Blog Post #5

Just who is Scott McLeod? When I read Dr. McLeod's blog post I was instantly attracted to the type of style it was written in. He did not do the generic paragraph type style, instead everything was off kilter (awesome!) Aside from the style, his point was not the in-your-face type opinion. It really got me thinking about technology and it's pros and cons. I was no quite sure of what he was trying to say until the very end. When he stated, "can't wait to see who has a leg up in a decade or two" That's when it all clicked for me and I'm sure for a lot of other people.
I am all for technology that is administered in a safe way. Technology is going to be the future, people. Embrace it. It is expanding so rapidly that it is impossible not to jump on the bandwagon.
I did not know who Scott McLeod was before we were assigned to read his post, but now I know that he is such an influential man. He is a an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Kentucky and the founding director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education, a center for the needs of technology for school administrators.

The iSchool Initiative The iSchool initiative is beyond remarkable. This invention could seriously change everything, and literally everything, about schools in the future. In essence, Travis Allen and his team are revamping the scholastic fundamental tools, that up until this point, schools have thrived on. Not one thing will remain the same...but is that good or bad?
I'm downright torn. Of course the carbon footprint would surely decrease, but what if the powersource of technology is suddenly wiped out and technology can no longer be possible? What if technology is not as incorporated in the future as we think it will be? Then we are back at square one. Maybe something's are better left untouched. If we put all this effort into a gadget that will hold every ounce of school information, and it not pan out like people said it would, then what? So do we make the leap of faith and put our trust 100% into the iSchool, or leave schools the way they are? Afterall, it has worked sufficiently for this long...
I'm not sure if this is making sense to anyone else but me but technology could be the one element that holds the future together or it could not. We can only assume and predict the future, but until we get there speculations are the only instrument that connect people's ideas to the future.

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir Amazing..it is unbelievable that people all around the world (who have never met!) can come together like that and take part in such a beautiful song. It in fact shows how much of an impact the internet has on the world. The internet is constantly opening new windows of opportunity, such as a world wide web choir concert for all to see.

Teaching in the 2st Century Roberts thinks that teaching in the 21st century is not just about study guides or chapter tests, it is about being a positive role model to students. To me, he is also saying that teachers have to prepare students for the real world, not just to pass the middterm exam. With information web sites being limitless to students 24/7, teachers have to be apart of their student's lives in other ways as well. Students look up to educators as an example of what they should be like when they are older. When I was younger, my teachers were sort of like superheroes to us young children. They could do nothing wrong, and everything they did, they did it with ease. I now know that was not the case.
Teaching skills are ever evolving. The way teachers taught back when, is certainly different nowadays. It is like teaching is hiked up a notch, they have got to still be a part of student's lives in additional means. This will affect me as an educator without a doubt. I have always been the person who cares for other people and will try to help them be the best they can be, and that skill that I have will unquestionably help me in my own classroom with my students.