TED+Talks+and+Wiki+Technology+Autobiography

media type="custom" key="14129232" Video Response Several things about this video struck a chord with me. First of all, I love that the video says, “We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t exist yet, using technologies that haven’t been invented to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.” That statement really summarizes the importance of integrating technology into the classroom. If we are not teaching out students about technology, we are doing them a disservice and putting them a step behind when they get out of school.

Secondly, one thing that definitely surprised me about the video was that the United States in 19th in internet penetration. I would have thought we would be closer to the top of the list. One thing that does make clear to me is that other countries see the importance of making technology available to all people. Technology is the way of the future and ensure that everyone has access to it is one way to help ensure the success of a nation.

The fact that the number of text messages sent each day exceeds the total population of the planet is actually not surprising to me. I have friends that I communicate almost solely through text message with when we are not face to face. I think that text messaging is a technology that has brought people closer together and farther apart at the same time. Text messaging has brought people closer together because it is easier than ever to communicate with someone on the go. When you don’t have time to make a phone call, you can send a text message. Text messaging has pulled people father apart because we misuse the technology; we don’t sent text messages only when we do not have time to make a phone call. We replace phone calls entirely with text messages.

Technology Autobiography As a student, my experience with technology was very limited. My teachers had the same ideas about technology integration as I think many teachers still have today: if you let students types the pieces the write in writing, the counts as technology integration. The focus of using technology in school when I was a student was to teach us how to type proficiently and that was about it. Before high school, I could probably count on my hands the times I used a computer at school for something other than word processing. I probably learned more about computers my freshman year of college when I finally got my own than I did in the previous 17 years of my life. That is when I was introduced to social networking via Myspace and Facebook. As a user, I have always been interested in technology and exploring what I can do with it. When people first started copy/pasting HTML codes into their Myspace profiles to change the layout, I would look at the HTML and try to change simple things about it (font size and color, etc.). As an undergrad, I took a website development course as a Communications elective and I loved it. Although it is completely unnecessary to write your own HTML to build a website, I enjoyed learning about the different things that I could do on my own and the different ways that I can alter code that I like but want to change certain parts of. My interest in technology is part of what shapes my views on the use of computers in the classroom.

In my opinion, it is a waste of money to buy all of these brand new computers and then use them for solely for word processing and giving students assessments. Actually, I think we are scaring our students away from technology because we never allow them to explore or see what they can do with it. As a teacher, I want the students to be able to use technology to express themselves and create in the classroom. I love the idea of allowing students to create videos, blogs and other technology projects as alternatives to traditional pencil and paper exams. You hear more and more that right now we are preparing students for jobs that don’t exist yet. While these jobs do not yet exist, you can bet one thing, there will be large focus on technology. For that reason it is important that we make students feel comfortable with technology and intrigued by the possibilities of technology, not mind-numbingly bored by it because the only time they ever get to use it is to type a report or take a test.

When I get my own classroom, I can only hope to be in a place that has the resources and attitude to embrace technology and its possibilities.

media type="custom" key="14129278" I loved this TED talk because I have seen how the use of interactive whiteboards in the classroom can enhance learning. The students are so much more engaged when they are learning something through the whiteboard, especially when they get to personally interact with it. I also know that provided a whiteboard for every classroom is very expensive and sometimes it can take years to get every classroom teacher an interactive whiteboard (as is the case in the school I am student teaching at now). The school started installing Prometheam Activ Boards several years ago and have only recently completed the installation in all classrooms. While I do not think that this would be a great permanent solution or that it would work as well as a Smartboard, I think that the Wii remote hack seen here is a great idea for classrooms that cannot afford the technology for an interactive whiteboard right now. For about $200 any classroom can have nearly the same capabilities as a classroom that has a name brand board that probably cost thousands. The only downfall that I can see here is that teachers would probably have to set this solution up themselves and I think, as simple as it appears to be, they could become overwhelmed by the set up and use of the technology.

media type="custom" key="14129714" I chose this TED talk because I could not agree more with what he is saying. Students are already frustrated enough with having to learn things that they are not going to be able to use in real world application. Statistics is something that we all use on a nearly daily basis. The problem is that many of us do not understand the statistics that we are using. I agree with the speaker, Calculus is an important subject and anyone who wants to work in the field of science, engineering or economics needs to take and understand calculus. However, as the speaker said, for the rest of the students, it is far more important that they understand statistics and probability. Perhaps if more people understood statistics and probability, there wouldn't be as many people spending their last dollar on lottery tickets, or gambling their rent money as casinos because "they have to win eventually." In generally, people have the ability to make more informed decisions when they understand statistics and probability. As teachers, is it not our mission to create critical thinkers that are able to make decisions on their own? Then why are we not teaching them data and statistics at the top of the pyramid as the video suggests.

media type="custom" key="14130456" After watching this video, I was amazed and creeped out at the same time. I was amazed by the technological capabilities that we already have at our fingertips. We are made to think that the latest iPhone is the latest and greatest technology available to use when in reality, this guy is able to merge the physical and digital world nearly seamlessly to interact with people and objects. It seems like all of this technology could be somewhat of a privacy concern though. For example, one of the parts of the video that kind of creeped me out was the part where he was walking up to people and information about them appeared on their shirts like some sort of instant google search. I love technology,but I also love people and getting to know them in the physical world. Some of the things in the video just seem like information overload. I did like that he was able to create that technology on his own at a very low cost. I think that being able to bring down the cost of technology is going to be really important to digital access in today's world. It will be interesting to see what the future brings as far as technology. It seems as though the day is not far away where the line between what is the real world and what is the digital world becomes very blurred.

media type="custom" key="14131424" I could not agree more with this video because I absolutely agree that school has a tendency to zap the creativity out of students. "We are educating people out of their creative capacities." One of the points that was made here is that children are not afraid be wrong about things and then we sort of teach them that they should be. I agree with this. I can see when I am interacting with my nieces and nephews that they are not afraid to try something to explore how something works and it doesn't matter who is watching. Yet I also see children in the classroom, as young as second grade, not much older than my nieces and nephews, who are afraid to be wrong about things. They are afraid to try something and do it wrong when people are watching. They are afraid to explore how something works or to make a mistake when they are learning. I try to teach students in the class that its okay to be wrong. We have all been wrong before and we actually learn a lot more from doing something wrong than we do from doing something right. The goal of school should be to develop students and teach them more about the things that interest them and teach them how to be a productive member of society, not to be a robot standardized test taker. We did a science lesson the other day on circuits and the students were asking me what would happen if they built their circuit wrong. I said, "Your light bulb won't come on, so what do you think you need to do if that happens?" Some of them just looked confused until I told them, "If the light doesn't come on, try something different." Then some other students were asking me what would happen if they added different materials to their circuits. I said to them, "I don't know. Try it and you tell me." Students learn more from doing and being creative than they ever could from sitting in a desk like little soldiers. The world is changing, education needs to be changing too.