Saturday, November 24, 2012

Blog Assignment 13

Brian Crosby
Brian Crosby's Presentation at TedX Denver was quite enlightening. He opens up his presentation with a a few facts that he asked his students in a survey. It was a little shocking to see that most of his student's did not know what city they lived in, but more so that they didn't know what country they were living in. This really surprised me, however I have never had the privilege of working with the types of students he is working with. I thought that was an interesting way to start off his talk.
What a cool experiment. I love how he incorporated several subjects into the experiment too. I wish I had done this experiment in school. As a child, I always wanted to tie a letter to a balloon and send it up into the sky in order to see if anyone would receive it or write me back. It would even be cooler to do this experiment.

I really like the idea of writing a story collaboratively with students in another state. That is something I want to do in the future with my students. Also, how amazing is it that Celeste was included in her classroom while learning? This is something I will need to remember when The problem arises. Skype is such a simple tool to use and set up, and this is one of the greatest ways I have seen it used. Through Skype she is included in the lessons and can be "in class" with all of her peers.

Crosby ends his presentation with a quote from a high school teacher. This quote states that the basics should be taught in a motivational and meaningful context. I completely agree. So many children are not motivated by desk learning, and really don't learn all that they should. I enjoyed Mr. Crosby's presentation; it gave me several ideas to use in the future.

A Vision of Students Today
First of all, wow! I love the composition of this video. A Vision of Students Today is a great way to get not only students, but educators thinking about the different aspects of learning in the classroom. Seeing all of the papers and computer screens being lifted into the air stating some fact about college courses is very relatable. And, I can say that I could have easily replaced any one of those students and held up the exact same statement. Well, I do watch more that one and a half hours of TV per night, and I sometimes get seven hours of sleep, I don't spend most of class on Facebook, but I would be lying if I said I had never logged on while in class, but for the most part, these statements are correct of almost all college students. Here I go commenting on the video as a student, when I should be viewing it as an educator. So, as an educator, I think that this video gives faculty something to think about when it comes to altering their methods of teaching.

(On a side note, why do departments assign textbooks to students that are barely used. I have personally paid for expensive books that I can count on one hand how many times I opened them in the semester. Why have your students pay for something they won't use. This is one issue that I think should be addressed.)

As a future educator, it is obvious that there is work to be done in school systems. It is a little easier to fix the problems posed in this video in a K-12 school system, but once you get to colleges and universities, it's tough. Or, it's made out to be tough. As a student, I understand what a temptation technology is. I would definitely rather be looking at Instagram accounts or Pinterest than studying. But, with all of the technology at our fingertips, professors should take advantage of those resources. It can only make learning relevant.

wall with the words if these walls could talk written on it

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