Blog Assignment 2

Did You Know? 3.0
By: Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod

Today we use a large variety of technology on a everyday basis and several times throughout the day. Even though we are consistently using computers we don't pay attention to how rapidly technology is growing. In the video "Did You Know? 3.0" it is brought to our attention how fast technology is becoming more and more used. It is crazy to think that 1 in 8 married couples last year met online. This proves that people are spending a lot of time on the internet.
When you hear that 200 million people are on mysapce many people don't look at it as if myspace were a country it would be the fifth largest in the world. Whatching videos like this one can give you a new perspectives to help you realize the rapid growth in technology. Today you can find an answer to almost any question on google, which is why there are 31 billion searches on google every month. This is a drastic change from 2006 when it was 2.7 billion. Everyday there are so many messages sent and recieved that it exceeds the population of the planet. I had no idea that text messages were this used before watching the video. This video has really helped me put the growth of technology into perspective.

Mr. Winkle Wakes
By: Mathew Needleman

In this video Mr. Winkle is an old man who wakes up after being asleep for 100 years. He visits an office and is surprised by all the new technology where people can do all sorts of neat things such as talk to people across the country while being able to see each other. He is so overwhelmed that he has to go to the hospital. Once again there are all sorts of new technology, such as machines that can help people breathe. There were also x-rays and lasers. Then after the hospital he visits a school where he feels comfortable because nothing has changed and there is only one dusty computer that was not used.
In this video it is shown that technology is being used in many ways around the world even to help save lives, however, our school systems aren't changing. Where we teach students is not up to date with everything else around it. Technology has become a major part in society and maybe we should bring more technology into our schools and let students become familiar with it.

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
The Importance of Creativity

Sir Ken Robinson emphasizes how essential creativity is in education. He talks about how in school students are all trained as if they are going to be a professor. That teachers teach students from the waist up and then focus on the head and then even to one side of the head. Why is it that students are taught mathematics but not dance? Should we only focus on certain subject matters?
Students who are creative are often steered away from the things they like because the are told that those interest want lead them anywhere in life. That there is no point in pursuing music because they will never make it as a musician. Today you can have a four year degree and still not have a job and this is because of education inflation. Sir Ken Robinson believes that things need to change and I can agree with him on this. A students creativity needs to be encouraged and not look down on.

Cecelia Gault (Young Student in Finland) interviews Sir Ken Robinson
By: Cecelia Gault

The big question here is "Can U.S. Students Compete?" There are other countries around the world who are not as wealthy as we are whose students are excelling more than the students in the United States. These students aren't even spending as many hours in a school room as the students of the U.S. Reading, science, and math scores from students in Finland are the highest in the world.
What needs to be done in order to help students of the U.S. To do better. According to Sir Ken Robinson creativity plays a major role in this as we saw in the last video. The drop rate in Finland is less than 1 percent and 25 percent in the U.S. What can we do to keep students interest? I agree with Robinson that everyone is creative. I think you can help bring about a persons creativity by introducing them to new things. You should never keep someone from being creative but help direct them in the right direction. Unlike Robinson I don't think computers need to be the center of education but they can be very beneficial and should be used more often than they are.

Vicky Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smart
By: Vicky Davis

In this video Vicky shares with us her way of teaching her students. She tells the audience that she teaches them learning how to learn, how to collaborate, how to blog, and about wiki. I think what she is doing in her classroom is beneficial, however, I don't think this would be effective for every classroom or teacher. I think the computer has so much to offer but at the same time it is not good for students to always be in front of computer screen.
I think computers should be used in our public school system but not over used. Learning software is important, but so are the other subject matters in school. I feel that only a certain amount of computer classes is necessary and that the computer can be helpful in other subjects when needed. We should take advantage of all that the computer has to offer but the computer or technology isn't the answer to all the flaws in our school system.