Week 3

Podcasts

Overview
This week I was asked to listen to six different podcasts via iTunes. Dr. Strange's objective is for his students to get a better feel for recording and presenting a podcast. By listening to others' podcasts, we are able to see what we like and dislike about their podcasts and what we might want to use in our future podcasts. Before this project, I had no clue what on earth a podcast was. Now, I can see where it might be useful in my future as an educator. I do not see yet where I can use it in a math class, but I do see how I can learn from it about Smartboards and possibly other educational media that is to come.

Summaries
On iTunes I found some interesting educational podcasts. I found the SMARTBoard podcasts very interesting because they seemed extremely laidback. The hosts, Ben and Joan, seemed extremely improvised and very social as they were humorous and did not have a boring monotone voice. Ben even ordered coffee as he was in the middle of recording his podcast, which shows podcasts do not necessarily have to be one hundred percent organized and uptight. This makes podcasts definitely seem less scary!

The Kidcast podcasts were absolutely amazing to me because they seem to possibly give kids a self-confidence that no one can take away. They also seemed a little less organized, but of course that is to be expected, as they are kids--not professionals! I never had this opportunity as a child, and I find it quite neat. The podcast by Dan Schmidt was very interesting because it was completely different from the SMARTBoard Lessons Podcast as it had no music at all. What I like about Dan is that he stressed how important he sees video podcasts even though his podcast was only audio. He was also quite different from Ben and Joan because he was more serious and seemed more organized.

From ConnectLearning, I listened to Episode 90, which is David Warlick talking to a group of educators about using podcasts in the library. It was quite interesting because it actually involves his audience as they ask questions and give their opinions on podcasts. David makes a point to say that we can take information in the classroom and make it available across space. This is excellent because students in other classrooms can even listen to these podcasts if they have a problem with how their teacher presents information. Sometimes students simply need a second person to tell them information before it "clicks." I honestly cannot tell you how many times I have watched videos of other professors teaching a particular subject just to see how they present it and see if it makes more sense a second time around. I like their opinion on students doing podcasts for younger students coming into the school and even better for parents moving to the area. This would make a school "jump out" to a set of parents so that they might make an educated decision on what school to enroll their child in.

The EdTechTalk Podcast seemed to be more of a group discussion. I honestly like the group discussions because you do not get bored listening to one person. I am more of a visual learner, so my mind drifts easily listening to one person talk forever--kind of like driving behind the same person on the interstate for long periods of time. In Episode 62 a few ladies were talking about their opinions on the iPod and iPhone. They made it interesting because they were all from different areas; one lady in the podcast was even from Australia. They interviewed the ladies in a very laidback setting, but it did seem as if the questions being asked were pre-planned. Even so, I thoroughly enjoyed the ladies conversations and thoughts.

MacBreak Weekly Episode 177 sounded like a news station reporting on the new Apple iPad. First they introduced everyone involved in the podcast then went directly to their topic. This podcast sounded very professional and insightful. I had no idea what the iPad is, but they describe it as an "experience" and a slightly bigger iTouch. Some of the people in the podcast had attended the premeire event of the iPad, and some had not. Apparently the iPad is an awesome tablet that many people are excited about using. Apple has produced some of the most amazing and useful applications for technology, and I am sure the iPad will be no exception!

This Week in Photography's podcast also had a news-like feel. I listened to Episode 126: Racisim in Photography-Don't Blink! I thought it was very interesting that this podcast had sponsors; that made it feel like I was listening to a News Radio. The gentlemen involved were photographers, and I thought it was quite interesting in the very beginning that they mentioned blogging. This showed me that blogging is definitely becoming more and more popular. Their topic was quite different than what I expected. They were referring to colors of cameras vs. their prices and claims that different races might blink so they have developed software to help with this.

Conclusion
I thought the selection of podcasts we were asked to listen to was a good variety. They made me realize what I like and dislike about the podcasts and what I might and might not do in my own. I think overall, it depends on how professional that particular podcast needs to be and what audience you are trying to reach. In the end, it all boils down to your audience and keeping them interested!


First Graders- Ms. Cassidy's class
Children never ever cease to amaze me! When I was in elementary school--barely over ten years ago--we read "big" books, which were over-sized books that we would individually record us reading for our class. Then our teacher would sit up front holding the book while the tape recorder played, and we listened to the student reading the book. It was quite neat, and in a way, I suppose it was an early form of media literacy. We definitely thought it was the coolest thing to do, and I could not imagine what we would have thought if we would have been reading on computers or blogging. Ten years and this is how far technology has advanced elementary classrooms! I cannot even imagine what another ten years will do or what these students will be doing by the time they are in high school!

Teachers who take the time to make sure their students are advanced should be applauded. They are lighting the way for their students' futures! These kids are our future and without teachers helping them realize their potential, they might just live an ordinary every day life. This is the generation that could make flying cars "the norm." We should be encouraging these children every chance we get, and it all starts in elementary classrooms over the world today! And what better place to start than in our own classrooms?!?

Baby Using iPhone
Let me begin by defining "baby." Webster defines "baby" as "an infant;" then he defines "infant" as "a beginner, as in experience or learning." If we think about the these definitions, shouldn't we realize the part that states they are beginners in experiences or learning? Babies are like sponges, and they take in absolutely everything they hear and see. Have you ever watched the movie "Baby Geniuses?" When I was younger, this movie seemed like a bit of a stretch when it comes to babies. Now I'm beginning to see this movie is becoming more and more possible.

When someone curses around a baby, most people say "Shh! Watch your mouth around the baby!" We censor everything that goes "in," so shouldn't we also look at what we are not letting come out? This baby using the iPhone was absolutely amazing! And because his parents gave him the chance to play with this phone, he was able to put it back out by using the different applications. This video should really make people think about their kids' capabilities. We could have the next Thomas Edison or Benjamin Franklin in our classrooms, so we should be prepared to the best of our capabilities so that they can shine to the best of theirs!

Week 2

Response to Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

Michael Wesch’s video “A Vision of Students Today” is honestly quite interesting. I believe Professor Wesch’s point is that teaching must be interesting. Students of our generation are easily bored stiff and ironically, easily amused. It is hard for most students to pay attention to a monotone professor of a topic they could care less about. Unfortunately, many college students are required to take classes that do not seem to pertain to their major, so they will find anything to do to pass the time. Computers are becoming more and more common in the classroom and in fact are proving to be both beneficial and a nuisance. Computers allow students to be more hands-on yet at the same time, they seem to give a student too much freedom in class. As the video showed, some students who bring their laptops to class are playing on a social network rather than doing any assignments that pertain to the class in which they are engaged.

Depending on one’s attention span, computers in a classroom can be either beneficial or detrimental to one’s education. I am a huge fan of the good old-fashioned chalkboard approach. A chalkboard makes the educator move, which keeps the students’ attention from settling on the desk in front of them. I know technology is an important part of our society today, and the size of its importance is growing rapidly every day. I am just not completely convinced that every classroom needs new technology every day. Believe it or not, some students get bored with using computers in every classroom. I am one of those students. I would rather have paper and pencil any day over watching a movie in class or going back and forth between a professor and a computer. Everyone learns differently, and it is our job as teachers to incorporate different learning strategies into our lessons for our different learners.

Response to "It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines

I completely one hundred percent agree with Kelly! I thought I was one of the few people who still believe teaching can be done the “old-fashioned way.” Teaching lies in the hands of the teacher alone—no matter how much technology is readily available. A teacher must be willing to try their hardest to explain the information to his or her students. I love Kelly’s analogy involving physics and teaching saying that if your students are not learning, you are not teaching. It absolutely amazes me how bad everyone relies on technology alone to be a teacher. It is hard to rely on technology alone whenever most people who are still in school today have incorporated technology in their schooling over a course of years. People of younger generations have the advantage that they started kindergarten with the use of technology.

As future educators, we should be more concerned with different techniques rather than different technologies. Techniques allow us to show our creativity and make our students use their imaginations. Technology incorporates imagination as well; however, I am not convinced it uses a child’s imagination to its fullest. An important thing to remember is everyone learns differently, and whatever technique works for one student may not work for another. This is why a teacher should know the material well enough to explain it in many different ways if needed. Overall, being a great teacher comes from imagination—not technology.

Response to “Is It Okay to Be a Technology Illiterate Teacher?” By Karl Fisch

First, Karl made some very good points in his blog. The main point: it is not “cool” to be technologically illiterate. Technology is becoming a huge part of society at a pace that is more rapid than ever before. Instead of people running and hiding from technology, we should be embracing it to see what it has to offer. Teachers should use technology if they believe it will be effective in their classroom. If a teacher does not believe in the technology themselves, how on earth can they expect their students to believe in it? This is why it is important for educators to “love to learn” as Dr. Strange says. And as Karl says, we should stop “jeopardizing the chances of our youngsters.”

Second, we need to wake up and realize we are in the twenty-first century. As Karl says, it is just as crucial to be technology literate as it is to be literate. If educators do not teach students to use technology in an effective way, who will? This means if we have the capabilities to use technology in an effective way in our classrooms, we should by all means do it. We should help the students make connections in new ways because by showing students different ways of putting information together, we are building bridges in their minds and preparing them to think differently. As a future math educator, I know on average, there usually exists about three ways to solve any type of problem and various ways to show a student how to do this—imagine the possible ways with technology at our fingertips! Once again, I will say it—we need to wake up and realize what century we are in and what tools are at our fingertips for the taking.

Response to “Social Media Count” by Gary Hayes

Wow, I love statistics. They always put data in such a different light and make it interesting to learn about different topics. Gary’s media count shows us that every second our world is becoming more and more technology literate. I thoroughly believe every school should have numerous computer classes readily available to students, and I believe high schools should make their graduates have a certain amount of computer classes passed before graduation. Social networks are growing and growing every day, and it almost leads us to believe that before long only a very minute amount of the population will not be logged into at least one social network. These networks are a super convenient way to keep in touch with classmates, family members, co-workers, and friends. It is almost unimaginable to even think about how many pictures and videos are uploaded to these networks every day!

Google, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube seem to be at the heart of Gary’s media count because these are probably the most used applications on the web. It is honestly hard to believe that just a few years ago, most people had dial-up internet where these applications were almost unusable. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube would have ran extremely slow on dial-up; we should know because they still have glitches due to an overload on their servers. It is hard to imagine what these statistics will look like for the next generation and what will be popular with them. Because of all these advances in technology, it is a necessity that educators jump on board and use these applications at home and if possible, in our classrooms. Technology is such a useful and powerful tool; we just need to figure out how to best use it.

Response to "Did You Know?" by Karl Fisch

"Did You Know?" by Karl Fisch puts a completely new perspective on our technological age. I've heard statistic after statistic before, but this video shows exactly how fast this new era is evolving. The video seriously sheds some light on the fact that America needs to catch up! I know America is not a third world country or anything similar, but out of the entire world, we ranked number nineteen for Broadband Internet Penetration with Bermuda being number one. I never realized Bermuda is this technologically advanced--much less that America is this far behind them. It is interesting to finally see that America is not on top of the world as many of us may think. Other countries are advancing very rapidly, and we should probably take the time to learn a thing or two from them.
I have also never realized that we are training and teaching people today for problems that do not even exist yet. It sounds absurd when we think of it this way, but our world is advancing at a pace that we can barely keep up! As a future educator, I will be expected to teach my students to "think outside the box" so that they will be leaders in solving these new issues of our world. This video shows how important it is that teachers be technologically literate; if we are not, who will teach future generations? I feel my generation has an advantage because we were born right when technology really started evolving. We might not know everything that younger generations know, but we are certainly better off than most people of the generation before us who had to teach themselves for the most part.

Response to "Mr. Winkle Wakes" by Matthew Needleman
Matthew Needleman's creativity with this video is absolutely amazing. The video shows Rip Van Winkle waking up from a one hundred year nap and traveling to a computer office, a hospital, and a school. The new technology at the office and hospital make him sick to his stomach because of all the machines . Finally he sees a school and goes inside; instantly he has a sense of ease. He remembers the school just as the school he once attended--it has not been invaded by the outside world's machines. Therefore, the school makes him feel right at home.
In high school I never noticed that our computers were not used for much more than a keyboarding class, a type of business class, or to write research papers on. The ugly truth, however, is that those were the only times we ever used a computer. At no time would we have ever used a computer for history, math, or science. When I entered a junior college, my mathematics professors used smart boards in their classrooms. This video opened my eyes to see that other classrooms were still using the same overhead projectors that I first encountered in the first grade. The sad part is I attended school at a five-star school with outstanding test scores. This now makes me wonder how much better test scores could have been if more technology would have been introduced.
This made me realize that I do not want my students, who will be highly technologically advanced, to be bored stiff in my classroom. To keep this boredom from occurring, I must implement some type of technology into my teaching strategy. Luckily, I am going to be a math teacher, and my math teachers in college are the only teachers I have ever seen use a smart board. They gave me much insight on the capabilities of these boards for which I will be forever thankful. At South Alabama I am glad that my education courses will be showing me how to use these new technologies because none of my other courses put any form of technology to use. This is information that will be forever valuable even though it will be outdated in a few years; learning it now will serve as a basis for new technology as it comes along.

Response to "The Importance of Creativity" by Sir Ken Robinson
Robinson believes schools are hindering the creativity of students in the sense that the schools' main focus is academics such as literature and mathematics. He believes students interested in music and art are being punished because it is not an academic subject. Unfortunately he is extremely right because the problem with most teachers is that they do not realize not every student is interested in their particular subject matter. Most teachers also do not realize students have more classes than that teacher's class. Robinson states we are given "the gift of human imagination" and we should "use it wisely."
It is hard to determine a correct median between academics and arts because some students are completely artistic and are not academically inclined whereas others are academically inclined and not artistically. It is our job as teachers to adapt our teachings to best fit both of these learning strategies as possible. This could include breaking our lesson up from being completely academic to involving something creative as well. This might put a teacher out of his or her comfort zone, but we must do what is best for our students.
Robinson talks about two interesting people in his video--William Shakespeare and Gillian Lynne. He makes a point to raise the question in our minds "What if their teachers had held them back?" William Shakespeare is one of the world's most famous playwrights of all times and made significant contributions to our English language. Gillian Lynne is the choreographer of the musicals "Cats" and "The Phantom of the Opera." Her mother took her to a therapist to see what was wrong with her, and after exiting the room and watching her dance to music, he told her mother, "Nothing is wrong with her. She is a dancer." If these two people would have been held back, we would not have been able to witness their wonderful works.
This video on creativity hits home in a sense. Brad Arnold, lead singer of Three Doors Down, went to the high school where I graduated form. Although I do not know Brad, I have heard stories form various teachers saying he used to write songs in their classrooms all the time, and they would tell him, "Put that up! You're not going to be a rockstar one day." If Brad would have listened to them, he might have become discouraged and never pursued his music career. Teachers really should watch how they word things to their students. Rather than saying, "That will never help you" or "You will never use that," we should say something similar to "This is not the time to be doing that. Let us get this work done first." This will not hinder the student from continuing his or her creativeness later on, but instead it will let them know they should do it somewhere else.

Response to "Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts" by Vicki Davis

This video shows a teacher in a rural town in Georgia who uses computers to connect her students to the world. They have avatars and interact with each other through a program and have to teach the class about this program. The idea is to make students think and give them an opportunity to learn outside of pencil and paper. The students use blogs to connect with people over the entire world. The idea of her program is interesting; however, I am not entirely convinced it is completely one hundred percent safe. I do not want to expose my students to people worldwide because this can be extremely dangerous.
I agree with introducing technology to your students to make learning fun and interesting. I understand that not every student is able to learn by pencil and paper as some students find this extremely boring and have a hard time concentrating--especially students who are more artistic than academically inclined. My problem lies with cyber-stalking. We hear parents, teachers, doctors, and many others talk every day about the dangers of social networks such as Myspace, Facebook, and chatrooms. The scary reality is at our world is full of people lurking to harm our children each day, and I do not want to expose my child or any other parent's child to this danger. We all know it is not hard to make a fake profile with a fake picture and fake information. Children are trusting individuals who do not always make the right choices when it comes to making friends on these networks.
I understand that it is important for our generations to be technologically advanced. However, if most of the information we learn is outdated in approximately two years, why is it important to teach our K-12 students blogging? For years I have been taught to be careful who I talk to on the internet and be careful what information of mine I allow others to view. I believe it is now hypocritical of teachers and parents to think it is all right for their students and children to talk to people worldwide. As a child, I was never allowed to talk to strangers in person or online, and I believe this is the way it should be. Until I am completely convinced it is one hundred percent safe, I will have a hard time allowing my children or students to be involved in online chatting with complete strangers.