Blog Post #2

Mr. Dancealot

In Professor Dancealot's classroom he uses power point lectures to teach the students. He spends all of his time reading his power points and not interacting with his students. He is teaching a dancing class which should be hands-on learning. Instead, he stands behind a desk and teaches dance steps. None of the students can see and they all get very bored with his class fast. The central message in this video is that it is awesome to have education in the class room. But without using it the right way, it can only hinder the student and their learning experience. He makes his case about this by ending the video when the students are taking their final exam. They all went home and tried to study. They even could have their books for the exam! However, when no teaching is done and just technology is used, the student will not be able to learn. I agree with what he tried to convey in this video. We can all benefit from having technology in the classroom. But you must remember to teach and use the technology as a helper.

Teaching in the 21st Century

To Robert, teaching in the 21st century means several things. Most importantly, teachers need to be a filter of knowledge. Everything, everywhere, is now available to these students. Teaching will now be teaching skills to utilize this information. The students will need to learn what is slander, what is copyright fraud, what is plagiarism, and how they can be professional adults. They need to learn to blog, podcast, animate, collaborate, and identify what is reliable and what is not. Robert lays out an argument and has evidence to counteract it. All the answers are available to these students, how can we just let them answer? Don't just let them Google an answer! Make them explain why they answered the way that they did. Give them questions that require research and critical thinking. How can you let them play on toys? Technology will evolve from being a toy and transition into being a learning necessity. Everything must be relevant and ENGAGE the child. ENGAGEMENT over ENTERTAINMENT! The lessons should be fun and exciting but not passive. I really agree with him on the way he thinks teaching is rapidly changing. Everything is available and teachers must transition just like the technology is. As an educator, I will have to find ways to teach, include technology, keep learning interesting,and teach the students the skills to use the technology in a beneficial way instead of a toy.

The Networked Student This video truly shows just how capable a student is of using networking to learn in the 21st century. It is amazing just how much you can do and learn with technology. As the video went on I started to think just how obsolete a teacher might become. It had me worried until the end of the video. The student no longer requires a teacher for the information. But he/she does require a teacher to teach them how to do these things. A teacher connects them with the world. If they are stuck she can find new pathways. She can give assignments that will further the student in their intellectual journey. The teacher is in no way shape or form becoming obsolete. The teacher is just becoming a different kind of information source.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

In Mrs. Davis' video she is wanting the world to know that students no longer need just a pen and paper to learn. And that they should not be learning that way ever again. Not all students can learn from just looking at paper. Some students are visual learners, others learn from hands-on experience. I agree with all of her ideas. She does not spoon feed the student. It reminds me of our EDM 310 class. "I don't know. Let's find out!" I am not sure if I would be so immersed in the class like she is with everything being online and going on around the world. But she is doing an awesome job at it!

Flipping the Classroom

Flipping the classroom is a new concept to me. I had never heard of this until just now while watching this video. It seems like it could be a great way to further utilize class time! But I definitely have some questions. How will this stack up with homework the students have from other classes? What age groups would this work best with? Would all parents stick to the plan or not enforce the assignment at home. I think this could work at some schools. Maybe at schools with higher income families who tend to have stay-at-home mothers. I personally do not think this would be a game changer in education. I don't think it would fully be supported by parents. Kids need outside time and this might take up their free time after school. Consequently, it might make the child resent school. Some children might also have a hard time concentrating on watching the video and would not receive the information as well as others.

Blog Post #1

When I signed up for this class I was absolutely terrified. My roommate had taken the class a year before and told me horror stories. She told me how hard it was and how unless I work and work and work at it, I will not receive an A. She scared me to the point I did not want to go to our first class this past Tuesday. However, one of my sorority sisters reassured me that I would be fine. She told me that it is a lot of work but when you figure out how to manage your time, you will do just fine.

My fear in this class is that I will slack off mid-semester. I did this in a few of my previous classes. But I feel confident that this class will teach me to be more professional and to not slack off. Deadlines are deadlines and I must follow them.

Being a sophomore I am just now getting to 300 level classes. So many classes before now have been "burp back" classes. This includes high school and college. I never thought much about it until Dr. Strange sent out an email before the New Year, informing us that this class would not be one of those classes. Most teachers would hand over a study guide, sometimes with the exact questions on the final or test. Then they would tell us the answers. This was supposed to make us "prepared". But all we were doing was "burping" it right back to them. This class is going to be far from that. Now I am starting to look forward to diving in farther to this class. It will be teaching us responsibility and helping us to be more professional.

My most difficult thing to tackle in EDM 310 , I think, will be finishing by deadlines. I have always been a procrastinator. With so many things being due each week I could easily forget to due something.

With the above statement being what I think to be the most difficult task in EDM 310, I will have to find a way to get around it. I love that Dr. Strange provides us with a Checklist. This has all the projects and due dates at my finger tips. Hopefully, with this tool, I will be able to get rid of my procrastinator habits QUICK.

I still have questions about how we will be getting involved with students from across the world. I am excited for this opportunity!

Practice Post

My name is Caitlyn Barton. I was born in Marion, AL and have lived there my whole life. I grew up on a farm. Complete with cows, chickens, horses, and even some peacocks. I attended and graduated high school from Southern Academy. My graduating class consisted of 17, yes only 17, students including myself.I played volleyball, basketball, and softball throughout high school. Volleyball is by far my favorite of the three. I am happy that I still get to play volleyball at South in intramural games. I was lucky enough to do well on my ACT and receive a scholarship from the University of South Alabama. My cousin went here and seemed to love it so I decided to try it out. I started school at South in the fall of 2012. I went through rush the week before school started and became a Chi Omega. This has been one of the best decisions I have made. Not only have I met my best friends but I have so many leadership and philanthropic opportunities. I am on the Executive Board for 2014 and I am also the T-shirt and Social Media chair for Chi Omega. South offers so much to it's students and I am so glad I made the choice to spend my four years of undergrad here.

I am the youngest of only two children at 19 years old. I have a one sister, Kasey, who is 22. She is a recently licensed RN who starts her first job in Tuscaloosa on January 20th. Our parents have been married for 24 years. My father works at the local Co-op and my mother is a 5th grade teacher. She has been teaching for 25 years. Along the way she has taught Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade, and 5th grade. I have many women in my family who are educators and I am very excited to follow in their footsteps. I am very close to my grandparents and I am thankful for how close they have always been. They live only a small cow field away from my house. They have owned and operated a used car lot for the past 47 years. This month they are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary!

Since I was a child I have watched my mother, aunts, and cousins teach. They are all wonderful educators and are full of passion. My senior year of high school I was listening to my mom talk about one of her students while on the way to a volleyball game. I had been trying to figure out what it was I wanted to do with my life. I had never even considered a career in education. That day it hit me like a brick wall. I knew exactly what I wanted to do. And it was to teach.

My favorite thing to do is to paint, draw, craft or anything art wise. Whenever I can find free time, you will find me trying to make something or paint it. I hope to get better at that but I just love it as a hobby.

Second Test Post

Second test post. Hopefully right this time!

My Test Post Title

This is my first post. I clicked the HTML button which I should always do in EDM310. I am now a blogger!!