Blog Post #13

Back to the Future

In the video "Back to the Future", by Brian Crosby, I learned some interesting ideas for my future classroom. Mr. Crosby did several science projects that were fun for the students and then blogged about them. They also embedded video showing their projects. The videos were then viewed and commented on by many people around the world. This is a great idea to allow students to interact with people from all over and not just from their surrounding area.

In this video Mr. Crosby talked about how his fourth, fifth, and sixth grade classes have mostly students of poverty. Most of his students didn't know their city, state, or country. Only a few knew their own address or phone number. He said students are disconnected and teachers shouldn't narrow the curriculum. Since these students haven’t been many places, blogging can help them be more globally aware. Giving them the world as their audience through blogging is a great way to help them with these problems. He said that, “Good education is the birthright of every child.”

A Vision of Students Today

In the video, "A Vision of Students Today" by Michael Wesch, it shows situations students face while going to college. It cost a lot to go to school. Some of the cost could be avoided with technology. The class sizes are larger than normal, and some students feel like they are lost in the crowd. If the teacher could come up with ways to use the technology to teach the classes, then it would be a much more productive way to teach. Students already use technology in their everyday lives, so incorporating it into the curriculum would be beneficial.

I believe that this is what EDM310 is teaching us as future teachers. Not only is this something that a college professor or a University president should hear, but as future teachers, we all need this message. All students no matter what their age should understand the importance of what they are learning and how it relates to their life. When a student doesn't feel like the subject applies to their life or what’s going on around them, they don’t usually care. If we use technology to reach them where they are in their life, then they will get more out of it and learn more.

I am a single mother of two girls. I have a hard time trying to juggle home life and school. Like the girl from the video in the picture above, I am a multitasker, because I have to be! I have some help paying for my classes, but I try my best because I cannot afford to take the same class twice. It’s hard to be a student and a mom, and sometimes I wonder how the class I’m taking will pertain to my future career. If more classes were like EDM310, giving us many tools to use and meeting us where we already are by using technology, it would be great. I’m not meaning the long grueling hours or the stress, but mainly just the use of technology instead of using costly books. Having more classes online helps me a lot too because I drive an hour to school each day. The occasional meeting in class is good, but driving everyday can be costly! This is why I think that colleges should take these types of students' concerns into consideration and teach using more up-to-date styles of technology than the old ways of teaching.