The Fischbowl Again

I chose the month of October labeled "Two Steps Forward" to read in the fischbowl. It was a blog about anyone having access to this school's internet service through personal devices such as cell phones and iPods. This access is filtered and because of this students are restricted from video sites such as Utube and Google Video. The author of this blog does not agree with this and believes that it contradicts his school's motto. The motto is basically to trust students to make good decisions and learn from their mistakes, not shelter them and punish them by taking away all their learning resources. According to the author the students are not expected to make the wrong decisions with the advantage of using these sites.
I believe that the motto of the school itself is the most ignorant way to view young people today. It would be nice to be able to assume that kids will make the right decisions given privileges in technology that could further their education. However, the reality is that they don't. Anyone who works with teenage kids on a regular bases is stupid if they think they are not going to abuse these privileges. Curiosity is in the nature of their age. Kids today, because of this media and access to certain technologies,are getting in trouble and making wrong decisions at an earlier age. Technology can be a wonderful aid to education, but can also be a window to inappropriate substance on the Internet for kids. The author seems to think that the school is depriving teachers and students of advanced, and helpful learning tools. The truth is, computers and the Internet help and technology has become a whole new and popular language all over the world, but we can live without some of it. The future is full of technology but i don't think we are going to be quote "deprived" from restrictions to videos. The are a lot of other ways to learn and expand your mind. If the teacher is a good one, they can create other ways to make it fun and exciting for the kids. It is better to protect our young kids from the chance of being exposed to violent or sexual content that by the way has also become a popular language plaguing the world and causing so many problems, than to improve every inch of the curriculum with technology.

The Fischbowl

The winning blog was very interesting. He made some excellent points. Id have to say that i definitely agree with him, but there are always those people who are not fans of change and never will be. Even when its affecting the entire world around them, it is still sometimes never appreciated or accepted. It is embarassing and quite unprofessional that students in schools are using technology today that they fortunately have to aid in their learning, and the teachers dont even know how to use it themselves. I do believe it sets a bad example for children and frankly, admits the teachers are not doing their job well. Even if a teacher is not fond of new age technology or struggles in understanding it, they should still accept the fact that it is part of their job and that it is important for their students to have a guide while they learn to use it themselves.
He is undoubtably right. The new generation is beginning to ask that question how did those before us live without all this? Technology is EVERYWHERE. You really wont be able to escape it in the educational system, it brings in too many positive results. I find that even though i have grown up with computers all my life, i still struggle to make peace with them. I've had some pretty frustrating experiences with technology. For some reason, for me, it NEVER works longer than a day before something has to be fixed. I use to ask myself what good is this for me to use if it breaks or overloads or runs out of memory alllll the time. However, im sure that happens to many people and that is what "tech support" is there for. Usually it can always be fixed if your patient. To sum up my response to the fischbowl, i am very glad that i am able to take a class like EDM310 because even though i have trouble with it, i will still be able to actually use technology to help me teach my own students when i get out of college. Im glad there are classes like this available, so it wont be a hassel learning all of it from the beginning when its time to enter a new school and a new job.

International Blog Use

Sandaig Primary School carries this blog for their school in Glascow, Scotland. This blog covers everything from book reviews, to videos and projects done by certain children and classes to committee and faculty blogs. It is used to communicate ideas and show what has been learned and what will be taught and made available to the students in the school in the future. The blog also features comments and suggestions by teachers, and links to blogs from other schools nearby thet share teaching methods, projects, class activities that furthured their students learning. It also includes archives from schools activities' past, children's artwork, poetry, and pictures of students all over the school. http://www.sandaigprimary.co.uk/pivot/

International Blog Use

Julie Lindsay, is the head of information technology at Quatar Academy in Doha, Quatar, near the Persian Gulf. She created a blog for her school to encourage extended education ideas for the teachers and faculty there. Her most recent update was a notice about an educational speaker who organizes workshops for teachers containing information about web tools, 21st century literacy, and global projects. She also uses the blog to integrate technology into her school system to furthur the E learning and digital literacy concepts. One of her posts included something called "the horizon project", which is an example of the main part of Linsay's job. It is a project used to merge technologies together in the educational system and to communicate which ones work and which ones dont for the teacher and student, and also HOW they work for teachers and students in schools all over the world.http://123elearning.blogspot.com/

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