"It's not about the technology"

Our assignment for the 13th of September was to read a blog by Kelly Hines about technology in the classrooms, that it's not all that its not the only thing in the classroom that needs to change. I enjoyed reading the blog and also believe that she is right, our whole attitude towards our future students has to change and that should be top priority, not technology.

I agree with this view, because I think that maybe technology shouldn't be first priority. Yes, I agree that it should be on the list of things that need to change, however, we have to reform how we teach first, and not use technology as a buffer.

my presentation

Last year's video cast

Our assignment for week six is to make a podcast through audio or video. This blog is to give an analysis on last years attempt of a podcast on the topic of being a tech literate teacher. I thought the subject matter was easy enough to comprehend, but interesting enough to generate debate. I thought that they had good points, however, I believe that they could have been a little more prepared by not using the notes and it seemed very organized.

To conclude, I believe that it was a successful podcast. I believe that subject material was a interesting, generated debate. They seemed prepared, but were just dependent upon the notes. But other than that, I thought it was good.

Did you know 4.0

Did you know 4.0 is the updated version of the Did you know 3.0. It still has the same theme of technology is moving at a alarmingly fast rate, but he is also saying that if we don't jump on the band wagon, we will be left behind. We will be left behind, because of every media medium that we had before( printing press) is struggling to survive, and in the near future, I have a feeling that they will not survive.

Podcasting in the classroom?

The advancement in today's technology has opened everyone's eye. It is producing many jobs, and giving people a different perspective on how they do things, especially in the field of education. And one of these advancements are podcasting. Podcasting(for all of you that do not know) is a way to get information out to everyone on certain subjects via streaming audio or video. And the question is: Should future educators use this type of medium in the class room? and my answer is yes.

To me, podcasting could be extremely helpful in ways. One way is that, our students can be familiar with the world and be informed about how things are preformed around the world; what they are learning, and what goes on in their world. And know that there is more out there than what they are used to. Another reason is that it is easier to get information to students and they could possibly understand harder subjects a little easier. And finally, its a good way for the parents, students, and teachers to have an easier communication on what is going on in the class room. So the parents can know what their kids are learning and what they can do to help.

Karl Wesh: A vision of students today

Karl Wesh's video " A vision of students today" was an eye opener. A day in the life of a student is extremely busy and technology could possibly be a solution to today's worries. However, with technology there are both positives and negatives, and some of the students that use the negatives hurt themselves instead of helping and fall further behind. An example of this: a student in the classroom staying on facebook or myspace the entire class period and not taking notes.

The message that I got from this video is this: technology can be a wonderful lifesaver. It can shed a light on todays chaos. However, I think the author wanted to portray that humans will be humans and use it for the negatives, and because of this, our students are becoming lazier as a result.

Comments4kids

As a class, we have been instructed to comment on kids' blogs around the world. We were given the blog of one particular class--the class of room 10. I would like to say that it has been a very fun and interesting assignment. The fact that these kids can do so much with a blog and do a very good job is amazing. I've never been more impressed.