Blog Post #2

Did You Know?

Watching this video makes me regret complaining about taking this EDM 310 class. The reason I complained is because I am not what you would call a “tech savvy” person; I can only do the bare minimum when it comes to computers and technical gadgets. This video had some pretty shocking points. The fact that half of the knowledge a college student receives in their first year of school will be outdated by the time they are in their third year blew my mind. This is very disturbing considering I am a fifth year senior and have spent a small fortune on my education. Then, the top 25% of India’s population with the highest IQ’s is greater than the whole population of the U.S.; also, China is soon to be the number one English speaking country in the world. This makes me wonder how we are even going to be able to compete. Aren’t we supposed to be the greatest country in the world? The idea that India’s and China's population is so much larger and apparently more educated terrifies me. I want our children to be able to compete with these nations and education is the only way.

The video also stated that the information in one week of the New York Times is more information than most people had in a lifetime in the 1800’s. This really makes me appreciate the resources we have available and makes me want to take advantage knowledge they hold. Technology is growing unbelievably quickly, the top 10 jobs in 2010 didn’t even exist in 2004. This was a pretty shocking fact, it makes me realize how naive I truly am. Of course I knew technology was growing I just had no idea it was growing at a rate this quickly! This video has illustrated how important it is for our generation to keep up with technology and has really inspired me to want to learn more about computers and technology so I will be able to teach our children.

Mr. Winkle Wakes

 Mr. Winkle has been asleep for 100 years. He makes his way to a big new city with tall buildings and many new things. There were new machines he had never seen like computers and x-ray machines that printed pictures and documents. Mr. Winkle then made his way to a school. He liked school, he knew how school worked, the teacher stood at the front of the class and taught reading writing and math just like when he was younger. At the back of the room he saw one of the strange machines called a computer, but it was all dusty from not being used so he breathed a sigh of relief knowing that school was the only thing that hadn’t changed.
I hate to say, but this is sadly not that far off of base, especially in Alabama. I know my high school had computers of course and we had nice computers but, they were not widely available by any means. I think that students should be educated with computers from an early age so they become comfortable with them. I think my lack of computer skills is partly because of the lack of knowledge I received in school. I had computers at home but neither of my parents knew much about computers so it was pretty much the blind leading the blind. I want my children and future students to be comfortable and proficient in computers. Our society is becoming more and more dependent on technology and I want to ensure I am providing my students with the best education available.

 Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity

 Sir Ken Robinson said the process of having original ideas that have value is defined as creativity. He was speaking at a conference in California on this subject and noticed three themes throughout the conference. Number 1 being the extraordinary evidence of human creativity; 2, we have no idea what is going to happened in the future. Lastly, if you’re not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original. He believes we have to rethink the fundamental principles on which we are educating our children.
There are so many creative and highly talented people who don’t consider themselves to be because they were “bad” at conventional school. Robinson believes that children are being educated out of their creative capacities and being stigmatized for making mistakes. Kids aren’t afraid to be wrong. Robinson said if you’re not prepared to be wrong you will never come up with anything original. He thinks our education system educated children out of their creative capabilities instead of promoting originality.
I think Sir Robinson has pointed out a huge flaw in our education system, which apparently is common around the world. Creativity plays a role not only in childhood but also shapes the person that students will become. I pride myself on being different from others; I absolutely despise being just one of the crowd. This is a part of my personality now, but I know I was encouraged as a child to be creative and stand out. Children should be encouraged to be different. We shouldn’t scold them for being wrong; instead, reward them for being brave enough to actually answer the question. Educators should support their students to think on their own and out of the box. Not every student will excel in the same area, teachers have to realize this and be able to teach accordingly. I believe it is our responsibility to encourage these impressionable minds to think creatively. We need to show them every person is unique, it’s not just okay to be different, it’s a great thing to be different from one another.

 Cecelia Gault Interviews Sir Ken Robinson

In this interview Robinson Cecelia Gault seems to be a very intelligent little girl, in her interview with Sir Robison she was polite and asked interesting questions. In the interview, Robinson discussed myths about creativity. He believes that everyone is creative and that you can also teach people to be more creative. He thinks that our education system should have a better balance between science and the arts and that we could use technology to our advantage. I agree with Sir Robinsons opinions about the way our school system works. Every student learns in a different manor, I think that our curriculum should be more well rounded instead of focusing almost entirely on the main subjects such as math, science, reading, and literature. Our students would benefit greatly if we incorporated more creativity into their daily lives.

Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

 This video was so inspiring. I can remember being in middle and high school and wanting to be in that special teacher’s class, the teacher that every student wanted to have. I believe she is that teacher in her school. She is allowing rural students who may not know much about technology and the world outside of their own community to travel around the world and experience things that most of their parents have not even experienced. She said she believes technology in the classroom is essential because when children only have paper and pencil only certain children are able to succeed. This statement really hit home with me, she wants her student to be thinkers and do be able to learn on their own and experience things on their own. Teachers don’t have to know everything to teach it, the kids can be empowered by figuring it out on their own.