March 12, 2010

ALEX



I am actually quite familiar with the Alabama Learning Exchange. I learned about it in Dr. Brenda Juarez's Education class. It's a very helpful tool used by teachers to create and organize their curriculum for the upcoming semester. I am quite looking forward to using this when I become an instructor. It should be make things a TON easier. It provides lesson plans for all grade levels. However, the most interesting part about the site is the search feature. All I did was type in one word, "Algebra." Which brought forth so many results, it crashed my browser. So that means one of two things, either that was quite the amount of results OR I have a disappointingly weak computer, or possibly both, considering I was using my mini. So, I restarted my computer completely in order to delete cookies and whatnot and opened ALEX back up on Firefox. This time, I decided I'd stay away from the Search window. Instead, I clicked on "Lesson Plans." I selected "mathematics" and clicked "9" for high school freshmen. I, then, selected "algebra," "algebra II-trig," and "algebra II." This time, it didn't quite crash the browser but it CERTAINLY slowed me down. I guess there are just so many things that they can provide us with. So many, in fact, that it looks like I will only be able to access it from a full sized laptop or a desktop. Apparently, this mini just isn't going to cut it.

Comments4Teachers

Teachernz

I was assigned to view the blogs of an instructor in New Zealand whose blogs under then pen name "Teachernz." She did not make any posts between March 17th and January 17th, so instead I went back and read some of her older posts and found them to be rather interesting. I saw her post about a 3d printer. I have seen this video before, or at least a video similar to it, and found it quite confusing at the time. I would say it's been at least 3 years since I saw the video at hand and I must say, I am still confused. How does the machine know the dimensions for what you are trying to print? Very impressive piece of machinery though. I would very willingly pay $950 for something like that. I do not think it is over priced at all. I personally think it is under priced. I can't wait to get one. I'm going to make a plastic form of one of my fraternity's symbols. I'll find a spot for it.

Her latest post is called "This One's For You," which was about the internet. She posted a video in her blog that was a trailer for a show called "Superpower," which is about the internet and the information it holds and the people that are apart of it. I was actually pretty disappointed in myself after I read it. I always thought of the internet as a cybernetic artificially intelligent being that shows me what I want when I want it, or at least the next best thing. I keep forgetting that there are people who upload and grant us access to whatever it is we are actually seeing and enjoying. It really is the people, we are watching on Youtube. It is the people whose blogs we read. It is the people who voice their opinions together as a group, for as one they may be nothing, but when there are others that share the same opinions as them, there are limitless possibilities to what they can accomplish.

It also made mention of the possibility of the internet receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. What an odd idea. Doesn't really make the most sense. It's not much different than giving the award to cars, instead of a particular vehicle manufacturer. Though the internet is very beneficial to everyone’s everyday life, you can’t really give a Nobel Peace Prize to something like that. What do you pin the award to? A space satellite? Are we going to give a Peace Prize to Cable as well? Find the people that invented the internet. Give it to them. That would at least make more sense. In fact, give it to Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. That would be more reasonable.

March 7, 2010

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

What an admirable man. I have no idea how I would be able to handle life in any way, shape, or form if I knew that Death had his finger pointed straight at me every moment of the day. I would most likely be too busy sulking to be concerned about the well being of my family, much about the academic standings of my students. What's worse, is that even though I realize what it is like to see someone with such courage handling it like that everyday, I still don't think I could bring myself to be selfless about it. I couldn't possibly imagine the amount of pain he is in everyday.

His own tribulations aside, the respect he has from his students is remarkable. He was the one they went to for help and they seemed to hang onto his every word. If I could get half as much respect and admiration from my students as he did from his, I would be ecstatic.

By the end of my life, I hope to touch half as many of my students' lives as he did. I also imagine I will be in full health when I do it, as opposed to the physical pain that he must have been dealing with. I wonder how he would feel that even after death, a small 33 minute video of him is still teaching future instructors and students all over the US. In one half hour, he has given life lessons that everyone can appreciate and use in life.

Be honest
Be earnest
Be humble
Be selfless

These are Dr. Pausch's last lessons. If more people can apply these to their lives, the world could only become better. R.I.P. Dr. Pausch.

February 28, 2010

This Is How We Dream

Ummmm.... What? I'm sorry, I have listened to this video about 4 times now, and I still don't think I have captured what he is trying to talk about. I really can't pick out what he is trying to say or what his goal was speaking about. I don't think I am the right person to summarize or even discuss what he was speaking about. I heard him talking about bots that surf the net for similar information, and saw him playing with some software looking to merge science with humanities in making a green building. However, other than that, I seriously haven't the slightest clue what I was supposed to take from that. If you have an idea of what it was about, please, PLEASE enlighten me.

The Networked Students

I seriously loved this video. It was extremely creative, the message was very clear and the video was fun to watch. If this was presented to children, if their attention spans are high enough, it could be a great tool to show them how helpful a network is from a very young age. The social web was probably the best part about the whole video. It started with one person who was interested in something, which connected him to other people with the same interests and buildings/organizations with the same interests. Very intriguing!

The best part about networks is that when you are connected to someone based on a common interest, you may gain interest in something else that the other person is interested in. For instance, say you were connected to someone because you enjoy a certain kind of literature, if they start reading something else, but completely unrelated to your usual discussion, and would never pick up to read on your own, their interest in it may make you consider it and read it and enjoy it! That in turn will grant you access to an entirely new network of interest, connecting you to a completely new set of people with all new interests. Now, imagine if this is based on a network you start at a very young age. That small flake of snow, could grow into a HUGE blizzard by the time they hit college!

New Media Literacies

That was a very interesting video. It was very short, yet it got its message across. Media literacy seems to be a very complex idea. It's all about taking what you have in internet, social networking, cellular technology, and television and using them to your advantage wisely. The video listed many skills that will be the new norms for media literacy, such as: judgment, negotiation, play, simulation, visualization, and multi-tasking, just to list a few of them.

What do I think of them?
I think they are brilliant and absolutely right. These traits will easily be what the workers of the future will have to have to be successful.

Will these skills be effective in the real world?
Absolutely. Again, the traits listed will be what workers will have to have to be successful. For instance, multi-tasking will be important as people will want a person who can do more in less time. "Oh so you can type 80 words a minute? Well this guy can type 70 words a minute, while making supply orders for the office, and filing all of the office's case files." Guess who is getting the job.

Do I have any of these traits?
Most. I have a very playful and creative mind. I am a great speaker for negotiating, I can multi-task with the best of them, I have great judgment, and my performance is pretty amazing as well. I have more, but I really can't think of a way to speak about them without sounding like I'm bragging about myself.

I have the skills, and the drive to do well in the world. I just have to find a goal for it to lead me to. Any skills that I lack, I usually find a way to achieve it, or I have a connection that can get it done for me. Either way, in my hands, it will get done. The potential is there, but the catalyst to start the reaction has not been found yet.

Shifting from Kids to Teachers

After commenting on peers and students for the past several weeks, seeing what the teachers post is COMPLETELY different. When commenting for Noah, he had a single picture of this ridiculously psychotic vehicle that will go from 0-600 (not 60, 600) in a minute. Not the most traffic friendly vehicle I have seen, but it's existence is impressive. However, Teachernz has rows among rows of pictures and videos of the things they do with and for their students and class trips and I think I even saw one with a personal trip. Regardless, even the content of the blogs were different. Not to say that I expected them to be similar given the age and education difference, but I guess the amount of information that was posted was a huge change. I suppose it wasn't that there was more than the child's post that surprised me, it was how much more that threw me for a loop. However, I must say, the instructor's was more interesting with a lot more to do. I wonder if Noah will blog that well one day.

My PLN

For the past several weeks, I kept hearing Dr. Strange talk about PLNs. To be quite honest, I had NO idea what he was talking about until last week. Thank goodness I found out sooner than later. It's just a large networking web that connects you to a ton of other people to learn new stuff.

The target behind this particular PLN was education. At this point, my PLN consists only of instructors. However, there are many of those who tie me to other instructors who I have at least e-mailed if I don't know them personally at all. I have instructors who I am tied to on Facebook locally, however, my less local links, mainly from Houston, TX, I stay in contact with through e-mail. The instructors that I have networked with do not use Twitter unfortunately. However, I am not done with my networking yet.

February 21, 2010

Dr. Alice Christie's Web Design Resources for Educators

I took a look at Dr. Christie's Web Design Page and found it to be quite interesting. It made me take interest in school websites, so I took a look at the website for my old high school, Theodore High. I discovered my old site to be highly obsolete and lacking on updates as though whoever designed the site updates it once a month and calls it a day. I even found the navigation to be a pain, which was one of the two criteria that Dr. Christie claims makes an excellent school website.

Thanks to Dr. Christie's guide I can probably use this to maintain a decent website for students and, if it's good enough, possibly even the school website. Make it easier to navigate, relevant to what people want to know, and entertaining to be at. I can also use it to make sure I don't step on any copyright issues that I never seem to realize I've crossed until it is too late... Which is bad...

iTunes U

Just the idea of iTunes U is quite amazing. The fact that you can give lectures as podcasts, with the ability for it to be able to download from anywhere you have access to iTunes. That means that I can hear anything my teacher has to say from anywhere I have signal from my iPhone!

I learned more about iTunes U from watching the video:

First of all, it's absolutely brilliant how they thought this through. They take what seems to be just a norm that every college student just happens to have an iPod of some sort, and they create an entire podcast genre based solely around college students in an attempt to continue their education by use of a product pretty much every student has. I used to think that iTunes U was nothing more than a digital text book for whatever subject you wanted, but this has made me realize that this is so much more than that. It's also a networking system in itself that helps every student who subscribes and listens to it, can be completely up to date with the news current events of their school. Does South Alabama have an iTunes U Channel?

iPods in Instruction

In 2001, Apple created the iPod which started off as nothing more than a fancy mp3 player. However, 9 years later, it has become a device that is a part of everyday life. Aside from providing background music for your morning work out or your quiet day at work and an amusing video game player, it can now provide people with class lectures, life philosophies, and even recipes for dinner that night!

In August 2004, Duke University tried an experiment with the Fall Freshman class and provided each of them with a 20 GB iPod and a Belkin voice recording device. They evaluated exactly how often these iPods were used and for what purpose. About 60% were recorded using them for academic purposes, showing that the iPod's conventional uses, i.e. music and movies, are becoming more and more about it's less conventional features, such as podcasts and lectures.

Though music shall forever remain the main function of the iPod, as time progresses, having it solely for that purpose will become less likely. Since their primary target audience are college level students, the more academic features that will be developed over time will more than likely become the new primary function of the iPod.

February 14, 2010 (Happy Valentine's Day/Joe Cain Day/Lunar New Year!!)

Who's Editing WikiPedia?

I don't know if WikiPedia will ever be a trusted source of information. As long as it remains freely editable, you can never be sure if the data you are collecting are facts or the immature prank of some jerk somewhere on the other side of the planet or just a random individual that just thinks that they are right and are spreading poor and incorrect information.

The only way that I can think of that will make WikiPedia trustworthy is by possibly having only a single person or certain individuals who know EXACTLY what they are talking about. Like the members involved in the organization or group that is being talked about or the individual should be the one giving their own biography, as there could be information that can be misconstrued or incorrect coming from a source that doesn't seem to know what they are talking about.

What I've Learned This Year

This post described tips left by one Mr. McClung based on personal experiences he went through during his first year of teaching. First, he learned how to read a crowd, which taught him that he had to work his lessons around his students as opposed to deriving his lessons solely around the curriculum. Second, he learned that "My Way or the Highway" was a VERY poor way to teach, and that he has to make sure that the students have to understand what's going on in order for him to be able to say that he is a teacher. Also, communication is key. This is a tactic he found to be more than just a tool for students, but also his fellow instructors. Being able to speak is a great way to build relationships and fix relationships. He listed many more, but I want to skip straight to the last, and what I feel to be the most important tip, Never stop learning. He says that instructors put all of the pressure onto students to try to bring them up to their standards, instead of realizing that these students are struggling and helping them. Instructors need to stop saying "do this do that" and "why can't you do this and why don't you understand that", and they need to teach themselves new ways to be able to reach them. That's the new way to teach.

The Skillz that Killz!

In Langwitches' Blog "It's not about the tools. It's about the skill." The author is absolutely right. It's not about the applications, it's about how to use them. Simply put but wisely stated. It's amazing how many people still get confused by the simple word "Podcast." That one word can cause so much confusion, it's sad. These people don't realize what they are missing out on when they don't care to learn more about podcasts. I mean, it's more than just a place to listen to people voice their opinions, they can also enlighten and teach! They really are pretty awesome, and the sooner other people understand that, the sooner they can start reaping the benefits of them.

How to JailBreak an iPhone/iPod Touch

January 31, 2010

Podcasts

The first thing that I noticed about the podcasts were how they just spoke naturally. Not to say that they didn't stumble over their words, which they did very much so, but that they seemed to not really think about what they were going to say, but instead just jumped into the booth and spoke and hope it made sense once it came out. However, they did sound like radio talk shows which made it difficult for me to be interested.

I listened to MacBreak Episode 158. This shed some light on some Mac questions for me. I always wondered why do Mac products become more and more expensive with every product they make. I mean, it started with the iMac, a simple computer, to the iBook to keep up with the notebook era, then the iPod with it's odd navigating circle, and that is where things went down hill. The iPod turned into the iPod nano, one of the most easily lost products I have seen, then the iPod Shuffle, which is even smaller than that! The reason the "iProducts" keep getting more and more expensive is because they keep getting more and more complicated. The iPod Touch and the iPhone are easily their most expensive products (aside from the computers), and they are easily the most complicated products they have. However, they aren't without their positive points as they increase productivity and convenience. I love my iPhone, but if simplifying it would make it cheaper, by all means, do it.

EdTechTalk Episode 181 was especially exciting to me! I am a very hardcore gamer! The discussion was about whether games can fit into curriculum. I believe that they very much can. Given the right programs, it would be all too simple. However, theory can only get anyone so far. Unless instructors are willing to accept gaming into their curriculum, it will remain a theory. I have seen social games and programs at work, so I know that there are ways for people to connect and converse online with a common goal. However, the reason that teachers are reluctant to accept this form of education is that they believe that there should be a line between fun and education. But why can't educating be fun? I am probably one of the fastest typists amongst everyone I know, and it is because, as I was growing up, I had a typing game that would keep pushing me to type faster and would still be teaching me a trait that I would use for the rest of my life. So it can be mixed, they just have to accept it.

I found the podcasts to be extremely interesting. They ranged from a ridiculous amount of topics with just as many point of views and opinions. I can't imagine how many different podcasts there will be in just a few years. The world of podcasting is a large one and will only grow as time goes on. It will become an invaluable learning tool in years to come. Just wait and see.

Media Literacy in the First Grade

Wow... Those kids are way smarter than I was at that age. For that matter, they're smarter than most of the people I graduated with now! They can navigate blogs, they're open-minded, and bright. However, that one child who said that commenting shouldn't ever be negative seems a little naive, since I find that stupid people need reality checks some time and kind words don't always do it. But he's young yet. He'll learn. All I can say is that those kids have a HUGE advantage in education over most places who don't appreciate or have the resources to teach media literacy. Those kids have very bright futures ahead of them.

Little Kids... Big potential

I find it impressive these kids can navigate a url like the back of their hands, before they have reached the age where they can properly formulate sentences. When I was that age, I don't think I was even able to read yet. Then again, there wasn't anything remotely this interesting on the internet when I was a kid. Back when there was nothing worth learning on the net. It's a great thing to teach these kids young, but what about the people our age? Are they just supposed to sit back while the children of tomorrow are being raised to steal their jobs as soon as they're of age? I guess the adults of yesterday don't feel as much value in media literacy as children. What a shame. They're jobs are being threatened by first graders and they don't even realize it.

A Baby and an iPhone

You know what I find the most interesting part about this video? A one year old, who I doubt can feed himself properly, can efficiently use and navigate an iPhone. However, my 56 year old mother, who can cook a full dinner with no power during a hurricane, who owns an iPhone, can barely use the camera for it. But it's ok, she's coming to the age where I'm going to be the one taking care of everything involving technology for her.... Yay, me.....

January 24, 2010

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

That was a great video. Most all of that is very true and but only some of that applies to me. I get, on a good day, about 7 hours of sleep, but usually no more than 5 or 6. Then, while in class, I do not usually pay complete attention to the lecture, as I surf the net more often than not. I most definitely have never had over 100 students in any of my classes though. I have yet to read a single book in its entirety much less 8 of them. Most academic literature I use come from the internet. And about 80% of my teachers know me and my face quite well. Also, I manage my personal life and extra curricular activities pretty well. However, I will greatly agree that most of the things that we learn in college will not help us on the paths we plan to take, nor will they help us deal with the largest issues to deal with in society, such as war, internet predators, or natural disasters, among millions of other issues. And I'm not entirely sure if technology is going to save the students, but it will definitely make things much more convenient and help them through it all.

This video actually made me consider how trivial college is. There are teachers who would forget you just as fast as you arrived. There are issues that people go through everyday that the classroom will never be able to prepare you for. Then, in order to be well energized to go to these classes that don’t really help them, students try to get as much sleep as possible after dealing with all of the homework given to them, leaving them with about 4-8 hours of rest a night. It would have been better if the producer allowed a couple of the students to speak about their experiences. One of the last camera angles where it showed the web of issues the girl would go through was rather difficult to read. Other than those very small obscure issues, everything else was clear, accurate (in most cases), and absolutely brilliant. It was a fantastic and well made film.

"It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines

I completely agree with Parts 1 and 2. In order for trends to evolve, teachers must also evolve the way they teach. They have to motivate themselves to do something creative with the class, because if they rely solely on the text, the students will lose interest and that is where they will start to fall behind in class. Then, once a student falls behind, they will learn less and if they learn nothing, then we have failed as teachers.
Though I will agree that you do not NEED technology to be an effective teacher, I must say that technology will most definitely make your daily routine much simpler, as it can help one plan their curriculum, create lab sheets, and electronically connect the instructor to their students so that can contact them with any concerns they may have. The primary thing that you need above everything is to be creative and innovative during your lectures, that way the students can find ways to relate what they already know to what you are teaching.


Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?


I must say that, though that was rather harsh, Mr. Fisch had his points and he made them. It is without question that, with the trend of technological evolution at the rate it is going, every instructor should have, at least, basic knowledge of computer literacy. In this day and age, an instructor who is unable to create a spreadsheet, record grades electronically, or even print out a test has little to no future in the educational industry, ESPECIALLY those teaching the younger, elementary level students as their lack of ability and passion to learn how to effectively use a computer puts off a bad impression on the young students and may give them the impression that computers are more of a luxury than a necessity.

Hopefully, all people of this day and age understand that computer technology is more than just a convenience, it is a tool to maximize productivity. Everyone should realize that the faster an individual can work, the more they can accomplish. No one can argue that printing out a single test 30 times, enough for every student in the class, is a much more efficient use of one’s time and energy than to write down the same test on 30 sheets of paper. At the same time, a person cannot look to find someone who knows how to print said test every time they need it. It would be a much better use of time for everyone if the person just found out how to do it themselves. Much like reading, computers are becoming the new norm of everyday life, and the sooner teachers can get on the ball, they better it will be for those the students as well as themselves.

Gary's Social Media Count

That was trippy. However, as I observed it, I couldn't help but feel that it was an automated counter. So, I read more into the blog, and found that I was correct in my assumption as it is a Flash Application that simulates online activity. Although, had it been a truly active counter, that would have been extremely interesting. That meter would have to stop some time, right? As an instructor, this shows that, though the blackboard is where the classroom learning is, the technology and internet applications will eventually become the best and most efficient way to teach. Branching out to iPhones, blogs, and YouTube will become, if it isn't already, a great way to teach not just your own students, but also any curious mind who becomes interested in what you may have to say. How interesting.

January 17, 2010

Did You Know? 3.0

This is a video that spouts random facts about the world and even makes a few premonitions about what the future may have in store, including a prediction of a

Wow… That was absolutely mind-blowing. Evolution has seriously played a role in not just the population of the people, but the way the population lives. Whenever I look at my iPhone, I always think about how much cellular phone technology has changed over time, but it’s something else completely when you think about what’s to come in the near future if things continue evolving at the rate it’s going. It seems frightening.

However, there were a few things in the film that I not only found shocking, but also somewhat confusing and unbelievable. Like the fact that India's population of Honor's level children is more than America has children! The entire population of India must completely overwhelm the US population, but does that include the illegal immigrants that we have? I mean, that has to add at least another thousand or so right? And I find it nearly impossible to believe that there are only 540,000 words in the English language. I could have sworn that we had millions and millions of words in our dictionary. I figured we had at least 1 million, but now we know that there is slightly more than half of that. And one last thing that I find amazing is the fact that in 2049 (if the world hasn't ended yet), the standard $1000 computer should be able to out think the entire world's population. That seems pretty out of this world. Just thinking about a computer that powerful makes me wonder exactly how long will it be before technology starts to think for itself and may possibly become self-sufficient, or possibly even a threat to humanity. Frightening thought.

Mr. Winkle Wakes

The story of Rip Van Winkle awakening after 100 years to find that the world had changed greatly. So great, to the point where it made Mr. Winkle sick to his stomach. There he finds that even the hospitals have become technologically advanced, which makes him uncomfortable so he leaves. He then comes across a school with students sitting quietly as the teacher lectures with a computer in the back of the room collecting dust, which gave him comfort.

At first, I didn't really understand the moral of the story, but after I watched it another couple of times, I think I finally get it. It's about the evolution of the world around us in all parts of the professional world, such as traffic safety, media, and medicine. However, the technology seems to have skipped over schools.

What's up with that? With the way the world is these days, we should be looking to the future by providing students with the tools they need for the continuously evolving trend of technology. If we continue to only use school books and lectures on them and ignore the media, they may be losing a lot of time to figure out these computer skills which can either make or break them in the long run. The sooner they learn how to master computer skills, they better off they will be in their future. Not just in school assignments, but also in helping them to decide on a career choice.

School Kills Skills

He, on top of being completely hilarious, is absolutely brilliant and correct. It's true that, in an effort on part of schools to bring all children and students to the same status quo, they great cripple the creativity of most people from a very young age. How often are children, who are just expressing themselves in art or writing, are told "That's not right, fix it!"? Back then, I used to think it was nothing more than a teacher teaching them something, however, now, I have come to realize that there's a lot more to it than that. These teachers are making them afraid to be wrong and that keeps them from trying to avoid being wrong. What a terribly sad fate. It's a lot like the elephant. At a young age, the elephant is tied to a stake and is unable to escape it, then when they are older, they remember how futile it was to try to move, so they prefer not to try. It's the same thing for children. They just figure "what's the point in trying if I would get just as much accomplished if I did nothing?" The schools should stick to correct the children on facts instead of criticizing them when they are being creative. If they are doing homework and got something incorrect, fix it, but if they are drawing or writing, leave them be.

Your Students' Digital Smarts

Mrs. Vicki Davis uses all forms of technology to educate her students, from cell phones to blogging, and even the online program called Open Sim, a gaming style platform that uses avatars to help students and teacher interact in an online 3-d world. She brings to light that student struggle primarily in the classrooms that use only ink and paper to teach. Also, she teaches to benefit each student based on their interests, instead of teaching them based on the curriculum. They also made use of Digi-teen in order to connect and share information with one another.

I can easily say that if my grade school had used anything even remotely close to what they did in their classroom, it would have made my experience there so much more effective. I could tell you honestly right now that I could not recall or even care less about anything I learned in high school or lower because not a bit of it mattered to me. It all seemed so droll and boring. They never tried to make anything matter to us. Looking back it seemed as though they were only trying to justify their paychecks. They didn't care that it didn't matter to us so long as they were teaching it. And that is the flaw with the teaching I grew up with. Use of technology will definitely play a role in my classroom. I also plan to make sure that it matters to them, because I know first hand that if they don't care about it, they won't learn a bit of it.