Blog Post #5

Dr Scott McLeod, who is he you ask? Well he is an Associate Professor, Educational Administration, Director, CASTLE at Iowa State University. CASTLE is the Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education. It is used to help school administrators with their technology needs, they also help the educational leadership in university to help prepare administrators, teachers and faculty to become familiar with technology. Dr. Scott McLeod is also a blogger for DangerouslyIrrelevant where you can find the blog post Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?

I really enjoyed Dr. Scott McLeod's blog post,Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?. The way he approached it, and writing with sarcasm really captures you. It really makes you think about what he is saying. I agree that students need a "leg up" on technology. Technology is becoming more and more demanding in our everyday life. The upcoming generations of students need to know how to use the technology that is being developed, because they are going to have to rely on it when they get older and have a career. Even though I think it is a good idea that this technology is used in the classroom, I do think that it needs to be closely monitored.

Travis Allen was just a senior in high school when he posted a video titled: The iSchool Initiative. The iSchool Initiative proposes that schools will no longer have to count on books, and paper and pencils. That just an iTouch product is all that will be needed. Travis Allen proposes that this device will save everyone from the school, to the students money. It is stated that just by the use of simple Apps teachers and parents will be able to keep up with the students grades and events. This device allows the storage of textbooks, workbooks, calendars, even the ability to record lectures and take notes. The recorded lectures and notes are also able to be sent to other students.

I will have to say that my thoughts have changed over the past few weeks, from viewing all of these videos and blog posts. The idea of more and more technology in the classroom is growing on me. I really do enjoy the old-fashion classroom, but my mind is being slowly changed. I think that this idea that Travis Allen has is a really good idea. I think students would enjoy class more since they would able to interact with their textbooks. For example, the science lesson that was shown in the video allowed you to be able to search through outer space. I think with a hands on tool such as this, students will be able to learn more and become more engaged in their lessons. Not to mention, the teachers would have direct access to their students grades and school work from anywhere. Something that was not mentioned in the video, but I think is great is the fact that students would no longer have to carry around HEAVY backpacks. I think this will help decrease the cases of bad backs in students.

I have never seen a virtual choir before, and I search music on YouTube all the time, until I saw Jennifer Chamber's post: Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir. I find it amazing that this people never met, and never once performed together. I know, from experience, that when you stick people together who have never sang together before can take a turn for the good or the worst. In high school my chorus teacher had 2-3 different chorus classes. And, because of the school schedule there was never anyway to get all the classes together before we performed out end of the semester concert. (Keeping 60+ students after-school would have been a big hassle, and no guarantee that all the students would be able to stay). So we were always put on stage together with never performing together, and the outcome of the concert varied. So, this virtual performance definitely blew my mind on the quality of the voices and the video!

Cell phones,Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Blogging... what do these things have in common? A faster way to communicate with our peers. These things allow us to work around one another's schedules. Many students have a problem with trying to meet up for group projects that are assigned. But that does not have to be the case anymore. Email, Skype, Facebook, texting, all these things have made it easier to do group projects. You can send ideas, and information through email. You can discuss the project via Skype or phone call. All this technology is being used by students, now. Kevin Roberts discusses the importance of this technology is his presentation Teaching in the 21st Century. He compares the difference between students being entertained and being engaged, and how the two are not the same. He states "entertainment is for enjoyment, and engagement is for learning." This presentation is a very good way to make teachers stop and think about how they will go about using technology to teach in their classrooms.

From the Reading Rockets page I chose to look through Reading 101. Reading 101 gives you different links to click on, for things you need to know when working with students who are learning to read. It informs you that students are different, and that they are going to learn differently. Under the link The Sounds of Speech, it tells you that the majority English speaking children could hear the difference between words that sound similar, but for some students it could be quiet confusing.

I have had experience with working with a child in learning how to read. I have a friend who has 4 boys and I was able to help her youngest with his reading. He was not getting good grades in reading, and he was a little slower when reading out loud. So I told my friend that I would work with him. In working with him, I found that helping him break down the words and sounding them out really helped him a lot. It took time and practice on his part, and patience on my part. But together he and I got through it. On his next reading test he brought home an "A" and he was extremely excited for that. I think these links under Reading 101 will be a major help to many teachers, and even parents. I know that I will be using these ideas in my classroom one day!