Project 8-Podcast

Blog Assignment #6

I think Mrs. Drexler's video on the networked student is very similar to what Dr. Strange is trying to teach us in EDM310. The idea of the networked student is built on self-motivation, self-learning, and using the social media as a tool to educate yourself on assignment given to you by a teacher. I absolutely believe in her ideas of a 21st century classroom based on her concept as well as Dr. Strange. However, it is going to see some major resistance from traditional teachers, principals, school boards, and parents! People fear what they don't know. I think the biggest problem with the American student is self-learning. Everyone wants to be shown how to do something. They don't want to LEARN how to do anything. Information has become so easily accessible; yet, many people are too busy utilizing these amazing tools for all the wrong reasons!!

Secondly, the answer to the question about the need for teachers with networked students is really interesting. This concept of teaching will need a ton of guidance and observation. I mentioned in a previous blog the idea that the new age teacher will be a person who guides students towards the path of success by teaching them skills. No longer will they force feed information that students don't retain. They will teach them how to gather information for assignments and collaborate with other students through social media to share ideas and opinions are particular subjects. Communication is the key to the success of the networked student!!

Now, how do you combat the resistance from the list of people mentioned above. The answer is simple. Provide them with a planned curriculum based around this concept and show them periodically during parent-teacher conferences and school board meetings the progress that is developing from this new style. Results are what it comes down to with Americans. They fear the wait and see method! Another way is to encourage the parents and administrators to receive emails showing the progress of the students as we do with Dr. Strange on our assignments. The tools are there people!! USE THEM!!!!

The PLE that this student put together is truly remarkable. I did not know that you can create tool bars like that. Great organization by the student of putting her non school related links on the top and her educational links in another area. This freedom that she preaches allows students to learn at their own pace and in their own style while keeping within the required curriculum that the teachers are required to have! This was assisted in being put together by Mrs. Drexler. So, she must be making some progress with her vision of the networked student.

In comparison to my PLN, I would say that the student has got me thinking about new ideas to improve my network of information. I am actually looking into creating a template similar to the student thanks to the link to the program below the video. Everybody should go check it out. =

C4K Summary Post for September

My first post for September was on Ngaina from Point England School in Auckland, New Zealand. I commented on a post about math and there was a link provided to help students break down large math problems into simpler problems by a series of steps. I mentioned that I thought it was useful and that I would pass it on to my daughter for her to use. I class blog mentions alot about the rugby team that brought home the championship. Rugby is obviously a huge sport in New Zealand. I learned something new because I thought soccer was the dominant sport everywhere except for here.

My second kid was Seino Mino from the same school in the previous paragraph. He was talking about a beep test that they do for fitness. It is based on a series of exercises that give them a score to see where they can improve their fitness. He seemed discouraged with his score and I felt the need to encourage him that his competitiveness will push him to be better as a student overall! Success is definitely in his future!

The last student I covered was from Point View School in New Zealand and her name is Rebecca. She is 12 years old and is a huge rugby fan. I commented on her use of technology in the classroom and how she used it towards her favorite sport rugby as well as volleyball. I encouraged her to continue to use the technology and that we are all learning and now I can see how even younger students are learning the importance of being "technologically literate".

Timetoast Presentation

Blog Assignment #5

Dr. McLeod's post has a great sarcastic tone as it makes fun of the idea that we don't need technology in education. I love his poke that the internet is "evil" and all students do is look at porn and talk to sexual predators. Very funny and so very true. These teachers that believe that the traditional forms of educating are going to continue to work are hurting students in their preparation for the real world! What job doesn't require proficiency on a computer and the software programs such as word, excel, and PowerPoint? The answer is very few. Instead of focusing on how to keep phones, twitter, and Facebook out of the classroom, why not try to find a way to utilize them. I think the phrase, "If you can't beat em, Join em" is so true in this argument. The world is different from 50 years ago. Shoot, the world is different from 5 years ago!

All I have to say is Travis Allen is an absolute genius!!! Of all the people in the world, an 18 year old high school senior came up with an "out of the box" idea that can absolutely change education for the better. First, just look at the amount of money that can potentially be saved by parents and schools. Going from $600 a student to $150 a student to teach them in a way that is 20 times more efficient than the traditional setting! Not only that, think about the environmental affects it can have. No more dependence on paper, ink, and textbooks. Everything is accessible from the ISchool device.

I also like the detail that he went into with the apps that range from formulas for math and science to an app that gives you access to any book imaginable. Teachers can use this to give their reading assignments and students can use the formulas app to help get them through areas that may be struggling in. This idea can increase the amount of information that we can attain and use. All I want to know is how long is it gonna take before we make this the norm in education. This has me tingling all over with excitement!!! What a bright future we have!


In my response to the virtual choir that was posted by Jennifer Chamber, I would just like to say that the internet never ceases to amaze me. I just showed that clip to my wife and even she was getting goosebumps watching it. I really like this use of the internet and it got me thinking about how this could be utilized in other areas. The first thing that came to mind was Congress. What if people randomly could get an opportunity to sit in on sessions via internet? We could speak on bills and proposals that the leader of our country are working on in a live environment! In fact, lets just take it a level higher and set up a 30 minute window every week where people from opposite ends of the political spectrum could have group discussions with the president on their concerns. It is not a security risk to him and it closes the gap between the voter and the leader. It could be a new way for voters to feel like they have a voice in our government. Somebody respond and tell me what you think!!

I think the biggest point that the video by Kevin Roberts points out is there are so many different resources to get information. We are not teaching students so much as we are guiding them towards the correct information. In my opinion, our biggest challenge going forward is figuring out how to get students to use the correct information available to them through technology. The internet is a powerful tool; but it is a dangerous tool as well. Teachers need to counsel them on how to gather information and provide them with credible resources to use. Life skills are becoming increasingly important and it is getting even more emphasis than it used to. We have become a society where people simply "Google" the answer to any kind of question. Well remember that students are doing the same thing on their homework assignments. Instead of discouraging them from doing that, lets point them in the right direction. It's better to provide them with the correct information than to trust that they will find it on their own.

My Sentence Movie

Blog Assignment #4

The first link I looked at was The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom by Joe Dale. It went over the many uses for podcast in the classroom. It can range from teachers uploading their classroom lectures to getting the students to create their own podcast in the form of shows on what they are learning in the classroom. Some of the great ideas I saw in the podcast was helping kids that are out for extended absences have access to the lectures on venues like Itunes. This can help them stay caught up on materials for the test and it helps the teachers by keeping everyone on track with their learning. What an incredible tool that could be if every teacher utilized it! Also, it mentioned using the podcast in the classroom to assist in teaching the curriculum. You can do things like voice overs on stories to stimulate the interests of your students. It is an effective tools to help them retain the key information from the story.

The second link that I explored was the Practical Principles which is a series of podcast that cover different aspects of technology in the classroom and different tools used to help improve how teachers improve themselves and their students. Each podcast is really in depth and they focus on a different aspect of teaching on every episode. I think that the best part that I could come away with from this website is just to mirror their message of providing information on common problems associated with this ever evolving profession. I would love to set up a series of history podcast based on a timeline that I establish in my future classroom. I would add a lot of interesting dialogue and great pictures and links to some really amazing sites. Every week I feel like I am growing in my idea of what I want to be as a teacher. Very exciting!

The third link that I followed was Langwitches. The podcast that I looked at was a 1st grade teacher that got her class to record a podcast on a story and had each of their record a chapter so that everyone was involved in the book. The summary on the site talks about the kids made a script for everyone to follow along as they listened to keep everyone engaged. She mentioned that they were developing talents such as voice inflection, fluency, pitches. They actually cared that they were clear and interesting. What an amazing idea!! Reading is such a difficult part of education. I struggle with the proper practices to teach to my kids. It is so hard to find ways to get kids to enjoy reading. After seeing this, I wonder why more educators are not doing the same. Because they are not just listening, they are reading and following along. They are learning without even realizing it and they are enjoying it! Again, I feel a little bit smarter just by being exposed to these great innovators!

Blog Assignment #3

After learning about how to critique someone's blog without offending them, I decided to privately discuss any mistakes I saw in their blog. I had noticed some grammatical errors on their slide and felt that it could use a little more content. Some pictures that showed some of her experience with dance or something from her high school would have given me a better idea of why she chose that particular slide. I think that every situation is different when it comes to critiquing someone and I hope to become more comfortable with this by the time I do this with my classes.

Ms. Hines post "It's not about the Technology" was really helpful and spot on. Technology doesn't become beneficial in a classroom if we are not practicing good teaching habits without it. The point that I loved the most was that teachers have to be learners. I had plenty of teachers that thought they knew it all and no student could ever teach them anything. These were usually the teachers that taught the same curriculum every year. I think my dad could recite it word for word. How is this kind of attitude positive for any student?

Also, she makes a point that if we utilize the four points she emphasized in the blog before adding the technology, then the learning is limitless. What an exciting time it is in education! Our generation still has not realized its full potential and hopefully everyone is going to take advantage of the unlimited resources that are at educators disposal.

After reading Mr. Fisch's blog on technological illiteracy, it makes me wonder why more teachers are not held accountable for falling behind on new trends and ideas that has shown to improve the quality of a student's education. It really falls on the principals and administrators who allow this to go on. He mentioned this in his list of do's and don'ts. The blog was bold and I commend him for having the guts to call out these teachers that beat their chests about their lack of technological knowledge. You should be so proud that you are now 30 years behind the rest of us. In fact, your students will probably eventually replace you because of your unwillingness to adapt!

Secondly, why isn't there more emphasis being put on forcing these teachers to make an effort to educate themselves? Aren't we expected to continually educate ourselves when it comes to our focus. Well, technology is as important of a focus as history, Math, and Science. I say get with the times or get out of our way!!


The social media count by Gary Hayes is really a symbol of what education is evolving into. Just like the huge amounts of data that is growing by the second, education and the way we get our message out to our classes, is constantly changing and evolving. When I see a stat that "24 hours of video is uploaded to youtube every minute", I am just blown away at how much computers and the internet have impacted our lives. Who knew that the potential to distribute information would be this significant when this all began to take form years ago.

If we, as teachers, do not continue to learn, study new skills, and employ technology into our classrooms, we are failing!! Everyone has a duty to be the best teacher they can be. So, don't get complacent. Be a sponge. Absorb every idea, skill, and movement that better prepares you and your students for an ever changing world.

I have to say that the video by Michael Wesch seems to bring up the notion that college students are wasting more time using their gadgets than focusing on their studies. The argument that I got from the video is they need to use those tools in the classes to get students more interested in what they are learning. It is basically how this class is utilizing facebook, twitter, and other online tools and social media to become better educators.

Principals and University Presidents have got to reevaluate the classroom setting and come up with some out of the box ideas that can stimulate the minds of our generation. Traditional settings are becoming obsolete!! Why must we spend hundreds of dollars on books that can be made available online for much less? This is a crime and yet nothing changes. Has anyone heard of an e-reader or a tablet?

Project #5 Google Presentation

C4T #1 summary

I was assigned to a teacher by the name of Jerrid W. Kruse. The first blog was on the concept of making sure that when using technology, you are making sure the student is focused on the topic and not just how to use the program to relay the topic. His argument is that students fail to remember the topic but remember the fact that they put together a slide show instead. I felt that creativity is great, but you have to figure out that balance between creativity and technology and the student retaining the topic or information.

The second blog is focused on different strategies for classroom participation on the topic of the nature of science. He did an experiment with two different concepts in which students learn about the subject. The first was using an informal assessment where the students did a one time reflection of what they had learned and any questions they may have. The second group did this as well a a formal assessment throughout the semester through a process of continual, reflective, and explicit assessment. The second group outperformed the first group due to a more in depth approach they gave them an opportunity to do self reflection as well as reflection from the teacher.
My opinion basically goes right along with his projection that a continual reflection of material over a period of time is a great way for students to retain the information. Class participation absolutely gets better results when you generate a buzz around a subject.

Blog Assignment 2

WOW!!!! Did you know that I am completely amazed at the speed we are progressing as a society when it comes to information technology. Something that really caught my attention was the statistic that the top 10 jobs in 2010 did not even exist in 2004! It is overwhelming to think that you go to school all these years to be a certain person in your career and now jobs are becoming obsolete and we are having to constantly reinvent ourselves to stay competitive in the ever changing job market. What we should all take from this video is jobs like education are evolving into something completely different. If people don't continue to educate themselves on new techniques and ideas, the students that we are teaching will be more educated and up to date than we are!!!!

I have some really mixed feelings on this video. Not because I don't agree to the point that the author is trying to prove. I do agree that a lot of schools are behind in implementing technology into their curriculum. However, I can see a drastic improvement in what my daughter's teachers are using with computers compared to 20 years ago when I was in elementary school. My opinion is that the technology will continue to improve and eventually catch up as the "old school" teachers retire and we have principals and faculty that are educated on the new ideas and programs that we are learning in classes like EDM 310.
Also, the video really speaks to the problem that if we don't implement the technology into the classroom, we are doing an injustice to the students. It is absolutely apparent that the use of the internet and the many tools it offers are fueling businesses not only in America but all over the world. Countries like India and Japan are preparing their kids at young ages and that is why they are excelling in the fields of computer science. We HAVE TO ADAPT!!!

That was one of the most entertaining videos I have ever seen. Mr. Robinson was really on point when it comes to the lack of emphasis on utilizing our creativity. Education has put such an emphasis on math and science and not enough on what he describes as the arts. He also mentions that the little bit of arts students do receive are music and art. There is really no focus on dance or drama. The root of this problem has resulted from the idea that creativity is dangerous and causes kids to not conform. Schools seems to have this general idea of conformity. If everyone acts exactly the same and thinks exactly the same, then it lessens the chances of kids that are "rogues" or "outcasts".

Also, I am completely in agreement that arts is last on the list. In my daughter's school, their music program is barely funded and now the teachers are asking us for donations just to keep it alive. When did a publicly funded school consider music such an afterthought? What would the world be without Beethoven, Mozart, and modern artists such as Elvis and the Beatles. They had an influence that crossed over borders of just music. They were inspiring and persevered through insurmountable odds. Don't give up on creativity. Without it, many of the greatest minds would have never evolved into what they are.

My response to Ms. Gault's article is that we need to learn that balance between learning the necessary subjects such as math, science, and language and the creative subjects such as art, dance, drama, and music. To me, they share a relationship that is very underrated. If we are to continue to advance, we need the creative side of our brain to be stimulated in order to utilize the intelligence that we gather from the other side. Creativity breeds ideas that make our world more efficient. It doesn't just apply to people who write music or paint a picture. It applies to engineers who develop taller and stronger buildings or computer designers who create a faster program to improve operating systems. The point that I believe she is trying to prove is that Performing Arts schools are probably ahead of the regular schools because they teach all those subjects, but with a stronger balance.

Another point that I liked was Mr. Robinson's "3 myths of creativity". Now, I do think some people are more creative than others. However, everyone does have some creative ability. The stereotype that unless you can write novels or paint extravagant pictures is the scale on which we measure creativity is absolutely false! As I stated earlier, it comes in all sorts of ways. If this mentality doesn't change, American students will continue to fall further behind in the technological and intellectual race.

Every time I think I have seen every possible way to enhance students ability to learn, I am exposed to another method. This video about Vicki Davis's class in rural Georgia is really genius. She is using the gaming world as a portal to enhance kids drive to learn. The use of a virtual world to connect kids from all over the world to learn about technology and make it fun at the same time should be commended. She mentions that teachers think they can't teach something until they have learned it is not true at all. I have always felt that way until now. There can be opportunities for us as educators to learn from our students as they learn from us.

Also, I think that gaming has become such a part of our generation and our culture. We have to learn to utilize this in an educational environment like she has. The technology is there. Paper and pencil are not the only way. In fact, that is becoming obsolete. It is time to catch up and evolve. We have to start thinking outside the box.