Goodbye

I can honestly say I will miss this class. I have enjoyed this class and learned so much. I gained so much from this class that I know I will carry with me into the classroom.
I enjoyed listening and reading my fellow students views in blogs and comments. One piece of advice I will leave for my fellow students would be to be cautious of how you present yourself. Consider everything you put on the internet as a piece of your resume. I promise the things that you think are cool or funny now will not be cool or funny when a potential employer Googles you and finds inappropriate content on the internet. Take this advice from someone who has been there. I am thankful there was no internet when I was younger.;-)

Final Blog Post

We covered so much in class this semester. Where do I start? There were so many new programs we were introduced to. Some I love and have begun to use on a regular basis. Others were just nice to know they existed, but I don't plan on using them.

Here are the answers to the questions posed by Dr. Strange in our Final Blog Post Assignment

1.Google Docs-I am a new fan. I have started using it exclusively(unless a teacher requires us to use another program)

Screenjelly-I use this a lot to explain things to people instead of trying to talk them through it over the telephone. Not something I would use in the classroom, but helpful none the less.

Delicious-I use this all the time to mark websites to go back to for a variety of things. I even have tags for websites my children go to for school. A great resource.

PLN-This is something I am still working on(and will throughout my career). I love getting feedback from other people and be able to learn from others successes or failures.

Google Earth-There are so many uses for Google Earth. I still have a lot to learn about this, but will enjoy exploring. I think this will be something I will use in the classroom.

ALEX and ACCESS-I think these are sites that I will utilize once I become a teacher, but not so much now. I may be wrong, but I do know what they are and where to find them if I need to use them.

Post I have read and Comments4classmates-Most of the post have been informational. It has been nice to read others perspectives on the same post we have read or videos we have seen. It amazes me how 2 people can see or read the same thing and have such different views on it. It opens up discussion and I love this aspect of blogs.

2. One thing I wish we had spent more time on was Twitter. I am not a Twitter user and have only been on Twitter maybe 10 times. I don't understand the aspect. This is something I am going to work on after this class is over. Everyone we spoke to seemed to use Twitter a lot. It can obviously be a valuable tool, I just need to learn it and make it work for me.

3.There was nothing in this class I learned that I wish I had not. I found everything very interesting although I did not find all things useful. Even though I did not find it useful at this time, that doesn't mean I won't find it useful in a later situation. I am glad I was exposed to it.

4.Did it excite me? YES!!! Ask the teachers at my children's school. On several occasions I have ask them if they were using this program or if they had seen that blog. Most have them had not. I am excited because I feel like this class has made me a better teacher. I think, no, I know I will now be able to engage the students in a classroom with all the technology available. This is what I am excited about.

5.I didn't find anything intellectually challenging, but I found a lot of the class to be intellectually stimulating. This class introduced to me so many ideas and perspectives that really made me think. I said in a previous post that I have stepped so far outside of my comfort zone that I have created a new comfort zone.

6.I was never bored in this class at any time. If anything, I was probably overwhelmed. I was overwhelmed in a good way. Things that should probably have taken 2 hours to do took me 4 or more. I would read something and then click and read something else and so on. I found so many things that really interested me. I guess this will be an "occupational hazard".

7.The only thing I would change about this class is to be more organized. I did feel like I had to look too many places to try to find answers to my questions. I did find them, but it would have been more helpful to me to have them in one location instead of having to go from blog to syllabus.

8.Am I technology literate? When I first walked into the classroom, I thougth I was. I quickly learned I was not. I would consider myself in the middle of being technologically literate. This is a huge accomplishment to me. I only can go up from here and I will enjoy the climb.

9.I will continue my technology climb by contributing to and reading the alumni class blog. I am very excited about this opportunity to talk and discuss with other students who are in the same situation as I am. I enjoy learning and see learning new technology as a challenge. I am up for the challenge and welcome the excitement that learning new things will bring.

April 25 Homework

Two questions that can change your life from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.

After watching this video and thinking about my sentence, I hope that my sentence has not been created yet. All the things I hope to achieve are still a work in progress. I hope my sentence will include being a great mom and great teacher. But who knows. My sentence may change in 2, 10, or 25 years. I like this thought. It goes back to being Googled well. Every footprint you leave is something someone else can see and follow. Are you leaving footprints you want someone to follow?


A 7th Grader's Personal Learning
Environment (or PLN)

After watching this video, I am very encouraged as a future teacher. This student seems very excited and interested in learning. I think the key to this is the student-centered approach to learning the teacher is offering and the freedom that come with this this. The student seems eager to learn about various topics. The way technology is used in the classroom (a science classroom no less) engages students in a way so that they are willing to be a better learner. I am going to save this video so I can try out some of the programs used in the video.

Project 13: Videocasts

Click here to watch to my videocast with Tabitha Greenlee titled "Google 5.1 So Much More Than Earth.

Project 5: Google Docs Form

Here is a link to my responses for my Google Docs survey.

Here is a summary of my responses.

Project 14

Here is project 14...The Reset Button!

Project 15

Here is our project 15 video.

Project 12: My Google Tour

When I embedded my Google tour in my blog, my descriptions and place marks were lost. I talked to Dr. Strange about this problem, and he had the same problem. It may be a problem on Google Earth's side.

Project 12: Another way to get to my Google Tour

My Google tour is a trip to Disney properties around the world.

Disney Around the World

I tried to create a link to my Google tour that included the descriptions, but they were lost in the process. My place marks are included in the link.

April 18 Homework

Technology is changing and expanding so quickly. After watching several of the videos assigned throughout the semester, it has become more clear to me that technology is more than just socially based. There is so much information available for us to use, we would be foolish not to use as much as we can to engage our students. I created the Wordle above from words from our syllabus. Teacher and education are the largest words with everything else surrounding those two words. That was amazing how true the Wordle is. Teacher and education will be the center of what we will be doing, but we have so many other things surrounding us that we should take full advantage of.

Comment4Kids
I commented on Joseph's blogpost. Here is my comment:
Hi Joseph. I have done a cannonball into the pool, but it has been many years. My children love to do cannonballs and try to splash me as I watch them. I love your animation. You did a great job with that. How did you do it?

Project 9: My Timetoast Timeline

I did my Timetoast timeline on all the activities my children had the week of March 21-27, 2010.

Comments4Teachers

I commented on the Follis Files by Candace Follis

4/11/10
Although the students did not find this activity exciting or fun, they got something from it. Not all learning is exciting or fun. The key may be to just get them to start a discussion on the reading to let them see the reading from another perspective.

4/17/10
I haven’t really thought much about how I would group students in a classroom. Recently, in one of my college classes, we grouped ourselves to discuss a handout. The two students I grouped with had such a different view of the article than I did. It really gave me a different perspective. I personally love group learning and am sure I will use it often in my classroom. Tanks fo rgiving me something to think about.

April 11th Homework

I think it is important for students to post their work to their blogs because it holds them accountable. It gives them an outlet to showcase their work and leave behind a footprint they can be proud of. I think by posting to their blog, they are going to present their best work. This is a way for us to coach our children through school and open them up to feedback from a world far bigger than the classroom.

I found this video on YouTube and loved the statement that blogs place students in charge of their own learning and where their learning will go. Listen how one students asked a question on her blog, got the response "good question" and her response to that response. It has made me more conscientious of the responses I leave.




This video shows how high school students use blogging in their classroom.




This video I found while looking for people to add to my PLN. Rachel Boyd seems very passionate about teaching, as I hope to be.




The overall message I get from these videos is to open doors for our students and let them roam. They are already living in a digital world. As teachers we must move into the digital world if we have not done so already. If not, we may be teaching, but we are not educating our students.

Comment4Kids
This week I posted on the post Answers for Ms. F and the Digikids

April 4th Homework

Kaia's story is so inspirational to me. The fact that she is only 3 years old and her father is so involved with teaching her and showing her the world through the internet inspires me to do the same with my daughter and son. I sat down with my daughter this week and read a blog about the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid". She wanted to leave a comment on the blog and I let her (using my Google account). A month ago, I would not have let her leave a comment. Kaia's father inspired me to show my children the world and let them interact with it. I have always been very protective about what my children see online and they have had very limited exposure. Am I really protecting them? What better way to learn about things than with me right beside them where I can answer questions and teach them as we experience things together.
I love the fact that Kaia's dad is so involved in her learning. I believe parental involvement is key to a successful academic career. Mr. Chamberlain's class commenting on Kaia's blog has opened up a channel of communication that is invaluable. Kaia and Mr. Chamberlain's class have been able to learn through their communication and, more importantly, have learned that they can communicate with people from around the world. This knowledge fascinates me, but to them it is or will be a way of life.


Comment4Kids

This week I commented on Harlem's first imovie. My comment was "I enjoyed watching your first imovie. You did a great job. You spoke very clearly. Was this your first visit to the farm?"

Project 8: Teaching Dr. Strange using Screenjelly

I have become a fan of Screenjelly. It is a wonderful screen capture with audio for up to three minutes. When Dr. Strange sent out the "Too Much Time?" questionnaire, I could not see the entire questionnaire. I first emailed him the problem and thought that he may not know what I was talking about. So I decided to send him a Screenjelly showing him exactly what I was seeing what I was seeing while I explained in the audio. Here is a copy of my Screenjelly that I sent to Dr. Strange.

Project 7: Vocaroo

Here is my recording sent to fellow classmate Tabitha Greenlee about our Google Earth podcast.

Comment4Teachers

My assignment for the Comment4Teachers was to comment on the Teacher Leaders Network. The following are my comments.

3/28/2010 I am also commenting for my EDM310 class. I like your idea about using this software to capture exactly what you are telling the students about an upcoming assignment. I think it would also be a great tool to use for those that have missed a class. They would not have to get the notes from a classmate, but from a class website. Thanks for sharing this.

4/4/2010 I never thought of parental involvement and parental engagement as two different approaches. I have always thought parental involvement is a must if you want your child to be motivated to achieve in school. Parental engagement seems to encourage not only success in the classroom, but in the community too. I love this idea. Thanks for sharing.

March 28 Homework

I agree with Morgan Bayda's post. Most professors either do not know about or are unwilling to adapt to the ever changing technology that students use daily. A lecture class can be very boring when you have the world at your fingertips at home. As a returning student after a 15 year absence from a classroom, I can honestly say that college has not changed much over the last 15 years, which really surprised me. I assumed that new technology would be embraced by the university, but instead the university seems almost scared of it. I think we still need the university, but the university must meet students where they learn...through technology.

Comments4Kids
This week I posted a comment on Kimball H.'s blog post "People should read two hours a day". I do read for two hours a day, but I wish it were more pleasure reading and less school reading.

Project 6: Skype

I began using Skype in October when my sister-in-law went to Iraq. This has been our only form of communication with her since she arrived in Iraq. My children have also been using Skype to talk to their aunt in Gulf Shores on a regular basis. They love it! For my mother-in-law's birthday, we gave her a webcam so she can Skype her grandchildren in Birmingham. I am introducing the entire family to Skype and we are all using it socially. I think Skype will be a great way to communicate with parents of my students. It will be easier for me to have parent conferences at a time when it will be convenient for myself and parents.

I found this description of ALEX on the Illinois New Teacher Collaborative website, "Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX), a project of the Alabama Department of Education, is designed to compile educational materials and information into a time-saving one-stop resource for teachers and administrators in Alabama. Their goal is for Alabama's students to reap the benefits of Alabama educators sharing their wealth of expertise and knowledge with colleagues." When I first did a search in Google, I was surprised to find information on an Illinois website. This peaked my curiosity. I went straight to the ALEX website. I wanted to find out how and if this site could be useful to me. There is all kinds of information available from upcoming professional development classes to podcast. I love that teachers, who are being held to the same state standards as I will be, have shared lesson plans that I can use in my classroom. I appreciate that Alabama has set up a site for teachers to be able to network with other teachers throughout our state.

The Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide (ACCESS) program is available to all Alabama public high school students. It provides equal access to high quality instruction and greater equity for all Alabama public high school students through 21st century technology. It uses online and interactive videoconferencing (IVC) courses taught by Alabama certified and highly qualified teachers to link classrooms and offer coursework, including Advanced Placement and foreign languages, to students in schools where those courses may not be available.

This week, I posted a comment on a video posted by Jared from Mr. McClung's 5th period class taking us along on his Google trip to Adelaide, Australia.

March 7th Homework

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

Every time I watch this video, I am so inspired. From listening to Randy Pausch's last lecture, I think that this is the type of person he was; inspiring. I don't think he thought of himself as inspiring, but rather as someone who was inspired by so many others. He seemed to take so much from other people, but never really thought about what he was giving to them. As a teacher, I hope to have this kind of mentality. I don't want to be the teacher that knows everything, but I want to be the teacher who is not afraid to admit when she has learned something, even if that something was from a second grade student. I hope I can give my students the space to explore and learn. They will have to learn the basics, but is there any one set way to learn the basics? I like how he gave his students freedom to learn and create, but that freedom was given to him as a teacher. I don't think I will have that kind of freedom as a teacher in elementary school, but I can dream.

Comment4Kids

This week I commented on Samary's post in Mrs Shetler's class in Arizona. It was a poem titled "The Rain". In my comments I said the we live in one of the top 5 rainiest cities in the US. Every week I love seeing what these kids can do. Amazing!

Project 4: My PLN

When I first started looking for resources for my PLN, I was not sure what I was doing, what I would need a PLN for, or how to go about setting it up. One day, I decided to Google new teachers to see what I could come up with. I was amazed at how many websites there are for and about new teachers. It is wonderful to have a network to be able to go to to ask questions or look for answers. I am using Delicious to keep track of my PLN. I have chosen a few websites with links to specific blogs or information that are of interest to me now and will be when I begin teaching. Two of my sites include New Teacher Survival Central and TeacherLingo. I think both of these sites will be very helpful to me when I get into a classroom if not before.

February 28 Homework

This is How We Dream Parts 1 & 2




After watching the movies This is How We Dream Part 1 and 2, I think that children and young adults are already producing multimedia. It may not be necessarily what we want them to produce, but it will be easier to transition them to producing multimedia for academic purposes than trying to get my generation to transition. My generation is the in-between generation. When I was young, we did not have the same technological opportunities that the next generation has had. People of my generation are, for the most part, unwilling or have no desire to learn about all the technology available to us. I think as the next generation grows up, goes to college, and enters the job force, this will not be a conversation we will be having. Instead, it will be about a new technology that their children will have grown up with that they do not have now. To answer your question about whether or not I am ready to write with multimedia, at this point I would have to say I am not comfortable with it, but I am willing to try. I have stepped so far out of my comfort zone so far in this class, what's one more step.


The Networked Student



I liked how this video was done. Very simple but very effective. To teach a networked student, you must be a networked teacher. You can not expect the student to learn what you can not teach them. In the video, the speaker says that the teacher is the one who teaches him to take advantage of learning opportunities. For that to happen, the teacher has to take advantage of teaching opportunities. I hope to be that teacher. To answer the question "Am I Ready" to teach a networked student, I don't know if you can ever be ready. It will always be a work in progress.


Michael Wesch



I really enjoyed watching this video. I loved the history of whatever. I thought it was funny how even the Defense Department found the need to brief the soldiers returning home on its meaning. I liked what he had to say about YouTube. I have personally never put any video of myself on YouTube. For me, I think it is fear of seeing myself as others see me. I have a picture in my mind of how I appear to others and I don't want that image changed. I think it is also an issue of self confidence. I have seen some of those ugly comments, and I do not want those comments made to or about me for me to have to see. Some people are fine with posting videos online. My 9 year old daughter is one of them. I think it does give some people self satisfaction and makes them feel famous because people could potentially see them online. I am not saying I will never post a video of myself on the internet, because 6 months ago I would have said I would never write a blog. Stay tuned. We will see.


Comments4Kids

For my Comments4Kids assignment this week, I post on Ethan's blog post. He made some great arguments for every student to have a laptop, even mentioning how much paper that could save.

Comments for Teachers

The blog I have been reading and commenting on over the past few weeks is Adventures in Pencil Integration. The blog is written by John Spencer as Tom Johnson. The premise of the website is that Tom Johnson works for a small school district in the year 1897. He is writing about his journey to move into the twentieth century with pencil and paper integration initiatives. I found the blog as I was searching for sites to add to my PLN. The blog is a very entertaining read. It has made me take a look at some of my fears of using or trying new technology in a different light.

Here are the comments I made on Mr. Johnson's blog post:

I found your blog as I was searching for sites to add to my PLN as part of an assignment for my EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama. I shared this site with my professor , Dr. Strange and he gave me this site to follow as an assignment for the next few weeks. Please feel free to check out my personal blog and my EDM310 class blog.
Your blog post was very interesting. I like the word mentor instead of friend. As a future teacher, I hope to be a mentor to many students, but am not necessarily interested in being their friend. I like the idea of including the parents in the process of mentoring. I think the parents should be there anyway.

It is so interesting you wrote about PLNs in this post. We are working on those as an ongoing project in my EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama. I had no idea what a PLN was, where to go to begin to build one and how it could be useful to me. The more I research, learn and build my PLN, the more I am beginning to see how useful it can be. I see now that this will not be a project that will ever be 'finished', but instead will evolve throughout my teaching career.

I shared this post with Dr. John Strange, my EDM310 professor at the University of South Alabama. He only eats macintosh apples.

February 21 Homework

Dr. Alice Christie's website is a great resource. She is obviously very knowledgeable and excited about technology in the classroom. I have already bookmarked her page Search Engines and Subject Directories for Kids not only to help me find kid friendly search engines for my students, but for my own children at home as well. The research sites she list will be great and helpful resources. I love the virtual field trip idea. Field trips are very expensive these days. My daughter's 3rd grade class is going to the New Orleans Zoo and it is costing $35 per person. The cost can prohibit so many people from going on a field trip. Time and distance is also a factor. With the virtual field trip, you can go anywhere and never leave the classroom. I also enjoyed looking at her photography. What she did with the daisy picture in Photoshop CS2 as far as color goes was beautiful. I loved how she was able to manipulate the contrast to create new, colorful pictures.

I think iTunesU is a great way to continue learning once you leave the college classroom. You will have access to knowledgeable teachers and you can listen or view only what you need at the moment and in your own time. As teachers, we will have to be constantly learning and adapting to new technology as it becomes available. I think itunesU could become a very useful tool to us as teachers.

I googled iPods in instruction to see if I could find any information. I found a great research brief titled Using iPods for instruction. It listed several ways to use the iPod in several different class setting from music appreciation to art history. IPods can be used by all students from K-12 including Special Education students. The website also listed several online resources.

This week on my Comment4Kids post, I commented on the blog titled Endless Ocean . They are using the game Endless Ocean for the Nintendo Wii as a tool for their learning topic. The students were very excited to find a sea lion and seals on there boat after having been away for a bit.

Project 2: Google Presentation

February 14 Homework

I was really surprised to see how many companies have changed or embellished information on Wikipedia. I use Wikipedia often and, for the most part, was trusting of the site. I don't know how trusted a source it can be with the current policy of letting anyone update or change information. Of course, you will have people like myself who will trust the site completely because they do not know people or businesses are changing information for there own self promoting reasons. I will still use Wikipedia(it is very convenient), but will verify information, especially if it is for something I will be putting my name on.
Mr. McClung's post was very insightful. What a great first year to have learned so many career lessons. I think as education students, we all have certain ideas of what we expect our future classroom or school to be like. I think it would be interesting to revisit those ideas after actually being in our own classroom for a year or two. It is always easier to say what one would or wouldn't do before they have had to deal with that situation.
This week, I commented on Payton's blog for our Comment4Kids assignment. He likes baseball and I related him to my son who also loves baseball.

February 7 Homework

I can't believe how fast this semester is going and how much I am learning in EDM310. I few weeks ago, I was unsure what a podcast was or why I would even need one, much less even think about doing one myself. Now, here I am preparing to do a podcast with a fellow classmate. I posted on a previous blog entry that podcast would be a great tool in the classroom if a teacher was ever out. I have since learned that there is so much more a podcast can be used for. Teachers can interact with other teachers from all over the world and teach students from all over the world. I could use a podcast from a teacher in Japan to teach about culture or other topics my students may be learning. I could teach students in Germany about hurricanes. The teacher of the future will be a teacher of all and not only of his/her classroom.
I also commented on Sidney's blog from Mrs. Deyenberg's class. The class is also reading AR books and must accumulate points just like my daughter's class. Sidney is doing very well with AR points. It is nice to know that other children are required to read AR books and that it has as much emphasis place on it as my daughter' class.

January 31 Homework

Before I was given this assignment, I was not sure what a podcast was or how to find them. I thought you had to have an Iphone or Ipod to get them (don't laugh at my technological illiteracy). I can see how very useful they can be. What a great tool for a teacher to be able to use especially if she has to be out of the classroom for some reason. Students can stay up to date on work if they are sick. Lots of possibilities.

Smart Board Lessons was informative and made the most of his time. On www.wiki.answers.com, it said Americans wait in line about an hour a day. Why not make the most of it and share some great ideas? On the Kidcast podcast I listened to, I felt like I was listening in on a telephone conversation. I may have enjoyed it more if it was giving me useful information. It showed me that you have to have interaction from both sides to have a good podcast.

I like how Connectlearning included the audience in his podcast. It gave several viewpoints from teachers. I felt involved in the conversation even though I was not speaking. EdTechTalk featured a conversation between someone here in the US and someone in Austarlia. How amazing is that. The fact that you could create a worldwide conversation to be used and heard around the world is wonderful and could be a great asset in the classroom.

MacBreak Weekly and This week in Photography both seemed like talk radio. I am not a big talk radio listener. I am not saying this is a bad format, but for me and my classroom a think a different format would be more interesting. I also thought they were both very long. I think a shorter podcast with a very specific subject may be a better option for students.

Iphone used by 1 year old
It does not take long for young children to catch on to new technology. It is amazing that this 1 year old can operate an Iphone. This child will be in Kindergarten in 4 years. I am sure he is not the only child that can do this, and they will all probably be in my class in 4 years. I have alot of homework to do!!

Brenda Fluker
I agree!!! If you shut your students out of the class by not letting them participate (whether it is 1st grade or college level)in a classroom discussion they will eventually shut you out and not learn. No one will benefit...not the teacher, not the students. As for the 'ah ha' moments, that is why I am going into the teaching field. I taught 2 year olds in a preschool and I loved it when they finally learned to sit Indian style. A seemingly small thing that was huge to me and them. I could almost see the light bulb flicker on in their eyes.

1st graders in Mrs. Cassidy's class
Look at their classroom. All the computers. My daughters classroom has only 2 computers for 19 students. Most of the time they are only in use for taking AR test. Her class doesn't have a Smartboard and will not be getting one this year. Third grade is the only grade level at her school that does not have Smartboards. My children are not learning the same way Mrs. Cassidy's class is learning. They do not have the technology or the equipment to learn this way. My son is in the 1st grade. How far behind is his class compared to Mrs. Cassidy's? How will this affect him in college and in job opportunities? I have alot of teaching to do to my own children.

Media Literacy
I am so proud of the students! They seem to think this is just the way it is. The do not seem to think they are doing something that, to me, is amazing. I hope to do half the job Mrs. Cassidy has done in teaching my students and getting them excited about learning.

January 24 Homework

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today
I think students today learn differently today than students did 20 years ago. I know this because I was a student 20 years ago. People starting college today grew up with the 'world at their fingertips' literally. They have not known a world without cell phones or internet. Cell phones and internet are great learning tools. These tools need to be integrated into the classroom as much as possible. I think so much more is expected of students today than 20 years ago. Students today are required to do so much more work. Most of that work is computer work; blog, threaded discussions, Powerpoint presentations, ect. EDM310 would not have even been a requirement 20 years ago. To this video, I would add a video made 20 years ago with college students and compare it with today's students.

It's Not about the Technology by Kelly Hines
I agree with Kelly. Teachers need to be learners, especially in this day of advancing technology. You can not be an effective teacher unless you can connect to your children. If you can not connect with your students, you can not teach them. If you have to learn new teaching methods, how to use a smartboard, anything that will improve your students learning, you should be willing to do it. People today going into the teaching profession grew up with ever changing technology and the need to learn it. They had to. I think we will begin to see a wider gap in teachers who are willing to learn and teachers who are not through test scores and overall effectiveness in the classroom.

Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?
I agree with this post and several of the comments. What is the definition of technologically illiterate? I think at this time, it depends on who you are around. If you are the one called on when someone has a computer question, you are the literate one. Even if it is something very easy to figure out(at least to you). It just goes to show, we are not all on the same page yet. Until we are all willing or have the means to learn about technology, we will have technologically illiterate people. I think the reading/writing analogy was great. Looking back at the beginning of the 20th century, students had to leave school at an early age to help out on the farm or work to help their parents out. There was more illiteracy. Once students had more opportunities to stay in school, you had less illiteracy. I think the same will be true with technology. Once it is avaliable to all, you will have less technologically illiterate people.

Gary Hayes Social Media Count
Those numbers are moving very fast. I just tend to think they may be a little exaggerated. If not, it proves, as a teacher, I will have to be constantly learning new technology and adapting it to my teaching. Even as early as 2nd grade (the grade I would like to teach) students will have access to this technology. I will have to keep children engaged and that will only be done through the technology they are familiar with.

January 17 Homework

Did You Know? 3.0 by Karl Fisch
Wow!!! The world seems to be changing and growing at a faster pace than ever before. I was surprised to see that India has more honor students than America has students. I would like to know if that statement is based on percentages or a student to student ratio considering how much faster the population of India is growing versus America's population. I do hope the information about jobs is incorrect. I would hate to think that people are changing jobs every year to year and a half. I also find it hard to believe that 1 in 8 couples married last year (2007) met online. I am curious to know if that number is based on worldwide marriages or just marriages in the U.S. I do agree with Mr. Fisch that technology is growing and evolving at a rapid pace. I have seen how much technology has evolved over the last 20 years. This video definitely gives me something to think about as I move forward in this technology class and in my teaching career and, for that matter, in life.

Mr. Winkle Wakes by Matthew Needleman
Unfortunately, I think this video was on target. Mr. Winkle woke to find new technology in businesses and hospitals, but schools had not changed in the last 100 years. Our students do not have access to the same technology that is a requirement for many jobs. It is a sad commentary on the state of our education system in the United States. I think there are some cost effective ways to bring some of the new technology into the schools. Most students have cell phones and instead of banning them from campuses, they could be used as a learning tool. For example, I think students could use their cell phone and text answers for a test to their teachers. Not only would this save paper(a huge expense), but keep students more engaged in the classroom.

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
I found this video fascinating and insightful. I completely agree with Sir Ken Robinson and his viewpoint on the relationship between creativity and academic education. I think that when the creativity is taken out of the education experience, you tend to lose students individuality and they become more robotic in their learning. I think part of the problem is that teachers have had their creativeness taken away by strict education standards and the time frame in which these standards have to be taught and tested. There is no time to 'stop and smell the roses'. I also agree with the notion that we tend to medicate our children instead of finding alternative outlets for their energy. I think there are better ways to keep them focused and involved in the learning process without medication. Some children will need the medicine, but I think it should be the exception and not the rule.

Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
I really enjoyed watching Vicki Davis and how she took her class out of the classroom with leaving the building. There is so much information available to our students if we just have the means of getting it to them. I also like and respect the fact that she was open to learning from her students. I know as a mom, I am learning something new from my own children all the time. I think it is important for students to understand that what they have to say can be valuable and can even teach the teacher.