Sunday, September 19, 2010

Blog Post #4

little girl texting




Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff, Please!

When I began reading this post I started thinking, what in the world is Dr. McLeod talking about.  But of course once I continued reading I started to see things the same way he was.  I feel that when he states not to teach your kids this stuff, he doesn't really mean it literally, but then he does.  I know that may sound strange, but today you only have to teach a kid so much with computers & technology and well from then they figure it all out.  I feel as that if you are going to teach your student or child something about computers, you should teach them ALL there is to know, the good, the bad, & the ugly.  Some may not agree with me but for instance if a child is searching the web for something and mistype a word you never know what may pop-up so just in case they may see something inappropriate at least they will have the knowledge to know to exit away and/or get a parent.

Another point that I want to touch on that Dr. McLeod spoke about was the sex-ting.  To me,  this is not as simple of a situation as it may seem; I have seen kids as young as twelve become bullied, depressed, even commit suicide because of it.  With cell phones I agree that kids should have them for security reasons such as after school activities, out with friends, or other functions away from home; but i also say that their use of them should be monitored fairly closely by the parents, such as who they are talking to and texting and even when.  A lot of social problems like this can be avoided in my opinion if we had more parents to become more involved and attentive to their children, their peers and their surroundings.

To conclude, I would like to thank Dr. McLeod, who is a highly educated professor in Pennsylvania with many different interests, for his thoughts and I would also like to say that there are so many ways that technology has been made negative, so do the right things by teaching your child the positive ways, even though you can't hold their hand every step of the way; I guarantee that most of the lessons taught to them will last throughout their lives!


The iSchool Initiative

I listened to this video, and well I this student is trying to prove two different points: the first is that using the iSchool is suppose to cut down the cost of things and guarantee more teaching jobs and the other is that it would be easier on the environment and more convenient for teachers, students, and parents. First he starts of by saying that if they were to completely rid of writing utensils, books, and calculators for the students, and globes, blackboards, and computers for teachers, that it would be a great way to start cutting spending costs not only for schools but parents also.

Another argument that he made was that life for everyone would be easier.  He feels that being able to email assignments, review agendas, and even access the lunch menu would be a lot better for everyone.  He also states that their would be less air pollution and we would save more trees.

Well, my thoughts on this video are simple, the world would become more isolated than what it is today!  First, I want to say that it may be convenient to email a teacher and/or a student to easier contact them, but assignments, agendas, and lunch menu, are you serious!  If they are going to do all of that then they may as well stop building schools and just home-school every one.  With everything being right in your hand there would be no need for face to face communication, and well with a person like me, that would not work!  I don't mind communicating through technology that's not a problem with me, the problem is that I am a hands on learner who needs clear direction the first time from a person and not some computerized voice.   I would also like to say that yea it may cut costs and save the environment, I don't disagree with that, but with the money that's not being spent on that, you can guarantee that it is going to be used other places, and not going in your pocket.  Lastly I would like to add that the U.S are complaining about children being obese and all, I feel that this would be more of a contributor to that with students having everything, I mean everything right there in the palm of their hands!

kids


The Lost Generation

This video once you see the first half is a message that seems to be sent out to many students around the world.  They feel that what ever they are told by someone that's older or in a higher position is correct and no other way is the right way.  But once this video is retold I see that there are still students out there that believe in themselves and believe that they can make a change in the world.  It only takes one person to have faith and once there is one other follower, the rest speaks for itself.

I have never seen a video created like this, and even though I'm sure it took time, thought, and patience it was amazing and this is something I would love to learn how to create.

Virtual Choir

This was great, you would never think that someone would actually be able to get people from all around the world to follow one person and actually be in tone enough to sound this great.  I'm sure that they were done at different times but the composer of this was Magnificent....Good job Eric!

1 comment:

  1. Dr. McLeod teaches in Iowa.

    You personally "have seen kids as young as twelve become bullied, depressed, even commit suicide" because of technology? In Mobile?

    You write: "they may as well stop building schools and just home-school every one." My opinion: just around the corner. My prediction: schools will become baby sitting organizations and football companies within 15 years. A fried of mine thinks some will be prisons.

    ReplyDelete