Blog Post #4

Don’t Teach Your Children This Stuff. Please?

     I really like the way this post was presented, as sarcastic yet fully seriously. Dr. McLeod makes positive and negative points about technology which really makes people think but in the end he shows that he believes that technology is good for the classroom. Dr. McLeod is very experienced with children as teaching. In his about me part of his blog we find that he is an Associate Professor in the Department of Education Leadership and Policy Studies at Iowa State University. He also mentions many different levels of education he has worked with as well as being a camp counselor and having children of his own.
     While I think technology is a wonderful thing I have a fear that if every child has access to it 24/7 that it would be used In ways not suitable for learning. There are many things on the internet other that educational resources and I fear that without the proper restrictions in place this could be distracting and even dangerous for children.

The iSchool Initiative

     This video shows the impact that anyone can have through the internet. A video done by a high school student about his views of how to fix educational problems has been viewed by many people spreading his views to people he may never meet. The thought and time put into this video makes it very evident that he is confident in his idea and has done the research to make it work.
     I think his idea could be great for the schools if the apps are created and used correctly. As a substitute teacher in Mobile County I have encountered many problems with cell phones. While it is in the rules that cell phones cannot be on campus every student still has them and they are being used. Most children think the teacher does not see but it is obvious that this is a huge distraction. I fear that if a system such as iSchool is used that children would use the connections for personal reasons more than educational.

The Lost Generation

     I had to watch this video a few times before I completely understood it. The first time I looked away from the screen as it was starting to reverse and when I looked back I realized it was scrolling the other direction but didn’t catch that it was the whole point. When I watched it again I paid attention to what was being said and in my mind I was thinking “this is horrible, why are we watching something so depressing?” When I started listening to the reversal everything started falling in place of how I would want me life to be and suddenly I felt optimistic rather than depressed.
     This video truly shows the importance of perspective. Life if what we want it to be and we cannot expect someone else to change the world for us. If we want a positive life then we need to work for it and look at life in a positive way. If we do not work for what we want we will simply become another statistic. I do not want to be a statistic and I refuse to believe that I can’t achieve what I want to do.

Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir

     I thought this video was really interesting. It’s amazing how people who have never met and never practiced together can create music that seems so perfect. I have used voice systems such as Ventrilo for gaming purposes but I can’t imagine the time that was put into making this choir so perfect.