Blog Post 5

The iPhone Initiative

In this video, Travis Allen argues that the iPhone initiative is the solution to the American education crisis. I agree in some aspects of his argument. In other aspects I feel that it is not.

The iPhone initiative would save money and time. It would be the most familiar method  to students being that they are millenial. ( People born after the year of 1980 and have never experienced life without technology or personal computers.) As a result of that, it would also probably be the most preferred method of learning by the students.These are all valid points.

On the other side of the argument, I would have to question the effectiveness of this method. I believe that all kids can learn! However, all kids are not the same! Many of them learn material in many different ways. Some of them may perform better using the iPhone initiative. Others may perform better with the traditional pencil and paper method. I think personally, we need to find a way to get on even ground. Technology similar to the iPhone initiative, I feel is necessary  in the classroom to a certain extent. Nevertheless, I do not think we should do away with all of the traditional methods and depend on it alone for educating.

 Virtual Choir

I was really impressed with the assembling of the virtual choir through technology. It was a very good use of the internet. I always had an idea that a performance similar to this one could be achieved through technology but I never knew how it was going to be done. As technology advances, I will be looking forward to seeing more performances similar to this one. I also plan to obtain more details about them by researching the production process.

Teaching in the 21st Century

Mr. Roberts feel that teaching in the 21st century revolves around technology. He is correct. What I confirmed from this video is that I need to be technology efficient. However, I still think some classes, courses, lessons, and etc. are taught better hands on. Examples include Physical Education, Health Education, Literature and etc. The reason I listed Physical education is because it is the education of, about, and through the physical. Videos that experts of physical fitness provide are beneficial but I think personally to start  to become physical fit or physical educated you have to have that hands on training or knowledge first hand. I feel the same way about Health Education . The only other suggestion I would like to make in reference to Health Education is that it is more of a personal process. The six components of Health : are Physical, Mental, Social, Spiritual, Emotional, and Environmental. I like the website journals that are provided through technology. (Some examples are myplate.gov and mypyramid.gov.) However, they only provide a certain amount of information. That brings me to Literature. Literature is the art of written work and can, in some circumstances, refer exclusively to published sources. It is also presented in many different ways. As a result, some of it requires interpretation methods and sometime an interpreter. Google, WikiPedia, Opposing viewpoint are all vital and beneficial technology resources. I enjoy using them! Nevertheless, you can only get a certain amount of information and sometime the information  is not reliable.The poetry side of Literature  also requires interpretation. People in general interpret or understand material in many different ways. For example, how I understand something may not be the same way someone else understand it. That is where the interpreter comes in. Can I use technology or the internet as a quality,reliable resource  to solve that problem?  There is where I stand in teaching in the 21st century.


Flipping the classroom

Flipping the classroom is defined, by Ms. Munafo, as an innovative approach to classroom instructing that allows direct instruction to take place at home. She explains in further detail how this approach leads to better preparation and saves time for applying learning skills. Ms. Katie Gimbar explains why she flipped her classroom in her video. She gave examples on how it has changed her approach in addressing her class. This approach if used correctly can lead to effective educating. I could see myself using this technique because it identifies the need of the student.