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.