Blog Post #5

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?

Dr. McLeod brings up some interesting facts about the internet and how parents, teachers, and administrators feel about it. It is interesting that he brings up a lot of information about social media but doesn't talk too much about the educational tools that exist on the web. This may be where the disconnect lies for the parents, teachers, and administrators today. As a parent, I have seen all of the negativity and harmful things that are out there “in the cloud". But as a student and young adult, I can see the benefits of this new technology in the classroom now and in the future. We must somehow bridge the gap that exists between the understanding of technology uses in the classroom and the negativity that surrounds the “net”. Dr. McLeod infers that the children whose parents, teachers, and administrators will be lacking in the future. Is this really the case?

I don't believe it is and therefore don’t totally agree with Dr. McLeod. I see this "Net" generation much differently than those of the past. The parents, teachers, and administrators don't understand the technology as much as their children do and are therefore reluctant to try to explain this technology to their children. The children now know more than the parents, teachers, and administrators and this can be frightening and frustrating for those seemingly in power. This is what the kids of the net generation know and want to learn and because of this, they will go out of their way to learn it. Regardless of what parents do or don't, these children will find a way to stay abreast of the new technology and keep up with the world. The parents, teachers, and administrators will unfortunately be the ones left behind.

So, what parents need to do is try their best to keep up with the changing technology (although I believe they will continue to be behind the “Net” generation). What can they lose? They will appear smarter (to their children) and their children will be able to communicate with them better and they will understand their children. A good parent, educator, and administrator should always have the best interest of the children at heart. The children want to be successful so why should we hold them back. Let them spread their wings and fly. Who knows what the future will hold?

On the EDM310 class blog Dr. McLeod said "I think the challenge for us is that many teachers or parents don't know that much about the positives or negatives of the Internet. They don't really understand the larger societal things that are happening b/c of the Web. Nor are they proficient users of many of the tools their children are using." This is exactly what I have been trying to say and he couldn't have stated it any better. He also posted this comment from Don Tapscott "This is the first time in history when young people may know more than adults about something that's important." and asked us to think about that for a minute. The adults know this and that is why some of them will try to keep their children in the dark. The worst part is they don't realize that it won't work and in the future their children will be more apt to keep them in the dark about what they really know and have seen.

Dr. McLeod is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Kentucky and the Founding Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE). He has received several honors including: being named as a Leader in Learning by the cable industry; an Emerging Leader by Phi Delta Kappa International; and one of the National School Board Association’s 20 To Watch. He was the first untenured faculty member to ever receive the University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development’s Distinguished Teaching Award and he received the William J. Davis Award in 2002 for the best research article of the year in Educational Administration Quarterly. Source: Dr. McLeod's Biography

The iSchool Initiative

In Travis Allen's iSchool Initiative Video, Travis brings up several good ideas related to the iTouch as it was then. He wants to launch an initiative where the iSchool is the idea of the future. He shows us all of the applications including the calendar, star walk, formulae, graphing calculator, and recorder (just to name a few) that are available for use in the iClassroom. All of these tools are very useful and powerful to an educator that wants to have access to their classroom at any time. Why wouldn't a teacher want to be able to see and know who was in the classroom on a specific day and compare that information to the test scores received? Why go out and buy all of the additional materials when you don't need to because they are available at the iSchool? These applications exist on the iTouch and thus will be available in the iSchool.

The classics, where you can access any book and read the chapter you want to read, is another amazing tool that is available on the iTouch along with iHomework. The technology is there and teachers just have to want to learn how to use it and use it in their classrooms. Too much work? Maybe. Toward the end of Travis' presentation he brought up how the iSchool would have customizable classrooms and how the internet availability in the iSchool would be for educational purposes only. He also mentioned that it would save the schools $600 per student because the iSchool would only be about $150. While all of this is great, how does he propose to do all of this and who will be responsible for the classrooms? He mentions business professionals, associations, and Apple iTouch programmers. The problem with this is they know what is best for business but not necessarily education. The teachers collaboration with the business professionals, associations, and iTouch programmers can only help make his initiative a true success. But, will the teachers adapt to this new technology? The concept is great, the savings are there, but will it make teachers and students lazy or better learners? Stay tuned to the iSchool Initiative to find out.

Travis launches iSchool initiative and from there he is able to recruit students to spread the word about the iSchool. I believe the benefits of his initiative far outweigh the cost of the way education is today. And with the US focused on education reform, the government should back the initiative and make it something that every teacher and student is able to access. This young man did something that needed to be done about 10 years ago and now is being heralded as "The Mark Zuckerberg of Education" by Larry Jacobs - President Education Talk Radio. I won't take it that far, but he has made the entire world think about education in a different way and I believe people are now starting to believe that something like this can really be done.

Technology has become a way of life for most Americans today. Most people won't leave their home without their cell phone. They won't go throughout the day without at least one text or phone call being made. So, if we have the smart phones and people are likely to use them, let's use them for good. Education is a start and who knows where we can go from there. Congratulations to Travis for this concept but it should have been thought of long before the rest of the technology that exists today. We have to put the education of our youth at the forefront of everyone's mind because they truly are our future.

Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir

My first and utmost reaction to Jennifer's post and this use of technology is WOW!!! This is truly dynamic, inspiring, and mind-blowing!!! Eric is a musical genius. The music sounds great and the way he displays all of the singers is amazing. The display in some of his other videos is purely a work of cinematographic genius. The vision he had to put all of this together can only have come from God. A world united is what I call this and I can't believe that I have had the opportunity to experience something so beautiful. Look at this technology in use. It is not all bad and I believe that if we try harder we can see all of the benefits of the internet and modern technology. Again, WOW and a big thank you to Jennifer Chambers for bringing this marvelous work to our attention. I invite people to watch Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir 2 perform "Sleep" which encompasses over 2000 people in 58 countries. It is also truly amazing.

Teaching in the 21st Century

Roberts wants educators to understand that to "teach" in the 21st century means you need to know what information is out there "in the clouds" and be able to help students learn. You can no longer be just the information provider, nor should you have ever just been the information provider, but now you need to be the understanding voice that students go to. You need to be the one that can explain why things are the way they are. The main point of his video is reasoning. If you can teach a student how to reason, they will be able to do just about anything else they need to do. This means that they will be able to justify any action they take or word they say. If a student understands what reasoning is and how to do it, they can better decipher the information they come across and make better decisions because of it.

Roberts sees teaching as an engaging experience for the students and teachers. I believe this is what students need to be successful anyway. If they are engaged, they feel a sense of accomplishment when they know something has been done the correct way. They see that the teacher cares about their work and the student cares too. This will also help the students as adults. An engaged worker usually has a strong work ethic and produces quality work. Not only do they produce quality work, they know they are held accountable for deadlines because they are engaged in the process and tend to be very efficient with scheduling. So, engaging students not only helps them in school but it will also help them in life and they will ultimately be successful.

If Roberts is correct, which I believe he is, I will have to definitely be technologically literate (to start) and be able to guide my students in any way that they want to go. Teaching will not be just going up to the chalkboard (past) and righting information on the board and making sure students get it. It will mean that I will be using things like Smartboard and allowing students to find websites and explore these websites to help them get a better understanding of the material. I will have to help the students better understand why they are learning the material and be able to explain how this information will help them in the future. A lot of students don't realize how the information they have learned will actually help them on a daily basis. As a teacher in the 21st century there will be a bigger emphasis on "why do I need this?" and we need to be able to explain how it will help. The technology that exists today will be obsolete in 5 years and the children may come into the classroom with all of the information they need for the year. The problem and solution for the teacher is being able to keep up and making sure the students know why you are there. The answer is to help them make better decisions by providing life skills. The information is needed but what you do with the information is what will make you successful.