Blog Post #5

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please? by Dr. McLeod

This blog post has some good points. Dr.McLeod uses sarcasm in this blog. He makes it seems as if it is horrible that teachers uses technology in the classroom. Really he his talking through the parents eyes. Parents are scared about their child being cyber bullied, when really that is the parents responsibility to take control and monitor what their child does on the internet. I didn't get this blog at first, and thought that Dr.McLeod thought this, but I see now how he thinks technology is good for our students.

The iSchool Initiative and ZeitgeistYoungMind's Entry by Travis Allen

These videos was about how schools might or should start using iPod products to teach students. Travis points out some really great facts. Before watching the video, I did not agree with the idea, but by the end of the video, he had me convinced. One of the positive facts about using the iSchool initiative is that it can cut down the cost of books, using expensive copying machines, and go green by not using paper. Travis also said that using books, paper, copiers, and pencils cost around $600 per student, but by using the iSchool initiative, it can cost up to $100 per students.

I think that Travis is doing a great thing. He goes around to schools and has a team of 25 students. I would love to be apart of that. It is very inspirational to see a high school student influence so many people. He has older adults changing their views on technology. That shows that anybody, no matter how young or old, can make a difference in the world.

Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir

Amazing how technology works! In this video, Eric Whitacre puts together a choir. Each member of the choir submitted a video of themselves performing the song, and Eric put the pieces together to get the voices in sync. The song was beautiful! You would never be able to tell that these people have never met before! Technology is making a drastic difference in the world.

Teaching in the 21st Century by Kevin Roberts

Well, this video has a lot of points. At one point, he said that students shouldn't be entertained, but engaged. I agree. Engagement allows the student to learn and be active. Also, engagement should be fun.  I was kind of confused about the video. It seems like Kevin thinks that internet puts more work on students, which it does, and at first he made engagement sound boring, but said it should be fun.

Reading Rockets

On this website, I saw a few apps that can help students with learning how to read. One app is The Opposites. This app helps the child to learn about opposites, antonyms, and how to determine and tell why the words have opposite meanings.

I also found the app called Professor Garfield Fact or Opinion. This app teaches students how to determine if a statement is a fact or opinion. They also get help from Garfield, which will keep the student's attention. Both of these apps are very helpful for students to learn and have fun.