Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff.Please? was a sarcastic post, in a good way to me! Dr. McLeod used plenty of irony when writing this post. He mentioned that there is cyber bullying, cheating, and predators online. He encourages them to continue the use of pen and paper, and not to rely on internet use. Basically, he is saying that everything that is going on in the internet world is not good. At the end of the post, it is like a slap in the face, because he says that he is letting his children do everything that he told the parents, teachers, and mentors not to let their kids do! His kids will be more advanced with the use of technology, while other kids will be behind.
The iSchool Initiative Seventeen year old Travis Allen is responsible for making a power point presentation on YouTube for the approach of what he calls the iSchool. in this approach, Travis Allen is convincing everyone to "Go Green", meaning that less paper will be used, classes would be smaller, less money will be spent, and the iSchool is accessible to students, teachers, and parents. Grades, lunch menus, and formulas for Math and Science are just a few of the things that are available on the iSchool. Students, teachers, and parents using the iSchool will be more technology literate. the fact that you can find almost anything on the iSchool is very important. More importantly, there is limited access to websites that are not beneficial to the use of schools, such as social networking. I think that this is a great approach and would like to see it used in schools effectively.
Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir Wow!! Is all that I can say after watching this video. It is amazing that one man can bring 185 people together to sing and perform 243 tracks, which one happens to be "Lux Aurumque". The people are from 12 different countries. Their voices are amazing and for them to have never seen one another in person is a bit shocking. This goes to show that internet use along with technology in general is rapidly expanding. ANYTHING is possible with the use of the internet and I think what Eric Whitacre put together was amazing. A big thank you to Jennifer Chambers for this video, I have never seen anything like this before.
Teaching in the 21st Century by Kevin Roberts was an eye opener. In this video he talks about how any questions can be answered anytime, anywhere by kids within a second from the use of the internet. As teachers, we need to understand that technology is not going anywhere and keeping up with it is a must! I know that students think this is the best approach, but we as educators need to realize that if we answer a question, and the students think that it is wrong, they will go to their main source, the internet. Internet use is not always reliable, and teaching kids how to search correctly and be able to support their findings will be a great help also.
Reading Rockets While viewing the website I came across an important fact that I did not have any idea of, which was "Did you know that learning to read is a challenge for almost 40 percent of kids? The good news is that with early help, most reading problems can be prevented. The bad news is that 44 percent of parents who notice their child having trouble wait a year or more before getting help.Unfortunately, the older a child is, the more difficult it is to teach him or her to read. The window of opportunity closes early for most kids. If a child can't read well by the end of third grade, odds are that he or she will never catch up. And the effects of falling behind and feeling like a failure can be devastating." I think this was important, because we as educators and even parents, have to notice a child's struggle, before it begins. There are tutors who could help, and engaging children in reading programs throughout the week would be beneficial.
I can remember growing up in a single-parent household, and my mom made sure that we were on track with our reading, as well as our other work. Before, we could go outside and play after school, or even watch TV, we were supposed to read a book, or make sure our homework was completed. In today's society, you do not see a lot of that going on. I feel that if we can go back to the old days and incorporate some of the things that we have learned or ways we were disciplined, the kids of today would be so much better than what they are.
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