C4T

My teacher was John Spencer, creator of Spencer's Scratch Pad. Mr. Spencer is a computer teacher in Arizona and has tons of great things on his blog! I highly recommend bookmarking his blog, following it, or just click the RSS button!


June 9, 2010

In the first post that I commented on, Mr. Spencer had a Google Docs presentation about all of the technologies that his children will not know about or use. I thought this was a great post because it was before I finished my Presentation and I don't even use some of these technologies. This is proof of how fast the technological world is growing.

Hi Mr.Spencer

My name is Nichole and I am a Secondary Education student at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. I have been assigned to follow you for the next three weeks by Dr. John Strange. This is the link to our class blog and if you would like to view my summary of your blog that I will be posting on June 30, here is my link.

I am thankful that I got assigned to you because you seem like an interesting and fun teacher from what I have read already on your blog and in your book.

It also great that the post I am commenting has a Google Docs presentation because mine is due this Sunday for my blog.

I never really thought about how outdated some of the technologies you listed were until I viewed your slide show. I can charge myself guilty of not using a watch anymore, I use my cellphone. I only use CD's in my car now but even though I'm only 18, I can say that I know how to use a record player. I can also say that mp3 players are so easy to use that my two year old can operate one.

Schools need to open up and accept the fact that they cannot hide from technology. In my first two semesters of college (I'm on my 3rd), I have found that online textbooks and online quizzes are better than the "old fashioned" type. And oh if people (such as school boards) could only realize that a technologically enhanced classroom inhibits boredom and induces learning. Quite the opposite of a traditional classroom unless you have a fabulously hilarious teacher.

June 16, 2010
This post was about the flaws of the education system and how people can't sit back and enjoy the beauty of education, but they have to prod and poke to see how to "enhance" it so to speak.

John,

I thought this was a very interesting blog post. I had to sit and think about it for a while, but I think what you said has started to sink in.

The way a school operates today, at least here in Mobile, Alabama, is not to create thinkers or learners but it seems as if they are here to heighten memory. I have had many teachers that focus primarily on standardized tests, memorization, and making sure that they don't see the same faces again the next year.

Is this really what teachers want? I don't think so or they should have chosen a different field. School systems are so fixed upon showing off test scores for funding... but what do they mean? I don't think they mean anything.

The whole system is flawed and the errors spread out and corrupt everything. I like technology as much as the next person but if we jump into turning to technology for everything, the whole concept of a classroom will become fable in itself.

Schools are becoming more and more like machines or factories. In comes the student, much like a "tabula rasa" as Locke put it, and out comes the processed product who is not truly ready for the world and cannot critically think or make decisions but can memorize something and fill in bubbles better than anyone.

That is all I am going to say for now... I really enjoyed your post, and I'll save the school board for next time.

June 23, 2010

This was a podcast about the "real world". It focuses on how teachers and schools like to tell students they need to get ready for the real world (i.e. turn in work on time, be prepared) but they should really be teaching honesty, originality, and creativity.

I agree that teaching authenticity is better than "real world" preparations. The "real world" is not the same for everyone. In most cases it isn't the "real world" but "dog eat dog".

I didn't learn how to compose myself in public in school by any means. I've been a server for 4 years which, in my view, has been a great learning experience. I've seen things I wish I had never seen before. But, I have learned how to talk to people the right way, how to avoid conflict with co-workers, and how to bite my tongue and smile.

I think that these are the basic skills for the real world that teachers cannot relay to their students unless they are completely brutal. The
"real world" is what needs to prepare students for the "real world", not the school system.

Back to your point of authenticity, if kids were just taught to be honest to themselves and to other people, they might come out with the originality needed to survive in the ever-changing "real world". I'll take creative chaos over prompt organization any day.


This is not a post that I commented on for the assignment, but for the helpfulness of it. It is the easiest-to-understand explanation of a PLN I've seen so far.