End of year

I have to say that overall, this class has turned out to be one of the most informative classes I have been in. What I find amazing is that the class is merely scratching the surface of the capabilities technology will contribute to education. This is a very exciting time to be in education. If this class did not exist, which it didn't when I earned my first degree, it might have been years before I discovered all the applications google has to offer; applications that I will now use, not only in education and professional settings, but in my personal life as well. I actually just updated my phone, which is powered by google, so part of this blog was done on the way to my laptop. Kids: Don't try that at home! I can do research on my phone now. I can access my iGoogle page and GMail. I can go to classes around the world, via second life, while on a road trip. There are things I know I will be able to do now, that I would have had to discover by word of mouth or eventually, on my own. There are things I can do now, that I haven't even thought about yet! The only downside to this class, which I wish I hadn't heard about, is its being reformatted or whatever terminology applies. I wish I could take it again. I know I can follow blogs now and what not; this class has set me on a good direction, I just wish there was another requirement or level or whatever. I guess that is just what learning does, forces me to want to learn more.

cyberchondria

As someone who has never taken advantage of the various medical websites available, I had no idea cyberchondria existed. I always knew there were hypochondriacs somewhere out there among us, so why wouldn't they have Internet access? They do, therein lies your problem. Unfortunately, technology has made it easier for these sick people to feed their sickness. It acts as an enabler; self diagnosis at your fingertips!!! Those people have already made up their minds as to what they have anyway and manipulating those websites is easier than brushing your teeth. I'm sure that right now, because I am experiencing a little lower back discomfort, I could go on one of those sites and discover that I really have a herniated disc and need surgery immediately. Of course my lower back pain has nothing to do with slouching and not having good posture, right?
Horvitz is on the right track when challenging the sites to start incorporating likelihoods and probabilities based on family history, age, and what not. What is going to end up happening, if it already hasn't, is having your medical file accessible over the net, so medical history and everything your doctor knows about you will be available for viewing and diagnosing.

Fish reaction

I think what lies at the root of the problem Fish is having deals with the fact that teachers, for the most part, have the attitude and thought process that it is okay to teach how they themselves were taught. Teachers think they know a lot, because they have had so much education, in the past. Well, teaching isn't about what is past, it's about what is to come. Teaching and learning go hand in hand; Things that one has learned in the past only is useful when applying this knowledge to learning more and adapting. Experience equals learning and everyday experience is always changing and creating avenues to learning, these avenues have to be facilitated and maintained. As far as teaching educators is concerned, there must be a mandatory teachers' network in which all teachers are required to participate or contribute, whatever it may be. The ways in which we think about things and the world have changed and are changing every day, it makes sense that learning would and should follow along with these changes.

Reaction to Kelly Hines

What I take to be the key points of the Hines post is: Teachers need to be learners, not only adapting to technology, but also how children are learning and relating as a result of technology, and, teachers need to be taught how to do this. It really isn't about the technology; its about the students. Its about the institution of education becoming more user friendly. Its about changing the ways in which we are educating the educators. Its about relationships; involving how students relate to the modern world, how teachers relate to the modern world, and how teachers and students relate to one another, in the modern world. People learn differently, and there are many ways to learn, but being able to relate to material is essential to the learning process and should be the focus of every educator.

Wesh; students today

This video is a great example of how technology is relevant today and why it should be made relevant in education. The opening with the freshman college student walking into class for the first time reminded me of my own experiences; I went from a high school graduating class of 140 to a freshman biology class of 450. I know I can't speak for that entire class, but I learn by asking questions and making connections, how is that possible in a class of 450? That class seriously affected my college experience and what I set out to experience in college; I went from wanting to be a doctor to just wanting to enjoy classes and learning. I ended up taking a lot of classes and eventually landing in English, but only because it was easiest and I enjoy reading and thinking.
This Wesh video is lacking in some respects; as I said before it is a good example of some things, what I want is ideas of how to implement technology in the classroom. I guess the video speaks for itself in that regard, but, what are some other things that can be done besides watching videos and creating google accounts, which isn't explained? I don't think students need to be reminded they are bored with traditional classrooms.

What I learned

The advice Mr. McClung had to offer was easy to comprehend, straightforward and all that, what it wasn't, however, is anything new or interesting. Don't just tell me to be reasonable, give me an example of a particular instance when you were unreasonable and how you either became reasonable or completely lost out on a critical teaching moment and then tell me what you would now do differently if you had the chance. That takes care of two of your criteria already; I now know what it is to be reasonable, how to use it properly, and I've "never stopped learning." McClung mentioned that he had trouble with his communication skills; wouldn't it have been great if he offered a personal story about how his trouble with communication affected a learning moment? Don't tell me teachers need to work on their communication skills, tell me what you do to help the problem. This guy teaches elementary school and apparently that is the audience he is blogging to as well. There is no real sound advice here, just a bunch of fluff, with nothing to be gained or learned from it. I've seen better, more practical advice written on a bathroom stall-door. I don't know, maybe there is something to learn from his other posts, but based on the one i just read, probably not.

Last Lecture

I really enjoyed this video of Randy Pausch's last lecture. He clearly has a great attitude, despite having terminal cancer, and it seems like this has always been his personality, not some sort of deathbed conversion. He has such a passion for what he does and what he has done with his life that one can only be inspired to dream and to dream big. Having goals and being motivated to achieve those goals at all costs should be a message instilled in every child. More importantly, however, is making sure the institutions we have in place provide the resources necessary to help every child reach their goals. For every Randy Pausch out there, there are hundreds, thousands, even millions of people that have just as much potential or more, but we will never see a video of them telling inspirational stories about obstacles overcome in their life. Brick walls? Go ask people living in poverty about brick walls; I'm sure they are more than happy to see the inside of four brick walls any chance they can.

Strange Bloggers

I commented on Kimberly Windham's post about Sir Ken Robinson. She made some good points covering the budget side of the issue. She also made a viable point that Sir Ken doesn't really offer an adequate or possible solution to the problem and that creative activities should be added to the teaching methods we already have. While this is a short-term solution, it doesn't cover the larger issues at hand, like why the teaching method in place is in place to beging with. I next commented on Mary Hutson's blog about Ken Robinson. She made an interesting observation about the focus being more on prescribing medication for learning disabilities rather than on the learning disabilities themselves. We've been treating individuals too long, its time to start treating the issue. Lastly, I commented on what Robbie

Past Podcasts

Honestly, all the podcasts I listened to had one thing in common; they were all, for the most part, kind of boring. I realize, as a current student, that the attitude in making these was for completion's sake only, but, it would be nice to hear a little personality from time to time. Every podacst was, of course, scripted, but it didn't have to sound like it was. Why would I ever want to hear someone or watch someone read from a piece of paper; why can't I just read the paper myself?
Podcasts should have a more conversational feel; there needs to be some interaction that is not necessarily scripted or planned out. New ideas should be presented and genuine reactions should be discussed; take the conversation somewhere and let it be a conversation, not a commercial. As for the video podcasts I watched, make me see that there is a reason I am watching a video instead of listening or reading, please; there has to be ways to make a handful of people talking amongst themselves more interesting.

Reaction to Sir Ken Robinson

What an excellent speech. His thoughts and ideas made perfect sense to me and echoed some of my own thoughts and thoughts of others I have read as well. There is so much research out there to back up the poor job education is doing in preparing students; it is mind-numbing, really, how so many children of different demographics fail to receive an adequate education. Sir Robinson touches on this in his example of the highly successful ballerina and choreographer who could not sit still in class as a kid; children have to be able to relate to the material they are presented in order for them to learn and also have to be accommodated for each individual learning style. Children must be able to bring their unique talents to the classroom and have them nurtured, not discouraged. The goal of every teacher should be to adapt the curriculum to the student, not adapt the student to the curriculum.

reaction to winkle wakes

"You learn how to do your job on the job, not at school," is a phrase that is heard often when discussing this sort of issue. For the most part this is true and I believe that most people would agree. This argument is so much more valid now that the education system is struggling to catch up with technologies that are in everyday use. I say struggling to catch up, but what if this is intentional? What if school isn't about education, but more about deciding who is fit to carry on or who society deems as fit to carry on. When standardized test scores directly correlate with students' parents' education level, something doesn't quite add up. This is all pretty much a mute point though, when everybody's only concern about education is whether prayer in schools should be allowed or if we should teach science or bible science. Education needs a serious overhaul and I think it starts with adapting to a more worldly focused curriculum; it must be relevant to today's needs as a citizen both nationally and globally. Technology has given us the ability to connect with people all over the world and education should play a huge roll in making sure the connections are positive.

response to did you know video

What does it all mean? It means that for the rest of my life, I will always be trying to catch up with technology. Its is impossible to stay ahead of the curve when it is impossible to even see the curve, much less see in what direction the curve is heading. I already feel like an old man, distrustful of this technology explosion, claiming how much better things were in my day, which was 2004. Why not be distrustful though? Advances in technology are supposed to make everything easier, right? Well, how are things supposed to be easier when as soon as I have my head wrapped around something after struggling with it for a while, that something is now out-dated and there is something else that is better? I guess that is what we want though. It's what we are going to get, regardless, if we keep placing such high demand for the fastest or most capacity or other technology terms I'm not completely familiar with. The question that comes up the most when thinking about technology comes from the World War Two era and then again from "Jurassic Park": it's not a matter of whether we could make all these advances, it's a matter of whether we should. When you think about it, what is the ultimate goal? The goal has to be to make life easier for all humans; but where is the dividing line between having an easy life and becoming obsolete? Technology's goal is to be able to reproduce the power of the sun and develop a micro computing system that is as advanced or more advanced than the human brain; when this is accomplished, what else is there left for humans to do?

colin quina

Hello all. My full name is William Colin Quina, but I go by Colin. I am 27 years old and am at South working on my second degree. I already earned a diploma in English with a Philosophy minor back in 2005 and after working a couple of jobs I didn't necessarily love for the last four years, I decided that an Education degree and the opportunity to teach and coach in highschool is what I want to do. I love sports and being active. I swam and played baseball in college. I work at a local gym, Jason's Fitness. When I am not doing something active, I'm probably reading a book, surfing the internet for interesting articles and what not, or just hanging out with friends. My absolute favorite thing is cycling on my road bike, which I discovered shortly after my swimming carreer had ended. A good day for me is at least two hours on the bike and at least two hours reading; I really don't need much more than that.