment that allows people to talk from another country. Mr. Winkle makes his way to the closest school to see if he could find anything in the ordinary there, and he did. He noticed that everything seemed like it did when he was in school: taking notes, the teacher talking, and no weird looking equipment. Except there was one he noticed, but it was collecting dust in the back of the room. Mr. Winkle was finally content. I hope that Mr. Winkle could not find many schools like he did in the ending of this video. Like I said of the videos above, we are teaching our students to live in a world that will have devices that are not even made up yet. Even though it might be touch to settle into the rapid development of technology around us, I feel that it is our job to be just as engaged as our students with new technology. Even though we might not have had what they have growing up we have to become accustomed to their level of technology and learning.
Mr. Ken Robinson
Ken Robinson says, "Schools kill creativity". By this, Ken means that our school systems try to stay away from the use of creativity. Schools have arranged these guidelines that these teachers must follow in order for the students to do well. Another passage made by Ken, "If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original." I think some students are afraid of being wrong because of these principles that have been created by our system. If we don’t persuade students that it is ok to be wrong then what does the future hold for these students? No one is perfect. We each have our own way that makes each and every one of us different. In order for us to accomplish greatness, we must support each other and gain knowledge from each other. Ken Robinson's video was very enjoyable as well as instructive on what the future beholds for children in our schooling system. Ken mentions in the video, "Creativity is just as important as literacy". If we leave out creativeness in our school systems, how will students be able to express themselves? One illustration that Ken gave on the value of student creativity was the story about a six year old girl and her drawing of God. I thought it was remarkable how a child so little was able to generate something that she believed in and loved. When her teacher questioned her what she was drawing, the young girl's answered "A drawing of God". The teacher replied, "How do you know what God looks like? No one has ever in fact seen him?" The little girl replied, "They will in a minute". If the teacher wouldn’t have let the little girl state what she believed in, then the little girl would have never been capable of showing her creativity. This video has exposed to me that under any circumstances you not let a student express themselves because everyone thinks, acts, and is different. In my career I will always allow each and every student to express their meaning on whatever were discussing because once again everyone in this world is different in their own way!
Pinterest useful in classrooms
Pinterest can be a very useful resource in a classroom. There is many ways I believe Pinterst could be helpful to my students and myself as well. One of the best ways I think it could be helpful is finding new ways to teach or learn. There are many teachers that keep the same lesson plans and assignments for years and it eventually gets old and boring. If the teachers that do that could or would use Pinterest I think they would not only be more up to date but the teacher and students wouldn’t get so bored with the same stuff because the teacher would have different and new exciting assignments and projects to do. You always want to keep your students excited and ready to learn and with new projects and teaching methods I believe that will keep them excited. It will not only keep them excited and ready to learn but it will keep myself excited and ready to teach instead of doing the same stuff.