Blog Post #8

This is How We Dream
Dr. Miller’s video This Is How We Dream was very interesting. In his video, Dr. Miller shows a range of technologies that are available now. He discusses that, via technology, he and students do not need to go into a library for information. He has done all the research through the internet. He also shows how people can collaborate on a project over the internet. Dr. Miller talks about iTunesU, which I forgot about as a learning technology. I was able to go on and find lectures about things I am interested in. I have always been curious about taking a sign language course, and on iTunesU there is a lecture available to download about it.

This video has parts that were honestly alarming to me. As I was watching this video, I was thinking: “I do not know how to do this or that, and most elementary students that I will be teaching will.” Dr. Miller discusses the how multimedia writing can be used to our advantage. I am genuinely glad that I am in EDM 310 and will begin my journey to learn these techniques.

The technology Dr. Miller shows is daunting to me right now. At the same time, I am excited the prospect of the technology. Throughout this class, I am learning that I only knew the tip of the iceberg of what a computer can do, and this video demonstrates this well. One quote from Dr. Miller that stuck out to me in his video was “the limits and the restrictions are largely ones we put on ourselves”. This quote sums up my relationship with a computer before this class. I stuck to what I knew and did not learn anymore. Now I am learning much more.

Carly’s Blog Post Assignment
Carly Pugh’s Blog Post 12 was an inventive assignment. In her post, she suggests that future EDM 310 students do a YouTube playlist detailing their philosophy as a teacher. In this playlist, there would be 10 different videos. I think this assignment would be a challenging multimedia writing assignment, but it would make me realize who I wish to be as a teacher. One of my videos would have to be “You can’t be my teacher”. I saw it on Carly’s blog, but I found it a couple days before and was waiting for the right time to post it.



I enjoyed many of the videos she put on her own playlist, but I would have to say my favorite was “Creativity to the Rescue”. I agree with Carly that we, as not just as teachers but parents, teachers, aunts, uncles, etc. need to support the creative minds of children. If the child wants the train to sound like a dog or a bird like in the video then let them.

EDM 310 is Different
EDM 310 for Dummies is a very funny video. The video is a sales pitch for “EDM 310 for Dummies”. It starts off with two girls frustrated with the class. Leading into the question, “Does EDM 310 have you down?” Once the girls receive a copy of “EDM 310 for Dummies” their opinions on the class changes, both are enjoying the class and telling what all she is doing because of knowledge learned from EDM 310.

The Chipper series said a quote that sounded very familiar “Teach me so I don’t have to learn”. I believe Dr. Strange said this to my class the first day of class. The Chipper series outlines what happens to a student who is a product of, as Dr. Strange puts it, “Burp-Back Education”. The video follows a girl who starts off in Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 class. She drops out of school because she does not like the way Dr. Strange is teaching his class. She then gets several jobs that she is not able keep for one reason or another. After she is not able to keep her job of a garbage person, she decides to go back to school and really try this time.

There still seems to be classmates of mine that dislike the use of technology in the classroom. I would like to participate in a video about a student in EDM 310 who starts the semester not wanting technology in their classroom for when he or she becomes a teacher for whatever reason. May be there can be several students having different reasons why they do not want technology. By the end of the video and the semester, they realize that technology is a great resource in the classroom and only helps to further the education possibilities.

Learn to Change, Change to Learn
The first 20 seconds of Learn to Change, Change to Learn makes you realize how much there needs to be a change. In that first 20 second, Keith Krueger says that Education is ranked number 55 by the US Department of Commerce in for the level of I.T. intensiveness, only 55 professions were ranked. Education was the lowest. If that is not a sign for a change, I do not know what is. The video continues to show how a change needs to happen.

This video ,in 5 minutes and 36 seconds, shows teachers with amazing ideas. Ideas from having the students taking their cell phones to collect data. Another idea is that school is where students come together to do enrichment or group projects. One teacher pointed out that a school should be a community system rather than a classroom system. I could go on about the great ideas these individuals made, but instead I wonder why it is that we have the system we still have. If there are many great teachers and professors telling us and even showing us a better way to teach, why are we stuck in the old ways? May be because it is easier? I hope that my generation of teachers can change it.

Scavenger Hunt 2.0
I chose Edmondo for my social networking site. From the initial looks it very similar to Facebook. One of the features I like is that it is free. I saw other sites that may have been nicer, but they are $24 or more a month. I also liked that the grades can be posted on this site. There also is a place for teachers to post assignments, alerts, quizzes, or a poll. Two other features I liked are the calendar and the library. The calendar can be used for students to keep up with when assignments that are due, and the library is used for posting documents or links for the students.

My comic strip from Make Beliefs Comic is here as well if you would like to see what it says.

My poll from polleverywhere.com is something I have always wondered about since more than southerners seeing this post. I may be able to see what the majority of people say.