January 17, 2010

Did You Know 3.0 by Karl Fisch

I found this video to be a complete eye opener. The world of technology is moving so fast that sometimes people do not realize the magnitude of the advances. The past decade has gone by so fast, and the changes have been so grand that sometimes it is all a blur. We live in a bubble marked by the boundaries of our sheltered minds. More often than not, we think that our country is the only one in this planet; when in reality we are only a small percentage. There are countries as the video showed who are far more advanced, but they are just not as widely publicized. I think this video should be a requirement to be seen by many Americans who do not realize that one day there will be a computer smarter than the human brain or that China will be the number one speaking country.

Mr. Winkle Wakes by Matthew Needleman

This is a story that I read in high school, and I actually enjoyed very much. I love to see the concept of the story use to portray such an important message. I think our world has caught on to the fact that technology has become part of our daily lives and that it will remain this way. Schools are very slowly catching up to this concept. The way education has been approached has been the pretty consistent for many years, so school are slow to adapt to the new ideas. I believe that there is no room for this. Schools need to incorporate technologies as early as they can. This is vital for people to survive in the world we live in. It is more than just teaching kids how to use word processors to write papers. This video represents just that because it shows how little the education system and schools have changed in our constantly changing world.

The Importance of Creativity by Sir Ken Robinson

Sir Robinson in a very charismatic way makes a very important point. People should be allowed and encouraged to be creative. When we are kids school is all about drawing colorful pictures and making art out of learning the alphabet. As our education progresses this becomes rare, and it is usually limited to art class. Which is usually ruled by boundaries and students are told how to express themselves. Subjects like math, sciences, and histories are deemed core classes, which are required and very much on top of the hierarchy of importance. Just as, Sir Robinson says, " we are educated out of our creativity." The best works of arts, songs, and dances most often come from mistakes, and this is when our creativity is in full swing. Schools very early on teach us that making mistakes is not acceptable. Our world is filled with people that are afraid of being wrong; therefore, they do not let themselves be free. I believe that this video is very important for future teacher especially those of young children. Schools should encourage their students to be creative and explore whatever talents they may have. We would not want to tell the next Picasso to put the paint brush down?

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts by Vicki Davis

This video brings up a very good point because most of the kids that are in classrooms right now are growing up in a world of computers. Which means that all of the will not be stimulated to learn by pencil and paper. This idea seems to be more outdated as more and more assignments are posted on the internet or require a computer. Most kids in school are now required to have a computer or must have access to one. She is trying to use all the technologies that are available to us to give her students new ways of learning. The use of all this different technologies gives students important problem solving sources.