Blog Post 2

Mr.Dancealot

The video is showing that some classes need to be "hands on". Not all classes are meant to just be about taking notes and learning from a screen. In order to succeed in certain classes, you have to get up and actually do something. At the end of the video, none of the students can properly do the dance they were assigned. They had only taken notes and never been able to practice with a partner, making it awkward and difficult to do well. I certainly agree that this type of class would need more than just notes taken . It would certainly need to involve people getting on their feet and trying out what is put in front of them.

Teaching In The 21st Century

I.Teacher Roles
A.Teachers are becoming less needed because of technology.
i.Information simple to find.
ii.Several places: google, blogs, twitter, etc.
B. Teachers no longer main source of knowledge
II. How to use technology
A. Teachers can teach how to synthesize, validate, communicate, etc. info.
B. Teach how to answer real life questions.
C. Teach other, more difficult technology uses.
III.How technology helps further education A. Expands creativity i. Blogs ii. Twitter B.Allows individuality C. Must be taught fluently and well IV. Technology in schools and use A. Technology is replacing paper and must be treated as so. It is a required material to have.
B. Lessons should be interesting to students.

I see both good and bad sides of technology. For one, it can be easily misused and I still really like the old fashioned paper and pencil. Plus, computers and tablets are still buggy and we should be aware that all of our work could be erased or messed up. However, the technology of this world is growing so I think it should be brought into schools to some degree.

The Networked Student

The Networked Student pretty much showed how many classes are now going today. It is a "blended" course. Some time spent in class, much time spent on your own. I think blended courses are great. They make students get active and learn on their own, but they still have a class they can go to and actually talk to a teacher in case they have questions or need guidance. Teachers are certainly needed still in college. No student should be able to just fully teach themselves.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

Vicki Davis believes that students should be taught a lot about technology. She thinks it helps tremendously to use technology to learn rather than just paper. She also says that she is still learning along with her students. They can even teach her things sometimes. I think learning to use technology is a good idea. Technology is a great tool and with it seemingly getting more complicated, we need to keep up with how to use it.

Who's Ahead In Learning

In this video we see that the elementary students of Baldwin county are far more versed than many college students in using Macbooks and iPads. I believe at my old high school they are now starting to get their own computers but when I went there we didn't have that. I think I'd be okay using an iPad but a Macbook would take me a while to learn. It shows how much younger each generation is getting with using technology. Sometimes the very young children are teaching the college students new things.

Flipping The Classroom

I have never heard of this concept. I see it as a pretty interesting idea. Kids could watch videos on how to do their work, then be able to do it during class time, when there is a teacher around. I believe having a teacher standing there while you are trying to do homework would be the most beneficial part of this. Many times, after having someone explain it, kids go home and still completely forget how to work a problem. If they had someone to help, after reading the instructions on their own, it may make learning easier for them. I think I would try a form of this: teaching kids, but giving a short lecture, then doing several problems together, so they are less likely to forget steps.