Phillip Coopers EDM310 Blog Assignment #4

Video #1  Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?

Dr. McLeod is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Iowa State University.  He has a wife and three children.  One thing that surprised me was the fact that he actually cares about the pace of our public schools advancement in technology.  The schools have a civic responsibility to our children's future and Dr. McLeod is very concerned about the majority of children not being educated by technology.  With technology changing so fast and schools lagging farther and farther behind this is only putting our children behind the eight-ball and not supporting their future life.  We cannot afford to hold our children from this new technology and I love the sarcastic point that Dr. McLeod makes.  I wonder who will be ahead in the future called life.  The person who walks the race or the person who drives a car in that same race.  This is in my opinion the same comparison that Dr. McLeod makes in his argument.

We cannot be so complacent that we allow our children's future to be bypassed to others just because we do not want to teach, learn, or understand things around us.  This is not only wrong, but a grave injustice.  We as parents and teachers should be putting this new technology to work for us not the pen, pencil, and paper.  Yes technology has its bad points, but it has more good things about it than bad things in my opinion.  We can separate the good from the bad just like we separate the right from the wrong in everyday life.  So until we get serious only a select few children will prosper and know what is needed to know in the years to come and we will only have ourselves to blame NOT them.

Video Number 2  The Ischool Initiative


This video sums up what could be a real future for our children today.  This senior needs to be applauded for taking this initiative.  The Ischool is a wonderful idea and the Itouch has got a lot of applications that can be used for the schools purpose as Travis points out.  Some of these applications are the chemical touch, the digital copy of the United States constitution, and U.S.A. presidents.  These are a few of the programs that would help our students be more productive in this new world.  It would also save sums of money as Travis pointed out on text books, paper, pencils, and graphing calculators.  One interesting fact is the importance of how this device would keep parents, teachers, and students connected at all times.  Also this Ischool would save bundles of money for school systems. So if we can get business and people on board this could be a reality of tomorrow.

The one thing we have to remember about something like this is the fact that this cannot be done over night and this will not totally take paper, pens, and books out of our schools.  Also the Itouches are expensive, so what if they get stolen, lost, or broke.  The money that was saved would be spent yet again.  Also many students still do not know how to fully use a computer, so how will they do this.  In theory I love the idea, but I do not see it happening for a very long time.  We cannot even give our children the small items they need now much less four hundred dollar Itouch pads.  How would we even train our teachers?  This would have to be a joint venture like Travis said between Apple, university's across America, and state school systems.  I agree with what Travis said and I hope that this will be our future in the years to come.

Video #3  The Lost Generation


This lost generation video sends out a very powerful statement of how and why we should not try to change things in our life.  It is sad because so many people do not try and change their lives. Instead they let their families fall apart, work take over their lives, and lose hope in themselves.  If people would only try and be more supportive this would not be the case, for people need to stand together for what is right and look after not only their best interest, but their families and friends as well.  As the young lady stated in the video yes one person can change the world.  "Their own world" and it should not matter what society tell us, for our society does not have our best interest in mind.  Society is always telling us negative things about each other and instead of things that can bring us closer together.

Now as teachers we can add a dent to what society wants us to do.  We must learn to put our children's needs first and see to their well being and safety.  Until we learn how to cope and deal with the truths in life we will always be miserable and lonely, families will fall apart, and work will consume us.  We must learn to go against what society wants and not go with the flow of others.. At least not all the time.  We must focus on one child at a time and when they grow up they will in turn focus on their children and take the time to do what is right by their family.  This process happens by our actions, words, and deeds in life and only we can change and influence not only our children, but others around us.  We have the responsibility to do this and must not fail ourselves.  In the end it is we who chose whether or not to embark on this journey called life.

Video #4  Virtual Choir

This was a awesome video and by far the best one I have seen so far in EDM 310.  This blows my mind how this was done and also the fact that these people have never even seen each other.  What about their practicing?   Were do they live?  These are just a few of the many questions I have about this.  Also thanks to Jennifer for finding this for us.  If this is a taste of what the future classroom is then I must say that I am impressed.  Just think no more missing school because your car broke down or because you over slept.  Just get up turn on your computer and boom there is your class.  This makes me want to see what that whole pie will look like once we get this new technology going.  This is what we will be doing in the future and it is with great anticipation that I want to see it come to fruition.  I also hope that others will embrace this new and wonderful technology.