Blog 5

1.     ) Dr. Robert’s presentation was very interesting but also extremely scary.  I know that kids today spend a lot more time “plugged in” to media than ever before but I never realized exactly how much it was.  I thought that my generation spent a lot of time talking on cell phones, listening to music, and surfing the Internet, but after seeing the data that was collected, I was truly blown away.  Something that also grabbed my attention was the percentage of homes/families that don’t have or enforce limitations with regards to media. This means that if parents or adults aren’t regulating how much time their kids can spend on the computer, video games, and television then kids will abuse this and will sit in front of a screen all day.  If they do this then they are missing out on getting exercise and being healthy.  What bothers me is that kids would rather spend time sitting in front of a screen rather than spending time outside.  When I was a kid, watching TV and playing video games was a last resort and was something we did on rainy days when we couldn’t go outside.   All this time spent plugged into media will make it difficult for students with regards to school.  Being stimulated with media for so long and so often causes students to become board and unfocused in classrooms.  I think that as teachers we need to realize this is what students are doing and try to find a way to make classes as stimulating as possible. 

I thought the questions, comments, and concerns at the end of the presentation were extremely relevant.  One comment that stood out to me was the idea that we need to teach our students about how to use media responsibly.  As teachers we need to realize that media and technology is not going to be going away anytime soon so we need to make sure that our students are educated on how to use it responsibly.  With that being said, I think that parents need to be educated too.  I think that parents need to set guidelines and rules with their children.  Technology and media is a great thing for students when used correctly and appropriately.

2.     )  I enjoyed reading “More Pupils Are Learning” but feel that online education is not the way to teach or educate students.  I think that online education and classes are waste.  Students learn best when they have great teachers that they are able to interact with on a regular basis.  There are so many things that students learn in the classroom that they are not exposed too by taking a class online.  Because classes online have no “real” teacher it is easy to get away with doing the bare minimum.  Because there is no teacher it is hard to ask questions and get immediate answers.  I also find that online classes are dangerous for students because if they are starring a screen in order to do their work, then what is stopping them from multitasking and surfing the web or talking to friends, or watching YouTube.  I think that the quality of the work goes down and there isn’t as much effort put in.  Without a teacher, I feel that you are able to slack and get away with doing the bare minimum with regards to online classes because there is nobody holding you accountable.  I understand that online classes can and should be offered to older students and to students in college level courses, but we should stay away from younger students taking online classes.

3.     ) http://prezi.com

I would use this for older students.  I like this a lot better than PowerPoint and students are able to do a lot more.  I like that students can access this online and they could create a prezi for a presentation that they need to give to the class after a unit of study.  

http://www.glogster.com/

I would allow students work on these posters individually or in small groups to summarize a topic or book we have just read.  This would be great for students to work on at the end of a unit or topic.  

http://quizlet.com/

I would use this to make flashcards for students before a test or as a study guide.  Students could make flash cards to review vocabulary or spelling words.  

http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com

This would be great for building vocabulary across all content areas.  I would use this for spelling and for homework.