A Vision of Students Today

The video "A Vision of Students Today" by Michael Wesch presented several interesting facts and created a unique experience to get the watcher thinking. Much of the facts in the video were pretty accurate for my experience in college. Many times I choose to do other things than study. I do not spend nearly enough time studying. I think it is true that in a class students would read more on the Internet than in the textbook. I find myself using more available online sources instead of actually taking the time to read my book. All the statistics about the hours of sleep, online usage, music listening, eating and work are all accurate to my experience in college.

While many things are similar to my experience, there are many that do not exactly match me. For instance since I go to the University of South Alabama, which is a smaller university, most of my classes on average are about 30 to 60 people. Another difference would be in teachers knowing my name. Most of my teachers know my name and strive to know everyones'. In the issue of emails, I do not agree that i write more emails than pages in class. for many of my classes I write much more on paper than in emails. And lastly when it comes to students using computers in the classroom, my teachers who do allow computers in their classrooms are very strict on their usage.

It's Not About the Technology

This post by Kelly Hines was both informative and inspirational. She does not put the emphasis on technology in the classroom but on an open learning environment from the teachers to the students. Hines said that it is more important for teachers to be open minded to learning than being overly skilled with technology. In order for the teacher to learn about technology he or she must open up themselves to be thought. By putting themselves in this mindset, a teacher can go from learning about technology to using it for the betterment of a class instead of emerging a child into it without helping them understand it.

Hines is keeping teachers accountable to never cease the "open to learning" mindset. In order to be a good teacher, one must not stop learning or wanting to learn. To benefit a class teachers must dedicate themselves to learning as much as they can about new technologies that would help them learn better. Technology is important but it is more important to be open to learning new things and understanding new things. In doing this a teacher can reach more students in different ways.

Is It Okay to Be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

This post by Karl Fisch was very interesting to me because Mr. Fisch and I share several of the same ideas about the responsibilities of educators. In the post he discusses the argument on whether it is acceptable as a teacher to be technologically illiterate in the 21st century. He feels very strongly about teachers being educated on technology in the classroom. I have to agree with him by saying that in today's world of teaching it is unacceptable. Teachers should keep up to date with technology not only because they want to but also because it is mandatory. Schools should enforce technology training as well as provide it. Like Mr. Fisch said, if a teacher is not kept up to date with technology then the school administration is part of the blame.

As educators we should strive to educate students with the best tools possible. Even basic skills in tech can help students learn and prepare them for life in the real world. A teacher who does not want to expand their knowledge in technology, to me, is not dedicated to their students' potentially higher education. It should be a desire for all teachers to learn about these things and to teach them as well.

Social Media Count

The Social Media Counter by Gary Hayes is incredible to me. The amount of technology used each second s incredible. The amount of texts seems fairly accurate to me considering i text constantly. The amount of social networking such as Facebook and Twitter is unbelievable. Both are such great tools for reaching others and it amazes me to see how many people are connected through the Internet. The amount of YouTube videos is another interesting area because i spend lots of time on there watching videos. I had no idea there were that many videos added daily.

When I see something like this counter, it makes me wonder why a teacher or anyone else for that matter, would not want to be technologically literate. Using these tools you can be connected to people all over the world and learn lots of new things. Why wouldn't someone want to better themselves and widen their horizons?