Blog Post#2

Did You Know?
The Did You Know video by Dr. Strange, is a modified version from the original model by Karl Fisch and Scott Mcleod. First, I thought that the video could use some more work. The topics at the top of the page were not readable at times. I would also suggest having more than one background to the video. The gray and white just seemed less appealing than if it had been more brighter colors to keep the reader interested. Some of the slides could have been set to last a few seconds longer. I wasn't able read some of them without pausing the video.
Overall I was still impressed with the video's information. After watching it, I realized that technology is growing and the world we live in today is constantly changing. It seems to me that within the next decade or so, the United States will not be the top country for education. Places like India and China will be dominate. I was blown away when I read that more Chinese people will speak English than those living in the U.S. I was amazed to know that India has more K-12 Honor students than the U.S. There goes to show that the competition is closer to us than we think. We often got caught up in the latest new fad while other countries are working harder than us although there are many factors to why the United State's rank may be dropping. As a future educator, I have to make sure that my students are actually learning and becoming successful as the children in India and China. I want to be able to make a difference and still prove that Americans are intelligent as well as other countries.

Mr. Winkle Wakes
Mr. Winkles awakes after one hundred years to see that the world around him has changed. He soon made his way to an office where technology had improved since his time. People were communicating business over their computers. Mr. Winkles really disliked this place so he became ill and left. He then went to a hospital where they used different machines to better people's health. He realized that the hospital was not a place for him so he left again. Mr. Winkles arrived at a school and entered a classroom where the teacher lectured while the students took notes. He was very familiar with school. He even noticed a laptop in the back of the classroom that had never been used but only to collect dust.

Technology has changed most businesses and people's everyday lives, but education seems to be left behind. This video encourages others such as teachers and students to make use of their sources in order to further our education. Although people like Mr. Winkle do not like to cope with change, we should stop being closed minded and be open to it. Using technology in a classroom setting can make learning more interesting for students and teaches them different ways to remember information.

Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
Ken Robinson's lecture about the importance of creativity was very entertaining in his jokes and very educational. I never knew that people in the past used the more important subjects of math such as math and English to help them get jobs, while arts remained at the bottom of the list because they thought no one could make money from being an artist, dancer, or musician.

I totally agreed with Robinson about losing arts and gaining more knowledge resulting in most people not being able to stay on beat to music because they have lost that creative side.
Times have changed since the past thirty years and they will continue. We know that today some the most unpopular careers to choose are now becoming one the most needed. No matter what, education will always be around therefore someone or something has to teach our generation. Creativity should be used more in school and colleges. There a lot of teachers today that are for creativity and hearing what their students have to say.

Classroom Disruption
Classroom Disruption is a video on YouTube that involves two different classrooms. The first classroom has a typical and traditional setting. The teacher arrives and lectures while the student follows along in their books are at least try to. This teacher is set in his ways. He is very rude to students and will only help them after class. The second classroom is filled with positive energy. The students are excited and engaged in their work. They use technology as a learning tool instead of listening to a teacher talk through the whole class period. The teacher is helpful and patient. He pays close attention to his students and even recognizes who they are.

If I were to chose between the classes, it would be classroom number two. I would rather take a class that is interesting and allows me to use different sources to find information. I have mostly taken classes like that of classroom number two, so I would feel more comfortable in that setting. Today, most classes are a blended course with technology while still meeting up for class sessions. I would like to teach classroom number two because I believe it suits the style of teaching that I would like to teach. In order to teach the class, I would first need to take some classes of my own. While taking my own classes, I could also gain knowledge from my students. To make the class better, I would first let students have freedom in the classroom. This means that I will allow them to be creative and think outside the box. I want to see their personalities through their work. No one thinks exactly the same and it doesn't make a student a wrong if they think differently from others. It may take time to shift my students away from the old fashioned way of learning, but I would ensure that they would enjoy it while learning at the same time. I would use videos, pod-casts, I Pad, or any other device in the classroom. I would also allow my students to create videos, and interact with other students from other schools through chats and Skype.