Blog Post 4

Don’t Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?

Scott McLeod uses satire in order to show how strongly he believes in technology and the benefits it can bring to the field of education. His point is valid because in these days, students will encounter technology everyday in their lives. How can anyone stop them from using it? It just makes sense to have them be creative with it and to help them make use of it in their daily lives.

Scott McLeod is an Associate Professor of Education Administration at the University of Iowa. He is also the Director of a Center called Castle.

The iSchool Initiative

The arguments that Travis makes are many. He talked about how much cheaper it would be to use the iSchool and to get rid of calculators, projectors, maps/globes, school books, etc. It would also help the environment because it would lower the amount of trees we would need to cut down. Your teachers and parents would be able to get more involved and could access grades and due dates. Homework could be shared and/or class lectures could be recorded for students that are absent from class.

All of these arguments were very convincing. I am familiar with many of the tools that Travis talked about in his video and can see how this would be a good idea. I can only imagine what else will be available in the next five years.

Lost Generation

At first I was shocked that what she was saying was likely to happen, but by the end, I was happy and liked what it read as she reversed the statements on the video. It really made you think about the world in my lifetime. I hope to be more in control of what happens in my life.

Her technique, I thought, was very clever. I thought it was really neat how she was talking about reversing what she had first stated and then literally reversed it by reading it backwards. I liked reading the words as she spoke them. It was much more captivating than if she had just spoken herself on the video.

Eric Whitaker’s Virtual Choir

I thought this was a very neat way of using the internet. These people obviously could not have contributed and taken part in this choir except through the internet. It also brings to mind other ways that people in all parts of the world could contribute to a larger project. The uses are limitless.