Blog Post #5

The iSchool Initiative
Travis Allen, a seventeen-year-old high school student from Fayetteville, Georgia, created the iSchool Initiative video. In this video, Travis stresses ways that a mobile device called iSchool could help save money in public schools. He demonstrates how the device could save money in public schools by not using books, paper, copy machines and pencils. Travis Allen then demonstrates the apps that are available for the device that all make schools more organized and become more efficient in saving time and money. For example, Starwalk is a tour of the universe through a touch of a finger that I think could be useful in numerous science classes. Another app that caught my eye was the notes application which teachers and students can send and receive the notes with one click. He gives us a few ways how ISchool can save students up to 600 dollars; however, he also states that the iSchool can be affordable because its only 150 dollars which would save many parents money. The last point of this video was about what coming in the future for iSchool. Allen states that in the future there will be interactive tools that have access of their entire class including lunch menus, assignments, classes, agenda’s, iTeach, and grades.
ZeitgeistYoungMind's Entry
In the Travis Allen’s Zeitgeist Young Minds entry (Mobile Learning) iSchool Initiative video, Travis Allen was twenty years old attending Kennesaw University. He informs that in order to make our educational system better in the country that we need to prepare the youth for future technology.

Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir
This video contained an ensemble of 185 people that performed “Lux Aurumque”, composed and conducted by Eric Whitacre. The most shocking thing about this beautiful piece is that none of the singers know each other and never performed together. This unique use of technology in this video was put together on the Internet that led it to be quite astonishing. During the performance, quite a few people were looking very focused like they were taking the song serious. The background of the performance went well with the song with its space scene. Overall, I thought this was an exciting and unusual performance; however, as I got further into the performance I could realize that the singers were not all singing at the same time.

Teaching in the 21st Century
While watching the video Teaching in the 21st century, I recognized that the author stresses that teachers are no longer needed to make our education system better. As a matter of fact, I think interactive sites on the Internet similar to blogging allow a student to think more critically. This video basically informed me that technology is taking over education and is a magnificent learning tool in the twenty-first century. The positions expressed in this presentation, were sort of confusing by the way the slides were set up; however, they give you adequate examples of how teaching needs to change. In Sum, If Robert’s is correct as teachers we will have to develop ourselves with the advancement of technology in order to inherit better techniques to increase the overall skills of our students.

Why I Flipped My Classroom,
Dr. Lodge McCammon's FIZZ,
Flipping the Classroom - 4th Grade STEM
These Classroom three videos on flipping classrooms were very informing on how to use class time efficiently to increase students learning. I thought this sounded like a highly effective plan because students can watch the lecture at home the day before class which I think would lead to more questions the following day of class. I believe that you could use this approach in any class and become successful because this way of teaching allows you to interact with the student anytime outside of class. Therefore, I believe that students that are slower learners than others will have more time to obtain the lesson. Overall, I think these three videos can help improve any teacher that is feeling overwhelmed because their teaching plan is not being effective.

Summary of C4T#1

Summary of Mr. Burrow's Class Blog.
The Art 1 portraits that I viewed on Mr. Burrow’s class blog were really amazing. While looking at the portraits I could tell that his students put in a lot of time and effort in there work. Every portrait in the post looked as if it was describing the mood of the person that was drawn, which made every picture unique in its own way. These pictures can be viewed in numerous different ways because his students are not just sketching, they are actually telling a story in every picture. The second blog post that I viewed in Mr. burrows class blog was the Drawing II composite pictures. Mr. Burrow’s students again shocked me with their talent. The first picture looks like it could have been in one of my human anatomy books. The second looks as if it’s symbolizing power or control over life. The power cords look like they were shot out of the outlet by the impact of the persons fist when it meets the opposing hand. As for the third picture, it could be thought of to be a maze that leads to the center of the hand; however, I think the message the picture is describing is that anyone can achieve success and that success starts in the center of your hand. Overall, I enjoyed viewing both of these blogs and I recommend them to everyone that likes art.

Blog Post #4

Langwitches Listening-Comprehension-Podcasting by Silivia Rosenthal Tolisano.
Viewing this blog was a great experience; shockingly, I never would have thought that it took seventy times or more to learn a new vocabulary word. I think that anyone trying to learn a new word or language needs to practice to become perfect because there are also several different meanings and ways to use words in sentences. While reading this blog I learned ways how to successfully obtain the meaning of words and that a person seeking to learn a new language needs to become comfortable with pronouncing the word. Also, I learned that recording podcasts are an important learning tool that gives practice through hearing your own voice, reading sounds and understanding sentences. Editing is another important tool that the author pointed out because you can delete sounds that you don’t want, emphasize sounds to give special importance and rearrange sounds into the order of choice. I would have to say that I agree with all of the points that the author stated because I was formally in a church choir that used editing and rearranging when we recorded songs. The tools helped the choir in several ways to get better after each recording until we thought it was perfect. In the recording, the kids sound like they are really enjoying themselves through their emotions while they were telling the story of Purim.
Langwitches - Flat Stanley Podcast by Silivia Rosenthal Tolisano.
The Flat Stanley podcast contained a short blog post followed with a podcast created by first grade class in Jacksonville, Florida. After the class read Flat Stanley, they thought critically and decided that they wanted to send themselves off in the mail. The blog post consisted of an assignment for the students that included them to interact with their parents by creating a short recording of a trip to a location of their choice. The students had to include specific information about their location, which included the location, how they got to the location, what they did there, and how they got back home. I think this was a great idea that the class came up with because it taught me to use specific details about everything that is going on a podcast. While listening to the podcast, I was shocked how the first graders spoke clearly with great expressions in their voices and how good they organized their speeches without mistakes in the recording. From the podcast, I learned to use sounds to help describe examples and background music that will enhance my podcast to get my points across.
The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classrooms by Joe Dale.
The video “Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom” is very helpful in describing ways that podcast benefit students in modern classrooms. I was quite surprised with the statistics given in the video about the current generation of learners has sent 250,000 instant messengers, watched television for more than 20,000 hours, spent more than 10,000 hours playing video games and talking on the phone. I believe that the reason these numbers are so high is due to increasing advancement of technology; on the other hand, if we were not advancing in technology so quickly I think there would be more kids enjoying the outdoors. The greatest thing about podcasts in the classroom to me is the ability for a student to be able to interact within the class even if they have situations that lead them to miss class. I highly agree that students enjoy podcasts better than the traditional way of class because it gives the student a visual of the criteria. Overall, within this video I learned that podcasts help promote creativity, good discussions, differentiations, and more in depth learning experiences. Also, I learned a new term millenials, which is anyone born after the invention of computers. I believe that podcasts will soon take over every classroom around the world; therefore, there wouldn’t be any excuses for students because with modern technology podcasts can be accessed almost everywhere and parents can also view the information.

Project#5 Presentation

Blog Post Assignment #3

What is Peer Editing?
I think that this video on peer editing is very helpful for students at any level of writing. This video taught me the three steps needed to be a successful peer editor, which were compliments that tell your peer what went well, suggestions that help their paper become better, and corrections in grammar. I believe that if a peer editor follows these three steps that are pointed out in this video that they will be great assistance in helping their peer successfully write better. One point that I disagreed with was that peer editing is to be done with someone your own age because I feel that there are some mistakes that someone your own age might miss and that someone older or younger than you might be able to point out.
Peer Edit with Perfection and Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes
The Peer Edit with Perfection Tutorial slideshow was a great presentation that also pointed out the three steps of peer editing. I think students in grade school should practice the information on this slideshow before their first writing assignment is completed to inform them that peer editing is the best way to learn from mistakes in writing. The video Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes was a really funny video that I really enjoyed watching the young kids on their present different personalities that students have on peer editing. The Whatever William section of the video was the one that I think that most students develop because most students think that the only person that should correct them is teachers or older people with more intelligence. I think that the slide show and videos should be mandatory for any students taking a course in school that deals with writing.

Project #2

Wordle Project.

Blog Post Assignment 2

Did You Know? 3.0 - A John Strange 2012 Version.
This video by Dr. Strange gave me numerous facts, theories, and predictions about how technology has increased worldwide. I was shocked to find out that twenty-five percent of India's population with the highest IQ test scores is greater than the entire population with high IQ's in the United States. That is pretty insane if you look at the difference of size between the two countries; however, the United States is almost three times the size of India. Surprisingly, India has a population of about 1.3 billion that triples the United States population of about 3.8 million. I don't think that people from India are that much intelligent than Americans; although, I do believe that one day in the future there will be more people in China using the English language than the population of the United States because most people in China will eventually relocate to the United States due to crowded living conditions in China, high cost of living, and better educational opportunities.
Technology, I would have to agree has been advancing relentlessly since the invention of computers and the worldwide web. Almost everyone that I know has some source that can connect them to the Internet and I would have to say only a few do not have computers. This video shared information to me about how popular YouTube and Google are daily. Those facts were not surprising because there are thousands of devices today from cell phones to game consoles that can connect us to the Internet. As lazy human beings we use technology for the smallest situations; for example, someone is looking to contact a business we would easily type it in the Google search engine and within seconds we have the number. Traditionally, a person would acquire the business contact information in a phone book. I think the reason that more children in the United States have cell phones can be related to recent school violence; therefore, for safety concerns cell phones have became a necessity. Overall this was a very interesting video that taught me numerous ways how technology is taking over everyday life and how it will always be advancing.
Mr. Winkle Wakes.
The short video about Mr. Winkle Wakes created by Matthew Needleman was about Mr. Winkle Wakes waking up from a hundred years of sleep and witnessing many technological advances. I can only imagine the difficulty that he had to experience within the city because a hundred years ago buildings were made differently; for example, he was probably really shocked to see skyscrapers made of glass. However, Mr. Winkles did not just see technological advances I am sure he also looked at the people in the city very different because of their clothing and actions. Mr. Winkle Wakes feared computers but not knowing how to operate a computer in the 21st century could be a disaster since computers basically run the world. Mr. Winkle Wakes thought that school was still the same, which I disagree with because a hundred years ago instructors had to figure a students grade manually. Some Students in Baldwin county Public Schools are using computers to do their school work and their instructors has access to all work completed and sites they visited while using the computers.
Another important aspect in the advancing of school technology is that I think would have really terrified him was the invention of intercoms that are used to alert the whole school and also fire alarms. At many colleges for specific courses, students don't even have to leave there home to get an education they can take the course online. In this video Mr. Winkle Wakes eventually ends up in the hospital because he could not handle the stress that was going through his head about how everything around him that has changed. I agree that hospital technology has always been advancing every time I go to the hospital I learn about a new machine. In the future, I think technology will eventually take the place of teachers, doctors, and transportation to cut back on the cost to pay them for their services.
Sir Ken Robinson:The Importance of Creativity..
This video by Ken Robinson was very convincing to me that creativity is the key to success and that creativity should not be pushed away in our school systems. I agree that education is a major accomplishment in life; therefore, I think that many people will take it personal if you ask them about their education and they do not have any further than a high school diploma. I also believe that if public schools let students focus on what they are talented at that we would have more successful people in our country. Ken Robinson pointed out that today students are earning degrees and not being able to find jobs; however, I disagree because I think that jobs are given to people based on their work effort and organization. I think that the reason that more students will be graduating with education degrees is because they feel that there will always be a demand for education.
Ken Robinson stated that women are better multi tasked than men, I disagree I think that it could go both ways I personally know women that would have a stress attack if they had to accomplish more than one thing at once. I agree with Ken Robinson when he stated that creativity is as important as literacy because creativity in human beings determine a talent that a person should focus on in their life. I believe that if people do not make mistakes that they would never try to learn and make themselves better in life. Overall, I think this was a great learning experience for me and that everyone should watch this video it could help him or her organize his or her future.
A Day Made of Glass 2.
This video by Corning's made me look at technology in ways that I never thought I could imagine. I was amazed to see a tablet made of glass optical fiber that could operate the whole room when the alarm goes off and turn the glass optical fiber walls of the room into a scene of the morning coming in. I think this will eventually be essential in emergency situations at schools, business, and homes to bring a visual alert for younger kids and people with hearing disabilities. This could also be a sign of humans taking technology to far; for instance, the little girl does not have to responsibility of picking out her own clothes. This advance in technology would make every aspect of life easier in numerous ways. I also believe that the cost of living would diminish because people would have rooftops that could provide energy from the optical fiber glass but I think that’s a great idea.
It was highly interesting to the way the glass optical fiber technology could be used in classrooms, I think it would really enhance the learning for students by letting them get a close up of everything the teacher is teaching them through their optical fiber glass tablets. This would really assist students in Universities that contain big classes. At the hospital the doctor could gain knowledge on a rare situation by having a conference face to face through the fiber optical glass walls, I think this also would diminish the demand for doctors and nurses. With the optical fiber glass a football coach could prepare his team by bring the opponents plays to life through the optical fiber wall. I believe this advance in technology would be very helpful but would take a lot of activity out of humans day which could lead to many health problems due to lack of being active.