Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today
A Vision of Students Today showed a lot of insight into a college student's life. Primarily because the facts and statistics were created by college students. While I'm sure at least one person exists, I couldn't give you the name of a student who hasn't Facebooked or texted during a class or instead of working on classwork. I can't tell you the number of times I've seen a friend's Facebook status say something along the lines of, "I'm on Facebook but I really should be writing a paper." While the internet is an amazing tool for finding and learning new information, it is also a great tool for procrastination. I think part of what I was impacted by the most in this video, was the amount of hours/work done for school compared to non-school related work.
I'm interested in where the student's facts came from. I understand that they "surveyed themselves" but I would have liked more information about how that surveying worked. Its interesting to me that so many people collaborated on a Google Document and came up with these facts about students today.
My favorite part was where they added up the amount of time each day students spend doing something and it equals more than 24 hours a day. I have felt, on more than one occasion, that there needed to be more hours in the day to finish everything I needed to do.
The only thing I might add to the video was a better transition from talking about how students spend their time to statistics on student debt and not having jobs after graduation. The didn't say where those statistics came from. But, I do think it worked well as an ending to the video because it shows that we spend all this time in school and it doesn't seem to get us very far in the real world after graduation.
My biggest question is how are teachers supposed to prepare students for things the teachers themselves aren't prepared for? I hope this class will find a way to answer that. So far, most of the videos I've seen have been trying to convince me (and have done so successfully) that there is a problem in education today. Where are the videos that tell you how to fix it?
Kelly Hines Post
In Kelly Hines's post Its Not About the Technology she says that students don't need everything technological to learn what they need to in the 21st century. Immediately this made me feel better about not being technologically literate. While I still think it is immensely important to be tech-savvy to be a teacher, I think it is more important to being with the right attitude about teaching. You could take the most technologically literate teacher in the world and he or she may not be able to teach as well as a teacher who doesn't know how to use Skype or Twitter,but is willing to learn.
Just like Kelly Hines,I've heard teachers say that if they've taught it and the students don't understand it,its not the teacher's fault.Two years ago I had a math teacher who said since all of the students in our class didn't understand something,they should get outside help.I think it's a sign that if everyone in your class doesn't get what you're trying to teach them,the teacher is the one who is at fault. Just because you stand in front of a class and teach all day, doesn't mean your students have learned anything.
While I feel like EDM 310 is going to help me in ways I don't even understand yet,it would be nothing if I wasn't getting the same experience out of other education classes.
Karl Fisch Post
In Karl Fisch's post Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?, Fisch says that its not okay for anyone to act like they are proud of the fact that they "don't get computers." I wouldn't say I've ever heard anyone but proud of that fact but I have heard people sound content with it. I think the first problem is that teachers should never be content with, or proud of, not knowing something. No matter what the subject is, I believe people, teachers especially, should always strive to learn more.
I liked the part of the post where Fisch said, "In order to teach it, we have to do it." I think that's a good quote to remember about any subject we teach. Technology is just another subject that is becoming more and more important with each passing year. If teachers aren't willing to try to embrace it, maybe they should be reevaluated.
Gary's Social Media Count
I really find Gary's Social Media Count interesting! Even while I'm watching the numbers increase, its hard for me to fathom what it all means. At the rate these numbers grow, I can't even imagine what it will look like a year and a half from now, when I graduate. Basically this shows me, that keeping up with technology is almost a full-time job in itself. The students I teach will have been way more exposed to technology and computers. I want to be able to manage to teach them something new even when they think they know everything.
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Tyler,
ReplyDeleteThe classmate I was assigned to has no class blog, so I chose to comment on yours based on your insightful comments to me last week. At the end of your Michael Wesch response you asked the question "how are teachers supposed to prepare students for things the teachers themselves aren't prepared for?" Great question, and I think you answered it yourself in your next response to Kathy Hines post when you said a teacher who is willing to learn is more valuable than a teacher who is technologically literate. There is no way for us to know what or how we will be teaching in 10 years. Our only hope for being effective is being willing to adapt, and eager to explore new technologies and methods.
You asked me last week how I intend to stay out of my comfort zone in regards to implementing technology into my lessons. I have no idea! I have the best of intentions right now, but I know myself well and I know that I let day-to-day life take over and lose sight of the big picture. Eight years ago, I was on the cusp of starting a small business in video editing using a program called Premiere. Dr. Strange encouraged and pushed and prodded and I was ready to begin investing in my hardware, when I found out I was expecting our first child. I let all of that passion slip through my fingers and devoted myself completely to being a Mother, which I truly do not regret in the least. I ignored all things technological for eight years, and now I find myself here again, excited and ready to implement. I do want to be the very best educator I can be, but there are other areas of my life that will always be more important. I am going to have to find my balance and make a way to "do it all".
Hi Tyler,
ReplyDeleteI have also seen statuses on facebook's were students say "I'm supposed to be paying attention, but instead I am facebooking!" Another thing is my neighbors sitting next to me texting the whole time in class. I will agree will you about computers being a great for information and procrastination. And also there should be more hours in a day to complete all the things I need done for that day.
I have been in a class (math class) were I have had to teach myself. The teacher you ask her and she can never explain how to get the answer. Teachers should evaluate themselves if all their students are not passing. If it happens repeatedly I think teachers should take another approach at they way they are teaching. Some teachers are not about making sure the students are learning. Some are about the paycheck and benefits. But, I believe that all teachers should be willing and ready to make an impact on every student that they come across.
I think the video was just a visual on numbers about how quickly things and as a professional educator I have to be prepared. Be prepared for change and technology.
The two comments above, and your comments later in your post, provide great insight into the questions you raise when you write: "My biggest question is how are teachers supposed to prepare students for things the teachers themselves aren't prepared for? I hope this class will find a way to answer that. So far, most of the videos I've seen have been trying to convince me (and have done so successfully) that there is a problem in education today. Where are the videos that tell you how to fix it?"
ReplyDeleteVery thoughtful. You raise a number of very important questions which we shall keep trying to address. Keep it up!
I'll add a few Strange thoughts.
1. We must prepare the teachers for the new world. And quickly. EDM310 is a start. But only a start. If we do not get that done then I think schools will become baby sitting institutes and learning will take place elsewhere.
2. Where are the videos that tell you how to fix the problem? They don't exist. This is NOT a cookbook class as a student in an earlier class yearned for. There are some starters which you will see later in the course (Dr. Miller's writing with multimedia, etc.). But YOU (and the rest of us) will have to INVENT the solutions. Yes, it is a challenging task. I hope we are up to it! There are a lot of others who are taking the approach that the schools and teachers will not be able to invent the solutions so they will do it for them and remove the educational function from the schools. Who will win?
And when we talk about being technologically literate what do we mean? A student in EDM310 suggested last year that it was in part determined by whom we were around. That lead me to write this: It All Depends Upon Whom You Are Around. Take a look at it. In fact, read it. I think it contributes to this discussion.
Ah, "content with it." Even better. You conclude your comment on Fisch with this statement: "If teachers aren't willing to try to embrace it, maybe they should be reevaluated." Are you sure you need the word maybe in that conclusion?
I'm not sure the kids of today think they know everything. They are certain they know more about technology than their parents and teachers. And they are correct in that. But they do not know how to put the tools they are accustomed to using to work in learning new things because schools don't use the new technologies. They ban them instead. What can we (you and me and the other students in EDM310) do about that now or in the future? We can model their use in learning. Ready to sign up for that? I hope you will be by the end of the semester.