Blog Post #5

Don’t Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?

In this post Dr. McLeod lists many things teachers or parents shouldn’t teach their children. He makes very valid points, but, to me, the post isn’t necessarily telling you not to teach them. He makes the comment how if you are teacher who doesn’t teach their students different technologies, then you will be setting them back behind all others.

In my comment that I left to Dr McLeod, I said:

Hi Dr. McLeod
My name is Amanda and I am a student in Dr. Strange’s EDM310 class this semester. You have a very interesting way of getting your point across. I definitely agree that people need to see that we need to teach our kids the difference between how, when, where and appropriate uses of technology. I know that your kids will have a leg up, because you are teaching them right.

I found out he is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Kentucky. He is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading academic experts on K-12 school technology leadership issues. He founded the Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education. It is the nation’s only academic center dedicated to the technology needs of school administrators. McLeod is also co-creator of the wildly popular video series, Did You Know? (Shift Happens).


The iSchool Initiative

In this video a high school senior, Travis Allen, discusses his solution to America’s education problem. He states how his high school is having massive budget cuts, how teachers are being let go, and class sizes are growing larger. He then shows a PowerPoint that he hopes will answer the question “Does technology belong in our classroom?” His PowerPoint begins with America’s future in education. The “iSchool” will be built on Apple’s popular iTouch platform. He explains how “iSchool” will save money and shows many different applications on the iTouch that are ready for classroom use. He ends by stating how with the “iSchool Initiative,” corporations, business leaders, and apple tech programmers can come together to modernize today’s education system.

I really enjoyed this video. The different applications that Travis showed during his PowerPoint seem really helpful. His whole presentation was well put together and he did a good job showing how his idea can help education as well as save money. His idea can also help teachers communicate better with students and parents.

Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir

This video is awesome. I love the thought that some many people, that don’t even know each other, can come together can perform “Lux Aurumque.” For a group of strangers to come together and produce this video, shows that technology has come a long way.

Teaching in the 21st Century


In this video Kevin Roberts explains what he thinks it means to teach. He shows how we need to encourage kids to be creative and support them in their future. Forcing information on students and then expecting them is to remember all the information is not a good idea. Mr. Roberts feels that if teachers and students applied themselves and use the resources at hand that the relationship could be better. He wants student to want to engage in education and have hands on experiences throughout their whole learning experiences. I agree with him and think that educators need to support students and encourage them every step of the way.