Sunday, December 12, 2010

Project #6 analysis

On my technology questionairre I asked some questions regarding students schedules and their computer usage. Upon analysising the information received, I noticed that the majority of people that responded are part time workers. Also, the full time workers are taking less hours per semester then the part timers. Part timers seem to have more time for computer use, personal and professional, then the full timers. I work 50-60 hours a week and take 12 semester hours so I guess I fall in the middle. My main point was to find out which would be more successful, a full time student/part time worker, a part time student/full time worker, or me, a full time student/full time worker. I found out that most people were against technology in the classroom with a few for or undecided. My theory, after the study, is that these people that are against technology are the older group of students that grew up without technology in the classroom, as I was at the beginning of the semester. If I took the survey again I can guarantee different results from 90 percent of the participants. The results of the survey are here.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Summary C4K

1. C4K #8: I have tried multiple times to comment on this blog. I have not been able to complete my C4K on the student I was assigned on Mr. Chamberlain's class blog.

2. Mikki: This student blogged about Halloween and the information they looked up about All Hallows Eve, I enjoyed reading it.

3. Maclain's blog: The best news, getting out of school early...they got out at 1:15 for teacher's workday and the teachers weren't as happy as the students about it.

4. Lillian: This was a student that blogged about a sleepover she was looking forward to at a friend's house. She was excited and I responded by encouraging her to continue blogging her thoughts and how good of a communication tool blogging is.

Summary C4T #4

Mr. Guhlin: I read a few of the posts on this blog. The first one, the way I took it, was that we as a society bite our tongues when it comes to our beliefs. When our boss, teacher, wife, friends, and whomever else tells us something is the way it should be, instead of standing up for our beliefs we except theirs...to this I say to hell with the people that don't respect other people's beliefs and they can go jump in a lava pit...take a look at the post and you'll see what i am talking about...It has a big picture of a volcano on Mr. Guhlin's blog.

The second was a list of how to survive bloggerland (spoof of Zombieland) which basically says that if we follow the rules of good internet usage and blogging then we will survive the tech war. Not everyone feels this way and the rule this post lists is right on the money for our survival in bloggerland.

My PLN

This semester I have added a number of Class Blogs to my PLN that I have commented on students' blogs. I have also included on my PLN a few of my friends that have helped me with projects through the semester along with EDM310 class blog for Fall 2010. I also have my e-mail, school website, some social networks I have used to communicate with teachers and other prospective teachers. I seperated the tiles by color and location to kind of help me keep up with what I am looking at. I plan to add more to my PLN in the future as I grow in my professional carreer.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

post 13

In today's educational society we have to incorporate technology into what, we as teachers, need to teach to our students. There are many different resources on the internet that can help those of us who are not completely technologically literate. Free lesson plans for teachers is a great way to help write you own lesson plans by steering you in the right direction and classroom 2.0 gives teachers the opportunity to interact with other teachers and watch different webcasts that will help upcoming teachers on their journey.

The Alabama Learning Exchange, ALEX, is another website that can help teachers tremendously. On Alex there 8 categories ranging from lesson plans to ALEXville. The lesson plans include all educational disciplines and grade levels from K-12. The ALEXville link is an online community that has different links to guide you on your journey to become a better teacher. ALEX to me is going to help more then anything when I start teaching because it gives a breakdown of what we as teachers should do to prepare ourselves for the school year and years to come.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

3. Mary from Pt England School was instructed to pick three small cards, an adjective, a verb and an adverb to write three made up sentences. Each time using the same set of cards and keeping the same essential meaning. The sentences she wrote, she highlighted the different words in a different color showing where the same word was used in each sentence. I thought the three sentences was a very creative use of the words meanings.

4. Tyler's post was an interesting one about the three footprints we have: the physical footprint, the digital footprint and the ecological footprint.

5. Shayne had created a toondoo about compromising when solving a problem. This was pretty cool because at the time I wasn't aware we could do that kind of thing on our blog.

6. Michael posted about a lego fort that sounded really cool so I gave him a link or two that would show him more cool lego combinations for the collection.

7. Anthony blogged about a group project him and a few of his classmates did in his math class. He guessed there were 20 seeds in his pumpkin, but there was really 430. They also weighed the pumpkin, not sure if it was before or after the seeds were removed but it sounded like a fun project.

C4T Summary 3

In the past couple of weeks I have had the opportunity to read a blog from a teacher by name of Martha Yim. In her post she talked about the importance of parent/teacher communication. I could not agree more with her. When I become a high school math teacher the communication between me and the parents of my students will always be an ongoing occurance that will help the relationship of the students with their parents and their teacher. I commented to Mrs. Yim on her Blog Post and she agrees that even after our EDM310 class is over, we should continue to blog about things that interest us. Our classroom is one of the major things that interest us or we wouldn't be here as aspiring teachers in our respective fields. I will continue to blog when I get my classroom, to keep the students and parents that can not be there physically, in the classroom with us.

Post 11

First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class

Ms. Cassidy's skype interview

In her skype interview, Ms. Cassidy addresses some of the questions I have been concerned with durring my development of being a computer literate teacher. As discussed in the interview, the world is changing and about half the teachers are do not feel that change is needed for their teaching style. I was one of these teacher, well future teachers, that beleived this statement. I don't necessarily feel that every teacher should be computer literate when they begin teaching, but I do however feel they should have an open mind about technology and not shun it due to lack of understanding. If teachers do this they will begin to see the advantages of using technological tools in their classrooms. In my classroom I will incorporate the internet into my students learning curriculum but I am not sure how I will use Ms. Cassidy's approach to my high school math lesson plans. I do think that letting younger students use the internet and teaching them what NOT to do while on it is a good idea. These students are getting a good basis for upcoming years on computer networks. I enjoyed the skype interview with Ms. Cassidy because it helped me see some of the questions that arise between the ongoing debate of whether classrooms should be computer equiped or not. I think every aspiring teacher should watch the interview and see how many questions they may still have about this debate.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Sir Ken Robinson



This video shows us how the education system has continued to stay the same and use the same methods of teaching. Some teachers, as I did in August, feel that since they learned the material the traditional way their students should be taught that way also. As Sir Robinson said, this is a myth. With our ever changing society we have more tools being added to our arsenal of teaching material. The main point I got from the video was the fact that it is a myth to think the best way to teach a student is to seperate them and restrict them. In my classroom I will address this by having my students work more in groups to learn certain lessons and incorporate the use of computers for note taking and pesentation. In the classes at South we have a variety of mixed emotions with the proffesor's teaching methods. In one sense we have teacher's incorporating the use of all teaching tools and media, in other classes we dose off trying to keep ourselves interested in the subject material being spit out at us by our proffesors. I understand that in certain subjects our proffesors are smarter but to graduate we have certain classes we have to take, some that we may or may not need in our fields of study. To keep us focussed, I think the proffesors should use more tools for learning such as activities and presentations. I think a classroom that has the technological and hard copy teaching tools would be the best learning environment.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Blog post #10

Morgan Bayda's post

In this post there is a video by Dan brown about why he dropped out of school. It explains how higher education has developed from being primarily for the upper class to being obtained by anyone with the funds to acquire access to the education. Now even though the accessability to these Universities and Institutes have changed, the method of teaching has not. Our society in the 21st century has continued to change with the ever growing advancement of technology. If we do not incorporate this technology into our classroom we will be doing exactly what Dan was talking about to our students. We will expect them to know the information we have them read are that we let fall out of our mouths durring lecture. This technique is not learning, it is memorization. Being a math teacher, or planning to become a math teacher, I feel that books and paper are still an important learning tool. Practice is how people learn mathematics. The internet is how we can share our solutions and learn from each other's mistakes. Like Morgan I would not have dropped out of school like Dan did but I strongly believe in communication inside and outside the classroom.

Two questions that can change your life

Two questions that can make you reflect on what is important to you:
What is your sentence?
Was i better than yesterday?

These two questions are the basis for motivation. What motivates us? Everyone has different motivation. My sentence is "He is doing his best to make his wife and kids' future everything they could want." This is my sentence today but can always be revised by the second question every day, Was i better than yesterday?

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Mr. McClung's reflection

In Mr. McClung's post I realized why I have been against technology in the classroom, selfishness. I have been thinking of myself instead of thinking of what may be best for the students learning experience. Randy Pausch helped change my mind and Mr. McClung's post helped me realize why I thought the way I did. Many teachers do the same things I did and think of their personal learning ways and not the students. Some students may still be paper and pencil students but in today's technological society most people use technology to live everyday life, this doesn't stop when the students get to school. Students use the technology outside of school so why not have them learn subject material using the resources they already understand, whether you understand it or not.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

9b timeline



I enjoy cars and the different body styles of the American muscle car. I wanted to share some simple facts of my favorite car, the camaro.
Richard Miller: This Is How We Dream Parts 1 and 2

In these videos Dr. Miller is discussing the future of writing. He is sharing how different the world will be for students and teachers by using the computer and internet world to do everything paper and pencil used to do. Downloading a book online is way cheaper than trying to buy a hard back from the store. Also, doing a research paper, having to view two different pages, is hard with hard copies. If you use e-books you can have them side by side and bookmark the pages you need instead of flipping all over the place looking for it. This leads me into the writing sense of things.

Using the computer as a writing tool in our future will save us money and time. If you need an assignment sent from one side of the country to the other, instead of writing it on paper and faxing it or scanning and e-mailing it, write it using a software program that is viewed by your teacher, boss, or employer. Dr. Miller said it best when he mentioned we currently don't have teachers to teach these programs. No one knows what the future hold but everyone seems to be contributing to what they feel the future should be.

With the ever growing world of technology, I feel that Dr. Miller is on the right path to creating a new and better way of learning. We need teachers to become students and learn the technology to incorporate with their knowledge in specific areas of study to pass down to future students. The world will change (is changing) the only thing we can do is prepare for it.

The Chipper Series and EDM310 for Dummies

The point of both of these videos is to get the work done on time. If you do not understand what is going on get help from your classmates. If you still can not figure it out, try a lab assistant, THAT WILL HELP YOU, rather than the ones that won't.

Why Smartboards Are A Dumb Initiative

Why I Hate Interactive Whiteboards

I agree with both of these critiques. Smart boards are good in elementary classrooms because they keep the students focused on the lesson by having interaction between them but for middle school and high school age students, a computer with a touch screen writting pad hooked up to a projector can be used to teach the same lessons. Too much money is being used to equip one classroom with this technology rather than dividing into more classrooms for a less expensive learning tools that do the same thing.

Friday, October 15, 2010

additional assignment 2

How Kids Teach Themselves

1. What do you think? If learners are motivated, can they teach themselves? I think if learners are motivated enough they can teach themselves. If a student is interested in the subject they would be more interested in understanding the subject and, if need be, teach themselves.

2. If those motivated learners are kids, can they teach themselves? kids teach themselves all of the time by playing and learning things on their own so to have a child motivated to learn something they are interested in is the same as everyday life for a child.

3. What conditions are necessary for kids to teach themselves? For anyone to teach him or herself? They need to be interested in the subject that is trying to be learned to be motivated.

4. What role do computers and internet access play in the process? computers and the internet have given people easier access to a wider array of information.

5. What role does motivation, a desire to learn? motivation makes people have a greater need to know the material they desire to learn.

6. What roles do a problem, a question or multiple problems or questions play in the process? problems can cause people to be less motivated to learn. the easier something is to learn the more kids may want to learn.

7. How do you motivate someone to learn? make the information fun so the student would want to learn the material.

8. How are you motivated to learn? I have to be interested in a subject to want to learn it, if not then it is hard for me to motivate myself with the lack of time I have.

9. Can anyone who is not motivated to learn learn? no, without motivation you have no drive to want to learn the information.

10. Do you teach yourself? When? Why? You teach yourself new things all of the time. School information you have to learn and sometimes look further into it, and teach yourself.

11. What role does a teacher (either answer generally or use a specific example) play in your learning? I prefer to have someone with a vast knowledge of the subject matter who can instruct me of what I may be doing wrong rather than making the same mistakes over and over.

12. What is the most important idea, question or emotional response you take away with you as a result of watching this video? kids can teach kids of different cultures and language from thousands of miles away by using the internet. Kids pay more attention to each other rather than adults

Sunday, October 10, 2010

PLN

Up until this week I have been against computer technology in the classroom. I felt it would be a distraction rather than a useful tool. My outlook has changed slightly, not quite a 180 degree turn around but pretty close. For the EDM310 class I was instructed to set up certain accounts for the course. I have set up these accounts but have done nothing more on them. this past week I finally had a change of view on the technology so i signed up for classroom 2.0. The main reason I want to find websites and networks with other people of the same professional field is to learn and possibly share what I know. The progress report for my PLN at this moment in time is almost non existant however, I am now completely working toward my Personal Learning network goals.

post #7

.Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

After watching the video by Randy Pausch I realized that you should always live your life one day ata time. You never know what kind of hand life may deal you and you can either fold or play the hand. If you fold what you are delt, it is like giving up before the game has even started. If you play the hand, you could win or loose but you played the game with no regrets.

Mr. Pausch had a great life with many different contributions. He influenced numerous lives with his briliance and his whole hearted attitude. He lived his life as a person with no fear, it seems. He took chances that most people would give up on never letting "brick walls" stop him. If more people lived the way Mr. Pausch did the world would be a better place to live in. As our society grows people are taking more chances and trying new things. I have mentioned in earlier posts that no one knows what the future holds but some people are trying to make a difference. At the beginning of this semester I was totally against the idea of technology taking over classrooms. The reason being, I was not up to date with anything.

The last couple months have helped me see that computer technology is more useful as a learning tool rather than a social network device, in many cases these can coincide. When I watched Mr. Pausch's video I realized that whether you know your future or not is no reason to live life more or less. If we play everything safe and continue to do things like we have in the past we will not have any legacy to leave for our kids when we move on. This video told us of the life of a great man and the way he lived it. From his childhood memories to his last lecture he was all smiles and always had a positive outlook on everything.

The main thing I took from this video was the fact that life is short and fearing the future, or the outcome of the future, is a waste of it. We don't know how the future will turn out or how we will turn out in the future but we can control what we leave for the future. As technology grows the use for technology increases. Our past generations have left us with a building block for the technological future. Now as we build our future, and our children's, we need to teach the future generations. These children are our future. I would never have heard Randy Pausch lecture if it wasn't for the technical tools of today's world and as he said at the end of his lecture, "This talk was not for you, but for my kids." Live life to the fullest, there is no telling what you may be dealt later in life.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

C4T #2 summary

The last couple of weeks I commented on the weblog of Wesley Fryer:

"Digital Grounding and loss of Facebook Privileges" was the first post I commented on. In this post Mr. Fryer is discussing the importance of friending your children or younger relatives on social networks to keep tract of their activities and step in if they stray from what they are supposed to be doing. I will definitely keep tract of my daughters internet activities when she gets old enough to use the computer.

"Self-discipline critical in our tablet and smartphone filled world" was the second post I commented on. In this post Mr. Fryer talks about the "limited use devices" basically being a control device over the students. Because of the device's limited capabilities, it would give the educator more control of what the students were viewing in school. Mr. Fryer is very against the "limited use devices". He goes on to compare banning cell phones from your classroom with issuing student blinders and handcuffs with textbooks. I disagree with Mr. Fryer because students without cell phones are distracted by the ones that text every second of every day. Students need control in the school system but to control the students, have labs that everyone can access rather then letting the students with money have their personal technological devices.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler

This video shows the different advantages of using networking to connect with other college students that have learned the same material. It has different networks that have what other students have found out about the information you may be researching. It also asks the question, "What are teachers for?". It answers by telling us that teachers are there to teach the students how to use the computer networks. A computer teacher may be there to teach students how to use networks and other technology, not core curriculum teachers.

What is going to happen when students learn all of these techniques to look up things on the internet and forgets how, or doesn't even learn, how to use books? I am definitely for us having computers in the school systems, but in labs, not personal computers for every student. Having a study period that allows students to go to labs and use the techniques they have learned is fine. Maybe have more than one lab in a school to compensate for the size of the student population.

The school systems today have major financial issues that cause numerous layoffs for the teachers. If the school board cannot afford to pay the teachers, how will they be able to afford the maintenance for all the computers to be in the school district? How will they be picked for the computers to be put in the schools, is it rich to poor?

A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment (or PLN)

The student said it best, "It can be distracting". The freedom that students have online is unlimited. The programs should be limited in the public school systems, and private grade school, to school work. No one should need to be on facebook, or any other social networks, to look up information about school. A student at an University pays to be there and pays for their computer use which should give them the freedom to do what they want with it. I know that all students, like the one who made the video, will not abuse the opportunity but what about the ones that have difficulty concentrating? The school systems are starting to put mentally challenged students in with the general ed students and expecting them to learn the same material. My question to that is, if a student is ADHD or has a lower IQ then the other students, what will happen when, IF, the computers are placed in every one of these classrooms?

The Machine is Changing Us by Michael Wesch

My comments about this video are simple...

I liked the video and how Professor Wesch showed the connectivity to every person on the web by using YouTube. I would be the one that is nervous about talking on the computer because playing it back I know how I sound. This, to me, may give the people watching it a bad outlook of what I have to say due to how slow I talk. I haven't made many videos for YouTube but connecting with other people around the world is a definite advantage of the ever advancing technology. It was a great presentation.

timetoast timeline

Thursday, September 30, 2010

C4K 1 and 2

In this assignment I read a little information about a young man named Dustin. Dustin is an eighth grade student at Noel Jr. High and he wants to be a fireman when he gets older. After reading some more about Dustin, I realized that he really wants to follow in his grandfather's footsteps and one day take over the business. His grandfather, a tow truck driver, sounds like a very good role model for Dustin and I hope that one day he gets his opportunity to follow his dreams.

Dustin also, in another post, took me through the rock cycle. In just a few sentences, taught me how igneous rock is formed. This post had me looking up what silica is and how it is changed through the rock cycle. Dustin had already told me everything I needed to know and it sounded to me as if he had learned a lot about what happens during the rock cycle.

It was great to be able to read Dustin's blog and I hope he succeeds with everything he is striving for.

Friday, September 24, 2010

blog # 5

The benefits of podcasting in the classroom

I chose to watch this video for a few different reasons. The first of these is the fact that I, as most of the readers of my earlier blogs already know, am not completely sold on the idea of technology being the main teaching tools in our classrooms. After getting some feedback from other educators from around the country, I am starting to see it in a different perspective. I'm still not sold but technology in the classroom, such as using podcasts, is a good thing. The students being out sick is definitely a teachers fear because of what it means for the advancement of their education. By recording a lecture or, in my case, having a computer with a notebook style screen to display on an over-head projector for in class students can also be uploaded on a class website for the students that may have missed it. A podcast also can open the minds of the children and enhance their creativity in school as well as outside the school grounds. I actually enjoyed watching the video and agree with the points that were made.

The Education Podcasting Network

After reading about The Education Podcasting Network (EPN), I think teachers being able to comunicate with one another through podcasting is a good idea. Not one teacher knows everything and sharing what they do know with each other puts the educator in the student seat to gain more knowledge. The Network is a good idea for teachers to further their own education to pass along to their students.

Judy Scharf Podcast Collection

In Judy's collection there are pretty good instructions on how a podcast is constructed. If I would have done my blog post before my group's podcast then maybe my podcast would have been more entertaining. I'm sure as I continue to produce podcasts I will get better at it with the help of this collection.

Podcast for EDM 310 Fall 2010

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Blog #4

1. Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please? by Scott McLeod.

In Dr. McLeod's post he tells everyone not to teach thier kids about the technological aspects but says nothing about teaching the subject material that, I feel, a kid should know before learning tech tools. Is Dr. McLeod saying that subject material is not important? Is he saying that technology is the most important thing a kid needs to know to be successful? If he feels technology is more important, than how would he have a so called "leg up" on anyone that may teach primarily subject material in thier classroom?

Dr. McLeod, an Associate Professor in the Educational Administration program at Iowa State University who also is the Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE), is the co-creotor of the 'Did you know?' video. Dr. McLeod has received numerous national awards for his technology leadership work, including recognitions from the cable industry, Phi Delta Kappa, and the National School Boards Association. Dr. McLeod has had me thinking a lot the last couple of days with comments on my blog #2. I don't truly believe that Dr. McLeod is completely a technological teacher[believes technology is the solution to everything] but he believes our students should have the tech tools available for learning, I agree but with restrictions. Technology in school systems for children's uses should be monitered and restricted by the educators to prevent inappropriate use or distraction towards other students.

2. The iSchool Initiative

In this short video Travis, a high school student from Georgia, shows and talks about the pros of the ischool. The ischool is a hand held school system basically that would keep the students from having to write or listen in class durring school hours. This program has many applications that apply to subjects that are taught in schools today. You can access homework and notes from your ischool without any physical interactions with teachers or the other students. Math formulas are available on the ischool but I really did not see where the explanation of the application of these formulas. You can learn on the ischool better then the traditional way, but if you do not have any idea of what you are looking up, what's the point. I agree with the one statement Travis said around 4:15 mark in his video, "The ischool will be lockable for the schools and personalized for the kids. The access will be limited to websites dedicated to education."

3. Watch The Lost Generation

The basic point I took from this video is the fact that if we don't change the way things are trying to unfold in today's world, the next generation will be lost in the same economic problems as our LOST generation. The producer of this video had a good technique of getting to the point and getting the point across. After showing the effects of what will happen in our future without change, she did a simple thing, she reversed the effects by reversing the current flow of things.

4. Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir

In this video it is hard to imagine that all of these people from 12 different countries can put something together that sounds as amazing as this video. Even though the members never met in person they sing in perfect harmony with one another with a virtual conductor directing them.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Blog #3

1. Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

This video goes around a college lecture hall with students holding up signs of what their days consist of being students. Some have signs that point out how many hours they spend studying, how many hours they spend on the computer e-mailing, and even how the writen tests in the class will not apply to them. If students don't want to be in class don't waste the money for the class. If the class isn't going to help you with anything in your future don't take that class.

The end of the video says that some people think technology alone will save us, I don't believe that. Technology isn't a miracle solution to everything. A student has to want to learn the material to succeed with or without laptops and iphones.

2. "It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines

Mrs. Hines makes a good point in her post by saying that many people think that the first thing to get our students ready for the 21st century is technology. I agree with Mrs. Hines when she says that this is not the case. I believe students, regardless of the advancement in technology, should learn the basis of education first.

Teachers are not the only educators in todays school system. The children are also educators because they are growing up in the new technological generation. I don't put technology down or ignore the advancements but I think students should learn how to do the things they may need in life before learning the, what I call shortcuts of life, technology.

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

In Mr. Fisch's rants I DO NOT agree with what he says about technological illiteracy, I do however agree that just because a student is or isn't technologically literate should not cause a bias judgement of acceptance. A teacher being technologically illiterate should not be thought of as being less qualified as a teacher just because he or she may not be able to teach using today's technology. A good educator is a person who can pass on information of a subject to his or her students.

In education sometimes it is hard to pass on the information to a student due to lack of student interest. In today's society,and probably the future's, the way to gain student's interest is through computers. This is caused by the continuous growing of the digital and technological world that is not only being introduced to kids but in some cases more or less forced on them by society. This in my oppinion may help kids in one sense but hurt them in other ways in education and personal growth.

Gary Hayes Social Media Count

The continuous changes in the social media count for the digital world is going to eventually put everyone from the old world out of business. As an educator, students will be able to look things up faster then ever with high speed internet rather then using books for History or English. Looking formulas up for Math or Chemistry is useless unless knowing how to put the formulas to use. There are also ways of looking up tutorials to learn how this proccess is done. So, in a sense, the continuing increase of computer use with today's society is making people lazy. I use a computer for a couple of things that are pretty much forced on me by teachers and employers. I had never blogged before starting EDM310 and after EDM310, at this point I do not intend on blogging ever again. I may change my mind by the end of the semester but only time will tell. Technology may be the future but I don't agree with every part of it.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Blog post #2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY

Did You Know?

After watching the Did You Know 3.0 video by Mr. Karl Fisch I learned how much the digital and technological world is growing. The growth was already obvious in today's society but the statistics was not known. Fifteen years ago car phone usage started increasing and now today cellular phones have evolved into hand held computers that can transmit information instantly. After seeing the number of people that use the digital world today and how fast they have grown over the years the world is going to be ran by technology alone within the next five to ten years.

The video gave good information about the growth of the ever changing world of technology. With this information we can use it to determine the future growth of our world in the digital and technological sense. I knew the world was growing but I never had the data that proved it so it made this video enjoyable for me to learn the statistics. I recommend people who are interested in seeing which direction the world is heading, to watch this vieo and others like it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm1sCsl2MQY

Mr. Winkle Wakes:

I started watching the video Mr. Winkle wakes on you tube and couldn'treally figure out the direction it was heading. It starts out with Rip Van Winkle waking up after 100 years of sleep with the world changed around him. As soon as Mr. Winkle looked around he grew curious of the changes and went to explore them. He noticed the use of computers in several locations which were strange devices he had never seen.

When Mr. Winkle ventured into a school he noticed that there was a teacher lecturing students while they took notes and listened to what he had to say. At the same time Mr. Winkle also noticed an older computer sitting onthe desk in the back of the class with dust not being used. As he walks off he exclaims that after 100 years some things still remain the same. From this short video the point I took from it was no matter how much the world may get technologically more superior our education and our children's education still remain the importance of today's society.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity

In this video SIr Ken Robinson is speaking about the importance of the school systems to nurture the creativity of its students rather then diminish them. I couldn't agree more with his beliefs and his speech. In today's society school teachers have a curriculum they are instructed to follow and most stick directly to the plan, but ever student is different and has their own special skills in the classrooms.

If a teacher has a student that is slower in math or reading the teacher punishes the student by just giving more homework or continuous bad grades. This method isn't causing the student to learn anything new but it could have a negative impact on whether they are afraid to show another side that may be more creative. In my opinion this would diminish the student's will to want to continue being creative which could be avoided by teacher's paying more attention to their students inside and outside the classroom.

http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-teachers-vicki-davis

Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

This video shows how Vicki Davis has incorporated digital learning into the classroom. In this video she also announces that teachers do not have to know everything when they come up to educate their students. She also admits that her students have taught her a few things in the classroom also. I agree with Mrs. Davis about her views of teachers not knowing everything and not pretending to know everything to educate young minds. She also is using the digital world to link up with other countries which we could learn about their culture as they can learn about ours.

When I was learning words and numbers in elementary school, we had the old apple computers that had Oregon Trail, word muncher, and number muncher on it. This, in my oppinion, was the beginning of the digital learning proccess that has grown over the years and continues to grow in our school system. I very much support Vicki Davis and the other digital world teachers in everything they are doing for our kids to help them learn the subjects that are needed for everyday life while making it fun in the proccess.

Friday, August 27, 2010

About Me

My name is Chris Patrick but most of my friends know me as Boone. I am a 28 year old that graduated high school here in Mobile from Mary G. Montgomery in 2000 with an advanced diploma and was .03 points from having advanced with honors. After graduation I attended Auburn University as a Chemical Engineering student in which I was still young and played way too much. After Auburn I went to Bishop State Community College when 9/11 happened so after the school year I joined the US Navy. I spent 5 years in the Navy as an Aviation Electronics Technician stationed in Lemoore, Ca. Now I am back in Mobile working in the same field as a civilian at Mobile Aerospace Engineering (MAE).
My family is the biggest part of my life and is the main reason I am working full time and going to school full time. My mom and dad still live in Chunchula, AL, which is here in Mobile county, and my younger sister that graduated from USA Fall 2009 just moved to New Mexico for the school year. My wife is also in school, taking classes online through a school called Grand Canyon University. My daughter just turned one on August 17th and started daycare with a little brother due to arrive in January. My wife and soon to be two kids are the reason I am working so hard to make there lives more comfortable and to be able to give them anything they want.
My major is Secondary Mathematics and thinking back it should have always been my major but looking at the yearly incomes, engineering always looked better so for awhile I thought engineering was the way to go. I have taught math to kids since I was in the sixth grade. i would finish my work way before everyone else so the teacher had me and couple of other students go down to the younger classes and teach the slower learners math and science. I enjoyed knowing that I helped them students understand math so when I was in middle school I helped some of my classmates that were in lower level math classes pass there class. Then in high school things got more exspensive for me so I started tutoring elementary through high school math for 15 dollars an hour to make money. Well looking back at how much I enjoyed teaching and how much I enjoyed math I changed my major to Secondary Math because a carreer is not always all about the money.
In my free time I like to go snow boarding, when I am near snow, I like to deer hunt and fish, and I love the outdoors so I try to go to the beach, river or the mountains to hike anytime I can. Oh and I love to watch Auburn football, WAR EAGLE! If there is anything anyone wants to know about me feel free to e-mail me.