Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff by Scott McLeod
Scott McLeod is a professor in Education Administration at Iowa State University and the director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education that focuses on technology needs of school administrators. I think Dr. McLeod's post was great. He made excellent points about the good and bad sides of technology. This was similar to the discussion between me and TeacherNZ from our Comments for Teachers assignment.
I agree with both McLeod and TeacherNZ. Our children should be introduced to technology at a young age. When they become teens and adults, they'll have assignments and projects that have to be completed online. There is no way around this, so why not prepare them yourself? To also better prepare them, we should teach our own kids the good and bad sides of technology and some general rules for using the internet. If we let the 1st time they use the internet be at a friend's sleepover party, of course they'll want to do things they shouldn't! We should instill responsibility at young age (and the occasional Parent Blocker is a nice aid).
The iSchool Initiative
Wow! I learn something new about the iPhone everyday! I had no idea it could do all the things he showed in the video! Even though I still don't want one, it's a very nice phone.
I am absolutely against this student's suggestions! If I had to go to high school for four years, every single student after me should be forced to go as well! All those hours and hours of my life wasted in front of a book! I deserve justice! But seriously, this student must really hate going to school. He's mapped out an entire lesson plan. The idea is great, if you can learn that way. It's nice to have an application that has all the equations you need, but some people need a little more assistance than that.
I like how everyone has come up with these marvelous ways to include technology into the curriculum. It's wonderful, saves time and paper, and is very convenient. I like this student's idea. It has the perfect mixture of teachers and technology. The iPhone applications he showed are a great way to keep track of assignments and events. It also seems to be a great way to keep in touch with classmates and the teachers.
The Lost Generation
At first, I thought the speaker was a little dark. She really had no hope for the future. But whoever wrote this is a genius! To be able to read the exact same thing backwards and get the exact opposite message is pure genius!
Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir
Okay. How did he get the voices to match perfectly? I have trouble doing that. This was one of the most creative things I've seen in a long time. He must have a lot of patience to compose an entire piece with hundreds of different voices. I would like to know how long it took him to compose this. If I figure it out, I'll post it.
Hey girl! First of all, great post! Your blog looks better than a lot of others I've seen. Great work!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about students/kids needing to be exposed to technology at a young age. If a student is looking for trouble, they will find it, with or without a computer. Everything has it's downfalls. But a Parent Blocker is a good solution. I think the benefits of students using technology outweighs the potential "cons".
The only thing I didn't like about the iSchool Initiative is that it is so small. Wouldn't you get tired of concentrating your eyes on such a little device all day? I think the iPad is a much better solution. It fits nicely on a desk and it is evident to everyone else what the student is doing.
Wasn't the Lost Generation video so cool? I got chill bumps!! I loved it too!
Great Post!
Talisa,
ReplyDeleteYour point ... He made excellent points about the good and bad sides of technology ... can be used for anything. I think we as a society sometimes try and avoid learning something new by harping on the negatives. We need to change the negatives into positives and move forward.