Week 6 Philosophical - 21st Century Learning

Blog Response #1  

    The critics of 21st century skills put up very good points invalidating these new teaching strategies. I would have to disagree with some of their statements though.  The first article claims that for the past century, our schools have been obsessing over critical thinking skills, projects and cooperative learning, and that the education system has been failing to focus on interdisciplinary work. This is true, but I myself have been a student in a public education system within the past 10 years, and although critical thinking has been a focus, for some teachers I had, that still did not stop them from integrating the lesson to teach their main interdisciplinary subject. In fact, the way it was taught (whether it be in a group, or as a project), helped me understand better how math skills, literature skills, or even science relates to the real world. Why can’t both types of learning happen at the same time?
    The second article goes on to criticize 21st century skills by saying that schools fall victim to “all at once syndrome” where school reforms must happen on all levels at the same time. The author then compares the the 21st century skills movement to the financial crisis which doesn’t make sense. The use of 21st century skills is voluntary as far as I know, so no one is forcing teachers to use this method. The use of 21st century skills when used appropriately can be a very useful tool. I don’t feel as though this needs to be a “movement”. A lot of the scrutiny that come out of this I feel is because it is tagged as a “movement”. Instead of giving it that stigma, teachers should just try and involve some of the skills this system calls for. I do not feel as though this is a fad, or should become a fad, rather than permanently integrating some of these skills within our teaching styles.

Blog Response #2

    I feel as though teachers make sacrifices everyday to their curriculum. Schools are killing creativity and something needs to be done about it. New ways of teaching need to start happening, because kids are being bored to death by force feeding subject matter in the old lecture/homework form of teaching. Classes like dance, music art and phys ed.  Can make learning fun again. Teachers need to get creative and integrate subjects like math and English into music and art subjects. Unfortunately with the state of the economy,  there might not be art or music in the near future. Kids need that for of creativity to express themselves.

Week 5 Philosophica/Practical

Back to school_night_

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I am in love with this idea for classroom usage! Creating powerpoints like this would help students especially when they are out of the classroom. Most of today's students are on computers at home and I feel are more likely to check out presentations like this for homework, study guides, extra credit. This was not that hard to make either, and sound could easily be coupled with pre-made PPT presentations. What I liked most about slide share, was it automatically separated the sound to the correct slide (and was surprisingly accurate). I am definitely going to take advantage of this technology in the future and am glad I got to practice. This lesson was a great base for a potential educator to build upon. I am looking forward to what else is coming.

-Luke

Week 4 - Presentation

Week 3 Task 2

I have chose CPI 8.1.8.A.2 “Plan and create a simple database, define fields, input data, and produce a report using sort and query.”  

For grade level 8 students are expected to “The use of technology and digital tools requires knowledge and appropriate use of operations and related applications.” In this particular exercise, I could introduce the class to Microsoft Excel. I can explain the basics to them, demonstrate how to input data, use simple equations, use label an organize columns and rows.

I can relate this to real life by having them keep track of a numerical part of their day in the excel spread sheet. An example of this could be if an athlete in the class kept track of his weight lifting regimine according to exercises, sets, reps, and weight (load). Or if the class treasurer maintained the class fundraisers earnings throughout the year. A connection would be made, while they are learning how to use a critical piece of technology. I feel as though all students in today’s classrooms should feel a connection to what they are learning. As the one teacher from Chatham HS explained how their teachers needed to be “entertainers” in such a way. Otherwise class seems boring as these students are now glued to TV and computer monitors taking in all sorts of stimulation. The teacher from Catalina foothills created a very interactive form of learning, something that keeps interest levels high, while integrating a very important lesson in hydrology.

Week 3 Task 1

I definitely feel as though technology does more good than it does bad, but there are some drawbacks. What I mean by that is with all this technology our children have access to more information, quicker. They can use the internet as a great resource, with online libraries, encyclopedias and news articles. Interactive learning websites for languages, geography, test taking, English skills etc are all beneficial. All of these resources can help students study, (as I have used them in the past) in many ways. There is a clear draw back as I see it.  As the young man from Chatham HS said, he uses websites like “sparknotes”  as a shortcut to actually reading original Shakespeare comedy and satires. This is a prime example of how technology can hurt our kids learning experiences today and in the future. Not only are they shorting themselves of experiencing actual reading and comprehending (because all the summaries are given to them), they might use the internet as a crutch when it comes to being creative. Originality and imagination was one of the things teachers have been emphasizing for years. It would be sad to know that one day this has been taken away.

When I am looking for a job in phys. ed., I will take notice of the school’s facilities. I would want my school and it’s administrators to have high standards, and high expectations. This also means that there should be an ongoing goal to have the best students, teachers, classrooms and technology available. I will continue to develop my technology skills, because by the time I reach the from of the classroom, the kids are going to be just as advanced, if not more advance than I am. The two videos in this assignment, opened my eyes, it showed me just how important it is to stay two steps ahead of the game.

Week 1 Assignment

Friday, February 4, 2011

Week 1 Assignment

As far as technology background, I really do not have much experience. As far as computers go, I am only familiar with PC technology. Although my recent switch to Apple's Iphone and love for Itunes does make me tempted to switch over to MAC for my next laptop. I feel as though technology has come so far over my lifetime. As I have been interested in video games since the first Nintendo Entertainment System came out it is mind-boggling to look at the image my Playstation 3 puts out on my 1080p HD TV. This upgrade was only 20 years of technological advances. I can't even fathom what is to come over the rest of my lifetime.

Technology I feel will soon eliminate any need for paper information, both in, and out of the classroom. On buses and in the subways I see people carrying around electronic books. All that can be purchased and downloaded online. Libraries and information resources are now all cataloged online making for instantaneous retrieval. 

In this course I will expect to gain further knowledge about how technology can be used as a teacher to enhance a classroom experience. I have already learned more about blogging and creating websites in these first two weeks than the past 10 years I've been around computers.

Week 2 Assignment

For this assignment I chose the school that I graduated from in 2004, Point Pleasant Borough HS. I found their website to be very thorough and easy to navigate. From the main district webpage, there is a list of links (running across the top of the page) that include: about us, board of ed., superintendent, employment etc. Above that there is a drop-down selection where you get to chose what schools webpage in the district you would like to see.

What I liked most about the high school's web page was the first thing that came up was the school's mission statement. Underneath there was address and contact information along with a list of administration titles, names and e-mail addresses. From the main page, there is a list of  "quick links" on the left hand side. Here, users can check out departments, weekly events, sports schedules, lunch menus ect. When I checked out the staff directory, a list of teachers came up in alphabetical order along with their e-mail address. What I didn't like was only a handful of them had their own website. The teacher's that did have a website were very user friendly and were geared more towards the students. Homework assignments, study guides, reviews and resources were some of the things I found.