Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?
This post was written by Dr. Scott McLeod who is an associate professor of educational administration at Iowa State University and also a co-creator of the Did You Know? video.
My point of view from this article is that he is being witty and sarcastic but at the same time making good points that there are harmful things on the Internet for children. However, I believe that it is completely acceptable for children to surf the web. Yes, there are sites that children should stay away from but there are also so many more benefits to outweigh the negatives. I have been using the Internet since I was in grade school, myself. Nothing bad or harmful ever happened to me or my friends so I believe that becoming technologically literate at a young age is for the best. Like, Dr. McLeod said that the end, "can't wait to see who has a leg up in a decade or two."
The iSchool Initiative
The iSchool initiative is this idea to take the technology that we already have from the iTouch and use it to for just about anything used in the classroom. The vast applications range from history and science subjects to being able to take notes, e-mail and have a calendar. It would be able to save thousands of dollars in the school systems because books would not have to be purchased and printing cost could go down. In addition it is also a way of "going green." We could salvage our natuarl resources with less paper being used.
In my personal opinion, I think that it is a great idea. However, I do not believe that it is very feasable right now. Since the technology is so new, I believe that many school boards and parents would have concerns about it. For instance, what about children in special education classes? These children already have a difficult time keeping up with the rest of the class. I think that this is something else that would hold them back even further. Maybe not educationally, but most definitly in a social sense.
Lost Generation
This video was somewhat depressing. I had never considered myself apart of this "Lost Generation," of given much thought to what people say about my generation. True, society as a whole is changing and people say that my generation is not going to take time to make it any better. But, I don't but into this. I think that our generation can have a postive impact. Who is to say that we don't want the same things that people had in generations before us? In this video the words were scrolling down the screen but, as it ended they went back up in the positive direction. So, I have left this video with a positive outlook on my generation because I know that we will make a difference for the better.
Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir
Wow! I have never seen or imagined anything like this! It is amazing how technologies are able to do this. The programs that we have for computers today are absolutely phenomenal and mind boggling. This group of people sounded like a professional choir but I think that it is truly the talent of Eric Whitacre that should be appreciated. To say the least, this video was fascinating!
Hey Kellie! I enjoyed reading all of your posts and they got me thinking in ways that I had not been thinking before. I really liked the idea of the iSchool, but I did not even think about how special education students would do with it. It is true that they need extra help in the classroom and this might simply present them with another challenge. About Dr. McLeod's post, I feel that it is very important to protect our students from the dangers that may come from the internet. While it is a very useful teaching and learning device, technology can also prove to be a problem for some young people. We all know that bad things have happened through the internet, but I agree with your statement that the positive impact can outweigh the negative. I think that as long as we, as teachers, warn our students and teach them how to stay out of danger with technology, things will be okay for the students for the majority of the time.
ReplyDeleteYes, the iSchool would have some interesting political hurdles to overcome before most school boards would adopt it. But there are some that are already trying similar problems. And then there is EDM310!
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