Saturday, October 11, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Creating what you see below...
Some of these web resources available today can make some really cool multimedia presentaitons depending on how much time you put into them. All of the different items you see below were created using different programs. Each of these programs emphasized different media. They utilized pictures, but some emphasized art (Anitmoto and Scrapblogger) while others emphasized the pictures and audio that we could add (Voicethread). Each of them has a unique twist and can be used to accomplish different tasks. I think I would use animoto to introduce an exciting topic while I would use scrapblogger or voicethread to tell a story or discuss new information.
~Isaac
~Isaac
Monday, October 6, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Internet: Embrace or Fight?
We were recently tasked with viewing the PBS video series discussing the use of internet by today's youth. This video can be found here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/
There is no doubt in my mind that the internet has completely transformed social interactions among teenagers. It has also transformed the ways in which we as a soceity conduct our own business. The youth of today are able to multitask using the internet which increases the need for sensory stimulation. All of these factors are going to create massive amounts of new challenges for teachers. These challenges will not be something that can simply be overcome. These challenges will continue to evolve, and teachers that cannot keep up will become less effective if not ineffective.
The question I ask here is "does 'keeping up' mean finding new ways to counteract the internet or find positive ways to embrace it."
On the side of fighting it I do believe that some postive elements of growing up are lost with today's emphasis on the internet. When I was growing up there was no such thing as the internet. I spent time at the library, outside, and around town with my friends. I would not trade my experiences in the great outdoors for anything in the world.
On the other hand when I was growing up the TV was the devil of the day. We children were said to be zombies and slaves to TV, but while I watched a significant amount of TV I still found time to play outside and enjoy activities with my friends. I guess my concern is that the internet is even more addictive then the TV. The other issue is that the TV is still there. As a future Biology teacher, it scares me to think that Earth's natural beauty and amazing diversity of life will become words on a screen or videos rather than hands on experiences.
I am not concerned at all with the internet existing or youth using it. What concerns me is the abuse of it. Internet in moderation can be a wonderful learning tool as well as a means to connect with the world beyond. Youth of today have the ability like never before to immerse themselves in the amazing diversity of cultures and ideas that the world has to offer. However, the abuse of any technology is definately a bad thing. As teachers my stance is that we should not fight the advance of the internet, but embrace it and find the most creative ways possible to help children realize that the internet is something beyond a means to chat with their friends or cheat on their homework.
Some of the issues brought up in the PBS videos I see as problems with parenting that have not been addressed. I don't believe the internet is to blame when children seek out sexual activity, become anorexic, or do other illicit activity. These problems have existed as long as I am aware that there has been parents and children. It is my honest opinion that parenting has taken two extreme turns that are counter productive to good parenting. This videos showed well these two extremes. One being the over protective mother/father who drives her/his child to rebellion. The other is the non-intrested parent that wants to be cool and not exemplify what children need to become responsible adults. Can we truly blame children's behavior on the internet or lack of parenting. My vote would be the latter, but what do you think?
~Isaac
There is no doubt in my mind that the internet has completely transformed social interactions among teenagers. It has also transformed the ways in which we as a soceity conduct our own business. The youth of today are able to multitask using the internet which increases the need for sensory stimulation. All of these factors are going to create massive amounts of new challenges for teachers. These challenges will not be something that can simply be overcome. These challenges will continue to evolve, and teachers that cannot keep up will become less effective if not ineffective.
The question I ask here is "does 'keeping up' mean finding new ways to counteract the internet or find positive ways to embrace it."
On the side of fighting it I do believe that some postive elements of growing up are lost with today's emphasis on the internet. When I was growing up there was no such thing as the internet. I spent time at the library, outside, and around town with my friends. I would not trade my experiences in the great outdoors for anything in the world.
On the other hand when I was growing up the TV was the devil of the day. We children were said to be zombies and slaves to TV, but while I watched a significant amount of TV I still found time to play outside and enjoy activities with my friends. I guess my concern is that the internet is even more addictive then the TV. The other issue is that the TV is still there. As a future Biology teacher, it scares me to think that Earth's natural beauty and amazing diversity of life will become words on a screen or videos rather than hands on experiences.
I am not concerned at all with the internet existing or youth using it. What concerns me is the abuse of it. Internet in moderation can be a wonderful learning tool as well as a means to connect with the world beyond. Youth of today have the ability like never before to immerse themselves in the amazing diversity of cultures and ideas that the world has to offer. However, the abuse of any technology is definately a bad thing. As teachers my stance is that we should not fight the advance of the internet, but embrace it and find the most creative ways possible to help children realize that the internet is something beyond a means to chat with their friends or cheat on their homework.
Some of the issues brought up in the PBS videos I see as problems with parenting that have not been addressed. I don't believe the internet is to blame when children seek out sexual activity, become anorexic, or do other illicit activity. These problems have existed as long as I am aware that there has been parents and children. It is my honest opinion that parenting has taken two extreme turns that are counter productive to good parenting. This videos showed well these two extremes. One being the over protective mother/father who drives her/his child to rebellion. The other is the non-intrested parent that wants to be cool and not exemplify what children need to become responsible adults. Can we truly blame children's behavior on the internet or lack of parenting. My vote would be the latter, but what do you think?
~Isaac
Monday, September 22, 2008
Money for Grades and your Chicks for free?
Recently I commented on a on opinions given by classmates on an article located here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/content/education/chi-money-for-grades-11-sep11,0,4916582,print.story. The story is about giving students cash for good grades.
Here are links to the blogs I commented on:
http://sarasciblog.blogspot.com/
http://porterhouse-opinionstation.blogspot.com/
http://2-o-hearts.blogspot.com/
Enjoy!
~Isaac
Here are links to the blogs I commented on:
http://sarasciblog.blogspot.com/
http://porterhouse-opinionstation.blogspot.com/
http://2-o-hearts.blogspot.com/
Enjoy!
~Isaac
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Opinions offered on the videos below:
I think these video bring up some valid points about the current state of education and the way students of today best learn. I would like to treat the videos first separately and then give some final points on their combined merits or shortcomings.
The first video which relates the status of students in higher education brought up some interesting topics. One thing that struck me the most was one student holding up a sign that said her average class size was 115 students. This seems to be a little outrageous. At the University of Illinois there are ~40,000 students. This is by no means a small number, but I've never had a class that didn't have a component such as a discussion or lab section that was done on a much smaller scale than a large lecture. I admit that large lectures are not the best environment for learning. It is way too easy to feel as though you are just a wallflower rather than a student in a learning environment. This promotes sleeping, texting, IMing, and even playing WOW during a lecture. I think the that one of the biggest points to take from this is that students today are used to having massive amounts of sensory input on a regular basis. We multitask like no generation before us, and when we are put in a large classroom with over one hundred others expected to pay attention to one professor reading from slides we can't help but feel unegaged. Students today need active learning throught classrooms that are able to engage them. This is accomplished (albeit not always well) at least at this university through lab and discussion sections. Unfortunatly these sections are not taught by professors, but generally by TA's with 2 days of training on how to teach. There definately could be some improvement to this system and utilizing the technologies that students are already plugged into would be a great way to do that. I have seen some professors make podcasts of lectures. Others utilize web resources that allow students to interact with each other and with their instructors. These definatly benefit the student and the overall learning achieved.
The other video (K-12) made an interesting point that I want to discuss a little here. Some teachers embrace technology, but others view it as corrupting and anti-education. I believe that as teachers we need to adapt the the world around us. We need to prepare children as best we can with the technologies of today for a a world with the technologies of tomorrow. I think it is shortsighted to discourage students from using some to the amazing gadgetry that is out there. What is a problem is when these technologies are abused. Text messaging in class for example is obviously going to detract from a student's learning experience. We as teachers can, however, turn this around and utilize these things to help the students actually enjoy learning. Instead of text messaging during class we could encourage the formation of text messaging trees to help the student help each other turn their assignments in on time. I have no idea whether this specific activity would actually work or not, but we as teachers must try to embrace these ideas rather than fight the inevitable change.
Through both videos there is an overarching theme that states that students in the classroom are not being actively engage enought to promote the maximum learning and achieve their potential. This we must take to heart, and we must explore new ways of getting students intrested in the classroom and the subject of the class. We would be foolish not to utilize what we have around us. Why should we reinvent the wheel when we can just build upon the wheel and get the class rolling?
Just a little something to chew on,
~Isaac
The first video which relates the status of students in higher education brought up some interesting topics. One thing that struck me the most was one student holding up a sign that said her average class size was 115 students. This seems to be a little outrageous. At the University of Illinois there are ~40,000 students. This is by no means a small number, but I've never had a class that didn't have a component such as a discussion or lab section that was done on a much smaller scale than a large lecture. I admit that large lectures are not the best environment for learning. It is way too easy to feel as though you are just a wallflower rather than a student in a learning environment. This promotes sleeping, texting, IMing, and even playing WOW during a lecture. I think the that one of the biggest points to take from this is that students today are used to having massive amounts of sensory input on a regular basis. We multitask like no generation before us, and when we are put in a large classroom with over one hundred others expected to pay attention to one professor reading from slides we can't help but feel unegaged. Students today need active learning throught classrooms that are able to engage them. This is accomplished (albeit not always well) at least at this university through lab and discussion sections. Unfortunatly these sections are not taught by professors, but generally by TA's with 2 days of training on how to teach. There definately could be some improvement to this system and utilizing the technologies that students are already plugged into would be a great way to do that. I have seen some professors make podcasts of lectures. Others utilize web resources that allow students to interact with each other and with their instructors. These definatly benefit the student and the overall learning achieved.
The other video (K-12) made an interesting point that I want to discuss a little here. Some teachers embrace technology, but others view it as corrupting and anti-education. I believe that as teachers we need to adapt the the world around us. We need to prepare children as best we can with the technologies of today for a a world with the technologies of tomorrow. I think it is shortsighted to discourage students from using some to the amazing gadgetry that is out there. What is a problem is when these technologies are abused. Text messaging in class for example is obviously going to detract from a student's learning experience. We as teachers can, however, turn this around and utilize these things to help the students actually enjoy learning. Instead of text messaging during class we could encourage the formation of text messaging trees to help the student help each other turn their assignments in on time. I have no idea whether this specific activity would actually work or not, but we as teachers must try to embrace these ideas rather than fight the inevitable change.
Through both videos there is an overarching theme that states that students in the classroom are not being actively engage enought to promote the maximum learning and achieve their potential. This we must take to heart, and we must explore new ways of getting students intrested in the classroom and the subject of the class. We would be foolish not to utilize what we have around us. Why should we reinvent the wheel when we can just build upon the wheel and get the class rolling?
Just a little something to chew on,
~Isaac
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Given the realities of our modern age and the demands of our children's future, is it really ok to allow teachers to choose whether or not they incorporate modern technologies into their instruction?
This questions is an interesting one. In the past teachers have generally been assigned a curriculum, but it is up to them how to teach it and what resources to use in order to teach it most effectively. For example, some Biology teachers use a large number of dissections while others use a large number of well made diagrams to illustrate the same anatomical features of an organism. I believe it should be up to the instructor whether or not they would like to use the technology available to them as long as the student that come out of that classroom have what they need from it to succeed.
This questions is an interesting one. In the past teachers have generally been assigned a curriculum, but it is up to them how to teach it and what resources to use in order to teach it most effectively. For example, some Biology teachers use a large number of dissections while others use a large number of well made diagrams to illustrate the same anatomical features of an organism. I believe it should be up to the instructor whether or not they would like to use the technology available to them as long as the student that come out of that classroom have what they need from it to succeed.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Creativity Kills...or Does it?
For my Educational Technology course we were asked to either review the video that is found at the URL blow:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
or respond to the views of three other students in the class. If you would like to get a little of my opinion on this matter you can check out the blogs with the URLs found below:
http://coolblackdog.blogspot.com
http://jkrone2.blogspot.com
http://jerryeducationblog.blogspot.com
If you don't care about my opinion, do at least check out the video. It is mildly entertaining and does get the old noggin thinking about a few issues.
Enjoy!
Isaac
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
or respond to the views of three other students in the class. If you would like to get a little of my opinion on this matter you can check out the blogs with the URLs found below:
http://coolblackdog.blogspot.com
http://jkrone2.blogspot.com
http://jerryeducationblog.blogspot.com
If you don't care about my opinion, do at least check out the video. It is mildly entertaining and does get the old noggin thinking about a few issues.
Enjoy!
Isaac
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
First Post
This post will serve as an update as to what I am doing and what I have been doing this past summer.
This semster I am beginning my course work towards becoming a certified science teacher. I am also teaching this semester at the University of Illinois. I will be teaching one discussion and one lab section of Integrative Biology 100/101. This is an introductory biology course for non-majors. My first class was yesterday and I enjoyed it very much. I hope my students enjoyed it as much as I did and learned something while enjoying!
This past summer Whitney (my wife for anyone who doesn't know) and traveled all over the country collecting Bumble Bees for a research project studying Bumble Bee diversity and decline. IT WAS A BLAST! We camped, hiked, collected, slept a little, and DROVE (~11,000 miles). In the end we collected approximately 1000 bees for genetic and pathogen analysis.
This is all I care to write right now, but I promise there will be more and hopefully something a little more interesting in the future.
This semster I am beginning my course work towards becoming a certified science teacher. I am also teaching this semester at the University of Illinois. I will be teaching one discussion and one lab section of Integrative Biology 100/101. This is an introductory biology course for non-majors. My first class was yesterday and I enjoyed it very much. I hope my students enjoyed it as much as I did and learned something while enjoying!
This past summer Whitney (my wife for anyone who doesn't know) and traveled all over the country collecting Bumble Bees for a research project studying Bumble Bee diversity and decline. IT WAS A BLAST! We camped, hiked, collected, slept a little, and DROVE (~11,000 miles). In the end we collected approximately 1000 bees for genetic and pathogen analysis.
This is all I care to write right now, but I promise there will be more and hopefully something a little more interesting in the future.
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