Blog Post 4

1. Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff: I absolutely loved this article. So many people are against teaching children to use technology; because, they are unsure of how to properly use it themselves. Yes there are hazards to online use, but that is why you monitor your child. I for one completely agree with the author in the sense that his children will definitely have a "leg up" in the future.

2. The iSchool Initiative: This high school student was very bright in his idea to form this "ischool". His basic idea is to eliminate many everyday items from our schools such as: paper, pens, pencils, books, etc and replace them with technology. To be more specific, he thinks we chould replace them with an itouch. He argues that there are currently enough apps available to have the ischool ready now.
I have mixed feelings on this plan. I like the idea of replacing many costly items with easy and cheaper technology. I also like the idea of being more environmentally friendly. I do however think there are some things that are still useful in a less modern classroom. I had a class last semester that only had an online book. The book was hard to maneuver and much harder to study. I couldn't highlight or mark pages as easily as I can with a tangible book. Of course this was just my personal experience with these online books; I am sure some people thought they were more useful.

3. The Lost Generation: As corny as it may sound, this video actually gave me chills. I completely agree that if our generation continues to let things happen the way that they are now, that our future may be dim. The idea that we can kill some of the current social norms and bring society back to what it should be gives me much hope. I found it so interesting how she read the entire thing backwards and it gave a completely different thought. This was one of my favorite videos so far.

4. Virtual Choir: Wow! I was amazed by this. For anyone who has ever been in a choir, you already know that it is difficult to create this kind of harmony in person. This was just amazing. The use of technology made this video come to life creating a very successful and beautiful song.

5. Teaching in the 21st Century: There were some deep thoughts throughout this video. To me, teaching in the 21st century means so much more than teaching in the "olden days". There is so much more to teach kids now. Yes kids of this generation are generally exposed to technology outside of school, but they do not know how to properly use many things. We as teachers shouldn't just expect kids to know how to use technology. It is our job to teach them. I liked some of the points that were brought up such as the idea that we do not need to just regurgitate classical learning to our students. We need to teach them something new!