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.