Did You Know? 4.0

My Google Docs Presentation

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

"If a teacher today is not technologically literate - and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more - it's equivalent to a teacher 30 years ago who didn't know how to read and write." Karl Fisch

That's a bold statement, but I understand and agree with 100%. If you don't know how to read and write how can you effectively teach someone else to read and write? The same goes with being technologically illiterate. How can you provide astoundingly useful resources and show students how to use them and prepare them for the future that relies heavily on being technologically literate if you are unable and unwilling to become technologically literate yourself? If you ask me (and even you don't I'm going to tell you my thoughts on this anyway) if you are unwilling to become technologically literate for whatever reason (You don't have enough time, there's too much on your plate, you don't really understand it, etc)then you're being very selfish and are taking away not just from your students, but from yourself. You're depriving yourself of that education that you need to better yourself in your career field.

Before I started taking this class I rolled my eyes at everyone who asked me to join face book and twitter. I didn't want to write a blog. These were just more things to add to my already full to do list and I didn't think they were that important. Now that I am in this class I have learned many useful ways to utilize blogs and pod casts (which I'd never heard of, or at least didn't recognize them as being pod casts before taking this class)and video pod casts and several other resources to become technologically literate (and I wasn't exactly Illiterate before taking this class) for my own benefit so that my future students might be able to benefit from my learning.

"Its Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines

I agree with Kelly Hines that you have to be willing to learn in order to teach. The only thing you can do with a computer or a white board if you don't know how to use it is look at it or put in a corner to gather dust. As a teacher you have to be able to understand and EXPLORE the technology that is available to you in order to educate your students with it.

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

This movie does capture my college experience for the most part. I'll choose not to read some of the things I'm supposed to, and I might even miss a blog or two. I'll spend time studying, and I'll barely open some of my books. I'll go to class (as long as I'm not ill)and be $20k in debt when I get out, but I'll still probably take it for granted. At least when I get out I'll be able to make more than $1 a day. I spend most of my time on my computer (in fact thats one of my annoying traits), but atleast I get the chance to own one.

Can technology save us? If technology can keep us from being lazy and slacking off.
If the technology can keep us interested in what we're learning. If it can prevent student burnout and keep us motivated.

EDM 310 Podcasts

I watched this video podcast twice before making any decisions about what improvements could be made. I noticed that not everyone seemed to be alert or as active as others. Its very important that everyone be into the conversation and to support ideas of their peers or to be active in producing ideas, thoughts, and opinions of their own. When making a video podcast your body language needs to show that you are alert and participating in the discussion. This means that there shouldn't be any slouching. It gives off an 'Are we done yet?' attitude.

Some of my peers feel that there were too many opinions expressed and not enough facts. Well, the definition (according to dictionary.com) of an opinion is 'a personal view, attitude, or appraisal.' The question that was proposed in the beginning was 'What is a tech literate teacher'? I feel that this type of question requires opinions as opposed to facts. However, if I misunderstood and what my fellow classmates were saying is that they should have done was back up their opinions with examples then for the most part I agree. If I were to give the opinion of someone who was tech literate and simple say that it is a person who utilizes technology. Then I could say, as an example, that I'm technologically literate because I use Excel to keep track of my finances, use the ERIC database to help with my research papers, and use a search engine to find out what a wisdom tooth is and what procedure is used to remove it so that when I go to the oral surgeon I am more familiar with what to expect and I am prepared to ask questions.

iTunes Podcasts

I have never listened to or created a podcast before. It is hard for me to focus and listen to someone that I cannot see so this was a challenge for me. The first podcast that I listened to was SmartBoard Lessons. The sound was alright, but not really the best so I'm not sure what they were using to record their session. I also did not understand the point of their podcast.

KidCast had a richer, smoother sound to my ears. Dan started off talking about the difference between podcasting and video podcasting or 'vodcasting'. He mentioned that using the term 'vodcast' could be a little confusing to people who were trying to understand what media syndication was. Well I understood what he was talking about when he said 'vodcast', but I had to look up what media syndication was. According to Wikipedia, syndication is "the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows to multiple individual stations, without going through a broadcast network". Dan also brought up a good point about video podcasting being a step by step development. Most people are not very comfortable in front of a camera or do not realize what is involved in the setup of video podcasting.

EdTech Talk had terrible reception and I had to listen closely to hear what was being said. One of the ladies mentioned skype calling someone. I did not know what skype was so I looked it up. Skype is a 'program' for lack of a better technical term that can be used to make calls and video chat with people for free. Well it is free to an extent, but you can look it up if you are interested in knowing.

Connect Learning had a clear reception, not as clear as KidCast though. It sounded as if it was being tape recorded. The librarians in this podcast were talking about how podcasts can be used in the schools for learning or sharing of information. They also brought up a good point regarding policies for the school children and the need to get permission from parents to allow their children to speak on audio podcasts or to show their faces on video podcasts.

Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

Vicki Davis is a teacher and IT Director that utilizes technology to connect students with the world. She believes that students have the ability to learn, but that students learn in different ways. She customizes the curriculum to the students in the classroom and in doing so they are able to effectively learn how to use different aspects of technology. She teaches them how to use their resources by giving them new terms and the students research it themselves. So not only are they learning a new term on their own, but they are being empowered to learn on their own and using a multitude of resources.

I've come across many students, and even experienced this myself when doing research papers or when wanting to bake a different type of cookie. Instead of just giving up and saying "oh I just don't know how to do this" or "I can't do this so I give up" I discovered that I could empower myself and actually utilize the resources available to me. Not only was I learning from these experiences but I also gained a bit of confidence from realizing that I could do it and I could do it on my own. Vicki encourages and brings this independence out in her students. Aside from independence she is also encouraging the students to work with each other and other students across the world to learn the different uses of technology.

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity

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Mr. Robinson makes some excellent examples and points about children not being encouraged or exposed to the arts in education as they should be. He believes that creativity in education is as important as literacy. It doesn't take just a logical mind to solve mathematical problems. Someone had to be creative enough to think of all the formulas we use to design buildings. In fact you would have to be creative to come up with a design for a building. As adults we tend to discourage children from being creative without realizing what we're doing to them. We brush them off as being annoying when they bang on pots and pans at six o'clock in the morning. I say buy them a drum set and see where they go from there. Sure a child drawing on the walls is a pain when you're the one that has to scrub it off. I say devote a wall specifically for them and you can even cover it in paper and let them have at it, or join in to show that you are encouraging them to be creative. In the education system though we are so focused on drilling children on multiplication problems and ensuring that they produce high test scores every day, and the arts only once a week. I believe that creativity should be encouraged every day. When I subbed for the elementary schools in Ocean Springs, and this goes without saying that I'm not an art teacher and have no current methods for teaching art, but I set aside the last ten minutes before the announcements came on for the children to draw a picture for me. I told them that it could be about anything that THEY wanted to draw. There was not one child that did not give me a drawing.

Today there is more medication for 'problems' that could be better taken care of if parents knew about better options. For example with the girl that could not sit still and was unable to focus until they took her to a dance school where she was able to focus her talents and energy. I'll give a personal example involving my little brother. He was diagnosed as being 'ADHD' and was on medications all through the school year. No longer was he fidgeting in class or unable to sit still for long periods of times. He also wasn't running up and down the hallway at home or constantly pestering my little sisters. However, he wasn't on the medications during the summer either. My parents feared that it would stunt his growth so they took him off, but they did enroll him in little league which was something he loved doing and he was able to run around and use that excess energy and he was still "normal" at home.

Did You Know? 3.0

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I feel that this video clarifies the fact that Americans need to focus their efforts on ensuring that our children are rising to the same or reaching higher standards than those of other countries. Instead we lower our current standards so that we look better by comparison than we actually are. If our children's IQ's and abilities are lower ranking than those of children in other countries then who is going to create the jobs and perform better at them?

I read some comments on the video of other YouTube users and some asked the question about how are we training students for jobs that have not invented yet. To say that we are training for jobs that have not been invented yet and to problems that do not yet exist is not as far fetched as it initially seems. People invent things every day. Think back to the days of Edison and you may understand that some things he invented did not exist twenty, ten, or even five years before he created them. We are constantly teaching young minds and they will constantly think of ways to improve upon an invention or invent something entirely new and that may open up new jobs in the future.

Technology advances further with each generation so it is of no surprise to me that its able to quickly reach larger audiences each time. What I did not realize is how much I have been taking these technological advances for granted. We are able to reach people on a different continent on the opposite side of the world just by clicking a button. Of course I was aware that we are able to do that, but it was an action that I did not feel had any significant impact on me until recently. It certainly makes the world seem smaller.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. My name is Brittany Thomas and I am studying elementary education. I hope to graduate in 2012 if not sooner. I aspire to teach third graders. Why third graders? Well, when bouncing from job to job looking for something that could hold my attention, use and further develop my skills, and entertain my poorly stimulated brain a friend of mine mentioned substitute teaching. I had tried almost everything else. The mundane fields of retail, photography, day care, house keeping, and delivering pizzas no longer pleased me. I stepped into substitute teaching and for some silly reason I listened to others instead of myself and hopped into high school. A total nightmare! After coming to the conclusion that high schoolers and middle schoolers were unable to satisfy my talents I braved the world we call elementary school. I absolutely loved it! I never sat foot in another high school or middle school again. I was now able to stand up in front of a class room and teach the lesson plans laid out by others. My brain was no longer feeling like a fallen souffle.

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