Blog Post 8

1. Richard Miller: This is How We Dream

I like how he emphasized incremental changes versus fundamental changes in education. The ideas he is proposing are wonderful bu must be learned and implemented gradually in order to keep any student from falling behind. All the new technology is great, but can be overwhelming to those not used to it. Incorporating it gradually will help students from being overwhelmed and giving up. I think teachers should understand technology incorporation is an incremental change that will soon be fundamental.
His collaboration projects can be very useful to capture students' attention and spark their interest in the subject. Utilizing video and sound in a document assignment is a very smart idea. I also liked his point about writing an article without stepping food in a library because the internet makes everything much more accessible. I can count the times on one hand I have been to the campus library and I have been attending this school for three years. Research is so easily done online in the comfort of my own home, why leave and to go to a library.
"Ideas don't belong to us individually bu to us culturally." This is very true and all of teaching comes from sharing ideas. Teachers must be aware of this to be successful. Lectures are now available online for all to hear and see whether a student for that teacher or not. It is also important to make things that are beautiful and meaningful. Publishing in a presentable manner such as video makes it more ahead of its time and more interesting. It truly makes it much more fascinating than reading text.

2. The Chipper Series & EDM 310 for Dummies

I really liked the Chipper Series. It shows the importance of initiative and motivation. It also shows the importance of a college education and using professionalism within your life in both school and work. It is important to work hard and take pride in what you do, not go through life thinking that nothing really matters because something else is always out there. EDM310 for Dummies is a good visual of how I felt at the beginning of the semester. It really was overwhelming at first, but once I got adjusted it wasn't bad at all. Another great video that would help us in EDM310 is a SMARTboard tutorial from the students perspective. I really enjoyed doing the SMARTboard project but I also realize I still have so much to learn about it.

3. Learn to Change, Change to Learn

This video sums up a lot that has been presented to us throughout this semester. It almost seems hard to comment about this at the risk of being redundant. I very much agree with the message and where education needs to go and can go. It is also very good to see so many teachers feel this way too. It will take multitudes to implement the changes we are wanting to see.

4. RSA Animate

Both of the videos present very good ideas. The Surprising Truth about what motivates us was my favorite of the two. I couldn't agree more about the importance of self direction. I believe EDM310 has given this task to us well. It really helps to have a class with the faith in us as students that EDM310 gives us. It gives us a sense of pride when we excel and achieve something without being pushed into a specific mold.