Don’t teach your kids this stuff. Please?
This is my initial response to this blog:Hi Dr. McLeod
My name is Pauline and I’m a student in Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 class.
Your blog was very sarcastic and almost childish to me, personally. Technology and the internet are a part of the academic curriculum of this day and age, but at the same time it’s cruel to ridicule the adults who care enough to want to protect the innocence of the next generation.
I don’t know your age, but I’m only 25 and I’m grateful I didn’t have all this current technology at my disposal at a young age because I like reading books, and being able to spell 3 syllable words without having to go to dictionary.com to check my spelling.
Yes, technology is needed because the current world we live in demands it, but certain people don’t take well to being bullied into a decision and taunting is beyond foolish when we are adults.
Okee, now that I am a little bit calmer after reading that particular blog, I think i will try to elaborate on my thoughts a little bit more. You can't throw two totally different issues in the same bowl. Yes, the whole world apparently has to learn to write blogs, create hyperlinks, and pod casts, etc..., but learning those particular skills have nothing to do the fact that all this open internet, chat, skype etc... can be dangerous. Do we need to learn, yes. Do we have the responsibility to protect the upcoming generation, yes. Challenging and taunting doesn't change the fact that some people would prefer to teach their children how to use all this technology in the parameters they feel is safest for their child.
The iSchool initiative (Mobile Learning)
I think it was a nice try. Some valid points. I might be being a scrooge when say this, but text books and learning how to write in cursive, and how to add numbers in my head without a calculator, and having to think for myself seem to work pretty well for me. Seriously, no paper and pens, no rough drafts, brain storming, how are we to come up with innovated ideas if little computers do all the thinking for us? I'll give credit where credit is due, it was convincing and I'm sure there is a happy median somewhere between old school and iSchool.
Lost Generation
Honestly, that was the happiest thing I've seen all night. It totally reminds me of Jeremiah 29:11, where it talks about a hope and a future. Reading it in reverse was totally awesome. When she was reading it from the beginning it broke my heart, to be so young and so defeated, but then she flipped the script. It was very heartening.
God first, family second. The roles in this society has been lost and priorities have been so mixed up and we wonder why we are broke, busted, and disgusted. But I agree with her, it's a choice and it can change.
VIRTUAL CHOIR
The choir was amazing. I forgot that people can still sing like that. I can't sing, but after hearing those lovely harmonies I wish I could.
It looked like all the singers were at their own home computer or something. I guess they logged on to a website and song in the mic at the same time? He was conducting so maybe something like skype? I really have no idea how they managed to do that, but it was pretty amazing. Makes me a little sad that eventually I can be replaced in my classroom by a web tutor, but what can we do?
What did you find out about Dr. McLeod? That was part of the assignment. Do you watch Saturday Night Live? Do you think that show is "cruel"? It works because it is sarcastic!
ReplyDeleteWhat constitutes "in the parameters they feel is safest for their child" in your opinion?
Here's a good question for a discussion with "no paper and pens". There are two people living in 2020. One is highly skilled in the use of technologies, including computers and all of the tools that access and process information with great rapidity. The second lives in an old mansion filled with thousands of books, but there are no new technologies and certainly no computers which can access and process information. Only the human brain is available for that purpose. Several questions need to be answered: 1) Which will be most financially secure (ignoring legacy wealth); 2) Which will make more contributions to solving the problems of the world (assuming equal interest in doing so)?; 3) Which will be able to communicate his other findings to the world more quickly? ... with more effect?
The few things I found out about Dr. McLeod is that he is the co-director of the "Did You Know" video, and that he is a true advocate on teaching children all sorts of technology for their own benefit and that a lot of people agree with his ideas and how he gets his point across.
ReplyDeleteAnd, no, I do not watch Saturday Night Live. If it is as sarcastic as you claim it to be, then yes, I believe I would find it a crass show. I don't believe sarcasm makes anything "work." Being rude and crass toward people for so long can eventually unnerve them and they do acquiesce to the view points of the instigator. But I don't believe the end justifies the means. The world thinks that if they get their way that it worked, but in actuality all they got is an empty shell that can crumble at any moment because the essence was never there to begin with.
Answers to your questions:
1) First, what would you define as financially secure? Is it getting a paycheck from a global company or having thousands of books that you could market if you had to. In this day and age, the way the market fluctuates, the dwindling economy and the value of the dollar - I'm not sure either mode constitutes financial security.
2) What is your definition of the world? If your definition is global vs. community, then the technologically oriented person would make greater contributions. But, if you consider supporting local communities and family your priority, then the book-based individual's contributions would be of greater value.
3) And once again, based on your specifications of "the world," the techno individual would communicate his findings to a broader base audience. The literary individual would make his contributions to the "local world." Investment on a global and communal level are both necessary components for thriving development.