Saturday, February 5, 2011

Blog Assignment 3


Technology

A Vision of Students Today by Michael Wesch:

     Some parts of this video do capture my college experience. I have paid hundreds of dollars for textbooks and never used them; I will be over $20,000 in debt after I graduate; I do spend countless hours on the phone, sending emails, surfing the web and studying. There are problems in the world today that I did not create that are still my problems.

     However, it does not capture my college experience in that I do not sit around and fret over the negatives. I know that my college experience is leading me to a great place. I know that despite the massive amount of debt I will be in thanks to student loans, I am very fortunate to even have the opportunity to attend college so I am trying to make the very best of it.

It's Not About the Technology by Kelly Hines:

     I absolutely loved this! She is exactly right, teachers must be learners. Teachers have to have a desire and a willingness to continue to learn throughout their entire career in order to remain an effective teacher. Times are constantly changing and new technology is rapidly evolving. Also, learning has to be the goal of every teacher. A teachers can teach all day long, but if the students aren't actually learning, well then the teacher's job has not been done.  

     In addition, technology can be a very efficient tool in education. This can only happen though if a teacher is adequately trained and familiar with it. Like Mrs. Hines said, "when we put innovative tools in the hands of innovative teachers, amazing things can happen. If you put these tools in the hands of teachers who are not willing to innovate, money has been wasted." She couldn't have said it better!

Is it Okay to Be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher? by Karl Fisch:

     I agree with Mr. Fisch in that it is not okay for teachers to be technologically illiterate. When you live in a time when things are advancing as quickly as they are this day in age, you have to keep up with times in order to be effective. And, if you are dedicated to being a lifelong learner, well then you probably won't succeed as an educator in today's ever changing times.

     However, I do not agree with him and his statement that "School inspectors that are technologically illiterate should be encouraged to find alternative employment." I do not think that is fair. School systems should offer and require technology classes for teachers in order to keep them up-to-date with times and technology. They may not use all of it in their classrooms, but they still need to know it exists and be familiar with it.

Social Media Count by Gary Hayes:
     This social media counter, to me, means that I am definitely going to have to be a lifelong learner. I am going to have to stay up-to-date with all technology if I want to really be able to reach my students. I may not use all of it in my classroom, but I think it will definitely be beneficial to at least know the basics of it all just in case an opportunity ever arises for which I would need it.

3 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed reading your blog, I agree with you that as a teacher you do have to be a lifelong learner because things will always be changing around you. With any career this is true but especially with education because it is time for a change.

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  2. I agree with you. Technology is hard to keep up with and there are problems in the world that we, as students, did not create but in the long run the trouble will have been worth it. I believe as teachers, our jobs involve so much more than teaching the basics. We will be touching the lives of children. It's time for this generation of teachers to understand and "deal with" technology.

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  3. We should be more than ready to understand and deal with technology, we should be finding out what the kids are interested in, and use their interests to teach our objectives! Technology makes this easier than ever! Why do you think I say this about technology making it easier than ever?

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