Blog Assignment 3

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

I would say this movie represents my college experience pretty well. It isn't 100% accurate, but it is very close. After observing fellow students, I believe that it is an accurate depiction for most students. The picture we get from the video is one that most college students see through their whole college career, a huge auditorium. The chairs and walls are pretty worn down and the distance from the front of the room sometimes seems like miles. The distance and technology helps distractions take over the students. Technology can better our learning, but we need to learn to use it to help us. Most students, as depicted in the video, get on Facebook or other entertaining websites during class. They are simply using technology for their enjoyment and not to further their learning. This is the one difference between the students in the video and me. I no longer make the mistakes that a lot of naive students make because I've seen the consequences.

The one thing I would change/add to this video is the time statistics the students show. Sometimes, I get far less sleep than 7 hours a night and I find myself studying more than 3 hours a day. I have to! One statement really hit home for me: I'm a multitask-er. I have to be. This is so true of me and other college students. Right now, I think most college students don't know anyway to juggle all the work that they have without multitasking. We would drown if we didn't.



"It's Not About the Technology" By: Kelly Hines

Kelly Hines' "It's Not About the Technology" was a truthful argument that technology isn't what is going to save our classrooms. The technological tools installed in classrooms would be nothing without innovative teachers to use them in the best way they can. The combination of a good teacher and technology works wonders in the classroom. Teachers can't just rely on technology. They have to become the best teacher they can be and then use technology as a tool to help children learn.

Included in Kelly's post is a list of things that teachers must know to truly impact their children. In this list she made quite a few significant points that I want to reflect on.

1. Teachers must be learners.
Once we graduate college and start our job, learning isn't over. As teachers, we must be open to thought of always learning. We're in a time where technology and other things are improving. New things are coming out that we couldn't have imagined would exist when we were younger. When we become teachers we need to stay on top of all of the new things. These new things, what ever they may be, could be vital tools for our classroom. Not only do we have to keep learning about new things, but we have to constantly stay on top of teaching our children. Perhaps, we could learn a better way to help students understand a concept of a math problem or any other problems they have in school.
2. Learning and Teaching are not the same thing.
Part of being a great teacher is knowing the difference between the two words learning and teaching. As I went through school, I always heard certain children saying that they didn't learn a thing. Yes, this student could have been a trouble maker or just someone who is slow to learn, but perhaps the teacher could have learned a new angle to try with this student. Maybe he/she could have gotten through to the student just by trying a little harder. I'm not saying the teacher didn't try at all because I know that I learned a lot from most of my teachers, but teachers of the future are going to have to learn to break through to all of their students. Like Kelly said, "If an object does not move, no matter how much force has been applied, no work has been done". We can teach something, but we need to help our students truly learn it.
3. Technology is useless without good teaching.
This is vital for everyone to know. We can't just install a Smart Board into a classroom and think all of the problems are solved. The Smart Board isn't going to start talking and magically make all the students learn. Nor is it going to help students learn if there isn't a teacher using it to effectively teach students. This point kind of connects to the first point. As teachers, we must learn about the technology, find an innovative way to use it in the classroom, and effectively teach students. We have to want and train to be a good teacher to become one. When we have become the type of teacher that is needed, technology will only continue to help our classrooms.
4. Be a 21st Century Teacher without the technology.
It is better to be a great teacher and have minimal to no technology, then to have amazing technological tools that you aren't using in the way you should. A 21st century teacher has to be smart, creative, and willing to learn. We have to strategize on how to reach out to every student in ever class we ever have. When we have become what a 21st century teacher, we should use technology for all of the benefits it has.



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

Even though Karl claims that this post was kind of a rant, he made some really good points. During some parts of his post, I was reminded of Kelly Hines' post. This post also made me think and reflect on the things that Dr. Strange has already taught me through these assignments. As extreme as his ending statement may seem to be, I believe it is correct.

I think Karl made the perfect analogy. Many years ago reading and writing was to people as technology is to us now. If a teacher didn't know how to read or write, then I would say they wouldn't have a job. I think if teachers don't learn to be technologically literate, they soon won't have jobs either. I have observed the changes that have taken place at my mother's school. First, they got a whole new school building. This building, compared to the old Booth Elementary, was state of the art. For example, my mom went from a portable to a huge classroom with automatic lights and three computers for class use. She has her own closet and sink area. She has a ton of shelving space and even a window. I know having a window sounds like a small change, but if you had seen her first portable you would understand my excitement. Now after this wonderful new school building, the school is slowly getting technological tools to help students in their career and teachers more effectively teach their students. In the past year, the school has provided my mom with her own personal laptop and a Smart Board. It may not sound like a lot, but she had to learn to use the laptop and all of the applications that the school is going to use on there. Also, she learned about the Smart Board. Her learning didn't stop at the workshops. She would bring books home about the Smart Board and I see her working on her computer all of the time. My point is, schools are going to improve and technology is going to be introduced more and more. Teachers need to embrace it and learn it or they won't have the effective tools needed to help their students or they'll be lost in their job. I've witnessed first hand teachers that don't understand the technology given to them. There are some out their that don't know how to use it or don't wish to learn. My fear is we will never break through to them and they could lose their job.

To teach children to use the technology for their future. We must be technological literate. As suggested in Kelly Hines' post, we must be learners, too!



Gary Hayes Social Media Count

This isn't the first time I have seen the Social Media Count. Before school had started, I was exploring the EDM 310 Class Blog and saw it. I was astounded. I knew that people used technology, but I just never really thought about it like it's presented in the Social Media Count. Right now, someone is buying an IPad or getting a Twitter. It's not even one person that is doing those things. As I type these very words, hundreds of people are doing that and other things with technology. Looking and the Social Media Count is a perfect closing to Blog Assignment 3. It puts everything I just read and watched into perspective. It kind of ties everything together because it causes me to think, then I reflect on what everything I have done for this assignment, and then I start making connections.

This count is proof that technology is growing, more people are using it. Since it is growing so quickly, we need to become technologically literate teachers like Karl Fisch suggests. Part of becoming technologically literate is learning. Like Kelly Hines' said, teachers have to be learners too. She also makes it clear that we must become great teachers that use technology. We can't just depend on it. Technology can be used to further education or distract us. This was shown in the video, "A Vision of Students Today". In class, a lot of students use technology to distract themselves.

Besides helping me form connections, the Social Media Count has made me think about my future career. People are using so much technology at this very minute right now. I could approach technology several different ways. I can say that I could use a student's love for technology to help them grasp a concept in a subject they don't understand. Technology could help me break through to every student. I could also say that since people are using so much technology right now and it seems like little time is passing, different forms of technology could start being created at an astounding rate. I need to remember to stay technologically literate and to be a learner. I want to learn to use this technology to effectively teach my students.