Blog Post 2

In the first video that I viewed, Did You Know? by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod, the information changed so rapidly, it was difficult for me to keep up. I believe the authors intended that idea as part of their message. The world and technology is changing at a great rate of speed, and the US should keep up with the global advancements taking place. The authors pointed out, change is taking place so rapidly, information doubles every two years. Unfortunately that means if an individual enrolls in a two year technology program, the material or information will be obsolete when the individual completes the program.
The authors presented statistics and facts indicating our nation is falling behind other countries. The message that I take away from this video is that America must evaluate our future in this changing technological world in order to remain a leading world country. America must educate society about technology in order to compete with other nations. Therefore, that process should begin even earlier than Elementary school.

The next video, Mr. Winkle Wakes by Matthew Needleman is a witty video about Mr. Winkle who wakes after 100 years. He finds the world around him has changed and there is nothing that is familiar to him. He is confused by tall building with lots of people. In these building there are boxes or machines that have pictures on them from people all over the world. He was very overwhelmed, he felt sick so he goes to the hospital thinking that would be a familiar place. He finds odd things going on there as well. People attached to machines, lasers in the operating room. Finally, he finds a school and everything is just as it was 100 years ago. Desk in familiar single file rows while listening to the teacher lecture. However, they did have one of those machines in the back of the room collecting dust and never being used.
Although this video was silly, it brings to attention aspects that are very true. Teaching and school for the most part has not changed over the years. The world around has changed so much, but the way we teaching school has remained dormant. I believe that unless our nation wants to be like, Mr. Winkle, teaching and educations will have to change.

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity, is a comical video presentation that encourages creativity in the classroom. Sir Ken Robinson says that schools kill creativity. He says that education and creativity must go hand and hand. He also believes that creativity is as important as literacy. He points out that there are some misconceptions about creativity, such as only certain people are creative. He disagrees with individuals that believe you can't learn to be creative. He believes that intelligence is a diverse process of making sense of the world around us, and education must balance Science, Art, and Technology when teaching children.
I really enjoyed this video. I agree with his position on creativity. However, I believe that it will be a challenging area for me to implement in my classroom. This concept is very different from the way I was taught, and taking that "risk" will be difficult. Fortunately, I am willing to explore new possibilities in education, and using creativity in the classroom will only enhance the learning experience.

Last, Vicke Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts, believes that teachers should be customizing their curriculum. The overview is that every child can learn, if you provide many forms of teaching, such as technology and arts. If you are only teaching with pen and paper, only one type of student is learning. She believes in turning schools upside down, empowering students, and connecting to the world. She believes that students learn how to learn. Therefore, teachers must teach students how to learn how to learn. If this takes place in the classroom, everyone learns, including the teacher.

I believe that if the issues in each video are addressed and teachers really practice and follow through on these ideas, all of our students will be as bright and articulate as Cecelia Gault in the video. Utilizing many techniques of teaching will give all students an opportunity to learn.