We where asked to watch this video for class. Some of the facts it brings up where things I already knew about, but others where new to me.
This makes me look back over my technology collection. In 1995 I inherited a mac classic from my uncle. In 2008 I did a little comparison with my new cell phone, a Palm Centro, against my first computer. I'm going to recycle that here and add in the stats for my brother’s new phone, a Droid 2.
Processor:
Droid 2: 1.2 GHz
Centro: 312MHz
Mac Classic: 8 MHz
Droid 2: 8 gigabytes and an included 8 gigabyte micro SD card.
Centro: 64MB and an SD card slot
Mac Classic: 40 MB
These numbers are something that really makes my brain spin. My cell phone out powers my first computer by a huge amount, and the rate at which technology keeps improving never seems to slow down. Teenagers are seemingly attached to their cell phones. From what I have noticed working with teenagers while I lifeguard, and observing in high schools, text messaging has taken over for passing notes in school and for evening phone calls. Is a teenager that sends over 2,000 text messages a month going to gain the face to face communication skills they will need to survive in the business world?
If I look at the amount of video that is uploaded to you tube in two months I have to wonder what percent of that is quality content? The video we watched said that in two months you tube uploads 153 years worth of video. How can you sift though that to find what is useful? If we look at the push to online news I have to wonder how the journalists are keeping up with the volume. With the constant demand for 24 hour a day news content to feed TV networks and news websites how can producers and reporters turn out a solid product? I worry that this push for constant content isn't a sustainable pace.
On the other side we know have all the information we could ever want at our finger tips. If I wake up at two in the morning with a burning desire to find out how to tie an alpine butterfly knot I can, or if I missed the local news on TV I can catch the stories on my cell phone. This gives you a ton of opportunity to enhance your lessons using tools you find online.
I think the real strength of the internet is being able to connect with other people. I've been a bit of a geek most of my life and was using internet message boards long before MySpace and Facebook where popular. If you can find a way to tap into these resources you can have classes working together with students all over the world. If President Obama could tap into social media to help win an election, I'm sure that teachers can find a way to tap into that power to enhance their classrooms.
I'd like to close with a quote that I think sums up my feelings. “Internet is so big, so powerful and pointless that for some people it is a complete substitute for life” - Andrew Brown
Kate - You have some great thoughts here. The challenge for learners (all of us) in the 21st century is to be able to filter and discriminate, using the quality available and ignoring the flotsam and jetsom.
ReplyDeleteKate I enjoyed reading your blog because you point out how crazy it is when we compare the kind of technology available to use before, to what we have access to now. I remember my elementary school had one computer for all of the second grade classrooms- and our school year assignment was to learn how to create Turkey's using their drawing program. Our creations were printed on a printer that still used perforated paper where you had to rip the margins off by hand.
ReplyDeleteI agree that use of social networks can be beneficial, but in my experience I find (as your quote suggests) youth I have worked with have trouble separating themselves from the screen. They meet boyfriends and girlfriends online, make plans (without parents overhearing a conversation) to cut school or purchase alcohol underage from an adult they have friended on their network etc. Without adult supervision or guidance, all of this information makes it very scary for a parent to leave their child alone with any kind of technology that can be wired to access internet; which these days is almost everything.
I was mesmerized by the numbers provided in the video that I didn't even think about questioning the quality of information (as you have pointed out here about the quality of youtube videos). It is really amazing how many things you can find on youtube...and it frankly is replacing human interaction of asking someone about something when you can just type in "how to...." and you will find countless videos on the topic.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you were thinking about implications this has for future teachers. How we keep up with younger generation is a real challenge. We just need to work on finding a balance of using recourses online but still keep the core values of teacher to student "traditional" style of teaching. It will be a challenge navigating all of this.
It is mind blowing and the crazy thing is that this video is already almost 1.5 years old...can you imagine where these statistics are now!!!!
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