Blog Assignment 2

Did you know?

Although I realized there are always new ideas becoming reality, I was not aware of how quickly technology is changing. It’s intimidating to know how much I need to learn, just to be able to keep up. It is even more intimidating to think about how much I will need to learn to be able to get ahead.

One main thing I was thinking throughout this movie was, “I was not aware of that.” I was not aware of how much information is transmitted and how quickly. It is amazing to learn that many of the jobs that students are training for today don’t even exist yet. I now understand that I will have to be a lifelong learner to be able to keep up and contribute.



Mr. Winkle Wakes

Industry has changed so much, but in the classroom things are being taught the way they were a century ago. “Mr. Winkle” finds himself comfortable in the classroom on the video. To him it was what he was used to a century ago, because there was not much change. Everywhere outside of the classroom was very uncomfortable to him because it was so technologically different.

The message it is bringing across is a little sad. Everywhere new technology is booming around us, but in a lot of school, they stick to the traditional way of teaching. It’s a different way of teaching that people aren’t used to, but it could be a very positive thing if taught the right way. It almost doesn’t seem fair to not bring the new forms of technology into the classroom and not give children the means to learn with the tools we have now.



Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity

Mr. Robinson is saying the Arts should be just important in the school as Math, Science and English. Creativity is so important and can help many children to learn more. Mainstream education is making an effort to change with school of the arts (magnet schools) but even these schools are steeped in the traditional approach to learning.

Mr. Robinson says, "Creativity is as important as literacy." There needs to be more creative ways to learn in the classrooms because not everyone responds well to the traditional classroom environment. I think being willing, and actually using different methods of teaching would have a very positive effect in schools.



Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

Ms. Davis’ approach is interesting to me. I think it’s a great way for learning. Though, it may not be for every student, just like the traditional classroom isn’t for every student. If nothing else, it will produce a class of extremely capable video game players. The video, to me, was not very clear if this was a dedicated technology class or whether all subjects were approached in this manner.

I do think it’s great that technology is being used in this classroom, but what if it’s too much? In the video “Mr. Winkle Wakes” there was no technology being used in the classroom. In this video though, I almost though it was too much. Every class has an objective, and the best educators find the way to relate with the students to achieve that learning objective. As Mr. Robinson outlined, traditional education can be limiting, but so can bombarding a student with technology. Bringing technology into the classroom is a great thing, but I do think it is very important that students need to be comfortable in that surrounding.