Project #8 Podcast

Project #9

Blog Post #5

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?
By: Scott McLeod

In Dr. McLeod blog post, he lists all the stuff teachers or parents shouldn’t teach. He makes valid points why not to teach these things, but his post isn’t necessarily telling you not to teach them. At the end of his post he makes the comment how if you a teacher who doesn’t teach their students all the different technologies, then you will be setting your students decades behind all others. In my comment that I left to Dr McLeod, I shared how I think technology is rapidly growing and students need to know how to use it, so that they can have an understanding for it in the future. Yes like many others things out there, technology has it dangers, but that can be prevented and parents need to know how to do this. Parents shouldn't look at technology as the enemy and the reason why their child isn't doing well. Students need to be familiar with the different technologies and parents need to let them embrace technology, so it can help them in the future.

After doing some research on Dr. McLeod, I found out he is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Kentucky. He founded CASTLE, which stands for the Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education. It is the nation’s only academic center dedicated to the technology needs of school administrators. McLeod is also co-creator of the wildly popular video series, Did You Know? (Shift Happens). Also, he is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading academic experts on K-12 school technology leadership issues.


The iSchool Initiative
By: Travis Allen

In the video “The iSchool Initiative”, 17 year old high school senior Travis Allen discusses his solution to America’s education problem. His goes on to state how his high school is having massive budget cuts, how teachers are being let go, and class sizes are growing larger. Travis then goes on to show a PowerPoint that he hopes will answer the question, “Does technology belong in our classroom”. His PowerPoint begins with his idea for Americas future in education, “The iSchool.” The “iSchool” will be built on Apple’s popular iTouch platform. He goes on to explain how “iSchool” will save money. He shows many different applications on the iTouch that are classroom ready. He ends his PowerPoint by stating how with the “iSchool Initiative”, corporations, business leaders, and apple tech programmers can come together to revolutionize the education system.

I really enjoyed all the different applications that Travis showed during his PowerPoint. His whole presentation was well put together and he did a good job showing how his solution can save money. I like his idea to a certain extent. I do think that his solution can save money and help teachers communicate better with students and parents. I don’t seeing his idea happening anytime soon, but could see it happening in the future.


Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir
By: Eric Whitacre

When Eric Whitacre’s video started, I thought that it looked really cool that a group of people can get together and perform an awesome rendition of “Lux Aurumque.” Then I read how none of the people have met and/or knew each other. That makes the video that more amazing to me. For a group of strangers to come together to sing that amazing is really unique to see. Eric’s video also shows how far technology has come. For something so grand to be made over the internet is pretty cool.

Teaching in the 21st Century
By: Kevin Roberts

In Kevin Roberts video “Teaching in the 21st Century”, Kevin explains what he thinks it means to teach. He goes on to show how we need to encourage kids to be creative and support them in their future. Forcing information on them and expecting them is to remember is not the key. He wants student to want to engage in education and for them to have hands on experiences throughout their learning process. I agree with him and think that educators need to support them and encourage them every step of the way. As a future educator I want my students understand what they are learning and have fun.

My Sentence Video Project # 6

Blog Post #4

The Benefits of Podcasting in a Classroom

By: Joe Dale


In the video “benefits of podcasting in a classroom”, Joe Dale talks about why podcasting is helpful and useful in the classroom. He starts off with talking about kids that were born after 1980. He calls them “Millenial”. He states how these kids have never experienced a world that didn’t have personal computers and other technology. He believes that since innovative technology is a part of kids’ everyday life and podcasting is form of learning that they are familiar with. Podcasting allows for differentiation in the classroom and project based learning. It is also an effective way to interacting with students outside the classroom. He says for teachers to simply record a lesson and for students to simply play it back. A good example of why podcasting is useful in a classroom is when someone is out sick. If a student is out sick and you as a teacher don’t want them to get behind, then you can record your lecture and put it on iTunes for the student to download and listen to as a podcast. Dale then demonstrates how to upload a podcast.


I have never used podcasting and have to admit of not knowing much about it before I started EDM310. I like the list of benefits to a podcast and would want to incorporate them into my podcast. The reason being I would like to be able to talk about the advantages for the classroom when using podcast.


Practical Principal
By: Melinda Miller and Scott Elias


Practical Principles is a blog created by Scott Elias and Melinda Miller. Melinda Miller is an elementary school principal near Springfield, Missouri. She has been podcasting since May of 2007 and has conducted staff development training on podcasting for teachers in her district. Scott Elias is a middle school principal in Northern Colorado. He met Melinda through their mutual infatuation with Getting Things Done and appeared as a guest on her podcast in July of 2007. Scott and Melinda have been recording the Practical Principals podcast since the fall of 2007. They share a series of podcast that they created. The podcast are powered by FeedBurner and each podcast has a different topic and most are questions that teachers send in. They discuss the different tools and technology that is helpful in the classroom.

I think it is really cool that these two principles from different states came together to create podcast that have really interesting discussions in them. I would like to talk about the important tools and techniques I used creating the podcast in my podcast. They did a good job explaining them in their podcast and how they could be helpful. I would want to do the same for my listeners.


Eagles' Nest Radio and Class Blog


The “Eagles’ Nest Radio and Class Blog” is a blog where third graders post podcasts about what they are currently studying. The kids take turns creating a podcast about the subject they are currently learning. In the podcast titled “ Eagles’ Nest Radio episode #3: Roamin’ with the Romans” they kids discuss the Roman architecture, Julius Caesar, fierce gladiators, and Cleopatra. The podcast started with music and then went to the first student who said the introduction. The student spoke loudly and did a good job pronouncing everything correctly. After a student was done with his/her part they would pass to the next student. They did a great job staying on topic and giving as much information as needed.

The third graders who made these podcasts did an awesome job. The thing that I learned from their podcasts is how they a creative with them. They did so good talking about their subject that it felt like a story. I would want to be creative with me podcast and make it interesting, so my listeners were fascinated with it.

Project #5

Project # 3 C4T # 1& # 2 Summary

Grouping Students for Effective Learning

By: Mike Prater

In Mike Prater’s blog “Grouping Students for Effective Learning”, he discusses how grouping students can be effective in learning. He states how many educators don’t like to group students by their ability level. He believes that kids can learn one concept quickly and struggle with other. He goes on to discuss four critical questions that Ricky and Becky DuFour believe should guide the work of educators. They are:

1. What is it that we want students to be able to know and do?
2. How will we know when our students have mastered those outcomes?
3. How are we going to monitor progress toward those outcomes?
4. What will we do as a school when students don’t master the outcomes or need extended study?

I think those are great questions that every teacher should ask themselves. Prater also states how teachers need to give themselves time to evaluate each of their students. I agreed with Prater that teachers need more time to evaluate their students, so that they can see which students need more help. I also said how I think the student/teacher ratio is getting out of control and teachers get so overwhelmed that by the time they notice that a student is behind it could be too late.

Engaging in a Process of Formative Assessment
By: Mike Prater

In Mike Prater’s second blog “Engaging in a Process of Formative Assessment”, he discusses how important formative assessments are. Prater goes on to talk about the differences between formative and summative assessments. Summative assessment refers to the assessment of learning and summarizes the performance of students at a particular moment in time. Formative assessment, on the other hand refers to assessment for learning. He believes that formative assessments allow teachers to monitor their instruction and make decisions based on immediate student performance. In summary, educators must use a variety of tools to inform them about the level of learning of individual students and be ready to make appropriate adjustments. I believe formative assessments are great for teachers to use, because they can be used for students to practice and can help determine the next steps during the learning process as the instruction approaches the summative assessment of student learning.

Blog Post #3

It's Not About the Technology
By: Kelly Hines

In the article "It’s Not About the Technology", Kelly Hines discusses why learning in the 21st century isn’t about technology. While she believes that technology is important and something we need to have in the future, she thinks that there needs to be a new approach to teaching and learning. Hines list four things that teachers must recognize, so they can have more of an impact on their students learning. First on her list, is that teachers must be learners. She believes that teachers must be up to date with current trends, research, and tools. She also thinks that for teachers who want to be truly successful must be voracious and self-motivated in their pursuit of evolving understanding. Second on her list, she states how learning and teaching are not the same thing. Hines believes that it doesn’t matter how hard you teach, if a student doesn’t get it, then there was no effort put in. She states how teaching in the 21st century is going to be about working smarter and not harder. Third on her list, she states how technology is useless without good teaching. Basically, she means that technology is expensive and if you put it into the hands of teachers who don’t know how to use and or don’t then money is being wasted. Last on her list, Hines states be a 21st century teacher without technology. She believes that there are ways for teachers to have achievement in the classroom with little use of technology. Hines then goes on to state how if a teachers can find ways to prepare students with the capacity to be creative and innovative, those children will be well prepared to face the future.


I really enjoyed the whole concept of Kelly Hines article. Cause in reality, it’s not technology that teaches kids, its teachers. Yes technology can be helpful in the classroom, but like Hines stated, if a teacher doesn’t use it properly it is useless. I think some teachers should still use technology, but they don’t need to rely on it. I like the four things that Hines list for teachers to recognize to have a better impact on their students. Teachers do need to be learners. They need to be open to new ideas and pay attention to their students and fellow colleagues, cause they could learn something new. I think that Kelly Hines wrote an a great article and made excellent points.

Is It Okay To Be Technological Illiterate?
By: Karl Fisch

“Is It Okay To Be A Technological Illiterate?” is a blog written by Karl Fisch, that talks about how teachers should have an understanding for technology. Fisch goes on to talk about how technology is something has been building and it isn’t going away. He explains that teachers need to be familiar with technology and if they aren’t, then they need to embrace it. He states how twenty years ago it was okay to be technological illiterate, but it is getting harder today to be technological illiterate today. He believes it will get harder for people to find jobs if they aren’t technological literate.

I agree that today people will have a hard time finding jobs if they don’t embrace technology and know how to use it. Technology has grown through the years and today is some form of technology is used in just about every job today. I like the quote that Fisch said, “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.” I agree that times have changed and teachers need to be technological literate. That doesn’t mean that technology will teach their students, but it will assist them and help prepare their students for the future.

Social Media Counts
By:Gary Hayes

Gary Hayes “Social Media Count” is a fascinating blog that shows how much social media is used daily. The figures that are posted are insane. For example, it blows my mind that in just five seconds hundreds of people are joining facebook. Just watching his gadget for a couple seconds and watching the numbers speed by is crazy. Its hard to imagine that just a couple years ago some of these social media sites didn’t exist. It makes you wonder what will be the next big site.

Social media has come a long way. I like to think that social media at first was just used for fun and wouldn’t be used in the classroom. I think that now many teacher encourage their students to sign up for the different social medias. The different social medias out there are a great way for students to communicate with each other and help each other out. As a teacher, I would want my students and myself to keep up with the different social medias and the different technologies out there.

Michael Wesch:A Vision of Students Today
By:Michael Wesch

The video “A Vision of Students Today” with messages written all over a classroom. It then cuts to a classroom full of students that don’t look very motivated. They start holding up signs that say what they are really doing and what they are really learning. The signs state important facts, like the students’ goals, their dreams, and where they hope to be.

I think that this video is very much reality. Time and time again you see students pay more attention to their phone or their computer then their teacher. I think it can be hard for students who are in large classes and teacher is trying to teach as much as she or he can. I’m not saying it’s the teachers fault, I just think class sizes can get out of hand and it is hard for teachers to keep up with a large class. I think school boards need to make classes need to get smaller and students can get more attention individually and hopefully that could help motivate them.

Blog Post #2

1. Did You Know? 3.0
 By: Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod
      
      In this five minute video, you will see how technology went from not being a necessity to almost everyone using some form of technology in their life. It shows how technology has grown and how it will keep growing. I love how in this video you see how much technology has grown just within the past couple of years. It shouldn’t be a surprise that technology has grown so much, because while the human mind grows, new ideas and inventions will be made. I also found interesting all the different stats the video gave.
      I think that children should keep up with the growing technology out there, because one day they are the future and will need to be able to keep up with things. There was one stat where it stated that the top ten jobs in demand did not exist in 2004. That stat sums up how the world is changing rapidly and children need to know all the different forms of technology to keep up with it. Like the video stated, we are preparing kids for jobs that don’t exist yet. They will need to be prepared to use technologies that haven’t been invited yet to solve the problem. I believe that children should be familiar with certain technologies to help them better in the classroom.


2. Mr. Winkle Wakes
   By: Matthew Needleman    
       
        Mr. Winkle is an old man, who wakes from a long slumber. He goes out to explore the world he just woke up in. He was immediately confused by this new world. He saw things he couldn’t explain, like small screen where people can talk to each other and see each other. Mr. Winkle saw weird machines that printed things out and made weird noises. Mr. Winkle felt sick in the world he woke up in and went the hospital. He then saw even more machines that scared him. He finally went to a school where everything seemed familiar to him. Things seemed familiar to him, because everything was like he remembered. Students sat in rows and listened to a teacher go on about different subjects. There was one machine that Mr. Winkle saw that looked like one he saw before, but it was dusty and turned off.
         This video shows how much the world relies on technology and it is important to have an understanding for it. Technology is everywhere we go. It’s at the doctor’s office, it’s at the dentist office, it’s at restaurants, it is used everywhere. The video points out how it’s at schools, but not necessarily used. I think that it is important that technology is used at schools. Kids are the future and need to have an understanding of it.


3. Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
    By: Ken Robinson
         
         In this video Sir Ken Robinson talks about the importance of human creativity. He believes every human is creative and has a vast interest in education. He states how every child has a tremendous talent, but we squander it. He believes that creativity is just as important to education as literacy. He then tells a story about his son being a play and how one boy messed up his line and even though he didn’t say it right and still tried. The point to the story is the kids might not get something right, but they will still try. This story shows how creative kids can get. After telling his story, Robinson goes on to talk about how kids lose the ability to be creative and go on to be adults who are scared to be wrong. He then goes on about how we are running education systems where mistakes are the worst to make. Robertson goes on state how he doesn’t understand why the arts aren’t taught everyday like math and English. He finishes talking about how intelligence is diverse, dynamic, and distinct.
          I agree with Robinson on why creativity is important. I think many kids who are very creative grow up thinking they are not. They don’t have the support from the school like they should. If kids don’t get that support, they will just grow up thinking they aren’t creative. I also think parents should also show their support in creativity. I liked Robertson story about his son’s play. Even though the boy knew he was wrong he still took a chance. I do think lot’s of adults don’t like being wrong and won’t admit to being wrong. Schools need to let kids express their creativity more, instead of not at all.


4. Cecelia Gault Interviews Sir Ken Robinson
    By: Cecelia Gault
      
        When Cecelia asks Sir Ken Robinson about how education should change to meet the needs of the 21st century, he stated that first the curriculum in school needs to change. He then said how there needs to be a balance between the arts and science. He also believes that schools need to make better use of technology. Lastly, he believes there needs to be a stronger link between the school and the community. Robertson then goes on talks about the three myths of creativity. The first one is that not everyone is creative. Robinson states how he believes everyone is creative. The second myth is that you don’t have to be creative with certain things, that you be creative with all things. The third myth is that you are creative or you are not. He states how people can be taught to be creative.
         I agree that with what Robinson said about how our education should change. I think that schools should have a better balance between the arts and science. Also, I agree that there should be a stronger link between every school and community. I think it is important that communities support their school more than just attending a football game. They should attend more art shows or play put on by schools. Technology is also important for school to meet the needs of the 21st century. Teachers need to incorporate all the things mentioned by Robson. I know that when I have a class, I will support them in every way possible.


5. Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

        Vicki Davis is a small town teacher, who teaches her students how to use all different types of technology. She wants her students to have a better understanding of technology and hopefully use it to connect to the world. She states how every student has the ability to learn. She attends meeting in different counties to try and spread what she is teaching. She wants her students’ to understand the technology they use. Vicki states how some teachers need to know everything before they teach and how that is wrong. Davis and follow teacher Julie Lindsey are the founders of Digi Teen and the Flat Classroom Project. Davis wants her students’ to be connected to the world.
         I think Vicki Davis a great example of what more schools need. They need more teachers who get their students’ connected to the world. Students need to have a better understanding of how to use certain technology. They need to be familiar with it. I like her flat classroom project that she created. I wish that had that in high school. There were certain programs that I didn’t know how to use and wish that someone would have taught me. I think more schools should have a class that shows students how to use technology.