Don't teach your kids this stuff. Please?Dr. McLeod is a very successful man. According to Scott McLeod's website he is "the Founding Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE)"and "is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Kentucky". I would have to say he is also a great writer after reading his blog post Don't teach your kids this stuff. Please?. Most of the posts I have read before Dr. McLeods have been straight to the point. I liked the twist he put on his post. I would have to agree with the arguments he has made. There are more than enough resources and ways to allow children to use a computer while avoiding "the bad stuff". Parents can not be so paranoid that they keep their children from being technologically literate. Technology is becoming a big part of our lives and careers. Children need to be ready.
The iSchool Initiative
The iSchool Initiative was surprisingly done by a seventeen year old high school student named Travis Allen. I was very impressed with his video! He had so many great points and suggestions on how the iTouch could be used in a school.
Travis Allen suggested that the Apps on an iTouch are all useful tools for learning. There are so many resources available including a scientific calculator, email, and a U.S. Constitution App. He also suggested to imagine a school with no paper or pencils. I believe that it is great to use less paper and help the environment! However, I believe no matter how technologically advanced we become, students should always maintain their writing skills. We should not depend on computers so much, that we can not even write on our own.
Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir
If anyone has not watched this video, they should! It is absolutely amazing! It is still hard for me to believe at how advance technology has become! Who would have ever thought that a whole orchestra could be constructed over the internet. I think this type of video could be very useful in the classroom. Many college classes already attend class over video. I know of classrooms here at South Alabama that watch their teacher from a different city!
Teaching in the 21st Century
Teaching in the 21st Century was created by Kevin Roberts. If you believe that Kevin Roberts is correct, than you better begin to become very technologically literate! This worries me that eventually teachers will no longer be teaching the usual math, history, etc. What if in the near future teachers simply become computer teachers. Once the students know how to use the computers, teachers could merely be babysitters as the students learn by computer.
Reading Rockets
This website could be very helpful to teachers. The most interesting thing I found on the website were the different activities to help teach reading. There are phonemic activities that would be great to use in preschool and lower elementary classes. These games help the students clearly hear and understand the parts of a word.
I found newspapers to also be a great idea to incorporate into the classroom! Newspapers give children a chance to learn about the world and improve their reading skills. They are always up to date and will help increase a child's vocabulary.
Michelle,
ReplyDeleteFirst off, your segments are each very short! Also, you need to be on the look-out for errors!
Lastly, it is only natural to be concerned that if students learn from a computer too much, teachers' only role will be that of babysitter. Never forget that not only are you also the filter, the leader, the organizer- you are also the example. Remember that teacher who may have influenced you to want to be like them? To want to be a teacher? That will be you one day. That will be part of your job; to influence students to use the best of their abilities, the best of your curriculum, the best of their knowledge, to be the best that they can be. :) That will never change.
Keep it up!
Carly