Blog Post #2

Did You Know by John Strange
Did You Know? by John Strange

From watching the video, "Did You Know?" there was several facts that I did not know or was not aware of. The number one fact that caught me off guard was that India has more K-12 Honor Students than all of K-12 students in the United States. To me, I find that very odd. One reason being, is because one would think that it would be the opposite because the United States in the country that has schools and more highly educated people living in it. I do understand that there are several other people all over the world that can and are as smart if not smarter than people in the United States, but they do not get as recognized as they should.
Also, there was a fact stated about YouTube videos. In one minute there are 1,097,220 YouTube videos being watched. Have you ever wondered if there was someone out there somewhere in the world watching the same video as you were. I have often thought to myself that it would be neat if there was a way to see who and how many people were watching the same movie as you were at the same moment.

Mr. Winkle Wakes
Mr. Winkle Wakes

Mr. Winkle Wakes is a video that I believe older people can relate to. Mr. Winkle wakes up from his 100 year slumber to find that the world has changed. What he sees around him is totally different that the things that he saw before he went to bed. He walks into a large office building and finds several things that are making several noises. Mr. Winkle is not sure what they are. He then decides to leave and go to a hospital because he is feeling sick. Then when he comes into the hospital he finds that there are those things making weird noises as well. He then leaves the hospital. After the hospital, he runs into a school. In the school, he feels as if he is back in his time because the students are just sitting there listening to the teacher lecture while the computer is just sitting in the back and it not being used.
In my opinion, I feel that this is how older people feel this is how life today is. When my grandparents were small, they did not have computers like many and most people/families have today. It is somewhat new to them. Most older people learn how to use them but there are some that do not feel that it is useful for them to learn how to operate.

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
The Importance of Creativity

Sir Ken Robinson states that everyone has a interest in education. Creativity is just as more important in education as literacy. I do fully one hundred percent in that. One reason being is that children are more engaged in something if they can be "hands on" or "interacting" with other students or friends. Teachers today are more worried about going in and teaching straight from the book and that is it. Mistakes are the best thing that you can make. If you do not make a mistake then, you are not willing to try other or new things.
All children are born artists. Children are always making things up and using their "creativity" to create new things, games, artwork, and works of art. If a teacher punishes a child for being creative then that child may grow up and realize that they are just the same as the others.

A Vision for 21st Century Learning
A Vision for 21st Century Learning

Children in classrooms today are forced to just sit in a classroom 7 hours a day and listen to a teacher lecture while facts are crammed in there heads. As Dr. Strange calls it, the "Burp Back" style of teaching. That is where students are basically forced to learn and memorize facts, tested on them and then those facts are just gone out to waste. A student, as I can say for myself, never really "learns" what the teacher is saying. Nine out of ten students remember it for a test so that they can get a grade and then forget it.
With the 21st Century Learning, I believe that it will give the children a way to engage themselves with different learning styles so that they can learn things in a different way. If a student is actually engaged with something and are hands on then their brains are more prone to learning that specific material.

Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

Vicki Davis is a teacher from a small town in Georgia that is helping students understand how to blog and do various things on the computer. She believes that if you just have pen, paper, and textbooks all children may not be able to learn. One reason being is because some children learn differently from others. There are several children who have to actually see or hear something for them to be able to understand it. With having the internet and software on the computers, students are more capable of doings things that they would not be able to with just the normal items that everyday classrooms use.
Also, Vicki does not consider herself a teacher. One reason is because she states that teachers today think they must know everything before they can become a effective teacher. That is no true. Students help the teacher learn things that he or she may not know. Students can teach teachers just the same as teachers can teach children.