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Wikipedia

Wikipedia Article

I can honestly say that I don’t think that I have used Wikipedia in the past at all. I know that recently my daughter was writing a research paper and was told that the use of Wikipedia was not allowed as a source for her paper. After reading a little more on the subject of Wikipedia, I understand now why she wasn’t allowed to use Wikipedia as a source. I always knew that many people could contribute to Wikipedia articles, but I never considered that people would actually “vandalize” articles for their own benefit. I guess my mind just doesn’t work in that way!

Until now I didn't really have an opinion of wikipedia. My opinion of wikipedia is now more of a knowledge of how wikipedia works. The concept of wikipedia is great. To allow people from all walks of life to collaborate on a project or topic is a wonderful resource. The downfall of wikipedia is maintaining the information that is posted there. With the amount of information that is posted, there is really no way to completely fact check what is there.

I would allow Wikipedia to be used as a source on a project, as long as at least two other sources were quoted with the same information. If the information could be collaborated with other sources I would allow it to be used. If the paper were more of an opinion paper I would allow it as a single source, since that information would fall in line with the paper.

I would not allow Wikipedia to be used be used in a biographical paper. I feel that there are too many other reliable sources for those type of papers to use wikipedia as a source. Since factual informaion could be changed to easily, it wouldn't be my source of choice.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with checking the information on Wikipedia, but I would never quote is a source anywhere. Obviously people can tweak that information any way they would like. It seems like Wikipedia is trying to crack down on the amount of information that is brought in to Wikipedia everyday, so that it can be monitored a little easier. Virgil Griffith has created a program that can track the IP addresses of those that make changes to the information, but even he pointed out that the system is not fail proof. Someone could go to the nearest WiFi café and log in and change info without being tracked. With all the information available on the internet, I would think it would not be hard to find other good sources to research in place of Wikipedia. If you choose to read Wikipedia for your information on any subject, you must remember that old saying, “don’t believe everything you read!”

Randy Pausch Last Lecture

Randy Pausch


Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

One of the first things that struck me as I began to watch the last lecture was Randy Pausch's physical appearance. Since we had discussed a little about the video in class, I was expecting to see a sickly looking man, possibly sitting to give his last lecture. Obviously, that was not the case with Randy Pausch. He looked so healthy and even discussed how well he felt. He told the audience that he was probably in better shape than most of them, as her performed push ups on stage. He briefly discussed his illness and showed some MRI photo's of his tumors to show us how sick he really was.

The next thing that touched me in the video was Randy Pausch's attitude. I could only hope that if I am ever in Randy's position that I could be as positive as he was. I think he felt as if he didn't want to dwell on the negative aspects of what was happening to him, out of fear of losing the time he left with his family. He showed photo's of himself as a child and talked about how he was always smiling. He had such a happy childhood and really thought that his parents had been a big part of who he had become.

Randy listed his childhood dreams for the audience and went through each one of them. Some of the goals he had achieved, others he felt that even though he didn't get exactly what he wanted, he had experienced something close to it and felt satisfied with the result. He talked about how he had dreamed of playing in the NFL. He never accomplished that goal, but he did play football as a youth. He felt that football, the rules of the game, and the coaches had played for, had played a huge role in his life. Other goals, such as experiencing weightlessness and becoming a Disney Imagineer he had been able to achieve. With each of these goals he was originally turned down, but he didn't take no for an answer. He continued to work toward those goals and eventually got to reach them. He talked about the lessons he learned from originally being told no, rather than getting what he wanted right away.

Randy Pausch was so successful in his field. He pioneered classes in computer science and virtual reality at Carnegie Mellon University. He felt that the best part of being an educator was making his students think that they were having "fun" instead of learning. Evidenced by the number of people that poured through his classroom he was successful with his teaching. He also discussed several times the importance of giving back and some of the humanitarian efforts he had been a part of over the years.

After watching the original video, I watched a few more video's on Randy Pausch. It appears as if he was diagnosed in 2006 and only given a four to six months to live. In the end, he didn't die until July 2008, outliving the expectation of his doctors by many months. I feel as if his positive attitude probably contributed to his lifespan. I'm sure he fought as hard as possible to win his battle against cancer. He revealed at the end of his speech that he had not made the lecture for the people that were sitting in the room. He had made the video as a legacy for his young children to know how to achieve their goals.

Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

Karl Fisch's Blog

Is it okay to be a technologically illiterate teacher? Karl Fisch started this question in his blog in 2007, and it's still being debated on his blog in 2009. I think it has sparked some wonderful debate on the subject. How much do you have to know to be considered in the literate category? I guess the answer to that changes everyday. As technology comes and goes, or and evolves into something more, it seems a constant battle to keep up. There are those in the camp of refusal to adjust. Those that see technology as the enemy to our existence. Then there are those that are just afraid of the unknown, they aren't really against it, they just don't know where to start learning. Do we as teachers have a duty to use technology in our classroom? I think so.

As I mentioned in my post on Mr. Fisch's blog, all people regardless of their profession, must keep up with changes. Do you want a doctor to treat you or perform surgery on you that hasn't kept up with the latest techniques and equipment? Do you want someone to repair your car, house, appliances, that isn't certified? Of all people teachers must be willing to learn. How can we model learning if we refuse to be learners? The younger parents of today's society have expectations of teachers that will use technology. They have expectations of schools that will teach and use technology in the classroom, and to communicate with parents.

I think the biggest downfall to technology in the classroom is cost. There are many things I would like to have and use in my classroom, but if I can't afford to buy them myself I may not be able to get them. In public education we are struggling to pay cafeteria workers, custodians, and bus drivers. Forget about buying updated equipment for the classroom! As technology evolves the costs start to drop, but then something newer and better has taken its place. It's an ongoing cycle that we need to do our best to keep up with.

A Vision of Students Today

Kansas State University YouTube Video

The Kansas State University video really had some interesting information in it, but it really isn't representative of my college experience. I attended a small four year private institution in rural Arkansas. The largest classes that I can remember being a part of were probably 35 students. Since my original college experience was over 16 years ago, that probably accounts for many of the differences in my education. No one carried laptops to class in the early 90's!

I'm not really sure what type of information I would add to the video. I do understand the importance of making our education relevant, but just like my comments in previous posts, I don't think we as educators should have to put on a circus to teach our children. What is the point of a student sitting in class and surfing the web or updating their facebook status? That just shows a lack of discipline and desire to learn on their part. To me it's that lazy attitude of not wanting to work hard for anything. Somehow I think we've got to instill a desire to learn in our students. I see the points of paying for textbooks and not ever using them. Didn't EDM 310 discontinue using a text book for that reason?

I think a point that we need to consider is that not all information that we find on the internet and forums is factual. Do we know if these statistics are backed with good data? I think with the speed that technology is moving, it's going to be difficult to regulate some of the good information from the inaccurate. We have to be careful of not taking everything we find on the internet as credible information. As with everything, there must be a balance.

What I've Learned This Year

Mr. McClung's Blog

I enjoyed reading Mr. McClung's Blog about his first year of teaching. I can recall feeling so overwhelmed at times during my first year of teaching. I was single, planning a wedding, and had no children. I had all the ideals about my classroom that had been instilled in me from my instructors in college. I was going to have "the perfect classroom". My first year of teaching went okay, but not really the perfect scenario that I had imagined in my mind. I honestly never thought I would end up teaching in a middle school environment. Since I had student taught in Kindergarten and 2nd grade, I wasn't really prepared for it either. I survived 3 years before I took time off to stay at home with my own children. Honestly, being a mother has probably changed my teaching style more than any single factor involved in education.

I use to hate when someone would say to me, "your not a mother, you just don't understand!" But now that I am a mother, I hate to say it, but they were right. I don't think that you can't be a good teacher unless you have children, but it sure does change your prospective in the classroom. When I went back to teaching after 11 years of being a stay at home mother, I was a different person. I try to communicate with my parents as much as possible. As frustrating as parents can be at times, I remember that most just want the best for their children. I also remember that they are human and not perfect, just like our children. Some parents like that hard copy of the newsletter that I send home each week, while others like that email in their box that reminds them of their child's test. Is it a little more effort on my part to do both, sure, but it meets the needs of my classroom and that is what teaching is all about.

Mr. McClung sounds like he has learned many of the same lessons that I had to learn as a first year teacher. We all just have to dust off after the mistakes and move on. Try to do better the next go round. Make notes of what works and what doesn't. Try something new and different the next year, or just improve on what you did the previous year. Technology takes care of so much of that for us. I can post on blogs, forums, and internet chat rooms and immediately find out what worked and what didn't from other experienced teachers. I didn't have that benefit 16 years ago in my first year of teaching. Mr. McClung is using technology to his advantage. The more that we can share with each other, the better teachers all of us will be.

Practical Principals

Practical Principles Website


I listened to the Practical Principals podcast between Scott Elias and Melinda Miller. Scott and Melinda have never actually met, they don’t even live in the same state, but they have created several podcasts together. Both are administrators in schools in the U.S. Scott has been selected as an Apple Distinguished Educator. He attended an Apple Distinguished Educators conference this past summer, where they were exposed to all types of new technology that are currently been tested. Scott felt the collaboration at the conference was the best part of being selected for the honor. Scott said “The ability to ask a dumb question on twitter and get five responses from brilliant people along with the power of connecting and networking that bring other strengths to the table were the best part of the conference.”

Podcasts offer personal development training at the touch of your fingertips. No more traveling to faraway places to hear a speaker that has expertise in your area. For Educators, this can save time and money for school systems. Maybe your system can’t afford to send you to another state, pay for a hotel, food, and expenses for you to learn about new curriculum, but podcasting and vodcasting can offer some real relief in this situation. It also can alleviate scheduling conflicts. If you missed a conference because you had a conflict in your schedule, you may not have to wait a long period of time for the conference to return to your area.

In preparing for our podcast, I think we need to keep in mind our target listeners. We want our podcast to contain information that others can use for future needs. Scott and Melinda’s podcast kept referring to dates of conferences around the nation that were taking place. They also included information about where you could download conference information and listen to keynote speakers addresses. This allows you to pick and choose bits and pieces of conferences that you may be interested in. I think that we need be mindful of not packing too much broad information into a podcast. I think that podcast format should be fairly specific to a certain topic. There is no reason to try and cram too much broad information in one podcast. If the podcast is too broad, I think you run the risk of losing a listeners attention. If you feel the information warrants, it would be better to create multiple podcasts to keep the podcast on topic. Overall, I thought the information in Practical Principals was very useful.

It's Time for Technology

The Technologically Literate Teacher

Being able to observe the EDM310 videocast from the summer class has been so helpful to me. It's given me a better understanding of the task that is in front of us. I thought the group did a good job. I assume that this is probably the first time that most of these people had participated in a videocast. Of course there are things that I think could be improved, but that's easy for us to do since we are the ones on the outside looking in! I'm already dreading next spring when the EDM 310 class will get to watch our podcast and pick us apart!:)

There were a few things I noticed that I thought would improve the videocast. First of all, I'm not sure that the seating arrangement was the best for a videocast. It forced the ladies that were seated in the front seats to continually face away from the audience since they were looking at the instructor. I thought that maybe a straight table arrangement would have worked better. I did like how each person introduced themselves, but it would have been nice if they could have made eye contact with the camera while doing so. It also seemed that two or three people contributed to the videocast, and a couple of the the others did not participate as much. Maybe they could have split up the responses and information a little more equally between the contributors. Hopefully we can take all these ideas into account while forming our class podcasts and try to improve upon the ones done in the past.