It will never cease to amaze me how advanced technology has become. And it's only growing! The amount of children with cell phones these days is absolutely absurd to me, in my opinion. I will never understand what 8 year old would need a cell phone? Or even 10 year olds? Parents should know where their kids are! Bottom line. This is where house phones come in handy. If your child is at a friend's house and you need to contact them, simply call the land line, or even the parent's cell phone. Why does your child need one?
Childhood is increasingly losing its innocence and it is pure heartbreaking. There are so many things that could happen that should make parents think twice about allowing their children to have their own cell phones and electronic devices at such young ages. A child could receive a provocative or inappropriate text message (or picture!) from someone who has the wrong number, they could be bullied via threatening texts, they have internet access on nearly all cell phones now to where children can look up videos or just about anything they want to see or know about all without needing any parental consent, therefore half the time parents don't even know what their kids are looking or reading about. By giving children cell phones and laptops, without proper restrictions, we are destroying childhood and innocence as we know it. Watch the video Did you know?
"Mr. Winkle Wakes"-
Mr. Winkle Wakes taught me that now-a-days if you blink there has already been a new source of technology created or invented. Technology never stops and is constantly growing and improving, however one thing always manages to stay the same, year after year and that is school.
Education will always be around. Students will always be learning and teachers will always be teaching. We have to learn to appreciate Education, as it sets the standard for our futures. Educators all over the world are under paid and taken for granted, when they are the ones influencing and enhancing the lives and minds of our students and children on a daily basis.
"Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity"-
Robinson said "Degrees aren't worth anything". I strongly agree with this because sadly now-a-days it's almost as if once you graduate from college and have a degree, you STILL aren't guaranteed a job because of the way our economy is. We are preached to all our lives and have it impounded in our heads the importance of going to college to have a brighter future, and now unfortunately all of that suddenly means nothing and has no worth. I know more people who never went to college that have amazing, high-paying, steady jobs than I know people who have college degrees and are unemployed. My sister-in-law graduated with a BS in Education, went back and received a Masters in Education, has been graduated for three years, and STILL has no teaching job.
According to Robinson, back then if you didn't have a job it's because you didn't want one (basically stating that if you applied for a job you were almost guaranteed to be hired). These days it's near impossible to find a job no matter how bad you want it because of our poor economy.
I do agree that intelligence is diverse and that we all have different ways of thinking and learning, however I do not agree that we ALL have an interest in Education. I also absolutely agree that women are indeed better at multi-tasking than men. I strongly disagree with Robinson's opinion of the correlation between medication and creativity. I was diagnosed with ADD when I was 13 and have been on medication ever since and have done SEVERAL creative things throughout my life. However, maybe there are certain medications out there that can diminish the ability to have creative thoughts more so than others but I do not think ALL medications completely kill the ability to be creative. I do agree that the gift of human imagination is an incredible thing and should never be wasted or taken for granted. A mind is a wonderful thing to have and we should use it to our full advantage everyday because it is just that; a gift. Our job, as educators, is to help children see their talents, abilities, and creative capacities for their future and encourage them to make something of it because ultimately, what good is a talent or gift if it is only going to be wasted? Watch the video The Importance of Creativity.
"A Vision for 21st Century Learning" -
In our generation today, whatever you want to see, read, or learn about is all made available to us from the click of a button. Information ranging from cultures and countries all around the world, to the weather in the state of your choice, to pictures or interviews of well-known actors and singers, can all be accessed within seconds due to our ever-expanding technology and software programs offered. I think it is an effective tool when children are using online learning games to gain knowledge on certain subject content and not even realize that they are in fact learning because they are enjoying it and having fun.
However, I think the amount of video games and technology that is offered is also contributing majorly to childhood obesity at an alarmingly scary rate. Childhood should be about playing outside, learning through self exploration and personal experiences, and maintaining happiness and innocence without having such easy access to view age inappropriate content all within the click of a button. Technology is an amazingly wonderful thing, when used appropriately and effectively! Here is a link to A Vision for 21st Century Learning.
"Vicki Davis: Harness your students' digital smarts"-
I do agree that only certain children can learn when they are limited to only paper and pencil and not a wide variety of resources, including technology. Not all students learn the same way. We all have our own unique learning styles and techniques.
I really like Davis' approach in Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts on focussing on her students' strengths and interests and how she correlates that into accomplishing curiculum. I also agree that you have to first familiarize yourself and become comfortable with the software and technology you are using before you can further enhance your learning of certain programs. Vicki makes her students "learn the language" of her class so that they are familiar with all of the terms she uses throughout her classes so that she doesn't have to take out valuable class time to explain what she is referring to. Most of my college professors also use this teaching strategy , which proves to be very effective. I also agree that when teachers think "I have to know everything before I can teach it" is the wrong way of thinking. We are constantly growing, learning, and making ourselves better everyday so it is good to learn as you go. You can always learn more. Learning new things gives us empowerment and that sense of self satisfaction or achievement which only makes us want to learn and do more. Our students often teach US things we don't even know. Self exploration is sometimes the best teaching method of all because once a student discovers or learns something new on their own, they want to teach or show us in return which enhances self esteem and confidence levels which is extremely important in children and adolescents. Digital technology allows us to learn and share information with people all over the world and brings us together to educate ourselves and work collaboratively.
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