2nd Post - Assigned Video, Posts and Real Time Counter

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today (4:45)

I like the way this video is presented. The way the camera comes into the classroom and focuses on the writing on the wall and chairs is creative. However, the experiences of these students do not match my own in many ways (although they do in some ways).

I did have a few freshman classes in college that had over 100 students, but not very many. I did not grow up using cell phones and computers the way most students today did and I learn well through lectures so it never bothers me to listen to the professor and take notes. I would imagine it is hard for younger students to learn that way because their lives are filled with using so many types of technology at the same time. I have often seen young people having a face-to-face conversation while texting several other people at the same time. However, I would not be able to keep up with all those conversations. I do not know how students could ever pass if they were using Facebook or texting during every class. I certainly could not do that. It may be the difference between growing up with a lot of technology and growing up with very little. I learned to type on a typewriter, after all.

Education will have a hard time implementing all the technological changes as they occur because they happen so fast. By the time today’s students become teachers some of their knowledge of technology will be outdated. But, at least they grew up with computers and cell phones. It is definitely harder to keep up with when you did not.

The only thing I can think of to make this video more relevant to my college experience would be to put an older student in the class having no problem with the structure of the class and confused by all the technology the students are using.

It's Not About the Technology by Kelly Hines

I agree that teachers must be willing to continuously learn, not only new information about the subject(s) they teach, but also about the changes occurring in the world and the lives of their students. Having great technology tools can be a wonderful asset to a teacher, but not if the teacher does not know how to use them or is not interested in facilitating real understanding among the students. Critical thinking and problem solving skills are some of the most important things we can teach our students, regardless of subject matter or technology. But in today’s world, knowledge of new technology is more important than ever before.

Many people who become teachers think they will just get up in front of the class, give out information, and their students will learn. However, the students learn more if they are actively engaged in the lesson. Technology is a great way to get the students involved in their own learning, but Mrs. Hines is correct in saying that, “learning and teaching are not the same thing.” This fact can be one of the most difficult things for teachers to understand, but it should be the driving force behind every decision they make about their educational practices.

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

I would have to agree with Mr. Fisch that it is not okay for a teacher to be technologically illiterate. There is no way to get around the fact that the technology tools available to teachers will help their students learn and should be implemented whenever possible. Teachers who do not make an effort to learn about technology hurt themselves as well as their students because they are not taking advantage of this wonderful time we live in where so much worldwide interaction and access to information is possible. Teacher education programs and school districts should be responsible for making sure all teachers are technologically literate for their own good and the good of the education system.

I liked the way Mr. Fisch linked being able to read with being technologically literate for future success. Even now, anyone who is technologically literate will get most jobs over someone who is not. This will only increase with time and we are doing our students a disservice if we are not using technology tools in our classrooms. If a teacher does not know very much about technology tools, they can learn a lot from their students and they should be willing to learn from their students anyway. By getting help from students it will create a collaborative learning environment in the classroom and make the teacher more successful while learning about technology at the same time. So, there is no reason not to implement these wonderful tools.

Gary Hayes Social Media Count

This real time counter is so amazing! It really makes the idea of how much technology is changing our society sink in. The number of people posting videos and communicating with friends and family on the Internet is hard to believe. All this sharing of information will change the way we live our lives in ways we cannot even imagine yet.

I was really amazed by the way Twitter was used during the riots in Iran last summer over the presidential election. You know the military must have been going crazy trying to figure out how the people were spreading information to each other! It will be much harder for people to be controlled in this new age of technology. That is why it is so important for educators to be technologically literate and to implement technology tools in their classrooms. At the same time, teachers need to focus on helping their students understand how to figure out if the information they find is reliable.

There is no way for all educators to completely keep up with all the changes in technology, but if they do not even try their students will loose respect for them and learn less from them. As teachers, we will have to do whatever we can to learn how technology is changing and how we can utilize in our lives and classrooms. Even though it is sometimes scary to do so, learning new technology will help us be better teachers and interact in the new global scale many of us never saw coming.