Blog Post #4

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?  

I think that Dr. McLeod discussed some very important issues that face the kids of today's society. Kids are very vulnerable to get on the internet and look at websites that are not for their appropriate age group. I know that children can get in trouble by using the internet and other technological resources, but if the adults block those websites or use the tools that are available then kids will be much safer when using these technological tools.  Everything that was stated in Dr. McLeod blog is what is actually happening to today's kids.

So who is Dr. McLeod?  Dr. McLeod is an associate professor in the Educational Administration program at the Iowa State University, he is currently located in Ames, Iowa. Dr. McLeod is also the Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (Castle).


The iShcool Initiative


I think that this video may be the future of what schools could become in today's society. Using the iSchool to help students with their school work and to bring the school budget costs down can help the students, teachers, parents and go green companies. If each student can approximately save six hundred dollars than I think this would be a plan that can turn the downfalls of the school systems budget to where teachers will be assured to keep a job in the educational field.

Since I have an itouch I would agree with this high school senior that the iSchool will be worth the students money. Students will not have to by expensive books, graphing calculators, or paper anymore. I think that this invention will not only help students to save money, but it will help them to be more interested in doing their school work. Even when I use my email I am much more interested in doing my work then writing my teacher a note on a piece of plain paper. 

The Lost Generation


I agree with what the video was stating, because I do refuse to say that I am apart of a lost generation.  To me a lost generation is where people do not care about the importance of life and everything should be a quick fix. Even though, things may seem that way in today's society but we can reverse it by doing what is most important for us as teachers and the students of the future. Teachers may not be doing there best to teach students the importance of learning, but all of this can change. If the people of today's society reinforce the true facts that will drive this generation into the right direction, then we will not become that lost generation.

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir

Being a musician who has actually performed this exact piece last year is actually exciting. Listening to this performance was very interesting, especially when a choir that has 185 members that has never rehearsed in a group. In Eric Whitacre's 'Lux Aurumque', the technical things in this piece makes the piece sound so beautiful. With each of the choir parts contrasting against each other, the virtual choir makes it sound much more easier to sing, then the actual work that has to be put into this piece to make such a wonderful glorious sound.

Virtual choirs to me is very debatable because even when each individual is working on their own parts there can still be a few uneven pitches that can be out of tune in virtual choirs, to where the audience does not hear it. Knowing this piece so well there were a few moments where the dynamic quality was not as intriguing as it would be in a regular performing choir. It seemed as if the dynamic quality of soft was rapidly shifting from different sections to loud where there is actually soft written in the music.

Teaching in the 21st Century


I think that the suggestions expressed in this video can help teachers to be more aware of what students already know and what they need to learn. Students already have the knowledge of using Google, Wikipedia and other popular internet sites. But the question for teachers is, are we teaching technology in a way that is resourceful to the students that we teach? It does not matter if your are a teacher who teaches skills, subjects or content, knowing and learning the resourcefulness of technology can be absolutely critical to a students daily learning experience in your classroom.

I think that to teach in the 21st century means using the latest technological tools in a way that you are reproducing students abilities to access resources in the correct way. Using daily questions is a perfect example of what students and teachers use these technological tools for. For instance, you type into Google, what is the nearest gas station? This is an example of what students of today already know how to do, but they need someone to teach them how to use Taxonomy's Law correctly.