Blog Post #5

1. The iSchool Initiative

Travis Allen made some very good arguments in his video The iSchool Initiative. School budgets are being cut, teachers are getting layed off, and classes are getting larger. He created the iSchool Initiative in hopes that one day, all schools will adopt this idea and become and iSchool. An iSchool does not use paper, pencil, copy machines, or books. Every student and teacher will have an iTouch that has iSchool apps.

There are apps for everything a student needs to learn and teachers need to teach. Books, workbooks, and library books are available with the touch of a finger. There is an app for note taking. iHomework is an app students use for homework. There are apps for scientific calculators, world and geography maps, and any science and math formula a student will ever use. Attendance, grades, and assignments are all recorded on the iTouch. The use of this technology in schools saves approximately $600 per student and only costs $150 per student. Travis hopes that with this initiative, people will see that technology is needed in classrooms today.

One of my biggest concerns that I have is the replacement of teachers in the classrooms. With technology advancing so rapidly, what if there comes a day where teachers are no longer needed? The education system is already in the process of deleting things that are no longer useful. Books are being replaced with computerized notebooks and soon students will not need to know how to write. Why? Everything is typed and done on computers. Writing is slowly becoming unimportant in education. I fear that soon, teachers will be replaced as well.

2. Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir

I was completely amazed after watching Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir. His choir consisted of 185 people from all around the world. They performed 'Lux Aurumque' and it was uploaded to You Tube.

I would have never guessed that these people had never performed together before. They were so in tune with one another, you'd swear that they had performed a thousand times before together. This video shows you that with the use of the internet, anything is possible. It is truly astounding what people can do with the internet. I've never seen the internet used quite like this before.

3. Teaching in the 21st Century

In this video, Kevin Roberts ask the question, What does it mean to teach in the 21st century? Teachers are not the main source of knowledge anymore. Why? Students can find out information on anything, anywhere, and anytime. Resources such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, Wikipedia, and many others give students all the information that they need. Teaching in the 21st century no longer consists of teaching just facts and content. Teachers need to be teaching students skills as well. In this fast-paced technological world, students need to know how to use all these resources properly. They need to know how to blog, how to comment, how to create podcasts and upload video to You Tube. Students also need to be taught how to handle these resources in a professional manner. Students still need to know the basic concepts remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create. These basic concepts are extremely important to their education. And even though the tools that are used have changed from books, pencil, and paper to iPods, iPads, and cellphones, teachers can still teach students lessons that are relevant, challenging, and engaging.

As a future educator, it seems as though I am going to have to be on top of my game with my knowledge of technology. I am going to have to know how to use all the different resources available so that I can incorporate it with lessons I teach my students. Learning how to teach students in the 21st century is definitely going to be a challenge. I don't know everything I should about technology right now, but I am trying to catch up. It makes me a little nervous, but I'm sure that by the time I have my first class of students, I will know everything I need to know about teaching students in the 21st century.

4. The Flipped Classroom

In the first video I watched, Katie Gimbar, and eighth grade math teacher, discusses why she flipped her classroom. She states that ninety percent of class time is spent on delivery and review of the content. This means that most of the time, she is standing in front of the classroom lecturing. Ten percent of class time is spent on application of the content. This means that this is the time where students are actually applying what they learned in some activity. Before the flip, she was teaching to the middle group of the class. There was a group of higher level students in the back of the classroom that was bored with the material, and a group of struggling students that were being left behind.

Flipping the classroom consists of lecture videos that are made by the teacher for students. Students watch these videos at home before class the next day. They can pause, rewind, and re-watch the videos as many times as necessary. Students are able to post questions in a forum and the material is self-paced. Students know the content before class the next day. Therefore, ninety percent of class time is spent on application of the content, and ten percent on delivery of the content. It is more efficient for both teachers and students.

The second video is about Dr. Lodge McCammon and his program FIZZ. Dr. McCammon came up with the concept of flipping the classroom. He stated that he believes that there is too much lecturing in classrooms today which is one of education's biggest problems. All that time that teachers spend lecturing is not efficient and the students aren't engaged. He developed the program FIZZ, which trains teachers how to flip their classrooms and gives them a better understanding on how the concept "Flipping the Classroom" works.

I thought the concept of flipping the classroom was very interesting, but I don't think that I would use it in my teachings. Students already spend the majority of their days in school. Now we are giving them lecture videos to watch at home too? It just seems like there would be too many issues and conflicts with this concept. I really don't understand how you could teach your students a lesson through a video, and your students actually learn the concept. If you really feel that your students are not engaged in your lectures, then obviously the problem is you. It is part of your job as a teacher to create activities that go along with your lecture that will have your students engaged. You do not have to flip your classroom to do this.