Friday, April 1, 2011

Blog Post 10

Ms. Bayda's Blog
Like Ms. Bayda, many of my college classroom experiences were the same as the situations Dan was speaking about in his video. I find myself in a classroom with 75-150 students and the professor doesn't bother to make eye contact, but stares at the screen where a 50 minute long power-point presentation takes place. She also makes a great point in her post when she writes about not being encouraged to speak out loud and engage in the topic when you are lucky enough to be in a smaller classroom. Every college student can appreciate Ms. Bayda's post; I'm sure everyone has had similar experiences of professors not bothering to learn your name in their class. I too agreed with many of the topics Dan was discussing during his video on Ms. Bayda's post. For example, he said that he spent hundreds of dollars on textbooks for courses that he never once opened because more valuable free information was available. He also stated that if education didn't upgrade and get with technology that it would and should die. Even if some of Dan's comments were a little extreme, he made numerous valid points.
Mr. Johnson's Blog
Mr. Johnson posted a wonderful story about a very neat program. It seems silly with all of the technology that is available to students today, but if you take all of that away for just a moment and give them a piece of paper and a pencil, many things can happen from their own minds and creativity. I also agree even if all they do is play Hangman they are still using cognitive skills. For example, they still have to use vocabulary and spelling as well as use their critical thinking skills. I think many wonderful things could come out of encouraging students to use their pencil and paper. This simple project could produce artists, writers, inventors...the list is endless. Although I think technology is great when used for education and many different approaches for using technology in education are successful, sometimes going back to simplicity for a moment can produce great things.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Kayla,
    College experience should be unforgettable in a postive way. When memories include bad experiences it contributes to why students like Dan dropped out of school. I agree, Dan made numerous vaild points, especially about spending money for textbooks that are not used.

    I like your concept taking technology away just for a moment and give students paper and pencil should encourage students to use their own minds and creativity.

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  2. From Dr. Strange: It seems that you did not understand that Tom Johnspn's post Don't Let Them Take the Pencils Home was a metaphor in which pencils were computers. I will complete my post Metaphors: What They Are and Why We Use Them (A Learning Opportunity) later this week. After this post appears on the Class Blog you will be required to leave a comment. Watch the Class Blog for further instructions.


    Your Bayda response was very agreeable. I am impressed by Dan's self motivation, but certainly leery about my own ability to shrug the system and still achieve my goals.

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