Project #8 - Podcast

Project #9a - Individual Timetoast

Blog Assignment #5

Don’t teach your kids this stuff. Please? by Scott McLeod

First, I did some research on Dr. McLeod and found out that he is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Kentucky. As well as the Founding Director of CASTLE, the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education. He was also the co-creator of the "Did You Know?" video series, one of which we viewed earlier in the semester. Also, Dr. McLeod has been named one of the National School Board Association’s "20 To Watch" and a Leader in Learning by the cable industry.

Personally, I loved Dr. McLeod's blog post. I read several of the responses to it and saw that a lot of people took his sarcasm offensively but honestly, I found it refreshing. On a daily basis I am surrounded by people (that I work with) that do not understand technology AT ALL. They see no need for "kids" to be on the Internet blogging, using social networking sites, or doing online school work. They think you should be sitting in a classroom with a chalkboard, a lecturing teacher, and writing with pen and paper until your hearts content. They can not grasp the fact that computers and the Internet can give people the chance to experience things that otherwise they would never get to experience. Dr. McLeod said, "...'cause I'm doing all of it with my kids...can't wait to see who has a leg up in a decade or two...can you?" and I completely agree with him. Students who are exposed to all the things that the Internet has to offer will be better off in the long run. Being able to use computers and the Internet at school excites kids. My little brother is in 1st grade and absolutely loves when his class gets to go to the computer lab and use the computers. It gets his attention and encourages him to learn.


The iSchool Initiative by Travis Allen

Far beyond his time, Travis Allen was a 17 year old high school student in Fayetteville, Georgia when this video was made. With just this one video Travis launched an educational revolution. In the video Travis introduces his idea for the iSchool initiative. With budget cuts going on all around him, Travis realizes that our public school system is broken. He comes up with the idea that maybe technology could help save our schools some money.
Using Apple's iTouch as his base, Travis builds the schools of the future. The iTouch already has several applications built into it that students can use. For example: a calculator, Email, Formulae, World Wiki, Recorder, and Books. His idea is a school with no books, paper, or expensive copy machines, can equal savings up to 600 dollars a student. The price of an iSchool? Only 150 dollars.
Travis is absolutely amazing! The iSchool initiative is unlike anything I've ever seen before. Not only would the iSchool help save our schools money but it would also help our environment! Not to mention, that it would bring technology into our classrooms and help introduce students to the thousands of possibilities it has to offer!


Jennifer Chamber’s post and Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir video

This video was amazing! It's hard to believe that 185 people in 12 different countries could all be singing together simultaneously without ever physically being in the same room. This video is a perfect example of the unbelievable things that the Internet can help us achieve!


Teaching in the 21st Century by Kevin Robert

I think that Mr. Roberts believes in order to teach in the 21st Century you must engage your students and take risks. I loved that he addressed the topic that certain people believe technological devices are toys. Technological devices are not toys they are TOOLS. Tools that engage students to learn in different, more dynamic ways. In the video Mr. Roberts states, "entertainment is not the same an engagement" and I couldn't agree more. Like Mr. Roberts says in the video, entertainment is something that is short-lived. Engagement has long-term results and sticks with students. Entertainment doesn't require relevance but engagement does require the information to be meaningful and applicable. Another part of the video that I really enjoyed was when Mr. Roberts stated that, "Entertainment is using the creativity of others" but "Engagement is using the creativity of the participant". In order for us to be effective teachers in the 21st Century we are going to have to embrace technology and use it to its fullest potential. Information is everywhere, students don't need teachers to give them information straight out of a textbook anymore. Students need teachers to help them sort through the information and teach them why this information is relevant and important for them to know. I know its going to be hard for some teachers to put the chalk and textbooks down. But in order for students in today's society to learn traits that they're actually going to use later in life, teachers are going to have to use technology. End of story.

Blog Assignment #4

The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom by Joe Dale

I loved this video! Honestly, I was not very familiar with Podcasting until I watched the video. I think that Podcasting is beneficial to really everyone involved. The idea that parents can listen to the Podcast is wonderful. I think that it could help by having the parents understand exactly what their child is learning at that particular time. Also, it could help the parents understand what their child needs to study or work on in order to do well in class or on their next test. Something that could potentially be beneficial for parents and students is that you can access these from anywhere. For instance, the scene in the video where the student was out sick. I know that I would have loved to be able to look at a Vodcast or listen to a Podcast when I was out sick. We all know that life happens but with Pod or Vodcasting students can stay on task and not get behind. And students can listen to the Podcasts as many times as they like. That is one thing that is really appealing to me. I like to listen, watch, or re-read whatever it is that I'm doing just to make sure that I have a good grasp on it before I start the actual assignment. I'm sure a bunch of people do! All in all, I think this video did a great job of really showing what Podcasting is all about.


100 Ways to Use Your iPod to Learn and Study Better

Wow! The title "100 Ways to Use Your iPod to Learn and Study Better" says it all. This article is full of ways to help people use their i Pods to there fullest potential. There are so many things in the article that I had no idea you could do with an i Pod. "Soundwalk" is something that this article mentions and I am absolutely going to try it out. I recently took a trip to New York and one of my favorite parts was being able to listen to the audio tours at places like the Empire State Building. It's just such an awesome way to get a lot of information and for it to be clear. Also, it goes along with where you are in the tour so that you can stop and start it as you wish! The best part about "Soundwalk" though, is that you don't have to be in New York to hear about the Empire State Building you could be sitting in your own living room. I can see this as being such a useful tool when it comes to Podcasts. I am definitely going to bookmark this article for future references!


Judy Scharf Podcast Collection

This site is full of helpful hints on how to do a Podcast. Ms. Scharf starts off by explaining exactly what a Podcast is as well as the benefits of Podcasting. She also gives "Tips to Succeed", one of my favorites was #6 "Allow plenty of time to complete the project. Everything takes longer than you think it will!" which is so true! To go along with #6, Ms. Scharf put in a "Time Schedule for Creating a Podcast" which is broken down into "periods". There are also suggestions for Podcast topics. The list goes on and on! This site has tons of information on Podcasting. I will absolutely be going back to look at it when I have to do my own Podcast!

Project #6 - My Sentence Video

C4T #1

I was assigned to Audrey Watters Blog - Mind/Shift (How we will learn) for my first C4T. I read and commented on two of Audrey Watters posts including,"12 Ways To Be More Search Savvy" and "How Project Gutenberg Changed Literature."
"12 Ways To Be More Search Savvy" talked about Google and how it has made it possible for us to be able to search things easily and almost instantly. Mrs. Watters also went on to talk about the ways to be more efficient with your Google searches. Listing many tips on shortcuts and ways to get better search results using Google. I left Mrs. Watters the following comment:

Hello! I'm Kristen Phelps from the University of South Alabama. I'm taking EDM 310 with Dr. Strange and I was assigned to your blog! I was just having a conversation with a lady I work with on Friday about using Google. I was trying to explain to her how to look things up and made the comment that, I'm not sure how I looked things up before Google. So many times I ask my boyfriend for help with something and most times his answer to me is, Google it. I depend on Google a lot on my computer at work, I work for a Neurologist and there are tons of diagnosis's that I have to look up because I don't have a clue what they mean. I thought this was really informational and I will absolutely be using some of these tips!

The other post that I read and commented on was Mrs. Watters "How Project Gutenberg Changed Literature." This post was about the passing of Michael Hart the creator of Project Gutenberg, which dealt with the digitization of books for the public, or eBooks. He died at the young age of 64, which is truly a shame for someone who had a true grasp of the importance of technology and preserving the written past. For this post I left Mrs. Watters the following comment:

Hello! I'm Kristen Phelps from the University of South Alabama.
I'm taking EDM 310 with Dr. Strange and I was assigned to your blog! To be
honest I wasn't aware of Mr. Hart or Project
Gutenberg before I read this post. After reading this though, it is extremely
sad that such an influential man died so young. What
an intelligent man he was to have said, "twenty or 30 years from now, there’s going to be some gizmo that
kids carry around in their back pocket that has everything in it — including
our books, if they want.” He was defiantly a man that could think far beyond his time and see into the future of technology. I really enjoyed reading this article and learning about Mr. Hart and Project Gutenberg. Thank you for sharing.

Blog Assignment #3

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

I really enjoyed Kelly Hines' post, "It's Not About the Technology". She made some really valid points such as that "teachers must be learners" and "technology is useless without good teaching". I truly believe that sometimes teachers get complacent in their teaching patterns and styles. But as teachers I feel that it is our duty to be aware and up to date with all of the technology that is available to us. If not we could be doing our students a real injustice. If there are tool out there for our use to help us teach students in the best way for them, why would we not use them to our advantage? Though, in order for us to use these tools to our advantage we have to be learners. We have to be willing to learn technology to the best of our abilities or will not be able to give our students the tools they need to succeed in today's society.

Another point that Mrs. Hines made that I thought was really helpful is that for all the technology that we learn if we don't turn around and teach it just as well to our students, it becomes useless. We also need to realize that our students may not grasp the technology in the same way that we did so we might have to go about teaching it in a different way. Mrs. Hines said in her post that, "if a student has not learned, no matter how much effort has been exerted, no teaching has been done." and I don't think this could be any more true! We have to teach each child in a way that they can understand. Not just in the way that the majority of the class understands. So, I agree with Mrs. Hines it's not all about the technology, its about how we use it and teach it in return.


My comment that I sent to Kelly Hines:

I enjoyed your post for many reasons, one of them being your comment that "Teachers must be learners". This is so true and I truly believe that not all teachers see it this way. I have been in so many classrooms that the information being used to teach seems like it is years old! I actually had on teacher tell the class I taking, that the handout "goes along" with the old book but it'll be fine. I was astounded! Isn't our job as a teacher to teach our students the most current and up to date information we can? I think so.

Another part of your post that I found interesting was when you said, "if a student has not learned, no matter how much effort has been exerted, no teaching has been done." Very well said! I couldn't agree with you more. Our job as teachers is to figure out how we can relate to ALL of our students, not just the majority. And with all of the technology that is available to us, I feel that we should be able to relate to all of our students and help them learn whatever way is best for them. Like you said, we can do this by learning ourselves and using the technology that is becoming available to us so rapidly, to better the learning environment for all students.



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

I loved Mr. Fisch's post, specifically, his writing style I though it flowed wonderfully and was easy to understand. Mr. Fisch made some really valid points in his post and for some people they may have seemed pretty extreme. His main point, "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." was extreme but in my opinion, very valid. It is getting (or some people may think it already has) to the point that if you are going to be a teacher, in which one of your main jobs is to prepare children for their futures, you need to be up to date with what the future holds. Obviously, the future holds the use of technology.

Another point of his that I really liked is when he was talking about people almost being "proud" of their technological illiteracy. Instead of trying to learn they automatically just say they aren't good at using technology or they just don't understand. Therefore if the parents or guardians and the teachers of children all feel this way, where is the child going to learn about technology? They won't! It is our job as adults, teachers, and role models to teach children in all the areas that can be beneficial to them in their futures, and the use of technology is one of them.


My comment I sent to Karl Fisch:

First, I want to thank you for bringing this subject to light. I feel that some teachers in today's society are trying to sweep this subject under the rug. Why? I'm not really sure. Maybe they don't want to give in to the pressures of society and technology. Your question, "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." might be a little extreme but then again maybe not. I'm sure some people would completely agree that it is extreme but I personally can't decide. I defiantly think that if you are going to be a teacher today you need to be technologically literate. If you are not I think that you are doing an injustice to your students.

As far as people being "proud" of their technological illiteracy I can totally believe that. I have family members that are "proud" of it, constantly using the phrase, "You know I don't know how to work all that computer stuff." Or, "Will you just do it for me? You know I don't know how to work that stuff." And as rude as they may think that I am my answer is usually, "NO." I am not going to just do it for you. We all need to buy in to the fact that technology is here to stay and it is going to be a part of our lives. Thank you again for letting us read your post.




Gary Hayes Social Media Count

Gary Hayes's Social Media Count is amazing! I never really took the time to stop and think about exactly how much people use the Internet. Of course, I knew it was a lot but Mr. Hayes Media Count really puts it into perspective. From looking at how much is going on with each of the sites on the Social Media Count, it really makes you realize what a big part of our lives sites like Facebook, Google, and YouTube have become. It has become more of a way of life than just something that young people do for "fun" like I think so many people looked at it as in years past.

Its interesting to think about that whether we are on the computer using these site or not, people around the world are on them, updating them, uploading things to them and then when we log back on those things are there for us to see. There is so much information on all of these site and it makes me think, what did we do before them? We have become so used to the idea of everything being so instant. Being able to find out an answer to a question right now or talk to someone right this second its just funny to me to think about a world with out these things. I know that there have been a couple of times I have been without my computer or Internet and I have to admit I do feel a since of being cut of from the world!


My comment I sent to Gary Hayes:

Hello, my name is Kristen Phelps and I am an Elementary Education major at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. I am currently in Dr. Stranges’s EDM 310 and a part of our assignment this week was to look at your post. I want to start out by saying that the Social Media Count is really truly amazing! It’s almost hard to fathom! I think this is such an awesome way of showing people just how much technology is becoming a staple in our lives. Thank you for doing this!
Kristen Phelps



Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

I really enjoyed this video, I thought it was very informational and interesting to see all the different stats. I can only imagine what those stats are now, considering that the video was uploaded 3 years ago. The video had some of the same type of information as the video we watched last week but,it still shocks my every time to think about the amount of time we spend on the Internet in a day/week/month. Another fact that I find really interesting is that a lot of the jobs people will get once they are out of college or any type of school, don't even exist yet.

That goes right along with the argument that teachers need to be technologically literate. If we are preparing students for jobs that don't even exist, we need to be up to date on all of the latest technology to help them better their futures. Also in the beginning of the video it says that, if we learn by doing...what are we learning by sitting staring at a blackboard? Sure there are certain things that you can learn that way but, for the most part the world we live in is interactive. Therefore, students need to be interactive with the world and one another!

Google Presentation - Project #5

Blog Assignment #2

Did You Know? 3.0 By: Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod

First, I want to start out by saying that this video is awesome! I watched it several times and kept pausing and restarting it to make sure I got everything! The stat, "The top 10 in- demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004" was really interesting to me. Jobs just don't appear out of thin air, so that means that certain advances and major changes had to be happening for those 10 jobs to come about. To go along with that stat, another slide said that, "We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist." I have never really though about that before but it's so true.
Another interesting slide was the one that said, "If Myspace were a country it would be the 5th largest in the world." That really makes me realize exactly how HUGE social networking is and that was based on 3 years ago. Also, the video said that it only took Facebook 2 years to reach a market audience of 50 million. And I believe it, it's very rare that I run across someone who doesn't know what Facebook is. Just as a side note, my Grandmother has a Facebook and personally I think that's awesome. Some older people are totally against using technology but with the way this world already is and the way it's heading if people refuse to use technology I truly feel that it will hinder their ability to learn! Why not take advantage of all the ways there are for us to learn these days?


Mr. Winkle Wakes by Mathew Needleman

I very often think to myself, "what would people of the past think about the way the world is today?" I would absolutely love to take someone from just 75 years ago, which relatively speaking is not that long ago, around and show them college campuses, stores, airports, cars and just all the things that are improved so often. Which to us things on a year to year basis change a little they get little tweet and things but nothing huge. To someone 75 years ago or even 20 years ago people having laptops and several computers in their homes would blow their minds!
Honestly, I wasn't really seeing what direction this video was heading when it first started but after "Mr. Winkle" entered the school it became very clear. What I got from it was that all of the aspects of this world are changing so much but, one thing that has pretty much consistently stayed the same is school. Children of all ages go to school, sit in their desks, and listen to the teacher. With all the new technology, it really makes no sense that school stays the same. And honestly this really makes me realize even more what EDM 310 is all about. School is about children learning of course but, technology is becoming mandatory in our lives therefore that is something that needs to be used and taught in schools.


Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity

One of the most true things that Mr. Robinson said in this video was, "Kids aren't afraid of being wrong." So simple but yet so true. Being wrong is one of the things that I fear most as an adult. I absolutely do not want to be wrong or do the "wrong things". Society has a way of making people feel, or at least me, that things either are or they aren't, they are black or white, yes or no. The creativity of being "wrong" or going against the grain is disappearing. Mr. Robinson made a comment somewhere along the lines of "if you are afraid to be wrong, you'll never be creative". Another thing Mr. Robinson said was that he thinks "creativity is as important as literacy." Which I'm sure there are tons of people that will not agree with that but, I can see where he is coming from. If we as humans and teachers aren't encouraging the arts, what will happen to them? They will eventually disappear.
Another really interesting thing Mr. Robinson talked about was that we are supposed to be preparing children for the future but, WE don't know what the future holds. Therefore, we have to educate children on everything not just Mathematics and Language. Society puts Mathematics and Language at the top of the list and the arts, such as drama and dance at the bottom. I don't know how many shows and movies I have watched based around the common underdog story of people wanting to do what they love and certain characters, usually the parents, saying "you'll never make it in life doing that". Society as a whole has painted the picture that people can't make it in life unless they're sitting at a desk in a suit and tie doing something "very important". Lastly, but probably the statement I will remember the most from Mr. Robinson is, "We don't grow out of creativity, we are educated out of it."


Cecelia Gault (Young Student in Finland) Interviews Sir Ken Robinson

I think Cecelia Gault did an excellent job in interviewing Mr. Robinson. All the questions that she asked him were obviously written and though out very well. She spoke clearly and kept eye contact with him throughout the interview. She seemed very mature for her age.
As far as how would I make sure that "Cecelia Gault's" in my classroom are as well educated as she was is a tough question. Everyone is different but, hopefully I can cater to each child's individual needs and teach them in a way that they can understand. I can make sure that they understand why it is that they need to learn what I am teaching. Also, I can explain the importance of the lesson and give examples of how they can use the information later in life.


Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smart

Watching this video really made me wish that my high school would have had something like this. And the fact that this is going on in a school in a small, rural Georgia town is awesome. The class seems to be giving the students opportunities, like communicating with people in the Middle East, that they would have never had. I loved the comment that Ms. Davis made that, "With only pencil and only paper, only certain types of children are going to succeed." I think that couldn't be more true. We all know that we learn one way better than another. Some people are visual some people learn better by hearing, it just depends on you.
Another interesting thing Ms. Davis mentioned is that she customizes her lessons based on the class. So many teachers use the same lesson plans over and over and before long they are outdated and hardly make sense. I have had this happen to me in a classroom more than once. Ms. Davis also said that she likes to empower the students and let them teach the class, which I think is a wonderful idea. When students have the chance to really sink their teeth into something that they know they are going to have to teach the class about it gives them a sense of importance.

Wordle - Project #2