Blog Post #2

Did you Know? 3.0 A John Strange 2012 Version
It amazes me how little I had any idea that elementary students were becoming more and more technologically taught. It is definitely useful to them and is a necessity in today’s world. It is ridiculous that there are that many statistics able to be made. Also it went to show that Americans need to step it up if we don’t want to be controlled by the Asians, who are clearly way ahead of our learning skills.
Children as young as eight have there own ipad, cellphone, DS gamers, digital cameras and all different types of technology and they haven’t even reached an age of double digits. My cousins who are under the age of ten own many of these things and understand how to use them for the most part. Kids these days don’t even know what a disposable camera is and wonder why they instantly can’t see their picture. It’s amazing how much this world is changing and if I want to be an educator than I need to be educated better with technology in order to keep up with the process of the world.

Mr. Winkle Wakes
As I watched this short little story about Mr. Winkle waking up a hundred years later to find that the world has changed drastically he could hardly take it, but then he found a school and they are exactly the same even a hundred years later. Although this may be true it’s been difficult to change the way the world does things because not everyone likes change. All it takes is a voice to stand up and begin to change the way school systems work and I think that’s what the video was trying to get across. since the world is developing more and more technology everyday then why aren’t we teaching more and more of it in our schools?

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
Sir Ken Robinson uses his humor to get the audience’s attention which allowed me to actually want to hear what he had to say; other than the fact that I have to write a paragraph about it. Picasso says, “All children are born artist” and then Sir Ken stated that children are educated out of being artist. I agree with Ken on how our schools are only teaching one side of the brain. Children need to be educated in ways were they can express their imaginations. It just occurred to me that the statement is indeed true and the world today has pushed the idea of creativity and imagination out of the education system. Sir Ken’s title of the video was “Schools Kill Creativity” and those words didn’t come alive until after he mentioned it and I read the title once more.
Also he told a story about Gillian Lynne who discovered herself as a dancer but might have been diagnosed with a mental disorder because she couldn’t sit still and learn. Although this could be the case for many children it is hard to actually see if these children have a disorder or if they are simply misbehaving because they don’t want to do the work. I am not a doctor or a teacher yet so I haven’t worked with children enough to know or see the difference. If this is the case and children are being deprived of their natural abilities because the school systems are forcing them to learn in a classroom then there is definitely something wrong with our school systems and I am curious to learn how to help these students succeed without medication.

A Vision for the 21st Century Learning
Although this video was very short it got a point across and grabbed your attention. I enjoyed the slideshow of pictures because it really made me interested and explained exactly what was being said. This video was trying to convince the new generation that video games are the new teaching method. It convinced me for sure because thinking back as a student I never really was good at learning from lectures and studying facts. I am a hand on person who needs to either see what I am learning or know how to apply it in order for it to stay in my brain. Once I have learned how to do something once then I won’t forget how to do it again.
I think a video game might be able to teach these children something better than a book can because that is what excites children these days. Even though it’s not important to only teach the way the students want but it is important to teach successfully in any way that they can learn. As I continue to observe young children I have noticed that each one has some kind of electronic device. It amazes me how children under the age of eight know how to use a computer and I didn’t learn until almost high school. Technology is the new generation of learning and if a video game can help these children learn then our schools need to consider adding that into the curriculum.

Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts
“Learning how to learn” was a statement Vicki Davis uses to teach her students a way to learn. These words are simple but yet efficient. She has found many ways to allow her students to be involved and learn how to figure things out for themselves and actually enjoy it and that is successful teaching. There needs to be more teachers like Vicki Davis that allow their students to independently learn and use technology in order to do so. This video also opened my eyes to how far behind I am in learning how to use technology.
It is definitely important to be familiar in all the different Microsoft systems. Another method of Vicki Davis’s teaching method was that how she allowed them to teach each other. It is one thing to learn how to do it and then turn around and be able to explain how you did it to other people. High school students are probably more informed about technology than me, which scares me because I am already behind the new generation of information. Cell phones and internet are the constantly improving and always in use by millions in our world today, including children under the age of fifteen. Vicki Davis has the right mind in teaching her students who will most likely be better prepared if they leave the small rural area of Georgia.