Blog Assignment 3

A Vision of Students Today by Michael Wesch

        When I went to the University of Alabama my freshman year, I think this video was more the case.  Like the video said, many people would pay for classes and not even show up.  Others who came to class would bring their laptops to get on Facebook or the internet.  The classrooms at UA were just as big as in this video.  However, the classrooms at the University of South Alabama are much smaller and I have found that teachers are much more strict about computer use in their classrooms.  Therefore, at South, no this video is not completely what my college experience has been like.  I believe in nearly every class I have had at South, the teachers have made an effort to know my name.  About 92% of teachers at South have known me by name so far.  That percentage at the University of Alabama was much lower.
        I suppose this fact is something we should be concerned about, but I believe it is unavoidable at large state colleges like the University of Alabama and Kansas State University unless they were to hire a tremendous amount of more professors.  However, this would only cause student's tuition to rise even more.  There is no clear answer.  The choice is either to go to large college where a Ph.D. is required of professors and students remain mostly anonymous or go to a smaller college with easy-going professors who know your name.






It's Not About the Technology by Kelly Hines

        Kelly Hines is absolutely right.  Like I have said before, I do not think teachers should have to be technologically literate in the classroom.  Yes, they should be outside the classroom so they can know what their students are up to in the 21st century.  A teacher could be technologically literate in the classroom but be a horrible teacher! In fact, I have had just these kinds of teachers.  It is not about what technology you have, it is about the quality and creativity the teacher outputs.  Just because students "respond better" to technology in the classroom does not make it a better thing.  In my opinion, it just makes the students lazier.  School can be challenging and stressful and boring at times but I feel like by giving students computers and interactive games in order for them to learn is the easy way out.  For thousands of years philosophy and education has been based on plain text and lecturers and look where it has gotten us.
        Like Kelly Hines said, it is a wonderful thing if a good teacher has technology at their fingertips in the classroom but it could be a total waste of money if a bad teacher has this technology at their fingertips.  I am not saying we should become primitive and reject technology, I just do not think we should forget about the traditional way of doing things.






Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher? by Karl Fisch

        I believe Karl Fisch is being a little too extreme to claim that a teacher who is technologically illiterate today is comparable to a teacher who could not read and write 30 years ago.  I have had some very old teachers in college, one (which I had last Fall) who had been teaching at the University of South Alabama since the late 1970's.  From what I could tell by his teaching method and overall take on things, he was not technologically literate.  However, he knew vast amounts of information and had been to so many places.  He was an interesting teacher and just because he did not use technology, that did not make me less interested.  In the 21st century, I do not think I should condemn him for being "socially unacceptable" as a technologically illiterate man.  Yes, he is from a completely different generation, but that is OK.
        I can understand Fisch's argument for the problem with teachers being technologically illiterate and I believe this is definitely true for younger teachers.  We are growing up in an age where it will be "socially unacceptable" to be technologically illiterate, but we are not at that point yet.  However, I do not think there is any problem with my generation and upcoming generations when it comes to technology.  We have grown up with computers and know how to use them effectively.  Because of this, we will continue to use the latest technology because we grew up in a society that called for that.  By the time my generation is in the teaching field, I do not think there will be any problem with us "learning and adapting" to our students' new technology. We will be right there with them.
        Maybe I am biased in my opinion because I am a social studies major and this major focuses heavily on history.  I am fascinated with the old.  History and technology, it seems, are at opposite ends of the spectrum.  History tells how we got to the present and technology is the present.  History is old, technology is new.  It is important to me that students know where and how they came to be where they are, so I want to keep the traditional classroom all while being a tech-savvy teacher.  I can know what my students are talking about when they bring up technology but I can keep my classroom simple.  Maybe you do not think this is possible, but I do.

Social Media Count by Gary Hayes

        It is amazing how much happens in just a few seconds.  The amount going on through Facebook alone is stunning.  Not only is the world's human population growing every second but the people of my generation do multiple things at a quicker pace.
        As a future teacher, I should realize how busy my student's lives will be, how much they will use the internet, and how used to multitasking they will be.  I find myself doing too much at once sometimes and I miss the simplicity of only worrying about one thing at a time.  I realize the real world will not be like this, but I want to make my classroom a place where time slows down and the students are required to focus on one thing at a time.  It should be a sanctuary where students can place their full attention on the subject at hand.  I will make it creative and interesting enough to capture their full, multitasking attention.

Blog Assignment 2

Did You Know? by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod


        In this video, Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod emphasize the importance of technology.  It clearly impacts our lives, even if we do not realize it.  One fact said that if the amount of users on Myspace were to create a country, it would be the 5th largest in the world!  Another fact said that it took only 4 years for the internet to have a market audience of 50 million whereas it took radio 38 years.

        I think we should realize how quickly the world's human population is growing.  The earth will soon hold 7 billion people.  It is amazing, but also a reason for concern.  If the human population continues to multiply at this rate, will the earth be able to sustain us?  I guess that is part of the purpose of this video    to help us understand that technology will help us find answers to this important issue.





Mr. Winkle Wakes by Mathew Needleman


        Mr. Winkle Wakes compares how much life has changed in 100 years by taking the comical approach of putting an old man in the future.  He walks around a large city seeing and hearing things he had never encountered before.  The only thing that had not changed was the classroom and Mr. Winkle liked that.  Whether or not one thinks this a good thing is for each video watcher to decide.
        In my opinion, it is a good thing that the classroom has not changed very much.  Professor Strange would probably disagree with me, but I will always believe the traditional classroom should consist of a teacher lecturing to his or her students.  Yes, it might become dull or boring, but in the real world there are still  meetings between company bosses and employees, church services, weddings, funerals, and special events with speakers!  These events will not rely on technology so we must learn how to cope and be attentive when there is a lecturer (instead of pausing a video midway and taking a break to go get a snack or take a nap).  I do agree that educators should be more innovative and creative in their lectures, but computers are not required for this.  If we grow up in electronic classrooms that rely on technology to keep our students focused, what kind of future leaders will we be releasing into the world?  On another note, technology does not make a good teacher; instead, a teacher's knowledge makes a good teacher.  I had a professor just last year who never used the computer or technology, other than books, to create an amazing class experience.  There was never a time when I became bored with his lecture.  That is how a classroom should be.  I am afraid if we rely too much on technology, it will eventually be unnecessary to have teachers that are highly educated in a specific field.  The internet will become our teacher and there will be no control over what these "students" learn from their teacher.
        Do not get me wrong, I am highly supportive of the advancement of technology and am a regular internet user, but I am wary of how much the internet, computers, and video game consoles are taking over our lives.  One cannot deny the fact that the number of people who have heart disease and diabetes is growing rapidly.

The Importance of Creativity with Sir Ken Robinson


        Sir Ken Robinson stresses that education is important to everyone.  He claims it goes deep with everyone like religion or heritage.  He effectively takes a humorous spin on his persuasive speech in order to grasp the audience's attention.  Robinson claims creativity is as important as literacy in education.  What makes children so creative is that they are not afraid to be wrong.  As adults, we are very concerned about being seen as "wrong" so it affects our responses.  We lose our creativity because we get educated out of creativity.
        I especially agree with his statement that highly educated, brilliant students were taught that what they were good at was not worth anything.  Their talents were not what was best for a job.  This particular point reminds me of how much emphasis is placed on standardized test scores as the basis for getting into college.  I did relatively well on my ACT , but not as well as I would have liked only because the score limited me from getting a decent 4-year scholarship.  To me, this score was very artificial.  It did not determine what kind of grades I would make or how hard I would work to make good grades.  In fact, I have done way better than my ACT score "predicted." Yet, I know someone who made over a 30 on their ACT, got a full ride to the University of Alabama, and now does not even put out the effort they are capable of.  Further, I would have loved to pursue an art career and solely an art career but I decided otherwise because of how difficult and unreliable an art career was.  Instead, I am using my education degree as a "back-up" when my art career is not producing enough money to sustain me.
        Another concern of Robinson's was academic inflation. This consists of more and more students becoming more highly educated so that it is much more difficult to find jobs with merely a 4-year degree.  This is a difficult problem to solve, but I think Robinson's answer would be to educate students based on what they are good at.  Do not limit their creativity.  He explained that intelligence is diverse, dynamic, and distinct.  I think if we focus on these three portions of intelligence, we might become better educators who release a variety of unique people into the world.





Can U.S. Students Compete? with Cecelia Gault and Sir Ken Robinson


        In this video, Ken Robinson answers the questions of Cecelia Gault.  She asks about the three myths of creativity and I believe Ken Robinson is very right in all three.  He also says that people automatically think that creativity can only be in artistic type subjects like advertising, graphic art, and performing arts but this is not true.  There can be creativity in science and math or any subject.  I think I could make sure the Cecelia Gault's in my classroom had a good education by finding out what they were good at in particular.  Then I would try to focus on helping them become creative in this particular field by making them think outside the box.
        Robinson says that computers should be at the center of education now.  While I have made it clear that I do not think they should be the focus or purpose in the classroom, I will certainly encourage my students to use computers in the labs or at home to research and learn about subjects discussed in my class.





Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts with Vicki Davis


        Vicki Davis explained how she believed that a paper and pencil classroom could help certain students succeed but not all of them.  She believes through her computer-based education, that every student is encouraged to succeed.
        What bothers me about this video is that I never really understood what subject this teacher was actually teaching.  Global communication? If this is this case, let students do this at home on their own time.  I am glad Davis is becoming innovative and trying to show students new ways of learning, this is what teachers should do, but I do not think this is the way.  People my age and younger already know how to use computers, so why should we teach children something they already know about?  The point of education is to learn new things in math and science, learn about our past and where we came from, learn how to write and read properly.  Yes this is the traditional way of doing things, but educators can be better today by learning where each of their students are excelling and using this knowledge to encourage the student to pursue this talent.  This way we will not allow our students to lose creativity.

Project 2 - Wordle

Blog Assignment 1

         I have lived in Mobile, Alabama my entire life, but I have spent many of those days traveling. My parents have always felt it was necessary to let their children experience the world. On top of our annual Walt Disney World vacations, we have taken trips to places such as Denali National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Arches National Park, and the national park list goes on and on. We have also been to Mexico, Canada, France, Germany, and Austria. A goal on my bucket list is to travel to every continent in the world. I have an older brother (a mechanical engineer) and sister (a lawyer) who are very important to me. Unfortunately, I will be the one making the least amount of money, but I hope it will not always be that way because I intend to draw some kind of income from an art career. I wish I had all the time in the world to devote to my art, but it never seems that way. Balancing my time between family, friends, work, and school is difficult and any time that I have remaining I only want to utilize as sleep! This is why I am pursuing a teaching career. I will have a lot of time off in which to paint and draw. My dream was to be an archaeology professor because I absolutely love learning about how past cultures functioned through our discovery of artifacts, but I have heard they have very little time outside the lab so I have settled with teaching history to high school students (possibly college students down the road). Maybe one day I can go back to school and get my masters in anthropology.


          On a day to day basis, I enjoy driving my manual car, running, boating, wakeboarding, baking, and eating breakfast cereal (In fact, I am eating a bowl right now).  I am a sucker for romance, old movie classics like Casablanca and Singin' in the Rain, and the fashion of the 1890s-1950s.  Finally, I think you should know that I am a dog person and a PC person and that will never change. ;)

Above is the famous ending scene from Casablanca drawn by me.

           Overall, I mostly already knew everything that Randy Pausch talked about in his video.  He just explained things in a clever, persuasive way.  However, Pausch made a very good point in his video that I had not thought of before.  He explained how if we had never had a plan to begin with, we should automatically assume failure.  I will admit, I am bad at time management and many times I do not set a plan for myself because I do assume it will change too much for me to be able to stick to it.

         Time Management Exercises from Penn State University makes some useful points.  I know I should focus on monitoring my time and identifying time wasters.  When I do have a lot on my plate, I should do the hardest things first; however, it does not always turn out that way.  Maybe this class will help me improve in all of these areas.

Practice Post

My first post.