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Hi! My name is Tiffany Fey and I am 21 years old. I am majoring in Elementary/ Early Childhood/ Special Education and am currently a sophomore/junior at the University of South Alabama. My passion lies in teaching. I love kids and I cannot wait until I am a teacher! I am counting down the days until I can have a classroom I can call my own. ;)

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Blog Post #3

Drawing of a Teacher and her students

1. Michael Wesch’s video “A Vision of Students Today” was one of the most moving videos I have seen about education. It really spoke to me and almost made me feel like crying because everything they said was so true. I have had almost every experience they held up a sign for, and when I see it all put together in a video like this it makes so many emotions run through me: anger, sadness, depression, guilt, etc. etc…. I don’t think I could have said what the people in this video said any better, they definitely worked hard to put it together and brought every point together in a powerful way. ....
When I think of my experience in education right now and all of my past experiences after I watched this video, it makes me wonder how much I really got out of every second I spent in a classroom. I wonder if I would be different if things had been better in the classrooms or if I would be more successful in the future if things had been done differently. After watching this video, I want to make sure that I do every possible thing to not let my future students be affected like my generation has been. We must all pull together when we become teachers and make a difference in our student’s lives by fighting for better technology in classrooms and different strategies of teaching and education. We have to step-up to fight for a change or it will never happen, we need to make a difference.
2. After reading Mrs. Hine’s post about education and technology I feel even more excited about taking EDM 310 and learning how to teach my future students about educational media! But I also realized how important it is to understand that, even though we will be teaching in a time that is alive and active through technology, we as teachers must instill the idea in our students that learning is the most important aspect of everyone’s lives. I say this because I think about how bad it would be if every teacher just taught students how to use technology in the classroom and never taught students how to learn. I like to refer to the old saying “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime,” when I think about learning. If we just show our students how to use technology and put it to good use, it will be the same as just “giving them a fish”. But if we actually teach them how to use it to better their skills, we will give them a lifetime of knowledge to use, and apply, to everyday aspects of their lives, not just in technology.
I have personal experience when it comes to teachers showing students how to use technology: while I was in high school every one of my math teachers that I had taught me how to use a calculator to do math. When I got to college I was completely shocked to find out that you couldn’t use a calculator in any of the math classes I was taking! It was really hard for me to get by in my classes without my calculator to help me. When I start teaching in my classroom I vow to teach my students how to learn, not just how to use technology. Although I do believe that technology in the classroom is a very important part of present day teaching, I do not want my students to become so independent on technology that they can’t do things without it.

3. I have mixed feelings about Karl Fisch’s “Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?” mainly because I sometimes wonder if our society is almost too reliant on technology. But at the same time I also agree with him because I do feel that it is important to be technologically literate when we are teaching children of the future generations. During this time period we have come so far with technology it’s almost unbelievable. I am 21 years old and I can remember when cell phones became popular, when PCs started to show up in homes, when CDs were created, etc. so it’s kind of scary when I think of what it might be like in the far future. But at the same time I am amazed at what people have been able to create and develop. Teachers must realize that students now-a-days are surrounded by technology almost every second of the day, we even have technology in the school bathrooms now! So it’s crazy for a teacher to not want to be technologically literate when they could easily use it to help their students learn better.
Although I do understand how technology can scare some people, it is not an excuse to ignore it just because you do not know how to use it. I have grandparents who do not have a computer and do not care to own one, they would rather continue using their old fashion type writer. This is perfectly fine for them and it is understandable why they would feel this way when they did not grow up around technology at all. But in today’s society children are growing up in front of a TV, in front of video games, and playing with toys that are nothing but technology! Even little babies know that you hold a cell phone up to your ear and say “Hello?” into it! So people who are going to be teachers cannot be ignorant to the fact that technology is something that every person will come in contact with almost every day of their lives. So overall I do agree with Mr. Fisch and I answer his question that, no, it is not too extreme to think teachers should be technologically literate, because our student’s future’s depend on it.

4. After watching Gary Hayes’ Social Media Count run for a few seconds I was amazed at the numbers going up so quickly! I know that everyone in today’s society does Facebooking and Twitter, but it is definitely crazy to see it all being added up before your eyes! I think that this means a lot to upcoming teachers. Being able to sit and watch how many things are happening within just seconds on the web makes you realize how much our World is advancing technologically. Our students will be, or already are, some of the people making those numbers rise, so it would be foolish not to think that teachers do not have to be technologically literate! Being a teacher means harnessing your student’s passions and skills and using them to help the student learn better and in a way that they will able to keep with them throughout their whole lives. If using technology in the classrooms means making our students more willing to learn and helps them achieve more, I say what are we waiting for? We have to take technology by the reins and use it to our advantage in any way we can!

1 comment:

  1. Interesting post layout. In regards to your post that brought about so many emotions, I have observed that everyone seems to have shared the same classroom experiences, but the only thing I can see to feel guilty about is that we have not worked toward change. Or have we? What student actions ahove you witnessed or done to help start an educational overhaul? Why did you, or did you not get involved?

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