Google reader

I just had what Oprah calls an aha moment. I was reading page 210 in the course book, web 2.0, and I finally was able to upload subscriptions of topics I am interested in reading about. I am not a total convert to all the new technology that we are continuously being bombarded with. What I see alot of students using blogs, My Space, and Facepage for is what I like to term "fluff". Totally pointless and meaningless. Yes kids are writing all the time, but is it really to their benefit to be connected all the time? What happened to daydreaming, or coming up with ways to entertain yourself? Someone said that kids today call someone to feel connected. I find that very sad. I use technology as a tool to accomplish something. Which is better? Maybe the answer is somewhere in between. So to get back to my aha moment. One I was ecstatic that I was able to accomplish what might be to some such a simple task. Two I will totally utilize information coming to me for both pleasure and work. I sometimes spend hours or days researching a subject for school. Now I can have the information come to me! What a time saver! I can see a pinpoint of light at the end of the tunnel that someday I may not spend evey waking moment on schoolwork :)

Department of Education 2.0

Linking the learning process in terms of an ecosystem is an interesting analogy. In an ecosystem every organism interacts and depends on each other for survival. I would like to see a larger collaboration of family and community with school systems, as everyone in a students life has something to both teach and to learn. I am remembering the old saying that it takes a community to raise a child. In today's world where parents are overworked and overstressed they leave the raising of thier child to the school system. This leaves teachers overburdened with the enormity of raising 50-100 students a year, much less getting students involved in the learning process.
What I remember from my school years and what I continue to see today are students that have tuned out the entire school experience. I feel that this is because schools still teach in a world that no longer exists. Reading, writing, rithmetic. This many classes that are this many minutes long, that teach this amount of content. This outdated model no longer works with todays students.
The future model of schools should take into consideration students interests and allow for some independance in both choosing their classes and structuring their days. For example all middle school teachers would function as a team to allow students to have diverse learning experiences and to allow for each student to learn at their own pace. I am continuosly frustrated that some of my students work so fast and then are bored and that some students can't get through the work or lab in the classtime alloted. Both of these groups have been proven to be "at risk" students for dropping out.
I feel that technology can be built utilized in a myraid of ways into schools. Virtual courses in small schools, or poor schools. I initially did not feel that science could be taught this way, but I discovered Gizmo, virtual lab software that you can buy for your school. YOu can find Gizmo at www.learninglab.com, if you would like to view it. It also has math labs.

Web 2.0 Video

I had seen this video before, but forgot how profound it was. One of the best ways that I see technology being used today is the ability to reach a very large audience about subjects that really matter.
The question really is are we adequately preparing our students for the world they will live in? As teachers, I feel that most of us don't meet that goal. Most students today are miles ahead in the area of technology. By the time they have become proficient in the new gizmo that just came on the market, I am still trying to figure out the old one. Students comfort with technology will be a strength in the future, as it will mostly be up to them to learn it. I realize that while I know the content, I struggle with how to bring technology into that forum. What has really surprised me, since I began teaching 1 1/2 years ago, is that at 50 years of age, I use more technology than the young teachers that are coming in to teach. Could this be that most schools today function like we are back in the 50's? The lack of technology in our school is shocking. It is a poor district, but I student taught in Concord and felt the situation was no different.
My vision for the future would be all the latest gizmo's in schools and the technical support to be able to utilize them effectively. technology teachers and content teachers should be working hand in hand to create meaningful learning based in technology.

As the second week of this course comes to an end, I wonder how on earth I am going to figure out the technical end of it. I am great in school doing bookwork, but I am still trying to get everything up and running from the first weeks assignment. I am trying not to feel overwhelmed with it all. I agree that teachers need to restructure how they teach students in schools, and wish that all the time spent in wasted meetings was instead spent in technical training.