Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today
A Vision of Students Today addresses the many problems college students face daily. From buying expensive books to being only a face in the crowd to their teachers, college is stressful. This video captures my college experience exactly as if they took a snapshot of my life. In order to attend USA and stay on campus, I have Financial Aid and even loans, therefore, I can relate to one student expressing that their in $20,000 debt. In addition, I can relate to having a huge class size. In Biology 101 and 102, it was at least 80 students to one teacher. Since it was a massive amount, we never learned actively; only took down notes.
Also, I would like to add to this video a few extra details about college. Non campus students may want to attend class everyday, but may not have transportation. However, if they do have a car, gas adds to the finances of a computer, books, and lab fees. Therefore, it's a plus to have the technology needed for a particular class offered in an abundance from the college. For instance, EDM310 has a lab filled with all the technology we need in order to pass the class. As a result, no student shouldn't fail and college will be less stressful.
"It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines
Today, many people believe that technology is the key to improving students' learning. This belief is true, however it takes technology and teachers in order to be effective. Kelly Hines expresses that yes we need computers, iPods, wireless internet, blogs, and wikis to fulfill the curriculum. However, teachers need to remember four things to leave a positive impact on their students. I will definitely remind myself of her "four things" throughout my years of teaching.
First instance, she mentions that teachers must be learners. We should be up to date on current tools, research, and trends. I totally agree Kelly Hines because I had a teacher that had a chalkboard and a dry erase board. Guess what? She only used the chalkboard. It was like she was frighten to become accustom to new tools. Lastly, I'll never forget her explanation of why learning and teaching is not the same thing. We should remember that if a student has not learned, no teaching has been done.
Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?
Karl Fisch is a blunt teacher who doesn't care what others think. I like this quality about him because he keeps it "real." In his blog, he expressed his thoughts about technologically illiterate teachers. Firstly, I like the fact that he addressed that more and more people are ignorant about technology. They'll admit they don't know how to utilize it.Yet, they are content with this disgrace. Sadly, they aren't even willing to make an effort to learn about technology that will help improve their social and economic status.
Karl Fisch really hooked me into his post when he made a comparison. Many years ago, people received citizenship and more economic success due to knowing how to read and write. Just as today, students will be more successful economically if they are technologically literate. Therefore, I feel teachers shouldn't be hired or rehired if they aren't technologically literate. Indeed, we must remember being a teacher is a life long learning process.
Gary Hayes Social Media Count
When first arriving on the page, Gary's Social Media caught me by surprise. For a few minutes, I scrolled up and down the page, searching for a video or a post filled with opinions and little facts. However, I found a blog with tons of facts and numbers changing constantly. This blog is simple, yet it can bring many teachers to reality about their career. Basically, social media counts and we need to hop on board before it leaves us behind.
Gary's count displays the massive, on going growth of every social media known to mankind at the moment. It displays Facebook,IPhones, IPhone apps,You Tube, Twitter, and the list goes on. You see when our students arrive to class, most likely they will own an account with these medias. As a result, it's up to us to stay up to date. It's up to us to have lessons that require the usage of these medias as Dr. Strange does. By doing this, we will grasp our students' interest.
Hey Sherrele,
ReplyDeleteWow, very powerful blog post! I can tell that you are getting alot out of this class and will do well because you can already see a lot of important points, like the fact that students today already use social media in their own personal lives so that teacher who is too afraid of change to even give the dry-erase board a chance will probably not only bore them, but hold them back. I think a lot of people are afraid of technology because it will mean that teachers will become obsolete and no longer needed, but this is so untrue! Technology has allowed us to achieve a lot of great things but where would any of us be without those few teachers who knew what they re doing, who kept our attention, who challenged us, and who saw things in us that we might not have been able to see in ourselves? I also think it is sad the number of students who completely agree, as you did, that their college experience prior to EDM310 has been just like that of the students in MIchael Wesch's video, A Vision of Students Today. I hope you enjoy this class being different from all others! Come back and see us in the lab!
Carly
"...we never learned actively; only took down notes." Oh my. And you had to pay for that?
ReplyDelete"First instance, she mentions that teachers must be learners." Learning never ends. Keep at it!