Blog Post #3

In Kelly Hines post, "It's Not About the Technology", she states that learning in the 21st century is not about the technology. Many people disagree with this statement. Times are changing rapidly and teachers have to use the technology that students will have to use in the future. Mrs. Hines does not feel that technology is the first thing that needs to change. However, iPods, computers, wireless internet, netbooks, blogs, and podcasts are great tools; Hines says the issue is deeper.

Mrs. Hines has four basic objectives that must be met in order for a classroom to move forward in the 21st century. One, teachers must be learners. Teachers must do more than what is just mandatory for them. We need to be creative and willing to explore and teach ourselves while we teach our students.
Second, learning and teaching is not the same thing. Teachers need to remember that if your class doesn’t learn anything, then you have not taught anything. Third, technology is useless without good teaching. Teachers must be willing to learn and use the technology effectively in order to have an impact on the students. Fourth, be a 21st Century Teacher without the technology. If teachers develop the students’ creativity through giving them problem solving and critical thinking skills, and keep the hunger to learn alive and use technology, the possibilities are endless.

In Karl Fisch post, "Is It Okay to be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher?", he is clearly frustrated with teachers who are not willing to explore technology use in the classroom. He believes that not teaching today's children technology is equal to not teaching children 30 years ago to read and write.

I do agree that teaching technology is very important and teachers should be willing to learn how to use new technology. I don’t believe that it is impossible for a teacher to be successful without technology. I also don't think that students have to know how to use YouTube, blog, twitter, and other sites in order to learn. They do need to be taught how to use the internet as a tool, but certain subjects like English don’t new technology as much as other subjects do. I do feel that students should be required to attend a technology lab that teaches these skills. I had to take a typing class in middle school, and hated it at the time, but it has helped me greatly. I know that many colleges require a computer class to graduate, and I think that is a great idea. However, teachers have plenty of requirements they have to meet their subject area; they shouldn't be forced to teach computer lessons also. Although, they do need to encourage the use of technology and be able to help students has a question or needs help.

I was amazed by Gary Hayes post, "Social Media Counts". It’s crazy knowing how many people are on the computer posting on Facebook, YouTube, and other social networks. People need to learn how to use these sites as tools. It’s important to teach children how to use these sources to better their education, but we also have to teach them that there is more to life than updating their Facebook every five minutes. We have to teach students to turn off the phones and computers and enjoy life in other ways, besides looking at the computer screen. We need to be technologically literate, but know when and where to use and not use our technology.

In Michael Wesch’s video, "A Vision of Students Today", you can see how the use of technology has changed the way students think. Nowadays, students read emails, not books. They don’t write notes anymore; they type them on their laptops. They also bring their laptops to class, but not do class work-they will be on Facebook. This video shows me that we must communicate to our students through technology to get through to them.