Blog Assignment 2

Video 1-Did you know?
This video was very interesting and scary at the same time. The information that was scary was the fact that our world is becoming so advanced, so very quickly. The first few facts that were shown, ie. the amount of honor students in China, exceeding the number of children total in America, was pretty crazy. It seems as if our country is so far in advancements of the mind and technology as the other countries in our world.

Another fact that struck me as crazy was the fact that we send and receive everyday exceeds the number of people on the planet. I don't know if it's just me, but isn't that very extreme? Our society is becoming so dependent on technology and the advancement of technology. The fact that 1 in every 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met online is also incredible to me. More and more people are using technology to do everything in our current times and we as a society are becoming completely dependent on it.

Video 2-Mr.Winkle Wakes
This video explains the story of Rip Van Winkle awakening after a 100 year slumber to see the world after 100 years. It showed the busy environment of a business office, the advanced environment in a hospital, and a school classroom. It shows that Mr. Winkle did not like all of the technology that he saw. He didn't understand it and it made him stressed out as he tried to figure it all out. The one time that he felt comfortable was in a school, an environment that had not changed too much except for that one computer in the back of the classroom.

The video shows us how technology has advanced so much in 100 years. In our society today, everything that Mr. Winkle didn't like is a normality to us. We can walk into a busy office to hear a million noises at once and it doesn't phase us. The same is true with a hospital. Everything we see or hear in a hospital is normal to our society. We know the procedures, the technology used, and the way the doctors interact with us. Technology is a normality in our society and it is only going to become more advanced.

Video 3-The Importance in Creativity
I really enjoyed watching this lecture. Ken Robinson believes that creativity in education is just as important as literacy or math. He is completely right, I believe. Schools need to have more time for art, dance, and other ways that students can be creative. At many school systems around the country and maybe even the world have cut programs such as music and art. Something that Ken said that was very interesting to me was that the students who start school now will retire in the year 2065. Our world is advancing technologically every year, how different will the world be in 2065? Will the education that we are giving our children now even be useful in the year 2065?

Ken Robinson also stated that Picasso once said, "All children are born artists." Ken believes that the children today are educated out of creativity. He asks why are children taught more math than dance? Another quote from Ken, "Creativity is the process of original ideas that have values." We should not hinder one's original ideas in a classroom. If a student is doodling during a math lesson, should we tell that child to stop? I don't think so. Children need to be able to be creative in all situations.

Video 4-Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
This video was very cool. I love the things that Vicki Davis has started in her classroom. In today's society and also in the future, everything is and will be surrounded by technology. I believe in 50 plus years, we won't even have paper and pen, computers will run everything. That is why students in today's society need to learn how to be more connected with computers, phones, and the internet itself.

I feel this class, EDM 310, is similar to the class that Vicki Davis has set up. We are learning to blog and how to connect to other students and teachers around the world through blogging. It's important to learn new things in technology so that as our society progresses in advancements we can be more well equipped. I also think that student's in high schools and middle schools all over our country need to begin to do what Vicki Davis's class is doing with technology advancements.