Blog Post #5

Travis Allen's iSchool Initiative

Travis Allen started a project called The iSchool Initiative when he was just 17. It started with a simple YouTube video outlining how schools today could better utilize technology. He explained how tools made by Apple could revolutionize the way we learn and teach today. Students could do away with paper, pencils, and books. Allen even had a diagram showing the costs between the two strategies. He also had a follow up YouTube video, in which he discussed the progress his program has made over the last three years. It is great to see that what he designed is something that people are interested in!

I think that Travis Allen's ideas are amazing! I definitely feel that technology should be more integrated into our schools today. We have SO much new technology being pumped out of companies daily, but unfortunately, it doesn't make it to all of our schools. I feel that Allen's iSchool Initiative idea would help tremendously in getting our schools up to date. As an aspiring educator, I would love to be able to teach my classroom with these ideas!

Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir

This video can be summed up in one word: amazing! This composer, Eric Whitacre, was able to bring people together using the internet like I have never seen before. He created a choir that sang together in perfect unison without even being in the same country. It is unbelievable to see that this can happen! This shows how far technology has brought our country, and many others. Please take a moment and view this video!

Teaching in the 21st Century

In this presentation, Kevin Roberts expresses his ideas on how teaching has changed up until the 21st century. I believe that Roberts wants us to focus on one thing while we teach in this century: engaging our students. It is something he reiterates quite a few times. Though we have this great technology, it has become a distraction to students, and to them, it is merely a form of entertainment. Because of this, I feel that some teachers are intimidated by it. If I am correct, Roberts may think this as well; we have to use this technology to engage our students and get them excited about a subject.

I think this presentation was spot on. I agree with Roberts on all of his stand points and ideas. Students need to be able to grasp information, and to do that, they have to analyze and understand. Once they can do that, they have genuinely learned about that information. As an educator, I hope to be able to use the information provided by Roberts to better my students. I hope this can teach them a more efficient way to learn and REMEMBER what they have learned!

Flipping My Classroom

As I watched the multiple videos about flipping classrooms, I became very interested in the idea. It seems to be an effective way to get students more involved with their work. Having them better prepared for their next class makes for extra learning time. I also think that moving the classroom around so that the teacher is the center of attention is a brilliant idea. All too often, we have the teacher at the front and the students in front of him/her. I hate this way of organizing desks; I feel that having the teacher in the center would cultivate learning much better than the other situation. I could definitely see myself using the technique of the Flipped Classroom. I feel that it is yet another way to get students to become better prepared and engaged. I believe this would be a great technique for myself as I am a secondary education major. Sometimes, middle/high school students need a different approach to learning, and I think this could really help!