Final Post!

Unbelievable, my final post!  It hardly feels like two months has already past but here it is my last post and now I'm counting down the last two weeks until my next practicum. 

For my final post I would like to discuss the McLuhan video.  The video was broken into his four laws regarding technology.  Those laws centre around what technology enhances, makes obsolete, retrieve and reverses into.   I’ve never really given technology much thought because it is so prevalent in my life.  I believe McLuhan lived in an era where technology was just beginning to change the way people viewed each other, themselves, and the world.  His views on technology and the media were very philosophical. 

I agree that technology has created a global village and in my opinion I see this as a positive.  Having family across Canada, the US and overseas technology has enabled us to keep in contact.  The advancement of technology allows me to view family pictures, comment on pictures and talk to family members via skype or face time.  Without today’s technology I would have little opportunity to keep in contact with these family members.

Technology has allowed us to learn instantly about situations in other countries.  I can turn on the television and watch another country’s news channel or find a news paper online and learn about events going on in that country.  People no longer watch just the local news but can choose tune into any country of their choosing.  Even this blog, it is a window into a Canadian’s life experiences that anyone in the world can view.

Technology does have negative elements.  The desire to constantly have the newest, fastest technology is now the norm.  We expect instantaneous information, there is no patience for wait time.  From personal experience being without technology is sometimes difficult.  The days when I forget my cell phone feel as if I’ve forgotten a body part.  Which is ludicrous, it’s just a phone, but I know I’m not alone in feeling this way.

McLuhan states that life can only be understood by looking backwards, but it must be lived forward.  No one knows how technology will affect civilization over time.  I do agree technology will and does and has changed civilization.  I do not agree with McLuhan’s statement that the stake of progress is our civilization. 

Innis and Copyright

This week we watched two amateur youtube videos.  The videos focused on Harold Innis' communication theory of a time and space binding bias.  Some technologies are long lasting, while others last only for a brief period of time.  Much of today’s technology is considered space binding.  Technology today is not meant to last forever.  Text messages, emails, radio, or many newspapers are objects that last for just a short amount of time.  There are other types of technology and media that are considered time binding.  Time binding technology could be objects such as the original American Constitution.  One of the youtube videos used the Constitution as an example of time binding media.  The Constitution is an object that will last far longer than any text message or email. 

We also discussed the issue of copyright and how important it is to follow copy write laws.  If I’m being honest with myself I have definitely used material without worrying about the issue of copyright.  I think it is so easy to use material that obviously belongs to a company or someone else because it is so readily available.  I could easily search for an image that belongs to a company, find it, copy and save it and post it.  There typically are no consequences for doing this.  As a teacher I realize I cannot use material with copyrite in the classroom without paying some fee.  Saying this, it is often common practice to show movies and use images that are owned in the classroom. 

RST show and tell

We watched a TED talks video about an experiment with rural children and technology.  The video focused on how children are capable of teaching themselves how to navigate new technology. I thought it was hilarious when the children told Sugata Amari that they needed a faster computer to play their games.  The children were able to translate the English words and instructions which I found fascinating.  They were able to understand a foreign language because of their exposure to the technology.  What was also very interesting was how the children learned as a group.  Amari explained that there would be two or three children operating the children and a larger group providing instructions or directions on how to navigate the computer. 

We began our RST show and tell this week.  There were several interesting and new sites presented.  Socrative looked like a website that I could incorporate into my future classroom.  I liked how the class could answer quizzes and polls set up by the teacher.  Being able to answer polling questions anonymously would be perfect for students who are shyer or don’t wish to share a thought about something that may be controversial.   

I’m not on twitter but seeing how simple it is to use I may create an account.  I’m not sure if it is something I would use in my own classroom, but I do see the pedagogical benefits.  Students could follow certain accounts such as newspapers or individuals.  Being accepting of new technology is definitely an important trait of a teacher.  We are encouraged to keep up with articles on pedagogy; I believe we should also be encouraged to keep up to date with new technology that could be utilized into our classrooms. 

Jan 27

This week in teacher and technology we talked about the amount of time kids are exposed to media.  Kids are exposed to almost 11 hours of media each day.  I was shocked by this number.  11 hours every day, outrageous!  But the more I began to think about my day.  The amount of time I spend on my phone (texting, on Facebook, and making phone calls), on the computer, watching T.V., listening to music, and watching movies I realize that the amount of time spent multi-tasking between medias can definitely add up. 

The contradiction between the two teachers in the documentary was very surprising.  One didn’t use any technology in her classroom while in the other class every student had a computer.  My first reaction to the class with a computer for every student was I really wish I had gone to a school like that and I hope I can teach in a school that has that much technology available to the students.  What did surprise me was the teacher’s view on cheating.  Finding information from websites is useful for assignment, but to not cite it and to pass it off as your own work isn’t acceptable. 

Oh spark notes, loved this website as a student but now as a teacher I am a little unsure of it.  It is a useful site to get information and a stepping stone for students to understand one interpretation of a text. Spark notes should not be used as the primary source, as the student in the documentary did.  I did find his comment that no one reads books anymore they just spark note it made me both laugh and feel really depressed.

Looking forward to the guest speaker next week!

first post

What I have really enjoyed so far in the course was the ‘Really Bad PowerPoint’ presentations.  It was fun watching other people present their PowerPoint mistakes.  While watching, I realized I have done some of these mistakes in past PowerPoint presentations.  Every presentation was funny and the mistake they were exaggerating was clear.  I feel that now every time I see a PowerPoint during a lecture I am going to be very critical and remember those presentations. 

Some of the really simple technologies we used in class I have already seen during my practicum.  Some of the kids had created word clouds about themselves.  They put hobbies, interests, and personality traits.   They were excited about the word clouds and wanted to make more of them for other classes.  My CT showed me the rubistar website while I was at practicum.  Rubistar also allows you to make changes and develop your own rubric which will be a great help while we are teaching. 

During the past few classes we have watched several films.  The first film was called Opening Speech by Norman McLaren.  It was an interesting example of how we may fight technology but eventually embrace it.  We also watched a TV program about the Hudson Bay man and the American soldiers which was entertaining.  The last film we watched was Cosmic Zoom by Eva Szasz from the National Film Board of Canada website. 

I would like to also say that I am now convinced to get an iPhone as soon as possible.  Right now I have a blackberry and I’m constantly complaining about how slow it is.  After seeing how fast an iPhone is I am definitely converted.