The above link will bring you to Scott Mcleod's blog, which is called dangerously ! irrelevant. I have visited this blog before, and I enjoy reading it every time I do. He has a straightforward way of giving his opinion. In the post we read this week I thought he was just that, straightforward. Maybe not to begin, but as a whole the post made its point. Teach your children technology! Technology is the future whether we choose to get on board or not. I also have done a little research to find out; who is Scott Mcleod? Well, he is a an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Kentucky. He also is the Founding Director of the nation’s only academic center dedicated to the technology needs of school administrators, and was a co-creator of the wildly popular video series, Did You Know? (Shift Happens). He has received numerous national awards for his technology leadership work, including recognitions from the cable industry, Phi Delta Kappa, the National School Boards Association, and the Center for Digital Education. Dr. McLeod blogs regularly about technology leadership issues also at Mind Dump and Education Recoded and occasionally at The Huffington Post. He also just completed his first book, What School Leaders Need to Know About Digital Technologies and Social Media. I found all of this information about him here.
iSchool Initiative
The iSchool Initiative video by Travis Allen was inspiring. I say inspiring, because he was so young when he made the video. His ideas for our future schools are awesome! Cutting the cost per student from about $600 to $150 is insane. Sign me up! The examples of all the learning apps he gave were really cool. I didn't know there were apps for all of those things. With one touch we can study all of the president's. Or we could look up any math equation. I think his idea for schools is really great.
While watching the virtual choir I have to admit I thought it was a little weird. Of course it's awesome that these people could do this all online without ever meeting, but it still reminded me of the end of The Da Vinci Code. I possibly would have had more of an open mind to it if it wasn't so creepy!
Teaching in the 21st Century
This video by Kevin Roberts raises a lot of questions for a future educator. Robert's suggest that teachers should teach student's skills rather than the basic information. He suggest that student's already have access to the information so teachers should show them how to use it. What does this mean for future educators if he is correct? It means that as future educators we need to be technology literate. In order to teach children how to use technology we first have to master at, and because it changes everyday we have to grow with it. I personally do not completely agree with Robert's, but I do agree to some extent.
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets website had many tools that a teacher could use for their reading class. There were apps available and also a quiz students could take on the home screen. There were podcast student's could watch. The website is pretty much a reading class in one. Anything you want to know you can find on the website.
