Day 2 reflections

Day 2
I was interested learning about how BHS (my former HS) is trying to revamp its education system in the light of huge challenges with money and meeting the student population needs.  Seeing how the school website was redesigned to make it more user friendly for the diverse population was a great example in how design matters.  This website will be a great resource for its students and faculty.  The video on how to make a bad PowerPoint presentation was relevant for me, as I teach 6th graders that very topic.  I definitely obtained some pointers from that piece.

Digital citizenship is a topic I am responsible for teaching to the students.  There is a mandate to start teaching this subject starting with kindergarteners.  I use the common sense media website to gain resources and information in my lessons.  This website has a lot of great resources.  I struggle with just how much time I should spend with students on the various topics encompassing digital citizenship.  I do feel that there should be a parent educational component also.  Too many children are left unsupervised with technology and parents should be taking a more active role in being aware of the pitfalls and how their children are using these tools.  I pull from various resources when I cover this topic.  For the elementary grades, I feel this should be covered continually as technology is being used.

The podcast on Don't Lecture Me was thought provoking.  The point was well made that teachers jobs are at risk with the technology that allows for videotaping lectures given once and then can be played over again without a live teacher needed.  This reminded me of the movement of the flipped classroom where teachers now can record their lessons and post them online for students to review over again enabling more flexible scheduling for learning missed information.  As society shifts toward the need for creative critical thinkers, education will have to meet that need by providing creative ways to teach and learn.  As educators we have to find ways to use the powerful tools of technology to keep students motivated in learning.  They will continue to ask "why are we doing this?" And as educators we will need to keep asking them the open ended questions that keep their inquiry alive.