Blog #2

"Did you know? 3.0" -A John Strange 2012 Version
Watch video here
Dr. Strange made this video listing some interesting facts. The video was short but informative. He gave some insight to students' lives around the world. Dr. Strange's first fact he listed was "The 25% of the population of India with the highest IQs outnumbers the entire population in the United States." That made me begin to wonder how large is India really? and what makes them become so much smarter than our entire nation?
Towards the end of the video he began to mention technology facts about how many students have a computer and/or cell phone. Also, including how many students text. It's astonishing to see how much our nation has progressed technology wise. Technology would be a great tool to use in a classroom and not only to show powerpoints or watch a video. Now younger children are growing up using Ipads, tablets, cell phones, computers, and playing video games. It's as if it comes naturally installed in the younger generation.

"Mr. Winkle Wakes" by Matthew Needleman
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Matthew Needleman created this video to show how the world has constantly evolved with new technology. The character Mr. Winkle was a little old cartoon man that had awoken from a hundred year nap and saw the change in the world. The way the narrator spoke, slow and calmly sounded as if he was speaking for children to understand. I have a couple of different opinions about the video.
First off I do agree with what he said about the way the world has changed with the new technology. Our way of life has benefitted from it; we're able to save lives when several years ago in certain situations people would have died. Secondly, I disagree when the narrator said school has remained the same. That might be true in rural parts of the nation or impoverished areas that aren't able to keep abreast. As for most populated areas the schools have started incorporating computers, LCD projectors, smart boards, and Ipads into classroom settings.

"The Importance of Creativity" by Sir Ken Robinson
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Sir Robinson's video was extraordinary! He speaks of how educators are suppose to prepare students for the future when we can't even predict what will happen in 5 years. That is so true! He is absolutely hilarious. I quote from him, "If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original." that sentence means so much. As students are being brought up through school they are taught that being wrong is the worse thing in the world and they become scared to be wrong. We should teach our students that it is okay to be wrong as long as we find out the solution. Sir Robinson questions whether students are educated out of their creativity.
When he mentions that all schools teach the 4 main subjects but they have arts, music, and dance at the bottom of the totem pole. I could not agree more, when the school system has to make a budget cuts they always cut sports, art and music first! We all have bodies and want to dance and have an artistic side. There so many students graduating from college and many of them can't get a job because now you need a masters or a doctorate to get above the other competitor. There is an inflation of students with degrees.
Lastly, Sir Robinson shares a story about a famous choreographer who choreographed many famous shows on Broadway. When she was younger she couldn't sit still in school and would fidget. Her teachers spoke to her mother about her possibly having a learning disorder. Her mother took her to a doctor and the doctor said she's not sick she is a dancer. This is one of millions of examples that show school is not for everyone. Her mother put her in a dance school and she excelled! That little girl that someone would've put on medicine and told her to calm down is now a multi-millionaire! We as human beings need to take heed to Sir Robinson's lecture and notice if you have a talent to explore it and use it! Our job as educators is to educate our students about the world and help encourage them to find themselves and like Robinson said we may not see the future but they will and they need to be prepared for what is out there.

"A Day Made of Glass 2"
Watch video here
This video was really awesome. It displays the future with the possibility of most electronics made of glass. It looks similar to the Ipad, the glass was thin and touch screen. The school the girls went to had a solar pannelled roof, I find that very eco-friendly. In the morning when the young girl woke she was able to pick out her outfit on a built in wall computer made of glass. It's like something I've only seen in movies, I would be ecstatic if I had one. I'm sure one day in the far future our homes, cars, and the majority of our classrooms will look like that in the video. As a future teacher I think having that kind of easily accessible technology teach my students would really help further their ability to be technology savvy. The table and small glass Ipad tablets would motivate them to stay engaged, help children with visual disabilities as well as other disabilities. Also, some children learn hands-on while others are audible and visual learners this would condense all the learning differences together.

Opinion
These 4 videos were all completely different yet they all stem from one topic, education. I thoroughly enjoyed each video, the makers of each one did a fantastic job getting their point across. In order for one to have an opinion on each video they must watch it first. My favorite was Sir Robinson's, I admit when I first sat down to watch it the video just looked old and I thought it was going to be boring. I was proven wrong with his sense of humor and recommended it to family for them to enjoy it. To sum the videos up in this blog, Dr. Strange's facts about India's population with such high IQs have me researching and questioning how they have become so smart. I disagreed with Mr. Winkle's statement that school has stayed the same over the years and Sir Robinson had enlightened my night with humor and educated me that academic school is not for every student. I also agreed with him about the creative subjects are always taken away from the students first and we must ask our government "Why?" because everyone has a creative talent. Lastly, the glass video was awesome, it gives one an imagination about the future that we could only hope one day we become so advance as it has shown us.