Technologies and Classrooms

Did You Know?
It is hard for me to write about this particular video. It contains such a wide range of information. Some of which I'm not entirely inclined to believe. But if only a percentage of what it said is true then it is reasonable to believe the world and its technology is growing at a break neck speed. The human race is now more than ever completely reliant on technology and our addiction is only getting worse.

It is hard to imagine life without the simple convinces of Google, Myspace and text messaging. What would happen to our civilization if all of these suddenly vanished? The truth of the matter is that technology and all its wonders is here to stay. We will continue to advance our technologies, making them smarter, faster and more efficient with every passing day. There is no going back now.

Mr. Winkle
The video opens as Mr. Winkle wakes from a very long sleep. He comes to realize that the world he dozed off in has become a fast paced, computer ran jungle. He visits an office building and a hospital where he is constantly bombarded by new technologies that he has never seen before. Winkle then retreats to a school house where he feels more comfortable, because you see the school setting has not changed with the rest of the world. What little technology is there is largely ignored and collecting dust.

What the video is trying to say is that our school systems are not adequately preparing our children for this new techno crazed world that we live in. Think back to your years spent in the public school system.How much of what you spent time learning do you actually use today? The rest of the world is evolving so quickly, why is it that we allow for our education systems to remain the same? It is time that more technology courses be required as part of the high school and even elementary curriculum if we are to keep advancing in the future.

Vicki Davis
This video ties in with the previous two. Vicki Davis, a media teacher for a rural town in Georgia, is making great strides in connecting her students with the rest of the world. She knows the importance of producing computer savy high school graduates. The children who pass through her classroom will have the oppurtunity to connect with other teens from around the globe. They will come away better prepared for careers involving computer technologies.

Davis has been teaching her students to create and use a number of differnt techno tools from blogging and twitter to creating their own avitars and video games. She is giving these children the tools they will need to make it in our ever advancing society. I think what she is doing is fantastic. I think that we need more teachers like her who are willing to go that extra mile to make a difference in their students lives. What she is doing will change her students lives.

Schools kill our creativity
Ken Robinson claims that schools kill our creativity, for the most part I agree. We are told how to dress, How to act, Where to sit, When to eat, What to read and when we are expected to have it all done. Individuality is not in couraged and for the most part discouraged. Children go into kindergarden free spirits full of excitment and wonder and 13 years later are released into the world with a learned fear of failure. Afraid that they will fail the trials and tribulations of life and wont be able to obtain the same level of existance as their peers.

On the other hand as a teacher, you have the power to instill in your pupils a great pride in one's self and individuality. A teacher can encourage their students to think for themselves and to look out side the box for solutions to problems. How is the world ever to change if free thought is limited? We should incourage creativity in our young people they are the ones who will be taking the riegns after we are to jaded to care about the direction of things. Most of all the ability of people to have creative thoughts is important because without them the world would never change and how boring would that be?