Additional Assignment 8

This is a speech by Sir Ken Robinson and the video drawings are by RSA.org. This video is called changing education paradigms. For those of you who do not know what a paradigm is (I didn't and I had to look it up) it is a set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them, especially in an intellectual discipline. The point of this video as I see it is to show us how educations practices are quite out of date and is in great need of a change.

The first point he makes is how we are suffering from an academic system where people are labeled as "academic" or "not academic" and as of late I would like to add, "college material" and "not college material". What is very sad about this is that children really could be quite brilliant in some areas but do not know they are because they are being judged on a "one shoe fits all" academic basis. I know what Sir Ken is saying is completely true. All children are not born equal. It is hard to accept sometimes but it is true. I can trace this back to the seven styles of learning. Their are seven different styles of learning and no one learns in all seven. Children and adults all learn in different ways and are better at some than others. Just for the styles the actual intelligence of a subject is always going to be different. Math come easier to some while reading and writing comes easier to others. It happens. So knowing this, why are children all subjected to standardized testing which only grades what you know according to some subjects? If it is standardized testing then why don't we test ALL of the standards and not just five subjects?

The next point I would like to come across is the ADHD "imaginary" epidemic. I disagree and agree with Sir Ken on different points on this topic. First of all I would like to say that my younger brother has been diagnosed with ADHD and I believe he does have it. My brother was failing every subject in his fifth grade class simply because he could not sit still long enough to learn anything. He was up disrupting the class, obsessively tapping, and talked at such a speed that it was difficult to understand what he was saying. After being diagnosed he was given a medicine called Concerta. His grades went up to straight "A"s over the next two months and his relationships with other children and siblings also improved. I realize this is a super specific case, but I wanted to stress that some children can benefit greatly from a little medication. I would hate to think what would have eventually become of my brothers education had he continued without the medicine. After that being said, I completely agree that many children are being misdiagnosed. Children being hyper because their parents give them candy and soft drinks is NOT an excuse to medicate a child. Just because children are hyper in class does not mean that the child has ADHD or that just because the teacher does not want to deal with a hyper child is a good reason to medicate the child.
The last thing I want to go over on the ADHD topic is does it affect the child's creativity or the real them? The video showed the children who are on concerta looking like zombies but here is what I have to say. The children who actually have ADHD are not going to be zombies but like normal children's level of concentration and focus. Also if you give most ADHD medicines to normal adults or children they have the opposite affect and make them hyper. So I do not believe any child is going to turn into the zombie that was portrayed. I believe that many children are being misdiagnosed due to parents and teachers not wanting to deal with children who are a little bit hyper, but that is what you should expect when you go into education or decide to have children. If you do not have time to deal with children or spend the extra time with them then DON'T have them and DON'T go into education!



The last issue that I would like to address is why we educate by groups and age. The best reason for this I can come up with is the fact that we try to judge how well a student is doing based on how well the other students are doing. Of course, if we are trying to raise standards we should not be judging children on where the others are at but by where we want them to be and the goals that we want them and ourselves as teachers to achieve.

I think Sir Ken has really thought about how our world is now and how it used to be. The only thing left to do is move towards the future that is unknown. We can control our future and I believe he did a wonderful illustration of some of the problems we need to try fix as a whole. After all, he did say we do our best imagining when working together.

Blog Post 8 Assignment

Richard Miller's This Is How We Dream

I would like to begin by saying that during his speech he said that "teachers have not yet begun to realize the changes in our world" and he is so right. Watching this video, for me was a bit of a shock. I know our world is changing but it is so hard to see how fast it is moving. I will admit that it is extremely hard for me to accept it most days but I am trying. I want to be the best teacher that I can be and what I grew up thinking was the "ideal" teacher is quite possibly not the "ideal" teacher now. It is becoming more and more important to be a technologically literate teacher. This is because while some teachers are keeping up with the new ways of teaching other teachers are sticking to their old ways. This is causing some harm to some students. The teachers who are using all of their technology, such as the teachers using the internet to teach their students visually, with audio, pictures, live footage, and text (like the teachers in Dr. Miller's speech) are going to have very well rounded students. While the teachers who are simply using a book with mostly text and a few pictures are letting their students fall behind the students who are in the technologically literate teachers classes. As much as I may hate to give up my pen and paper I want to do what is best for my students (as should all teacher or future teachers). So I believe that Dr. Miller is right on! Using all of these different types of teaching will keep students interested and there for inspire them to learn. While this video has helped me to admit that technology in the classroom is important, I still will not fold on the fact that we DO need teachers. I believe Dr. Miller has proven this point by showing how great a "good" teachers effect can be on students. A teacher who uses everything the have to improve their students learning, including keeping up with technology so they can be prepared in life. I believe Dr. Millers dream is a good one but that for me at least it is still hard to accept how today's technology has changed the world, let alone what the future will be like. As of right now, I believe that I am ready to teach my students with all of the technology that Dr. Miller spoke of but I would also love to add some things he left unmentioned. I am also seeing now that children should not just be limited to what their teachers think are important but should also be given some time to teach themselves. I believe a class where you are guided and pointed in the right direction and taught using multimedia and technology with a lot of inspired learning on students own would be a great mixture for the classroom. This way the teacher is teaching and the students are teaching themselves and each other as well. It would be a classroom full of learning for sure.



EDM310

A video that I would like to construct is the difference between a technologically literate teacher and a teacher who is not a technologically literate teacher. I believe we could make this a very fun video and at the end the question you could leave everyone with is "Which teacher would you want"? And the teachers could do activities and you could see the literate teacher do the activities using really cool technology and then show the other teacher making the children get out a pen and piece of paper. Then both teachers could talk about how the students can use the skills they learned in each classroom in the "real" world. The literate teacher would say that they could use the internet to teach themselves anything they wish, that they new how to use programs that will help them make connections such as Facebook, twitter, YouTube, applying online for jobs and schools, and blogging. The other teacher would say something like, "you now know how to write and read" and one of her students could answer, "we learned that in kindergarten". I think the video would show how lacking teachers who do not use technology are compared to those who do. I was just throwing some ideas around for this video but I do think it would be a fun one to make and could possibly help some one else. The main reason I would like to make this video is because when I first started this class I did not see the importance or the difference between the two kinds of teachers. Now I know and I would love to show not only students in EDM310 why it is important but teachers everywhere.

EDM310 for Dummies

I think they really should make a book! They could make some serious money off of it I think. I believe the point of this video was that if you do the tutorials and the assignments that you can have a really great time in the class. EDM310 was not made to be your enemy but to help you learn and if you embrace it, it can be a lot of fun.

Chipper

Chipper was so sad. This was a pretty funny video thought I must say. The point of the video was to show that if you try to get out of learning you really are only cheating yourself. Chipper did not get anywhere when she tried to not learn and neither will we.


Smart Boards

So I read both of the Smart board blogs we were supposed to read but I was unable to find a blog telling how smart boards actually helped education. The only example I could find of how they are useful would be this short you tube video I found http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U05WeXPGlk . I believe this was a strong indicator that perhaps smart boards really are not that essential to education.

On the "Why Smart Boards are dumb post" Jeff Branzburg left this comment, "The reason that smart boards work (to make students learn) is because it instigates a change in the way teachers teach. It makes them pay attention to multimedia". I agree with Jeff. Smart boards are very useful in the way that they help teachers who are afraid of technology become better teacher by being forced to learn how to be technologically literate. As for cost, if you were not spending money on smart boards what other technological device would they buy? I think Smart boards are a great tool to teach. Should they improve teaching? Not necessarily, teachers could use other forms of technology to accomplish almost the same thing, but it makes it a lot easier on the teacher. I do not believe using a smart board is going to help your students learn any better than they were (unless of course you were NOT using multimedia and are now USING it because you wanted learn how to using the Smart Board). A great example of this was a comment left on Why Smart Boards are Dumb by TimeOutDad was "Giving me a Porsche isn't automatically going to make me a better driver, but then, we shouldn't blame the Porsche, right? ;) If I don't know how to drive stick-shift, then I better learn how to, if I want to drive it properly. Then again, if I'm in the middle of the desert, forget the Porsche. I'll take a camel. It all depends... ". I thought this was an awesome example!! Having a Smart Board is not going to make you a better teacher, you WANTING to be a better teacher will. Teachers who are given these really expensive devises and then do not use them really are a waste of school funds. However, if a teacher is going to use them to improve their teaching I think they should be in our school systems.




so thought this comment was pretty strait on for those teachers who really want to have smart boards to help their students learn, on the "Why Smart boards are dumb" Matt left this comment, "As an educator and trainer I support and encourage the implementation of Smart Boards. There are obviously better options for tech-savvy educators that include using multiple devices at a smaller cost, but there is nothing better than IWBs to introduce tech-weary teachers to the power of edtech and to create a community of educators united by common tools."

The Last Lecture

Wow! Just wow. I'm so stunned I have nothing to say. So now to say some more. I'm not kidding when I say that this video really shocked me an made me see some things in a new light. Some of those are personal and not really any of your business, but it also opened my eyes to ways to teach. It also showed me how to react when my *fingers crossed* future children and students far exceed my expectations. He also gave me some ideas on how live a good life. I am sad that he was not able to continue his, if anyone is worthy of living, it was him.
When it comes to teaching, I had always thought that their should be a structure to the class. Now, I don't mean that a class should not be "structured," what I mean is that it doesn't necessarily have to have rigid format, that cannot-be-deviated-from-by-one-iota-or-there-will-be-hell-to-pay. He gave his students a little freedom and they ran with it. The did wonderful work and they so far exceeded his expectations that he had to change the curriculum.
He was blown away by his students work. I have to admit when he was describing it and showing it, it shocked me as well. He said that for their first project, they brought back material that he would have given A's for had it been a semester long project. According to him, when that happens, what it means is that "you clearly don't have an a grip on where the bar should be." When that happens you need to challenge your students and see what happens.
He didn't specifically so much about how to live a good live, but I saw it in how he behaved. He said that you should always listen to those who love you when they give you advice, most of the time they are right and you just can't see it. This wasn't the only thing he said that was good, there were several, but this one really stuck with me. I agree with him wholeheartedly, but I personally have a lot of trouble with this. All in all, I was enlightened by this lecture, and encouraged that doing what he did is included in my chosen profession.

Student Post Summary

I commented on Samuela's blog post and he is a little boy from New Zealand. In his class his teacher is mostly focusing on the students writing and also teaches them interesting things about the world. In one of the post I commented on, he and some of his class mates had made a video of them with pirate hats on which was so cute and educational because they were telling about what they had learned. The posts are at
Link

Additional Assignment #2

Absolutely! Well, let me elaborate, computers don’t do the teaching, but they provide a way for motivated people to teach themselves. The internet can be bad in some ways. For example, what you sometimes see on sketchy pop ups is not a plus to the internet in my opinion, however, it is also an extremely powerful tool. There is so much information stored online, that anyone, even a child, who is interested in something, can find tons of information about the topic as easily as typing the topic into Google.

Let me be clear that I don’t think that computers alone make people begin learning spontaneously. There needs to be desire, curiosity, and interest. Without these a computer is just an expensive hunk of useless metal. The want to use a computer has to be there first and foremost. If children can find interest in a subject, they find themselves motivated by their curiosity to learn more. To even further this effect, a problem or question can be posed to a group of people. This will tend to ignite the curiosity that is needed to motivate them to discover, all they need is the equipment to enable them.

In truth, computers can’t make someone learn. Neither can teachers, parents, friends, or even employers. The only thing that can make a person learn is motivation, without motivation, what propose is there to taking in new information. Motivation, however, does not necessarily come from curiosity. One can be also be motivated by teachers who are willing to offer their knowledge, parents who care about their children’s future and well being, friends who offer friendly competition and moral support, and even employers who will often pay more attention to those who are motivated. Motivation is key in learning and it does not escape this rule for technology. The motivation to use technology must be there in order for it to be used.

I am motivated to learn by a lack of knowledge. If I do not know something and realize I do not know enough about it I begin to seek answers to the questions I don’t know. I am also motivated to learn by the people I am surrounded by. My friends, family, church, and teachers all motivate me to constantly question and seek answers and knowledge. Yes, I do teach myself quite often. Just the other day I was wondering why it is I hate mayo but love mustard. I got on good and searched why people dislike certain foods. I found out in the end that most food dislikes are caused by taste aversions. It was something I now know that I had never known. I teach myself whenever. My learning does not have a certain time or day it is simply when I need to know something.

Teachers play a pretty significant role in how much I learn about a certain topic for sure. An example would be anatomy class. My teacher greatly stressed learning all the bones in the body but when it came to learning the muscles she didn’t really care. Now looking back on this class, I can still name almost every bone in the human body even though it has been two years. But how many muscles can I name? Not many. Teachers greatly influence what you learn in a class.

The most memorable thing about this video is the children. How much they really wanted to learn. It is so important for teachers to try to motivate students even if it is difficult. Those children really inspired me to be the best teacher I can be for them. I believe this video should be watched by teacher all over America as an example of how students should behave. The lack of motivation in our schools is scary and really should be a concern for anyone in or going in to education.

Blog Post 6

The Networked Student
Link

This was a very intriguing video. It described a way of learning that is rapidly growing in today's online society. The idea is that a teacher would, instead of directly teaching students, show them how to find accredited online sources about their subject and use them to create their own network of learning. They would build a blog-network and establish connections with experts that would help them build knowledge.

The most glaring problem with this idea is that it's lack of appeal to enough different kinds of students. The internet is a giant confusing place and even with the best advice a student could spend hours traveling down the wrong trail when looking for the information they need (trust me I have done this many times). This quickly leads multiple students to frustration. This system also doesn't appeal to non-visual learners. In an ideal situation students would have access to video's and audio clips about every subject in the world, but in reality the availability of accredited sources of that variety are difficult to find in my opinion.

A question was proposed "Does a networked student need a teacher?" The answer is a glaring, yes. Without a teacher there is no driving force behind a students learning, no assignments, no direction, nothing to do but "learn" about a subject. In a traditional classroom, all the students are literally on the same page, they get constant reinforcement that they are headed in the right direction towards learning the material, and they do not spend hours heading down the wrong path.

I guess I am just old fashioned but I like to have a teacher to help me and tell me when I am doing something wrong or when I am doing a good job. I think technology is important, but that human connections are so much more important. I believe we still need teachers there to help students learn and want to learn. In some way children have to want to learn themselves but I still believe teachers are the motivators behind the scenes.

A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment
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This student shows us how her class teaches students. It shows how her assignments are posted daily and how she has been taught to use online tools and her personal blog to complete assignments. This is actually very similar to the way EDM310 works. We both are allowed to do out work on our own free time, but have a constantly updating assignment list that must be checked regularly. Both systems promote effective time management and responsibility. I really like being able to do my own work on my own time but in a class like this it is easy to fall behind. These classes do not have room for excuse when sometimes excuses are actually legitimate. For example I was sick a couple of weeks ago and I am still struggling to catch back up. Of course, I still really like the structure of the class and I will get caught up because I am a determined student and that is the kind of students classes like these create.

The Machine is (Changing) Us: YouTube and the Politics of Authenticity
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This long presentation was a long exploration into the culture of Youtube and the way the current generation expresses itself. Dr. Wesch examines how Youtube has created a way to be altogether anonymous and glaringly public all at once. He describes how our modern technologies have made being famous just as unobtainable as it is desirable, and how Youtube allows anyone to become insta-famous for the most mundane of acts. Dr. Wesch explains that people have become independent and self-centered to the point of narcissism and that Youtube can be used to break down these walls and bring everyone onto the same level. I thought it was very interesting and really did show how our culture has really shifted in the past couple of years. It is kind of sad to me that someone can become super famous by doing something so silly.

C4K 1 and 2

I commented on http://grou.ps/noelclassof2011/blogs/item/my-learning-menifesto/#comments_list which is a little boy named Ismael's blog. I posted on his "about me" post and also his Manifesto. I thought the manifesto was a really cool idea for this teacher to incorporate in the classroom and I am tempted to steal the idea when I become a teacher. :D

Hi Ismael, my name is Tiphanie and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. It is a college that is located in Mobile, Alabama. I am in a class called EDM310 and if you want to check out my blog it is at http://owenstiphanieedm310.blogspot.com/ . I also really love to play video games! My favorites are anything with Mario or Pokemon! I also love to play dodge ball, but I don't try to hit people in the face because I don't want to hurt anyone. I hope your surgery went well and that you are doing much better! I agree with you that math can sometime be hard but also easy. It can also be really fun sometimes!


Hi Ismael, this is Tiphanie! I am from the University of South Alabama and I am in the class EDM310 . I think if you followed all of your manifesto you would learn a whole lot more in school this year than ever before! I also have trouble getting up in the morning and I too should try to go to bed earlier so I wont be tired at school anymore! Great ideas!

C42 #2

I left a comment on this post from The Tempered Radical

I think this idea of paying students is a little bit crazy. My first question would be how much of a difference did this actually make on students grades, absences, and behavior? Even if it was extremely successful my next question is where is this money coming from? Is this coming from tax payers because I can not imagine that they are going to expect the public school systems to hand out this money when they are already in trouble. I also find it hard to believe they would give these students cash. I think it would be more productive to give these students money towards a college education such as a grant or scholarship. This way at least the money they earn is put towards there education in the long run. I still think the idea of having money as an incentive really would be teaching the kids the wrong values. What they should value is the education itself and not the money.


Then in reply he posted:

Hey Tiphanie,

First, thanks for stopping by...I love your idea about putting any incentive cash towards a college scholarship. That could be a good middle ground in this debate.

Your question above has me thinking, though: Sure a kid SHOULD value an education above money. Spoken like a true teacher.

But the truth is that's just not the case. There are TONS of kids who don't value an education at all. And in the poorest communities, the lure of quick cash is WAY more motivating than the intangible benefits of an education.

Should we ignore that motivation just because it doesn't feel right to us?

If our goal is to motivate students---which is a fun little cliche that we love to sling around in education---why are we judging some motivations as good and other motivations as bad?

I agree that paying kids for grades makes my skin crawl, but so does seeing thousands of dropouts every year. Maybe it's time we start to figure out what DOES motivate kids---even when those things don't represent motivations that we value----and tap into them.

Just thinking out loud here.
Bill

I posted again after this but you can check out the link to see the video and everything. :D

Blog Post 5

Eagle Nest Radio & Class Blog
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This was a cute little classroom assignment by a small third grade class. They had fun putting together a neat podcast presentation on ancient Rome. The kids got to play radio news stars as they passed the action back and forth between several neat little segments detailing something interesting about Rome. This was a very creative way for a teacher to get kids excited about learning, using technology, and keeping parents informed on what's going on in the classroom. It did everything a teacher could want it to without losing an ounce of that ever-so-hard to keep fun factor.

The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom
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This video outlines the many ways podcasting can be used to enhance the learning experience. It points out how leaving classroom assignments in public space allows parents to keep up with their children, how kids are very used to receiving information in this way and how it's not a strain for them to keep up with, and how kids can have easy access to their assignments when they miss class. It talks about how podcasting allows students to "role-play" which makes learning fun, easy, and most of all retain-able. It covered all the great things that podcasting can add to a classroom, and how, if done properly, it can be easy and effective.

Judy Scharf's Podcast Collection
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Judy has come up with a large collection of articles and podcasts detailing the uses for, the facts about, and how to create an effective podcast. She has more than a dozen posts with useful tools, examples, tips and guides on podcasting. I found the example podcasts especially helpful. They are great examples of children getting excited by podcasting. She also gives grading rubrics and assignment syllabi which are a great starting point for a teacher wanting to get started with projects just like this. It's a great collection and has everything a teacher needs to build her own podcasting assignment.

I think that all of these podcasts show that technology can help everyone to have fun and learn at the same time! :D

Project 8

Jameson Branch and I did a project together where we interviewed one of our teachers about how technology has changed the way they teach in their classrooms. Just follow this link if you want to take a listen. I think it is worth your time to download. It is really interesting how much technology truly has affected these two teachers. :D

https://sites.google.com/site/branchpodcast/home/edm-podcasts/Podcast.mp3