Google Presentation

Blog Post #6

1. The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler
The Networked Student is a movie by a high school student that shows how students can now learn by using technology and networking. They explore and learn by building their own PLN or personal learning network. Although I think this is a good idea and may work for some, I do not fully support this learning initiative.
As a future educator, I would not want to use this technique as a child's sole source of learning. There is no textbook used and barely any need for a teacher. The student seems to be fully responsible for what they decide to learn and include in the PLN. This is fine but I think this technique would be better used as a supplemental form of teaching and learning. I do not understand the point in learning how to become an affective teacher, only to teach students how to manage information online. Maybe I just do not fully get the entire concept of a student being networked, but from what I see, I do not like it.
As stated before, I can see this being used as supplemental instruction. In addition to using a textbook and the traditional way of teaching and learning, students could be responsible for a PLN to keep the information fresh and updated. This could maybe be a project grade for a student, but do not think an entire semester should be filled with this type of instruction. It seems kind of similar to Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class, and this is definitely not a good way for me to be taught or learn things. I can imagine younger students struggling with the concepts of managing a PLN.
2. A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment
I liked this video much better than the previous one. It shows the PLE from a student's point of view and makes it seem more appealing. I would love to have everything for Dr' Strange's class all in one place like the student has all of her work instead of having to go to several different pages and shared documents to find assignments.
3. Smartboards
The two blog posts that we had to read were against using Smartboards in the classroom beacuse they are "basically useless". These two bloggers have valid reason for being against using smartboards in classrooms but I found some that make the opposite argument. The link is http://www.waukeshaschools.com/WIT/smartBoard/benefits.htm. The main downside to using the boards is that they are expensive and have no real meaningful purpose. The upside is that they are more attention grabbing for students and allow teachers to present lessons in a new way.

Blog Post #4

1. Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please? By Scott Mcloed
I agree with Dr. Mcloed's point of view in this blog post. Children should be taught to efficiently use today's available technology to their advantage. Parents should first educate themselves and get acquainted with blogging and social networking, etc., then proceed to educate their children. Parents should not be afraid of what ills of the world the internet may expose their children to, but be more afraid of the vast amount of knowledge they are missing out on. It will benefit them in the long run.

2. The ischool Initiative
In this video, a high school senior claims that using iSchool is a solution to our country's education problems. The i School initiative is a program that eliminates all school textbooks, paper, pens, calculators, and other miscellaneous materials by using classroom ready apps on an iTouch, thus cutting a school's education cost per student. It allows students, parents, and teachers to all be more connected and aware of what's going on in the classroom on a daily basis.
I personally think this initiative is a great idea. It is a wonderful way to save money and the environment. It also allows parents to be more involved in student learning because it gives them an easier way to keep up with their child's progress. In a world where most people already have either an iTouch or smartphone glued to their hand, this program would be perfect for schooling. The question is, how do we get most schools to adopt the program?

3. The Lost Generation
I absolutely love this video! When it first started I was thinking to myself how much I disagreed with most of statements that were being made. But then when it began to go backwards I fell in love with it! I thought it was brilliant and the message of it was beautiful!

4. Eric Whitcre's Virtual Choir
Nice. I think I would have found this more captivating if the song were more interesting. A brilliant showcase of how the internet can be used none the less.

5. Teaching in the 21st Century
In the 21st Century, to teach has a whole new meaning. With the amount of information readily available for students to absorb at any given time, the role of a teacher has to evolve just as the role of the student must. Teachers used to be a student's primary source for facts and knowledge. Now facts can be found anywhere, and teachers must be able to teach valuable life skills to students, otherwise there is no real need for a teacher in the future.

Wordle Assignment

Blog Assignment #1

My name is Ashley M. Gibson and I am currently a junior at the University of South Alabama, where I am majoring in Elementary Education. I am a full time student and also work part time. I am a second year member of the fabulous USA Jaguar Marching Band Colorguard. Being in the marching band is a lot of hard work and is very time consuming, but I absolutely love it!

Work and school keep me very busy but in my spare time I love to spend time with my friends and family. I have an older sister and a younger brother. My very best friend is named Jessica and I spend most of my weekends with her or I just chill at home. I am currently single but the love of my life is my puppy Prince! He is an adorable miniature schnauzer and I love him to death! I think that pretty much sums me up, but if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment!

Presentation

March 7 Blog Assignment

This blog post is a response to the following video by Michael Wesch: http://is.gd/3WVVZ
First off, let me just be honest and say that when I first sat down to watch this video I had just gotten off from work and I thought that this video was going to completely bore me to sleep. But to my surprise I was not bored at all. The video first caught my attention when Mr. Wesch started to talk about the emergence of the word whatever. This really hit home with me because I say whatever on a daily basis. The clip from The Simpsons was a great example, because just like Lisa and Bart, I am not very easily amused or entertained and I get bored easily. But now that more and more technology is rapidly emerging, I find it easier to keep myself occupied, especially with things like my Blackberry and YouTube.
When Michael started discussing YouTube I began to wonder why so many people are engaged in it, whether it be watching or posting videos. I thought about myself and came up with the conclusion that most of the time I end up watching YouTube because I am bored. Sometimes I even watch so that I can learn how to do things and just to see what the rest of the world is up to. And I believe that just like millions of people audition for American Idol with hopes of becoming famous, millions of people post their videos to YouTube with same aspirations because today's society is very self-absorbed. I know that I am, and I would absolutely love to be famous. I have been told that I am self-centered and this video led to me ask myself why. I wonder if it really is because of the evolution of whatever. I love this video. It put a lot of questions on my mind.

Blog Assignment #4

It's Not About the Tools. It's About the Skills by Langwitches

This blog by Langwitches helped me to see that technologic skills such as podcasting offer many benefits to my future students. It helped me to realize that podcasting is more than just podcasting for students. I never knew that it could be so beneficial to students. Or at least I never thought about it.

According to Langwitches, along with podcasting skills comes a wealth of other skills for students such as: collaboration, writing, speaking, presentation, communication, media literacy, oral fluency, and others. All of these skills are beneficial and crucial to today's students. Using this technology for exploration and teaching/learning is very out of the box and creative to me. I do not see any negatives to using this technology in the classroom and honestly don't see why it isn't being used more frequently.

Blog Assignment #2

1. Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

Well, ummm, yep... This video captures most of it and I can identify completely with the students in the video. I often wonder who came up with this whole college idea and why it's so expensive, and why many aspects of it seem completely pointless. I personally don't understand why I was able to go to school for over 12 years (including preschool) for free, but now I have to pay thousands of dollars (covered by student loans) for books and classes that I don't even use. When I do make it to class, I find myself barely listening because I'm so occupied with texting and facebooking. I know this sounds like a personal problem, but I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one in this boat.

Like I said before, this video pretty much sums up college life. But if I had to add anything, I would include the number of hours spent partying or being hung over and extra-curricular activities. I would also include the fact that many of today's students have full time jobs, along with spouses and children to take care of. And I would add the number of hours spent worrying about all these problems presented in the video.

2. "It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines

I found this post to be very true and I completely agree with Kelly when she says that it's not about the technology. Yes, technology is a big part of today's world. Yes, many teachers use technology in their classrooms. But just because a teacher uses technology doesn't mean that they are a better or more effective teacher.

Using technology in the classroom only means that a teacher knows how the work the equipment. But what a teacher needs to know is how to make the equipment work for them. If a teacher finds that their way of teaching isn't reaching their students, it doesn't necessarily mean that they need to incorporate technology into their lessons. What they first need to do is reevaluate and improve their teaching, then incorporate the technology. I believe that technology does not have the power to make a teacher effective. They have to achieve this on their own.

3. Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

This blog post is very interesting to say the least. I agree with Mr. Fisch on some points, and I don't on others. I completely agree that educators must achieve a basic level of technological capability. if they don't, then there is no way for them to completely reach students and become an effective teacher. These days students are not interested in listening to the same old boring lectures and having a teacher stand over them while telling them what to do - at least I'm not. I think that students would enjoy school so much more if all teachers were familiar with basic technology instead of being afraid to use it. Teachers should be willing to put together slideshows and videos for their classrooms instead of pulling out 10-year-old projection sheets and lecture notes everyday.

On the other hand, I disagree with Mr. Fisch's comment that people who do not have technological capability should be embarrassed. I'm saying that they should go out and broadcast it to the public, but what I am saying is that they should not be afraid or embarrassed to get help. To me, Mr. Fisch's statement is equivalent to saying that a student who does not have basic reading and writing skills should be embarrassed, and therefore not ask for or receive help for their problem.

Plenty of people don't have technological skills and I believe that it is because they did not grow up with technology, do not understand it, and have no need for it. My parents for example are nowhere near as in tune with technology as they should be and I believe it is because they don't have to be. But me and my siblings are trying to get them to join the rest of the technologically literate world (we just taught them how to text a few months ago). I said that to say that it is my belief that all people, not just educators, need to be familiar with today's technology. But I do not believe that anyone should be embarrassed about not being able to keep up with it.

4. Gary Hayes Social Media Count

Well, when I first saw the Gary Hayes social media count, it was not at all what I expected. I had no idea that it would just be a screen of numbers that were continuously growing. I then wondered whether or not this social media count was completely accurate and if so, how? I then wondered what the heck Second Life. It sounds kind of interesting, and if it's anything like The Sims, then I would like to be apart of it. The number that interested me the most was the number of sms's sent worldwide because texting is one of my favorite things to do, and is sadly my primary way of communicating with the rest of the world. With that being said, I wonder if it would be okay for me to use texting as a way of communicating with my future students. I also wonder how many of social media users are K-12 students, and how much that number will grow by the time I become a teacher. This media count makes it clear to me that I will have to keep up with technology in order to become an effective teacher.

Welcome Everyone!!!

Hi, and welcome to my blog. I hope you all enjoy!