Blog Post # 4

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?

Scott Mcleod is an Associate Professor in the Educational Administrative program at Iowa State University. He has recieved many awards for his extensive work with technology. His blog was a satirical rant of how overly-serious parents can become when their child is involved with the internet, and I have to agree with him. Some parents -not all, but some- are far too serious about this matter. In this day and age when technology is becoming such a natural part of our lives, children should be exposed to it early in life, much like they should be exposed at an early age to reading and writing.

The iSchool Initiative

This high-school senior's video was very organized and professional. He presented to his audience the idea of an iSchool: an entire school system stored on an iTouch system without the need for books, pencils, printers and other expensive devices. He promoted the idea that this would save tremendous amounts of money spent on precious resources.

Early into the presentation I was preapared with the following argument: With the iSchool, it will be too tempting for students to simply look up any information that they need. They won't be learning, but merely reading and then writing down what they read. My argument was stopped in its tracks, however, when he said "internet access will be limited to websites dedicated to education."

The only problem I see with this is that people will begin to lose face-to-face interaction with others, which is something that I feel is a necessity for a healthy life. If that problem can be bypassed, however, and students still maintain real interaction with others, so far I don't see any major flaws with this student's proposition.

The Lost Generation


I am always amazed by presentations like this, especially if I never expected it. I am a writer, so a good play on words always makes me admire the artist responsible. I was taken aback when first viewing the presentation, particularly upon seeing the words "In 30 years I will tell my children they are not the most important thing in my life." I am very family-oriented, so if I am ever blessed enough to raise a family, nothing on this earth will I hold in higher esteem than my spouse and children, so needless to say this statement shocked me. Nevertheless, it had a happy ending, and I heard everything I wanted to hear, rather than expected to hear. We often hear about negativity in our society. It's things like this that are so refreshing.

Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir


I am... speechless.

Now that I've composed myself as well as viewed it a second time, I feel that nothing I can say could match this particular instrumental presentation's magnitude, but I will attempt nonetheless. For one, the music itself was breathtaking, and two, the fact that all these people collaborated to make a presentation like this come to life in this manner is mind-blowing. This is an excellent use of technology, for not only is it a contemporary twist on what I believe is a classical piece, the vision of seeing each individual singer in their own home-atmospheres singing comfortably in any wardrobe gives you an opportunity to connect with the choir on an equal level, rather than deify them, which is something that we as the audience want to experience. We want to feel what they feel. Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to go download this onto my iPod.

Teaching in the 21st Century


To teach in the 21st century does not mean what Dr. Strange calls "Burp-back education,' a system in which teachers say a bunch of facts and the students recite (burp) them back. In our society this kind of education simply will no longer do. As I have thought, and what Terri Hampton advocates, is that teachers should not just unload information onto their students -as the video presented, any information can be found anywhere. What we as teachers need to do is show children how they can apply that information, because for what other reason would all that information be useful? No more burping. Time for learning.