Smart Kids and Podcasts

A BABY using an iPhone?!
Don't believe me?

It is really astounding that a toddler can figure out how to use such advanced technology. Sure, it IS just a phone, but it obviously does more than most phones can do. I wanted an iPhone, but I settled for something a few steps below that advancement: the LG Vu. I don't really like it too much, but I'm STILL figuring out new things about it - even almost after a year of using it. I do wonder, though, WHY would these parents let their toddler play with such an expensive piece of technology? To keep him quiet in the doctor's office? I used to let my baby sister play with my old phone to keep her occupied, and I know that's not really a good idea...

It's really scary realizing that this little boy will have already learned SOOO much more by the time he starts kindergarten; how will his teacher be able to keep up? There are many other toddlers just like him, I'm sure, and this will certainly be a challenge to at least keep up with future students and their uncanny technological knowledge. I still don't even think I'm ready for an iPhone myself...


Kathy Cassidy: Media Literacy
See how media literate these first-graders are...

Media literacy is evaluating, navigating, creating, and responding. These first-grade students show you exactly what it means to understand each of these important aspects of being media literate. Being media literate today certainly is more elaborate than being media literate a decade ago - and it will still be more advanced a decade from now. I think being "media literate" when I was in first grade would constitute as having knowledge about how to use the library; I never would have dreamed being able to do the things these children are doing at this age, and I can only imagine what being "media literate" will be like in years to follow...


Kathy Cassidy: Little Kids...Big Potential
Look at how talented these children are!

Mrs. Cassidy really does do an amazing job of keeping these children active in her classroom. They are learning things in first grade that I'm learning as a junior in college! Usually when I think about technology in the classroom, I believe that it really should be used at a minimum and only as an aid for the teacher... Mrs. Cassidy's work has truly been an inspiration. My point of view is really changing on this subject, and these children are the living proof that this works. I actually hope that I can get some comments from these wonderful children on MY blog!

...and I think it's terribly cute how the little boy says, "Always don't say mean things" when leaving comments. SO cute! He certainly has been very helpful for me!

PODCASTS

KidCast: Episode 62: "Some Thoughts on Video Podcasting"
This is an audio podcast about video podcasting. The speaker is advocating the use of video over audio podcasts for an enhanced educational experience. It seemed quite informal and unrehearsed. I suppose this is to make the "lesson" more like "conversation." Some of the reasons he suggests using videocasts is so the viewers will get more out of the message; by using video, the viewers will be able to see expressions, emotions, visual aids, faces, and hand gestures to better convey the intended message. Sure, audio podcasts would be better-suited for those who are commuting and who cannot really afford to take their focus away from staying in between the yellow and white lines - but yet can still learn something new, as if listening to the radio.

The speaker says that if "a picture is worth a thousand words, then a videos are worth a million."


Teaching With SMART Board: Episode 65: "Animation"
This podcast - much like the last - sounds a lot like a radio station talk show. In this episode, the two hosts are demonstrating how to use animation in the lesson plans used on the SMART Board. Their technique is quite bizarre: there are many random noises used at really irrelevant times. The turkey noise I heard at the beginning was unexpected and awkward. Their audience should presumably be teachers - since they're really the only ones who would be using animation in the SMART Board lesson plans - and yet their production would have been appealing to a child. I'm not sure why they were talking about the zoo at the beginning, but they definitely made up a word when talking about the dinosaur exhibit, describing them as "animatronic" dinosaurs. I don't think I like this technique of podcasting...


EdTech Talk: Teachers Teaching Teachers: Episode 158: "Getting Schooled on Gaming"
This podcast was much more formal: it was a collaboration of teachers from different gaming experiences - all discussing whether or not gaming could be useful in the classroom or as a homework aid. Where does gaming belong in the curriculum? The teachers do believe that gaming brings out strength in students and that this "social media" is important in students' education. Educational games make learning even the most undesired material more fun and easy - like "chocolate-covered broccoli, as the host points out - and even the non-educational games spark interests and qualities into kids that a textbook just simply could not do: just playing games improves coordination and awareness, and since most games have a creativity aspect, the students are learning by what they're creating. This creativity necessity has been addressed in my previous blog posts, and I believe that the advocates for creativity in the classroom would also strongly agree with this podcast. This podcast has definitely had to have been the most influential and interesting podcast I've watched thus far.


Connect Learning: David Warlick: Episode 96: "Blah, Blah, Blah"
I chose this podcast over the others because of its title: it somehow seemed more interesting than the "Three-Hour Workshop..." This also sounds like a radio show at the beginning of the podcast (the speaker says "y'all" a LOT - which is really strange to hear out of an educator at a meeting or on a podcast with other educators...); the talk show morphs into a business meeting, which is much more pleasant and informing than the former.

They are looking for "more social information experiences in terms of student performance/performance as teachers." They agree that most students already have an understanding and experience with using technologies of today - that learning about them may not be the case for the students, but for the teachers. Students can keep up with their classes via blogs and emails, and this is much more efficient. This is certainly true because I've never personally written a blog before, and now I do it every week. I've also gotten into the habit of checking the university website eCompanion for my homework, classroom announcements, projects, and grade postings. If I didn't know how to use this technology, I definitely wouldn't be able to make it through the rest of my college years...


MacBreak Weekly: Episode 173: "Two Words: Dance Belt"
This podcast seems to be more like a news cast: very informative, talking about national issues and viewpoints. The focus of this cast for December 29, 2009, was the surprising lack of service for the iPhone in New York. As one of the major cities in the country, customers were astounded that AT&T - one of the leading cell phone companies in the country - would be unprepared without thorough coverage areas to include this major city. AT&T argued that it wasn't because of the lack of towers servicing NY, but that there had been significant and damaging internet fraud actions...? That was the "safe" answer, as the two hosts decided. I did not listen to the entire hour-long cast, but I still enjoyed this style of podcast over the talk-show style.


This Week in Photography: Episode 126: "Racism in Photography - Don't Blink!"
Although this podcast is like the talk-show style that I have decided that I didn't like, this podcast (and probably all the other episodes in this series) addresses more interesting subject for me.

In this discussion, there is an issue with a camera in that the camera doesn't take very good pictures of people with various facial features or skin colors. A racist camera? The blame was put on a lack of sufficient sample testing on certain types of skin color or facial arrangements/proportions. Dynamic color ranges (dark tones against a light background) create a light disaster. I didn't know that people in the television broadcasting business actually don't use white shirts - dull grey shirts actually look white in contrast to the other bright/dark colors of skin and background colors.

For those people who know a lot about photography and shooting techniques, this podcast series would be very interesting for you to devote some time into listening.

Visions of Students: Technology: Yes or No?

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today
Enlighten yourself

This short video gives the most descriptive statistics on how students spend their time during the day and what they think about college fees, books, assignments, and time management. As it seems, students are aware of the costs of college attendance - in fees and in time - and yet they still don't seem to be prepared. How can they keep up when they're given so much homework and expected to pay so many expenses? How is all of this supposed to be squeezed in between television time and phone conversations?

I believe that being in college creates a different list of priorities; since there's nothing the students can do about how much it costs to attend, what they'll need to be successful, or how much work they'll be given to complete... perhaps the students should control what they can: how they spend their time inside of and outside of class. It is believed that "technology can save us," but then the students make the point of the video that it probably cannot when they go on to say what they use their laptops for in class: Facebook and other irrelevant things. Perhaps this is why schools and learning institutions haven't embraced the technology advancements in the classrooms... Maybe the old ways are the only ways to keep the students on task - whether they like it or not.


Kelly Hines: It's Not About the Technology
Read what she has to say.

I think I agree with Mrs. Hines the most on the technology in classrooms issue. After all, technology isn't supposed to substitute for teaching techniques, but enhance them. It is beneficial for teachers to utilize some technological advancements to prepare students for a life-long learning experience, but students shouldn't have to rely on the technologies to teach them anything. As Mrs. Hines points out, "Technology is useless without good teaching."

Mrs. Hines also makes a very good analogy considering the advancement of teachers' teaching techniques, saying they should be "working smarter, not harder" to turn their students into learners: "If an object does not move, no matter how much force has been applied, no work has been done. Therefore, if a student has not learned, no matter how much effort has been exerted, no teaching has been done." So it may help the teacher personally to use certain tools to teach, but if the students aren't learning anything, there is no purpose fulfilled. Again, it's not just about the technology.


Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher?
Find out what Mr. Fisch thinks.

This is no doubt a very influential blog to read regarding technological literacy. Sure, the point has been made that technology is only relevant when it enhances the learning experience, but Mr. Fisch makes another very interesting analogy concerning technological literacy: "If a teacher today is not technologically literate - and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more - it's equivalent to a teacher 30 years ago who didn't know how to read and write." He makes the point in comparing computer knowledge of today's world to actual literacy in the last centuries. Times progress, and if the teachers aren't willing to progress with them, they're only hindering their students from reaching their full potential.

I believe that technological literacy is very important, too, but I'll still have to side with Mrs. Hines: these technological advancements should only be used to enhance the students' learning experience; so much emphasis shouldn't be placed on HOW MUCH these teachers know about the technology, but instead, HOW they use it to enhance their lessons. Students can learn how to use an instrument, but if it's not helping them learn what they need to learn, it's not helping them in the least. I'm curious to see what Mr. Fisch thinks of Mrs. Hines's stance on the situation. Remember, "it's not JUST about the technology..."


Gary Hayes: Social Media Count
See it for yourself!

This is Karl Fisch's exponential technology growth point in action! Watching all the numbers climb right before my eyes has probably been the biggest eye-opener as to just how much technology IS a part of our lives.

However... Some of the things on the list are irrelevant in education: all the Facebook and Twitter statistics aren't really important in preparing children for "the real world." Although, some of the other statistics (the Google searches, etc.) provide insight into what IS really necessary in education and what SHOULD be taught to students - also what teachers should know how to use and how to teach. What teacher doesn't know how to use Google? If the things on this media count are what is used the most - they must be the most important skills necessary to be "technologically literate." If this is the case, I'd like to think that MOST teachers will be doing just fine.

Did you know Mr. Winkle? Digital Smarts = Creativity

Mr. Winkle Wakes
Wondering what I'm talking about?

As many people probably noticed first-hand, Mr. [Rip Van?] Winkle IS quite adorable... The fact that he slept for 100 years is, while severely far-fetched, important in comprehending his confusion upon waking. His trip to the offices and hospitals deepened his confusion and overwhelming want of old times - old times that he found when he stumbled upon a school: nothing had changed. Despite all the technological advances made throughout his century of slumber, the schools were still using the same methods of teaching that were used before Mr. Winkle went into his comatose nap.

I think this says a lot of things about school systems today: either schools should start making a century's worth of upgrades to catch up with the advancements utilized everywhere upon stepping out the front door of the school... OR, what worked a century ago as far as teaching STILL works today. However, the diction the narrator uses when describing the school environment suggests that some upgrades should be implemented: he observed that the teachers "lectured [the students] all day long on reading, writing, and arithmetic... This went on all day with no intrusion from the outside world."

After watching "Did You Know 3.0," it's hard for me to believe that this is even POSSIBLE. How could the world be advancing without teaching students the appropriate information about - or even just by USING - the technology they'll need to survive in the fast-advancing world?!


Did You Know 3.0
Interested in watching this video?

This video was full of shocking statistics, starting with, "If you were one in a million in China... there are 1,300 people just like you." Immediately, any sense of individualism is challenged. The more I read, the more nervous I became: how am I supposed to keep up with technology without making it a full-time study? Apparently for those who ARE studying it within a four-year college, their first year of knowledge is out-dated by the time they reach their third year. How is anyone to keep up with this? Also, how do you prepare for a job that doesn't even exist yet?

It actually wasn't very surprising to know that one in four employees has only been with his/her current employer for less than one year. If the top 10 in-demand jobs of 2010 didn't exist in 2004, new opportunities must be to blame for the short-term employment. It also wasn't very surprising to find out that if MySpace were a country, it would be the 5th-largest in the world; this gives MySpace an alarming amount of potential power and influence of its users. Google's influence over internet searches seems to be the strongest, and if 31 billion questions are presented every month, 31 billion people put their trust into Google for finding them what they need. This is an immense amount responsibility...

I definitely recommend this video to anyone curious about new technology or the technological state of the entire planet.



Schools Kill Creativity
Want to hear the debate?

This was a very interesting piece! Mr. Robinson made the analogy that "creativity is as important in education as literacy - and should be treated with the same status." I couldn't agree more; however, it is in education where children lose touch with their creative side: if the child deviates from what is expected, the child is "wrong," not "creative." It's a shame that originality is only found in the circumstance of being "wrong" by standards. As Mr. Robinson points out, children aren't initially afraid to be wrong, but as they grow, they are taught the "right" way, thus they are educated OUT of creativity.

Discouraging a child to be more like other children is not only an insult to the child, but it could potentially be in an insult to that child's art; a perfect example is that which Mr. Robinson gave about Shakespeare: could you imagine telling young Shakespeare, "Stop speaking like that. It's confusing everybody." How much would the world of literature have lost!

I have also heard that giving a child a coloring book instead of a blank sheet of paper discourages creativity. Children do seem to grow out of creativity as they age and are taught "the way that things SHOULD be." As a future educator, I hope to learn as many ways to help my students embrace their creativity, opening as many doors as possible to better the rest of the creative world.


Harnessing Your Students' Digital Smarts
Learn more here!

Using technology enables students to empower themselves to excel in the workplace, either as an employee using a program or as a creator of a program. Being a part of a digital world seems to be an effective method for the students in Vicki Davis's classroom in Georgia. Not only is Vicki Davis teaching these students fundamental and critical skills for a technological world, but she is encouraging these students' creativity by placing them quite literally into a virtual world of their creating.

I think that I would enjoy this type of classroom; it's not just, "Here's a program, and this is how you use it..." but instead, "You can use this to help you create whatever you need..." - which throws the students' creative side into their work. Originality is not lost or discouraged, but it is essential in the progression of each individual project.

I believe Mr. Ken Robinson would approve of Ms. Vicki Davis's techniques...

This is my first blog!

Welcome!

It may have taken some time, but I finally have my blog set up! I'm new to blogging, so I'm curious to see how this works...