Blog Assignment 3

1. Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today
In the video, A Vision of StudentsToday, it is really put into perspective how much time we actually spend throughout the day doing assignments for school and how much time we spend using technology. Something that stood out to me was the girl who held up the sign that said, "18% of my teachers know my name". I have been at South Alabama for over a year now and I can only name one teacher that would actually remember my name. This isn't because I don't participate, because I do, this is because the class sizes are so large that it would be impossible for any one person to remember that many students names.
In the beginning the video says, " if students learn what they do, what are they learning sitting here?" I completely agree with that statement. I learn much better when I am actually experiencing what I am learning. It is much harder to comprehend something while sitting in a classroom and listening to a teacher explaining how to do something. For example, when I was in Geography lecture and lab, we would learn the information in lecture first and then actually do it in lab. I wouldn't fully comprehend any of the information until I experienced it in the lab. I think that all classrooms should operate this way as much as possible.
The video itself was very informative and I liked how they presented all of the facts with the students sitting in the classroom. The camera was pretty unstable and it was hard to read some of the facts. I think that it could have been improved in that sense, but otherwise it was great.
2. "It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines
I agree with Kelly Hines in her articles, It's Not about the Technology. It's not about the technology. Technology is a fantastic tool that can be used to enhance the learning experience and in some cases help us learn more information. Hines states in her article that, "teacher must be learners". We as teachers need to know what are students are doing so that we can know how to teach them. Dr. Strange asked our class on the first day, who has Facebook? We asked, why do we need to know how to use twitter and how to use a blog. Dr. Strange then explained that these are the technologies that out students will be using.
We as teachers can use our blog, Facebook, and Twitter as ways to reach our students and keep them interested in what is going on in our classrooms. These won't be utilized if the teachers are not trained to use them. Teachers should be given the opportunity to learn how to use these technologies so that they can be used to enhance the students learning environment.
3. Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?
In the article, Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher? by Karl Fisch, he argues that it is becoming harder and harder to become successful in life if you are technologically illiterate. I agree. Times are changing and we as teachers should be open to adapting to these changes. Learning these new technologies ultimately makes our lives easier. Fisch explains that people that could not read and write could still be successful in the early 20th century. He then goes on suggest that if we are unwilling to become technologically literate then we are the equivalent of a teacher that could not read or write 30 years ago. 
This is an extreme notion, but a very true one. We have to adapt to our surroundings if we want to make an impact. I can't even remember the days when I didn't have an iphone and couldn't find out any bit of information in 5 seconds, thanks to google. Technology is something that should be used to our advantage. We should learn it and we should use it. 
4. Gary Hayes Social Media Count
Social Media Count is one of the craziest things I have ever seen. The use of technology today is outstanding. Almost every second someone buys an ipad and there were over 800 new Twitter accounts in just over 23o seconds. You don't realize how much technology is used globally in just 60 seconds. With this rate of change how could anyone survive being technologically illiterate? I don't think that it is possible, in any career. As a teacher I would like to be able to reach my students on many different levels. I obviously want to make an impact and be a good teacher, but I also want to be able to take the technology that I have at my disposal to create a better learning environment for my students. 
My brothers is in the 7th grade. His teacher has a blog with all of their assignments, podcast with lessons, and even tutorials on how to do the homework to help parents. This is amazing to me. I couldn't even imagine having something like that when I was in middle school. I asked my brother what he thought of the blog, he explained that it was extremely helpful to him and he uses it daily. He also uses it to talk to his classmates so that they can communicate on different topics talked about in class. Technology is a great think for teacher and should be implemented in classrooms.