Blog Post # 5

The iSchool Initiative 

After watching Travis Allen's The iSchool Initiattve, I was very impressed by all of the educational solutions  he mentioned. Technology in the classroom is growing, and is now being more used than books and paper. He demonstrated all of the possible applications that could be used in and out of the classroom. The use of iSchool could drastically change how a student learns. The iSchool could have many advantages for students with learning disabilities. The fact that a lecture can be recorded, and then viewed later could help a student who needed to hear the lecture at a slower rate.  The price of the iSchool could save a struggling school thousands of dollars, or put to a better use.


 I think that the iSchool Initiative would be a great tool for teachers, students, and parents. It seems to be user friendly. It would save time and money in the classroom.Parents will be able to be up to date with everything that goes on in the classroom. The fact that parents, and students will have access to class assignments, email to teachers, and other resources at anytime anywhere will be a huge advantage to the current educational process. Teachers won't have to pay out of pocket for supplies, and schools won't have to pay for books, and other materials. The iSchool can save money that can be put to a better use.


Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir





Wow! Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir is amazing! It is truly amazing that he put this performance together by just using videos of 182 people on the internet together to create a choir. The performance sounded like you were right there in the auditorium listening to the choir in person. None of the 182 people never practiced together, and each person did their own personal recording. That is what makes this performance so special. It's amazing what you can do with technology these days.


Teaching in The 21st Century 
 
In the video, Kevin Roberts makes some very interesting points for Teaching in the 21st Century.
Kevin states that teachers are no longer the main source for information, and that the role of a teacher is obsolete.  Students use many different ways to obtain information such as Google, Twitter, Wikipedia, and many other internet resource websites. I think as a future educator we need to embrace all of the technology that is before us, and use it to our advantage to be a better teacher. Technology can be a very powerful tool if used in the correct way. In a way I agree with Kevin Roberts in the fact that we as students, and educators both get information and other resources from the internet. I also disagree with the statement that teachers are obsolete. Teachers use the internet and technology as a resource to teach, and guide students to learn differently.  


Flipped Classroom


 

Katie Gimbar's presentation of the Flipped Classroom sends a very powerful message of how to properly teach a classroom using technology. I wish I was able to have a flipped classroom when I was a student in high school. I think that I would have been more successful as a student if I would have been able to go at my own pace, and to have the lectures available to me at any time that I needed. I really like the idea of the flipped classroom. It gives each student a successful way for them to learn. Each student learns differently, and I think that recording the lecture for the student to review before class gives them a chance to see what they already know, or to prepare questions that they have about the lecture. In Dr. Lodge McCammons's Fizz- Flipping the Classroom, Dr. McCammon demonstrates how the traditional lecture to a class is inefficient, not engaging, and a one shot deal. FIZZ is a program that Dr. McCammon created to teach teachers how to properly flip a classroom. He also demonstrated how efficient the flipped classroom method is for the students, and how the students benefit from learning in a flipped classroom. In  Ms. Munafo's Flipping the Classroom presentation of what a flipped classroom is to the parents and students; she gives the parents and students a great overview of how she plans on teaching her Math lessons in class. I felt that she outlined her requirements for the flipped portion of her class easy for the parents and students to understand.I feel that the flipped classroom will have positive and successful results for the students. I would absolutely use the flipped classroom method to teach.