Did You Know-This is a video with different statistics about how rapidly the world as we know it is
changing. I personally have never been afraid of change (frustrated maybe). This video introduces an interesting concept though.
How do I, as a prospective teacher, prepare myself to teach in a future that is so uncertain. Part of the answer is probably EDM310. If 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year were able to meet online; then it seems likely that educators are also capable of meeting and sharing (less personal) ideas online. How? Through blogs just like
this.
Mr. Winkle Wakes- My first thought, after watching this video, was confusion. Obviously, I wasn't confused by the theme of the video. I said to myself "if this is the way the world has changed, and our education system hasn't evolved,
how do we make it through a work day productively?". I guess that answer is unique to each person. I personally don't remember many facts from grade school. But, one thing I did retain was
how to learn.
Schools Kill Creativity- An interesting video from Sir Ken Robinson detailing the affects our schools have on children's creativity. I can't say I disagree with anything he's saying. My limited arts training during my school career was quite sad. Am I a less well rounded person because of it? Probably. It's pretty obvious how much merit the arts have in our schools. What is the first thing to go when the budget gets cut?
The Arts. What is the last thing to be refunded?
The Arts. Our schools are designed to produce Engineers not Artists. We want our children to make money and live comfortably because that is the root of happiness. Or is it?
Harnessing Digital Smarts- This teacher has made the transition to teaching new technologies. I can't say I never had access to high quality computer labs. The biggest problem that we had was finding a teacher who knew how to use them. Our schools today, employ people to technology positions that know less about computers than the kids do. Maybe my generation will be the first to be truly comfortable with technology. We'll challenge kids to learn more while still being in control of what their learning. I believe the desire to keep children on the cutting edge of technology is there. Right now, though, the ability is lagging.
Hi Mitch,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Brittany Schneider and I am a fellow EDM310 student. I also watched these videos and I had very similar feelings.
Starting with "Did You Know", it amazed me how quickly things change. As an educator, I feel we will need to stay as ahead of the game as possible. Things are rapidly changing and evolving and it will be a great benefit to us and our students to stay knowledgeable.
In "Mr. Winkle Wakes", I also wondered how education could be so far behind. All resources available should be utilized. I would think this would be helpful to us as educators and in turn, helpful to our students.
After I watched "Schools Kill Creativity", I can see how easily this happens. If a child is creative and does not think, reason, or problem solve in a "normal" fashion, they are thought of as insubordinate. Creativity should be embraced, not discouraged.
Finally, after watching "Harnessing Digital Smarts", I am in agreement with you. I graduated high school in 2001, so we had plenty of computers available to us. However, we lacked teachers who were proficient enough to teach us how to properly use and benefit from learning new programs and technologies. Unfortunately, we became skilled in computer games and not what we should have become skilled in.
Overall, the lesson I gathered from all of these is to open your mind to new things. By things I mean specifically new ideas, whether it comes from changing technology or from your students. Just because we finish our formal education, we should not shut our brain off. Technology is ever evolving and only we can put in the time and effort to learn it. As a result, it will aid us in our journey as an educator. As for our students, we must embrace and nurture their creativity. There are a thousand different ways to get to the same result. Why would we want to make them into miniature versions of us?
Excellent post Mitch! I like your writing style and organization.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right that a lot of so called "technical personnel" get hired that don't know as much about technology as the students. Thats because those doing the hiring don't either.
Keep up the good work. SS