Web 2.0 is exactly what I needed. I didn't really know how interested I would be in all that Web 2.0 has to offer. I guess I feel a little neglectful that I did not pursue this information sooner. I am excited to experience and learn what it has to offer and more. In this fast pace society, I feel it is important for all teachers to dive into the technology that is changing so quickly. In thinking about the 10 trends of Future education, I feel overwhelmed. I go with the flow pretty easily, and I felt pretty knowledgeable about technology, until now. I feel that I am back at the beginning stages of my learning back in high school sitting at a Mac computer trying to figure it out. I want to be Collaborating, Contributing, and Creating things that are useful for my students and colleagues.
I am not sure what questions I have at this time.....
While thinking about Teaching & Learning in the 21st Century I completely agree with the statistics that I read. I see it in the students that have recently graduated and are working in my area. I see the lack of critical thinking. I also see the difference in how kids these days have a very lazy work ethic. I remember when I was going to EMU that I worked three jobs, took a 12-16 credits per semester and did well. Today, if I ask kids about working...they say, "no...there will be plenty of time for that when I graduate." I hope that is true for them. I hope that they get great jobs and are willing to put forth effort to do their best. I have recently been trying to express to my son the importance of written communication. He is a high school student and doesn't think that elaborating on details is very important. Hopefully, he'll come around and realize that details are important in verbal and written communication so that he can be successful in the career he chooses.
Overall, I was very intrigued with what I saw and read. I am definitely thinking in a different more technical way. Mostly, I look forward to learning more so that I can increase my knowledge of all this new technology in our changing society.
What a great post. I think you have written how many people feel once they begin Web. 2.0. There is so much out there. My first computer was a Commodore 64. Now we have graphing calculators with more memory. Enjoy what your children are doing now. My father-in-law used to tell me the same thing. Let them enjoy high school, they have the rest of their lives to work. It worked for us. Our children are all what I conisder successful. Physician, lawyer, physical therapist, and sports writer at USA Today. They learn and they are smart. And most are more advanced technologically than I could ever dream of being.
ReplyDeleteIf you re-read your first paragraph, what you are saying is that you need more time to REFLECT. It's the one thing teachers don't give themselves permission to do because it seems like there's always something more important that needs to be done first. So, as Nike would say, JUST DO IT
ReplyDeleteI am amazed and overwhelmed with all of the information we have been reading about. I too have been reluctant to dive into all of the tools web 2.0 has to offer. This class is teaching me about so many tools abaliable to us to I don't know where to start! Our students today really have the world at their fingertips!
ReplyDeleteHi Carri,
ReplyDeleteI like the pictures on your blog site. I sense you've also felt overwhelmed with how much there is to learn with the latest technology. I'm starting to feel like by not doing something with it, I'm getting behind and probably doing my students and my own children a disservice by not leading the way. After going through the IBM employee clip, I finally realized that if my students and children don't get a jump start on these technologies, they may be passed up for the better jobs that require knowledge of them. However, it seems like teachers beat themselves up for not being super people who can do it all, all of the time. We're in the trenches with so much day-to-day work to do, it's no wonder that we don't keep up with all of the latest. It's nice that we have consultants at the ISD who have the time to spend learning about all of this stuff to share it with us.
We wrote about similar things in our responses regarding a lack of critical thinking and poor work ethic. Sometimes I wonder if by creating a better life for our children, they miss out on the lessons of struggling just a bit to get where they want to be. On the other hand, we want to give our students and children every advantage we can to be successful. It seems there are pros and cons to every thing we do and how we approach it. That makes parenting and teaching a challenge.
Thanks for your insights. I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer.
Kelly Haines
You are so right! It is important to spend this time so we can increase our knowledge of technology. I didn't think it would be this easy to learn what we've learned in this class...but it really has not been too difficult. I agree that we need to keep up with the changes for the 21st century in helping to prepare our students for success.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that many young people do have a lack of work ethic. I also think that family life has a great deal to do with that. I have 24 year old twins and both of them have great work ethics. My son recently graduated from college, got a great job and complained because he wasn't doing enough. After a few months he looked and found a new job making about 8 thousand more a year and has more responsibility. He is much happier working harder and challenging himself.
ReplyDeleteThis is a major record. 5 posts by the time I got here. I have been busy the last two days. Today I drove to SC.
ReplyDelete