Blog Post #6

1.When watching Wendy Drexler's video, The Networked Student, I realized how unprepared I am to teach a student of the 21st century. Before EDM310 I considered myself technology literate, but now I see I thought that I was because I was staying inside my own box; not caring what was outside of it. Watching this video made me realize that in the future in order to get a teaching job you are going to have to know how to use technology to give your students a upper hand.
I like the idea of Connectivism, that believes learning occurs as part of a social network with many diverse connections and ties. Just because I like this idea does not mean that it does not scare me. I have a lot to learn in order to be the teacher this video talks about. The kind of teacher that empowers the students to take control of their learning and connect with others that will strengthen the learning process. I realize I will have to do more then just take EDM310 in order to be that kind of teacher, but I believe the students deserve it.
The reasons the video provided that the students even needed a teachers is because they will need someone to teach them how to take advantage of the opportunities, how to build networks, offers guidance when the student gets stuck, how to communicate properly, how to ask for help respectively from experts, teach them how to know the difference between bad and good information, and to help organize the mountain of information they receive. In order to do these things I have to know the appropriate knowledge to educated the students about technology, but I also have to learn from the students.

2. The video A 7th Graders Personal Learning Environment (or PLN) it talked about how their personal learning environment allowed them to have more freedom and they do not choose to not do something, but they choose how and when to do it. The students want to do it right because they know the teachers are giving them a big responsibly. Her PLE compared to my PLN is similar although we do not have to write about a animals in order to hold one,but we are both blogging and doing research for a purpose. We also both are learning how to use technology to harvest information and use it toward our benefit.

C4K Summary

1. My summary of the comment that I left for Mauina's post, Silly Sports Day, is she talked about a game called ball tiggy and I told her that I have never played that game before and when I was in grade school I never did the fun activities that she got to participate in. I also told her that I played soccer here at the university because in her About Me section of her blog she said that she liked all sports.

2.In Mauina's post she talked about how she ran a 3.5K run. She talked about how her goal was to just finish the race without walking. Although she ended up having to walk at the end I told her sometimes giving it your all is better then winning. I also told her about one of my experiences when I ran cross country. She like me before her race was nervous, but we both fought through it and ended up finishing the race.

3.This week I commented on wi2011's blog and in his blog he talked about a book that he read. The book was called The Zombie Zone by Ron Roy. The book was about kids who went into a grave yard and thought they saw a zombie. I comment on his post with my experience when I was younger and read the book series Goosebumps. I also told him that the thing I am most scared of is zombies. I know that may sound a little crazy but it is true something about them genuinely scares me.

4. This week I comment on James letter to Ms. Lucy. In his blog he called Ms. Lucy as sweet as a pumpkin pie. I told him how humorous that was and how it made me smile. I also told him that I'm sure Ms. Lucy would love to know he called her intelligent. Also I told him he has a great opportunity to learn about up to date technology so he needs to take full advantage of it.

5. In Ethan's post Travel Budget List he talked about how he wanted to visit China or Japan because his dad is part Chinese and part Japanese.  I commented on his post and told him if I got to pick a place to go anywhere in the world I would pick Australia. The reason I would pick there to go is because it is home of many strange and interesting animals. I listed animals just as the salt water crocodile and the platypus.

Blog Post #5

1. My position in McLeod post, Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?, is I agree with him that technology is needed in the classroom to give students the upper hand. He listed most of the excuses teachers use, that do not incorporate technology into their classroom. McLeod was sarcastic when saying all of the excuses like he was worried, but he was really saying how ridiculous they were. I agree some where ridiculous, but things like sexting, predators, and cyberbullying are serious things. I do not believe however that integrating technology in the classroom will make those three things happen.  Scott Mcleod  is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Kentucky. He also is the Founding Director of the CASTLE, the nation’s only academic center dedicated to the technology needs of school administrators, and was a co-creator of the wildly popular video series Did you know? (Shift Happens). 


2. In Travis Allen's videos Travis Allen ZeitgeistYoungMinds Entry and The iSchool Initiative (Mobile Learning) he introduced some bold ideas. The argument being made by Travis Allen in his videos is to get rid of text books, paper, pencils, and copy machines in school and replace those things with an iSchool. In iSchool there are many programs for the students and the teachers. For the teachers there will be emails that you can send to students and parents; while also keeping up with assignments you have given to the students. Also as a teacher you can record your lesson for the day for a student that was absent and the student will not be left behind. For students there will be so many upgrades. They will have textbooks at the touch of there fingers, without having to carry a heavy backpack. Also they will be able to record their teachers lectures and  listen to them again if needed. Finally they will have questions answered with a touch of their fingers; such as the periodic table and the math formulas.  
My reaction to this video is WOW. How could someone so young have thought through such a great idea. What is incredible though, is not that he has this great idea but how he put the idea into action so fast. He is now going to Kent State and is 20 years old and travels the country with a team and promotes his idea of iSchool. I also think his idea has some flaws, as most ideas have at the being stages. I believe that his idea is good, but it is throwing to much at people all at once. He needs to gradually introduce schools into this program. Just throwing out all textbooks, pencils, papers, and copiers is extreme for schools. It is like putting all your eggs in one basket. You cannot ask schools to do that because it is too big of a risk.

3. When watching Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir- 'Lux Aurumque' video it showed me how people can come together through technology and create something so wonderful. My reaction to this video was so surprised; I never knew that many people could come together through the internet and create something that needed absolute perfection. This just shows the power of the internet to people. The internet is not all bad and filled with porn, predators, and cyberbullies, but instead it holds the power to let people be creative. 


4. In Kevin Roberts video, Teaching In the 21st Century, what he thinks it means to teach in the 21st century is to apply technology. Teachers are no longer the main source of knowledge. Students can get knowledge with a click of a button on the internet. The teachers job in the 21st century is to be able to teach the students how to filter that knowledge they receive on the internet. How I feel about the positions that are expressed in this video is I feel they are very right. Teachers must now work with the internet and technology to teach students how they can become creative and how to filter out the things on the internet that are not reliable. If Robert is correct then how it will affect me as an educator is I will have to keep up will technology and innovative ways to apply technology into the classroom. 

Project #9

Project #8 "Put Me in, Coach"

My Sentence Movie

Blog Post #4

In Langwitches blog it talked about how 1st graders created there own read-along audiobook. In this blog it said  that the 1st graders read some of the book they were assigned while the teacher records them reading. The children loved recording their voices and wanted to get it just right. Also the teacher created a read along so the students could listen to their voices and their classmates voices as they read along with the book. My opinion about this blog is that this idea is a great one. I was wondering how I could integrate technology to kids that were so young, but the podcast was a great idea. The children would prefect their reading because they would be so interested in how they would sound when the other students heard the podcast.

In the 100 Ways to Use Your iPod to Learn and Study Better post by Valene is about how your can use your iPod not to just listen to music but to help you develop good study skills and to even help you study. It mentions endless study  guides that you can download and use, such as Sparknotes. It also showed you applications you could use to make learning easier, such as iGadget. In this program you can move documents back and forth between your iPod and computer easily. This post also showed many more ways your iPod could be used to enhance your learning experience. My opinion about this post is I personally had no idea that  your iPod could be used is such ways. Apparently I was living under a rock because I thought the main purpose of an iPod was to entertain you with music. I was very interested in all the ways an iPod could help you develop good study skills and help you study.

In the blog post The benefits of podcasting in the classroom by Joe Dale is about kids who were born after 1980 are a part of a generation that has not had life without computers or technology, instead of sticking to traditional teaching we should do what the kids know and like. By doing podcasting in the classroom you can do things as simple as recording a lecture or doing a project based on it. Podcasting projects allow kids to be creative and help the kids develop higher order thinking skills. My opinion of this video is it was very interesting because I really have no clue about podcasting. I have had no previous practice with it, but by watching this video  it helped my grasp a concept about it and how I could use it in my classroom.

Project #5

C4T#1 Summarizing Teacher's Post and My Comments

1. I commented on "The best advice I ever received as a young teacher," by Steve Miranda. His blog was interesting in the fact that he did not believe following the established curriculum that did not inspire him and the things that the kids already knew. By him doing that he was feeling a lot of pressure from his school and many others, so he went to one of the most established teachers in his school and asked him for advice about if his should carry on teaching his way or conform into what was expected of him. That teacher told him to keep doing what he was doing as long as his focus is on his students.

My comment back to his blog was simply stating to some extent teacher should follow the curriculum and not completely throw it out the window even though some of it is tedious. My advice to him was that even though the  subject matter may bore him, it could be exciting to one of the students in his classroom. Also that although the subject matter may bore him the enthusiasm of some of his students should inspire him. 

2. I commented on Steve Miranda's post, The gilded classroom. This post was about how Mr. Miranda believed that adding technology to some schools today is a waste because teachers do not put to use the technology schools give to them. He also stated that there has not been proof yet as to if technology really helps students learn. The reason he believes this is not yet been founded is because technology has been "used to decorate the learning environment," and not used as a real tool.

My comment back to his blog was that I totally agree that schools are spending way too much money and teachers are not using the technology properly. I believe that teachers are using technology simply to replace the old things, such as writing on a chalkboard, when really they should be thinking how the students will use technology in the future and how to help them along the way with that.

Blog Post #3

1. In Kelly Hines' post It's Not About the Technology she talks about the need for teachers to be learners and I completely agree with that fact. I actually think that most teachers believe in that idea, but most do not put in the effort to learn new things. My teachers in high school taught me the same thing they had been teaching since they became a teacher. The world is evolving and at the same time teachers sound be evolving with it and learning the new technology. I also believe in what Kelly Hines said about teachers complaining that a student does not get the subject matter they have been teaching they blame the student. All students learn in different ways and if one way does not work then we should try another way and then another way until we get through to them and they learn the subject matter. Do not blame the students for not learning blame yourself, like Kelly Hines said you are not teaching if the students are not learning.
 The point that Kelly Hines made about technology is useless without good teaching could not be more true. The reason schools are not putting in more technology in some schools is because they do not think it will do much use. The teachers will use the technology if they learn how to do it themselves. It is really intimidating when you get something that you have no idea how to work and did not come with any instructions. The schools need to give teachers instructions on how to use the new technology and then the teachers will be able to incorporate new fun 21st century things and use the technology the schools has given them. 

2. In Karl Fisch post, Is it Okay to be a Technology Illiterate Teacher?, he discusses the problem of having technology illiterate teachers. He has gone back and forth on whether he should push teachers to be technology literate or not because he knows teachers have a lot on their plate. He ended up deciding to push teachers to be technology literate because this subject can not be pushed off to the side. Students deserve to get the schooling they need. If he waited there would be students lost and graduated without having the vital knowledge about technology that teachers need to teach them. 

Like what Mr. Fisch said maybe it was okay to not teach technology in the 20th century because people could get a job without being technology literate, but times have changed and in the 21st century if you are not  some what technology literate then you will find it extremely hard to find a job. I completely agree with this post and believe that students deserve the knowledge to help them get ahead any way they possibly can and with technology literate teachers it will definitely give their students a upper hand.

3. What I think about Gary Hayes Social Media Count is it is outstanding how much people use technology and go to technology for entertainment, to look stuff up, and many more things. People every day use social media more then you could even imagine, such as Tweeter has 1 billion tweets per week. I can not even think about a number that high and fathom it. It seems everyone in this day and age have to have some form of social media they are connected with. Even older generations are joining in on social media, such as my grandmother who now has a Facebook. If you do not have some form of social media it seems you are left in the dust. 
What these changes mean for my profession as a teacher is you cannot be left behind by not conforming with social media and technology all together. Students this century are interested in things such as Facebook, YouTube, and Tweeter if you use this to your advantage you will have your students full attention. This also means for my profession as a teacher that I must keep up even though I feel as if I know all there is to know about social media things will change as a new generation comes. I have to conform with it and learn what the new social media is of that time.
4. The movie A Vision of Students Today is a interesting video about how students view the classroom and how education is. This video had facts such as how the career some of the students are sitting in the classroom to get may not even be there when they get of school with their degree. Also the video had some crazy facts about how some students computers cost more then some people get payed in a month. That is the reason that students go to get a good education, is to not have a low paying job, but are they really succeeded by sitting in a class learning things that are written on a chalkboard. 
How I would look at this video if I were a professor is look at the facts that were given in the video and act on them. Make a movement to change those statistics positively. As a president I would watch this video and think how long can universities fool people into not getting their moneys worth of their education. I would want to educate the professors on technology and other ways to teach students besides lecturing and writing on a chalkboard. In order for kids to pay attention they need more then a boring lecture. 

   

Blog Post #2

1. The video Did You Know? 3.0 by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod that came from the link Did You Know 3.0 was very interesting. The authors I believe in this video are trying to get the point across that technology is a thing of the future. Even though we have technology now it will be taken to a newer level before we even know it. Also they are trying to say that computers and technology in general are growing. Those who refused using technology are now forced to use it or be left behind.

My opinion on the video is that it is incredible. All the facts that are coming at you in that video are amazing and each fact proves the point of the video that technology is a continuous growing thing. I like how at the end of the video it talked about the babies that were all born during that video because it brought it all together to realize how many new people are being welcomed into the world and how many will change it through technology.

2. The video Mr. Winkle Wakes by Matthew Needleman that came from the link Mr. Winkle Wakes got its point across without just coming out and saying it. The video did not give complex reasons of why education should embrace technology, but simply gave the idea that businesses and hospitals embraced technology and were getting stuff done and saving lives but schools stayed the same and did not embrace. The school Mr. Winkle said was familiar because the teachers were still lecturing and the students taking notes. Through this simple video the author got his point across that schools should welcome technology not be scared of it.

My opinion of this video was it was genius because anyone who came across that video would get the main point; including people of all ages. I also liked the video because I agreed with it. Schools can no longer fight not having technology to teach children. Technology is something that children get excited about and will all have to embrace some day so why not give them those tools to do so.

3. In the video Ken Robinson says school kills creativity by Ken Robinson from the link Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity was funny but at the same time blunt about how school kills creativity. Ken Robinson  believes that schools should treat creativity just as important as learning how to read. Kids are not creative in school because teachers teach kids that mistakes are horrible so the kids in return do not try to try something new and be creative. In the educational system Ken Robinson said that something that does not change no matter where you go on earth is math and languages are at the top and art is at the bottom. This in turn makes kids think that art has less creditably the math or languages.

My opinion of this video is I agree with Ken Robinson in the fact that schools do not allow kids to be as creative as they need to be. Something that I don't agree with is that art should be seen as equal to math and languages. The reason I believe this is because math and language are center pieces of the world and must be taught to improve technology and life.

4. In the video Can U.S. Students Compete? by Cecilia Gault she ask some pretty smart questions to Ken Robinson. The question that caught my attention was "How does education change by meeting the needs of 21st century?" and how I would respond to that question is it needs to allow kids be creative in technology that the 21st century as brought them. What I would do to make sure Cecilia's in my classroom has a good education is I would do assignments on the computer that lets them learn to feel at ease navigating the internet.

5. In the video Harness your Students' Digital Smarts by Vicki Davis she taught in a school in rural Georgia, but connected her students to the world that surrounds them. Vicki Davis's main point was that teachers do not need to know everything to teach the subject because it empowers the students when they figure something out. She believed that when giving kids just a pencil and paper that only some types of students would succeed.

My opinion of what Vicki Davis is doing in her classroom is it is amazing. I love her method of teaching and letting the students figure things out because technology is always changing so there is no way you could know  all there is to know about technology. I also like Vicki Davis class because it teaches kids how to be comfortable with technology and teach them how to interact with other students through it.

Project #2

Blog Post #1

My name is Shelby Owen and my home town is Trussville, Alabama. I have lived in Trussville for my whole life; it is a small town most say, but I think it is much larger in fact it is my whole word. I have many interest but that one I base most of my life on is soccer. I have played basically every sport you can think: gymnastics, volleyball, basketball, and softball. I believe playing all those sports led me to the sport I truly adore, soccer. The reason I say that I base my life off of soccer is because I am here at The University of South Alabama  because of soccer. As I am sure you have guessed I play soccer for South Alabama and it wasn't the whole reason I chose South Alabama, but it was definitely the main reason. I also came here though because I did not want a big college, but I did want one large enough that I felt like I wasn't in High School anymore.

I have a very loving family that all love me very much, and I realize how lucky I am to be so blessed. I have one brother and one sister. My brother's name is Drew and my sister is Anna Grace. Drew is twenty-two and goes to college at The University of Montevallo. He was also going to be an elementary teacher, but he changed his major to business. My little sister just turned five and started Kindergarten. Most ask if my little sister was a surprise but in fact she was planned. My mom is a very loving person and loves to take care of other people and with me leaving for college she didn't want the house to be "empty" so to speak. I did not want a little sister at first because I did not like the idea of being the middle child, but I soon figured out things would not change. In fact, having a little sister led me to wanting to be an elementary teacher. I love little kids and why would I not want to spend my time with happy children all day. I look forward to the rest of my college time and eventually my teaching career.

What I learned watching Randy Pausch is plans might not go perfectly but if they do not it is not the end of the world, and it is okay to change a plan. Also I learned that if you have a lot to do in your plan for the day you should always do the hardest or "ugliest" thing first. Randy Pausch also said that you should not only have a plan for the day, but it is okay to go ahead and plan for the week, month, or semester. Things might change during that time period but at least you have a guide line. The first time I heard of Randy Pausch was last year in public speaking class. In that class we watched the video of Randy Pausch's Last Lecture. In that video he talked about his childhood dreams and how he achieved them.