This particular video by Mr. Miller is one that made me think about my educational experiences growing up. When I was in Jr. High School, I can remember going to the school library and looking for books using the Dewey Decimal System. During those particular times in my life, if you wanted to find a certain book, you had to use an index card system that told you exactly where the print based materials could be found. Fast forward to today, you can now simply search for whatever print material that you want using a computer. I can also remember looking for certain print materials back then that I could not find simply because the information was deemed to be outdated, so it was tossed out. This particular story that I just told brings me to one point that really stood out to me in Mr. Miller video which is the fact that with the use of the internet and todays technology, no information will become outdated. Any information that is available today is infinite information because with the use of the web we can constantly share or collaborate anything that is available. Mr. Miller also talked about fundamental changes vs. incremental changes. When I thought about this particular point that he made, I compared it to using a navigational system in a car. Whenever you are going on a trip and you put in your destination, the navigational system gives you about three routes which you can take to arrive at your destination. Even though the route that you choose to use may be different from the other two, if someone else took the other two routes, they would arrive at the same place. Finally, Mr. Miller did get me to thinking when he talked about someone inventing a system in which all people can have access to different ways of getting print materials in the future. I think the challenge there will be how to make it affordable for everyone to have access to it.
EDM 310 is Different
In watching the two videos; The Chipper Series and EDM 310 for Dummies, I had to compose myself because because I nearly died from laughing at the humor in them. I would have to say that these two videos which were produced by our own students were well thought out. The Chipper Series talked about the slacker who was always looking for an easy way out. Chipper in this video always had a full proof plan on how she was going to be successful without actually putting in any work to achieve that success. In EDM 310 for Dummies, I can't speak for others, but I have definately had those feelings that were depicted in this particular video at one time or another. I can honestly say that EDM 310 is different from any class that I have ever taken. The point that I feel these two videos were making is that you must be willing to put in the time and effort to be successful even when you get frustrated or discouraged.
Critiques of Smartboards
There were two articles that we had to review for this particular assignment. The first is by Michael Staton and is titled "Why Smartboards Are a Dumb Initiative", and the second is titled "Why I Hate Interactive Whiteboards" by Bill Ferriter. Both articles seems to be saying the same thing which is the fact that Smartboards are only expensive pieces of equipment in the classroom that is a waste of money. In looking at this topic further, I found two post that disagreed with these two gentlemen prospective on the use of smartboards. The first is by a 3rd year math teacher in Ohio whose link is bdiehl001. Mr. Diehl made two arguments against the article by Mr. Staton. First, he argued that smartboards allows you to save all your work and allows you to be able to print them off to your students who were absent. Secondly, he argued that it keeps the students engaged in the lesson. In the article posted by Mr. Ferriter, Patrick Ledesma who is a School Based Technology Specialist for the Fairfax County Public Schools made an argument that I totally agree with. He argued that smartboards can be a great tool to use. The key is that the instructor who will be using it must be willing to gain knowledge on all of the advantages that the smartboards have to offer. Mr. Ledesma page can be view at www.edtechbytes.com. Just this week, I was having a conversation with a local Middle School Principal about the use of smartboards in the classroom. The thing that he said that really stood out to me is the fact that when used properly, smartboards allow for the students to be interactive within the classroom. It has been eight years since I was last teaching in the classroom, so I have never used a smartboard. I do realize however that when I am fortunate enough to return to classroom, it would be beneficial for me to learn all that I can about the many uses of smartboards before I return to the classroom.
Thoughtful. Well written. Very well done!
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