IP Blog

1. Why not reach for the stars? Be all that you can be in life? What’s the point if you’re not going to try? We can have the world at our fingertips. Use it. Uta Hagen speaks the truth:  We must overcome the notion that we must be regular… it robs you of the chance to be extraordinary and leads you to the mediocre.

3. Most adults cannot relate to students today. The way “back then” was fine-if its not broke don’t fix it kind of attitude. Why not take advantage of our tremendous technology? Why does it matter if we write in cursive or if we can spell?
Hello-spell check.

4. Many students today, we don’t value learning. Learning to us is memorization, tests, grades and report cards. Doing whatever we can to keep up our rank and GPA. When was the last time you actually learned something? And loved it the whole time? I’m sorry if it seems like I don’t care, because I really do. But don’t you want me to care too? Will you help me care? Inspire me.

5. Give me a whole list of facts, but what do I do with them? Some are entertaining and amusing, but they don’t do me any good. Facts are easily forgotten. I need to know how to apply this to life. I need to be taught how to live in the real world. I need to know how to network. Most of the time its all about who you know.

6. My generation, yes most of us are lazy. We do everything on high speed without even realizing it. Quick, get it done. Give me a topic. I’ll just Google it. What do I do with it now? It’s easy to go to Google and look up facts. Give me relevance to what I am reading.

8. Restrictions and censoring is not really realistic anymore. You put a censor on something and I will probably find what I’m looking for somewhere else. Don’t shelter us. Stop babying us. You can easily find information about someone today. Is this a good thing? Maybe not. You have to be careful what you put out on the internet. Anyone can find it. Anyone. 

9. Cell phones, texting, myspace, instant messages, laptops, digital cameras, mp3 players and ipods- we all have them. We all use them everyday. It’s fast and convenient. It’s the fact that I can be listening to my ipod, texting my friend while on the phone with my mom telling me to take the dog outside, checking my myspace, waiting for my pictures to upload from the night before, instant messaging another friend about a math problem for homework and looking up research for my current event in anatomy. Why not do a million and one things at once? Being able to do that million and one things at once is power, electric and exhilarating. It’s not the plastic, it’s the motion.

10. I don’t ask enough questions. We all don’t ask enough questions. We sit back; listen to what we are being taught because we have to. And when we do ask a question, sometimes we get that look. You know which look I’m talking about. We have all gotten it. My favorite question: how are we going to use this in life? A classic. The look usually follows this question. And I have yet to hear an answer. So we just stop asking. And go through the motions, because it’s easier. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired to just going through the motions.

Acing a couple of midterms does not -to me- show that someone is smart. Retaining facts and being able to –under immense pressure and built up anxiety and stress- take a 100+ question test is not success to me. Give me something and I’ll make it my own. Creativity, originality, isn’t that what you want?

Yes I’m 17-years old. What could she know? I know that I want to be successful in life. I know that I will probably never use polynomials in my future. I know that it’s hard to sit in a classroom for 45 minutes when I’m not driven. If you don’t like what you’re teaching, what makes me want to learn it? We can inspire each other.

1. “Playing Small Does Not Serve the World.”—Your Brain is Your Brand.

The methods of learning are becoming calculated. Students are taught through monotonous and boring lesson plans. Whatever happened to thinking out of the box? Creative thinking has gone down the drain. The key to success in classes is to learn what the teacher wants. Students take notes on what their teachers say, and then on test days reiterate the same information right back to them. School systems are set up teaching students that their goals should work around getting an “A”.

How can you develop a sophisticated culture with higher level thinking when everyone thinks alike? With an uninventive basis of education teenagers are learning that their expectations are mediocre. Many students are not pushing beyond these low expectations. From the start students need a motivation to show they have what it takes to think differently and make a change in the world. So let’s encourage, through education, a more intelligent and productive society.

3. Nobody Cares if You Walked Up Hill Both Ways Barefoot in the Snow and Could Diagram a Sentence.

Education seems to be losing sight of what is important. Should students be taught how to do net ionic equations, or how to achieve their goals in life? Even student’s goals are being distorted. Why should all of their effort be put into brown nosing a teacher to get a good grade? Shouldn’t there be goals like achieving happiness, spending as much time with friends and family as possible or living life to the fullest? Why am I not being taught real outlooks of life situations? Instead of sitting in classrooms all day, can’t I be prepared for the real world? Learning can have so many forms, but students are only taught from one, and it’s an unrealistic to apply to daily life. I want to learn so much, but regular classrooms teaching about useless information become restrictions to expanding my ideas.

7. Collaboration Ain’t About Holding Hands. It’s about Going Cool Places Fast.

Many societies originally developed and became world powers due to their geographic location. With a horizontal axis, information could spread throughout and have similar beneficial developments to society. This line of expansion was relevant thousands of years ago, though. Now, with just a few clicks of a mouse I can learn about anything from anywhere around the world. So, why am I not being encouraged to learn about other facets of society, and working with people from anywhere? Education is stuck in a time period from thousands of years ago. Why aren’t these opportunities to learn so much being taken advantage of? My high school is afraid of anything technology related. E-mail is probably the most advanced thing they have ever heard of, and I doubt they would ever dream of giving us school e-mail accounts. Also, try working on a project when just about every search is blocked. I understand that there needs to be some type of restriction on the internet, but I can barely do a search for a presentation I’m doing on the atomic bomb. If schools could get passed this thinking that technology is frightening, maybe we can expand our knowledge with unlimited possibilities. I could work on assignments with people from Japan, and then have a web conference with someone from Australia. Can you imagine the benefits of this learning style? Let’s broaden our connections and stop this old-fashioned thinking.

In Jared Diamond’s article, “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race,” he argues that the adoption of agriculture as the primary method of garnering nutrition is the worst mistake that humans have ever made.  He sights the substantial loss in health directly after the conversion from the hunter-gatherer lifestyle as the primary support that agriculture is a mistake.  He goes on to explain that there are three reasons that agriculture is bad for the overall health of farmers: farmers concentrate on starchy crops, risk starvation because of the limited number of crops, and live in concentrated societies.  Diamond also states that agriculture is a mistake because it creates an elite upper class and inequality between the sexes.

Although Diamond provides substantial evidence for the loss of health caused by agriculture, cultivation facilitated tremendous advances in the overall health of humans.  Today, farming provides varied foods well beyond what a single environment can sustain.  Grocery stores provide produce from around the world that is high in vitamins, minerals, and other nutritious elements.  The volume of crops stocking the shelves of the common supermarket ensures that no single crop failure will leave thousands starving.  Hunter-gatherers in a desert could never harvest star-fruit, apples, and fish in their ecosystem, but agriculture has provided them with all of these crops and made their same produce available to the world.

Diamond considers the rise of a non-farming elite to be a downfall, but I see this as one of the many advantages provided by farming.  These elite, which by definition include the modern middle class, initiated many advances in society as a whole, like the formation of government, scientific research, and the advancement of the arts.  By decreasing the time needed to find food, agricultural societies can support non-farming citizens who begin filling the above roles. Scientific research facilitated the creation of drugs to fight the epidemics and other problems caused by food production.

It is inarguable that directly after the change to agriculture, the health of humans as a whole decreased.  It is also indisputable that life for the newly created farmers required more work under harder conditions than their hunter-gatherer neighbors, but in the long run, life for farmers improved more rapidly than for hunter-gatherers.  Farmers produced new technology and improved their methods of farming.  Today, intense agriculture entails about a quarter of the population, 27%, farming to provide food for the remainder.  This means more elites and increased advancement of the sciences and arts.  While I admit that originally agriculture was a mistake, destroying the health of most farmers and causing many adverse effects, in the long run, it became a blessing, creating vast opportunities for the human race.

Throughout all progress made in humankind over the past 30,000 years, adopting agriculture is the most direct and aggressive step to becoming the modern society that we are today. “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race” by Jared Diamond, suggests that the adoption of agriculture by hunter-gatherer tribes was, in fact, the worst mistake in the history of the human race. The moment hunter-gatherers chose to farm, they received a life of lower nutrition, infectious diseases, social inequality, and increased warfare than they previously possessed. The reverberations of that choice reach to every corner of the society we live in today. By accepting the agricultural revolution, have humans compromised what could be a better existence as a hunter-gatherer? Despite the problems created by farming, what benefits has the human race acquired because of agriculture?

Scientists suggest that humans turned to agriculture when their tribal population became too unmanageable to feed. Farming created more calories (with lower nutritional value) per person, for less work than used to forage. Growing populations led to city-states, where a visibly stratified social order developed. Men worked in the fields, and women created children to work in the fields. Dominant city-states overpowered the weaker ones. Those early farmers possessed the problems that humans are still combating today- starvation, inequality, and warfare. In spite of those problems, humans benefited from agriculture in the long arc of time.

With farms, hunter-gatherers could acquire somewhat control over their lives. Rather than moving nomadically and living at the whims of nature, farming allowed humans to settle down and pursue opportunities other than subsistence. Surplus food allowed for humans pursue occupations other than farmers, like artists, philosophers, scientists, and inventors. With new technology invented and new ideas thought, life as farmer because easier and more luxurious. Scientists found medicines to cure disease, and armies were made to dominate other places. The population growth that ensued within societies after the adoption of agriculture guaranteed the growth of industry, because non-farmers needed to purchase goods to survive. Early farmers paved the road for the way any modern society today functions.

If I could go back in time, to the instant when the first tribe had to choose between limiting population or farming, I would have made the same choice: to farm. If humans had gone down that second path, of limiting population, very little progress would have been made. Humans would have stayed on the communal path of nomadic movement, living off of the land like primitive beings. Who has time to read or write if life is solely about surviving until the next day? No advancements in science, art, literature, or any kind of knowledge would have been made. Would life be better as a hunter-gatherer? Perhaps, if one wants to live life concerned only with daily survival. However, I would much rather live in today’s modern society, where I reside in my air conditioned home, eat food bought at a store, attend school to acquire knowledge, and where I can even publish my midterm papers on the internet. By choosing agriculture, humans have ensured a life much better for themselves.

The first point I chose from the Future of Learning Manifesto was #4: Got Passion? I’ll Tell You What To Care About. This particular point intrigued me because it is a unique philosophy on today’s education, and speaks out against conformity. McLeod begins by saying that he has the right to complain about certain classes if he has his own dream and is willing to “put his life on the line for it.” What McLeod is trying to say is that students should not be required to have passion for the subjects that they dislike if they have their own personal interests and are willing to develop them. Rather than forcing students to have passion for something that has little significance to them, students can make something of themselves and work towards receiving an education in an area that they are truly excited about. McLeod states that on the other hand, if we don’t create our own dreams and aspirations to be passionate about, we might as well go along with the accepted ‘norm’, obey the rules and regulations expected of us, and “take great notes” on the material fed to us. I agree with his idea that students should be allowed to think passionately and come up with their own ideas while being educated. I know that I would love to think creatively and focus my education on areas I am particularly interested in. However, I think that although students may not like it at the time, a broad source of knowledge is very important, even if it means learning about the things we do not like. Everyone’s interests fluctuate greatly throughout their life, and many high school students have no idea of what their interests will be in the future. I think a broad education is necessary because without it, a person may have to find a career in a field they enjoyed learning about a few years ago, but are no longer interested in.

McLeod also states sarcastically that that “he is young and may have a hard time with that ‘r-tickle-a-shun’ [articulation] thing. That’s your job.” What McLeod means here is that it is the educator’s job to provide the words, tools, examples, or in other words, a foundation of knowledge that we can work off of. After that, the educator should “get out of the way” and allow students to be creative and discover their own passions, goals, and ideas. He wants his audience to realize that one can ‘think outside the box’ and still receive a valuable education. McLeod extends his thoughts one step further by taking his idea into the future. He says that if his passion would go from a simple curiosity to becoming extremely out of control, then the educator needs to step in and take action to restrain him. He says that the educator would need to “stop giving him handouts and worksheets” and cleverly compares the educator’s role here to Jerry McGuire. McLeod means that in this situation, the educator needs to stop feeding information and encouraging the student’s actions, and instead act like Jerry McGuire. In the movie, Jerry McGuire speaks out against the conformity of his bosses and co-workers with a completely new way of thinking. Like Jerry McGuire, the educator would have to speak out against the student’s uncontrollable passion to restrain it, and find a new manner to develop it constructively. Again, I agree with his idea that we should be allowed to think creatively and learn about our passions; however, I think that educators need to have more control over students’ education thank McLeod suggests, or no progress would be made.

For my second point I chose #5: My Memory Is Only As Big As My Heart. Otherwise I’ll Stick with Google. Right from the start, the title compares his memory to the size of a heart, which is generally not very large. The title suggests that he can only remember so much, but why worry when there are easily accessed search engines such as Google. Again, this topic goes against the ‘norm’ that has been accepted and practiced since the beginning of education. In education, it is tradition for the educators to provide students with facts, and for the students to memorize them. The point that McLeod is trying to get across to his readers is why waste your time memorizing all of these facts, many of which will be completely useless in the long-run (unless you are, as he states “going on Jeopardy”), when you can receive the information with the click of a button. He compares search engines to a library, except much faster and much, much bigger. He also states that a disadvantage to the internet is that there is no librarian to help direct you towards the information you are seeking. However, this is not really needed considering that the internet doesn’t organize its information with methods like the Dewey Decimal System. McLeod is saying that with the technology our today’s society provides us with, the memorization of facts is not longer necessary. Although I agree that students are sometimes forced to memorize useless facts, I disagree that we should rely solely or even mainly on the internet for information. I personally believe that it is very important for students to develop their own base of knowledge. The students of today are the adults of our future, and I think that it is imperative for students to become informed, aware, and intelligent individuals through the education process.

McLeod continues to develop this idea and says that instead of the conventional, bland methods of teaching, educators should try to connect with their students while teaching, rather than feeding the students fact after fact. The educator should look towards a more emotional side of teaching so that kids can become involved. He says that teachers should encourage their students to think creatively and get in touch with themselves. If educators use unusual and emotionally stimulating methods of teaching, than their students will be much more enthralled in the subject matter. Students will become much more relaxed in the classroom, be much more eager and motivated to learn, and will be able to think creatively. This method ultimately will allow students to be themselves in the classroom and express themselves freely. I support this point because I agree that the methods used to teach often become very monotonous. However, in certain subjects, such as math and science, this may inevitable. Yet in other subjects, such as language arts and perhaps history, more interesting and unconventional methods could be used to teach. When learning by these unconventional techniques, McLeod suggests that a student’s education will be much more worthwhile. He concludes idea #5 by saying, “I’ll remember anything you tell me. Swear it.” I strongly agree with this point because if I were to be taught by unusual methods and forced to make emotional connections, it is very likely that once I left the classroom, I would remember and take with me everything that I had learned.

I just finished perusing Christian Long’s “The Future of Learning Manifesto” last night. Two words: thought-provoking. While reading the blog, I could not help but to agree with his rationale. I often found myself saying: “yes,” “of course,” and “why did I not think of this myself.” It only seems logical that we utilize the tools available to us in the 21st century. Technology was designed to make our lives easier. Why do some of us refuse to adapt?

Fear? Yes, a little. Frustration? Maybe. Obduracy? I think so. However, I think the major factor is time. Americans work the longest hours in the world. Many of us are simply too busy to learn about computers. Then again, there are those of us-and you know who you are-that use time as an excuse. You have enough time to watch three hours of TV each day, but don’t want to learn how to use a computer. The underlying problem thereby becomes an unwillingness to learn.

“Ughhhh computers!” “No thanks, I think I will take a free pass.” I tried it before, but I couldn’t do it.” These excuses are all too common. Americans-mostly today’s adults- need to adapt to best compensate for changes in their lifestyles. For instance, technology now enables us to complete complicated tasks with greater ease. Why should we go about completing old tasks using old ways? Shouldn’t doctors spend more time on practical surgeries rather than memorizing facts they will forget later anyway? They can now obtain the information in a matter of seconds via Google.

“Memorization, memorization, memorization.” AKA: The all too often process by which students today are learning. Along with all else that has changed, the educational process needs to also. Learning to analyze facts and thinking critically will better benefit today’s youth-rather than “useless memorization.” We should be taught how to overcome situations when we face them. We should be taught to think like intelligent adults, and not to recall already known facts. Become your own inventor, leader, teacher, or business leader. Let those who want to continue to memorize facts persist. Let them memorize “your” facts.

As schools’ traditional “pencil and paper” methods slowly deteriorate, the schools are rapidly changing.  Just as how pencil and paper overcame slate, newer technology is being incorporated in schools’ curriculums around the nation.  With this new technology, a school will undergo several changes.  Laptop computers will replace students’ traditional notebooks, hi-tech cell phones or other multimedia devices will be legalized within the school and be utilized, and the entire infrastructure of the school will be changed.  Things such as chalkboards can be replaced with screens, keyboards even with voice-activated typing, and security cameras can be greatly improved.  Several advances can be made to improve a school.

This School 2.0 is an idea under way in which several people have sketched their own ideas of how technology would change or improve a school.  It is a tool designed to show a futuristic but not impossible school with new technological advances.  It is imperative that schools eventually accept these new changes if they are to compete with other districts or keep up with our rapidly expanding society.  I agree that schools should advance technologically, but they already are advancing.  Technology has seeped its way into schools and is incorporated already within the school and teachers have also included technology in their curriculums.  I have seen this in my school as well.  Technological advances in the school’s curriculum are growing almost as exponentially as society’s technological advances, however to a lesser extent.  In my school, I have used technology this year that I have never seen or used before in my school career. 

Technological advances have and always will take more and more work off students’ and teachers’ hands.  In current society and school system, imagine using slate and chalk while sitting on a bench in a rundown schoolhouse.  Obviously, our curriculum will never be accomplished.  Technology has up to today sped up and eased the learning process.  If future schools’ technology continues to advance, so much work will be done in ease in a short amount of time.  However, technology in my opinion can also hurt schools.  By having to do less work, students may become lazier and lazier and will not be prepared for the work load in college and the rest of their lives.  Also, technology can greatly widen the gap between poor and rich schools.  As rich schools continue to advance, poor schools are left in the dust.

If I were design a technologically advanced version of my current school, I would change a lot.  First, I would improve our current computers will advanced and able computers.  I also would advise the use of multimedia devices and laptops.  For example, a PDA is internet availability in the palm of your hand, and if a student is able to use it, he can accomplish anything anywhere.  Laptops can also be incorporated.  As a faster and more practical means of note-taking, storage, internet access, etc., laptops would greatly improve the learning process.  Classrooms would also be set digitized and technologically advanced equipment.  Newer technology in my school would benefit all, not only in traditional classes but would aid the arts and create new clubs or teams for students, making school easier and more practical than that of today.

1. “Playing Small Does Not Save the World.” Your brain is Your Brand.

We are powerful. So powerful that we do not even realize how much. I do not think the power we have is something to fear. I think it is something we want more of because we are greedy. I also do not believe we are being measured by small dreams. We make our own dreams for ourselves; they are not made for us. Also, we are not measured by dreams we make, but by what we accomplish. The dreams mean nothing, unless you can reach it.

Play big or stay home. I rather stay home. But that does not mean I can not play big. You should not have to choose.

I agree with McLeod that our brains need attention and fuel. I also agree that we should make ourselves stand out. But the question is how. It is not always that easy. That is where a person’s heart comes into play. Everyone has a heart. I believe that a heart can do many big things. A heart can make a difference. And it can do so anywhere. Even at home.

2. What Would Socrates Do?

Well Socrates would not Google first of all. The internet was not even around. And he had all the answers right? So he wouldn’t have any questions. And why does it have to be Google? Yahoo would work too.

How about the question: What would Jesus do? Of course then we bring in the whole religion ordeal. God forbid.

What would Jesus do? I don’t know. I care, but don’t know. Maybe because it’s a rhetorical question.

And I don’t like Ask Jeeves.

3. Got Passion? If Not, I’ll Tell You What To Care About.

No you won’t tell me what to care about. No one cares. It’s true. You can whine about a class all you want. It doesn’t change the fact that you need to take it. So there is no point in arguing about it. It won’t get you anywhere. You have a dream. And you’re willing to put your life on the line. Okay. No one cares. You signed up for the class. You need it to graduate. So deal with it. Of course there is always that one kid who asks, “When are we going to use this stuff?” Kids don’t really want to know. They just want to get the teacher off topic.

And recess. Unless you are in elementary school, forget it. There’s no recess or time to unwind. Deal with it.

What is the teacher’s job? Well I can tell you what it’s not. It is not just giving the words and tools and examples, and then just leaving. If that were the case, then there would be no need for teachers. But we do need them to show us the way and enlighten us with their knowledge. And whether they see us enjoying the class or not, they don’t care. They have to teach the class, and get their job done.

4. My Memory Is Only As Big As My Heart. Otherwise, I’ll Stick with Google.

Memorizing facts. I’ve been doing since elementary school. Everyone does. But the question is: Are you learning and retaining the information? I think so. You may disagree. Although, you can’t use Google to memorize facts for you. That just doesn’t make sense. A computer memorizing the information that you need to know. How does that work?

However, when you need answers quick, search engines are very helpful. Why have teachers ask a question and lecture about the subject for the whole class period? And then they give the answer. What is the point? Honestly, I don’t understand it. Just give me the answers. When going into long lecture, I lose focus. And usually, I start daydreaming. Then by the time the answer is given, I miss it.

Don’t give monotone lectures. And stories don’t help either. I think they just stray from the real question. Instead, involve the class in a class discussion. Everyone has a say. Everyone can talk. Everyone is happy. And I can get the answer quicker.

I’ll remember what you say, if you don’t bore me to death first. And of course, if I have a pen to write it down.

5. Look It Up or Die

The internet is great. You can search for almost anything on it. And you only have to look through about a million of results before you find the one you need. Really, it’s great. Not time consuming at all. And then you have to worry about if what you find is actually a fact, or if someone who was bored one day just made it up.  How can you be sure? Where did all the facts go? Beats me.

Are you teaching me to take notes or think? I would like to think that it’s both.

And if my child had a fever and I needed a quick remedy, I would call my mother.

P.S. Index cards stink. They are waste of time and paper. Pointless.

6. Collaboration Ain’t About Holding Hands. It’s About Going Cool Places Fast.

How big is my classroom? Ha. How big is my school? Haha. Does it matter?

I don’t need friends. I have plenty.

And if someone from a foreign country leaves me a comment on a blog, I don’t think it’s sexy. It’s interesting and a little exciting, but I’m not going to throw a party or anything. The world is bigger than just North America. There is life beyond the United States. However being able to converse with other people on other continents is a cool concept. It’s technology. It’s alive and very in our lives. Maybe I’m not as excited as McLeod because I’ve been exposed to technology longer than he has? I don’t know.

Technology is becoming more advanced everyday. People are working to make sure that we can get all the information we want. And we never have to leave our computer chair.

But that’s not enough. We are greedy. We want more. Cool Places fast? No, now we want cooler places faster. Well good luck.

7. Nobody Knows the Answer. Get Comfy with the Question.

What do you mean nobody knows the answer? Someone has to know the answer. Like Google for example.

Smart people shouldn’t ask questions. They should know the answer. That’s dumb. They got smart by asking the right questions.

If you ask me a question any question I probably will have an answer for you. Whether it’s right, well I don’t know.

So I need to be taught how to be smart. And ask great questions. But will I get great answers? I’m ready. I’ve been ready. Now it’s up to the teacher to help me.

Living in a world that is so immersed in technology, I find it to be strange that most schools have not adapted themselves to the 21st century. I believe students should experience and learn with technology in order to get them adjusted to the outside world. If students do not familiarize themselves with modern technology, then they will be in for a huge shock when they get out into the real world. Almost everything incorporates some sort of technology these days, and technology has created demand for workers who provide a technological aspect to a job. Students who get a technology-driven curriculum in school will have a huge head start compared to students in a normal school.

The first thing I would like to see incorporated into schools would be every student having a laptop computer. If the school provides wireless internet access, students will have access to the whole world at their fingertips. Imagine listening to a lecture, and upon hearing some unfamiliar terms, you could perform a Google search while remaining at your desk. This erases the need to interrupt the teacher and ask a question. In fact, with the integration of laptops into classrooms, a lot more teaching would get done in a year. With access to the internet, there is no longer any real need to hand out text books at the beginning of the year. The teacher simply could find a website that applies to the lesson he is teaching, and he could tell the students to go to it. They could follow along or perhaps even do some online sample problems, depending on the website. Overall, laptop computers for every student would give the classroom more interactive appeal.

Another advantage of a school with advanced technology is that it saves money. Although the start-up costs are high with providing wireless internet access and laptops and altering the school to meet new needs, the school will eventually save a lot of money. For instance, the school would no longer need to buy textbooks because all of the information is available via the internet. Teachers could also give online tests and homework, obliterating the need for printing and copying which wastes paper. Finally, the need for computer labs would be gone, so it would free up space for more classrooms. The advantages are plentiful when it comes to incorporating technology into the classroom.

One Connecticut middle school has provided each of its students with laptops. No advantages or disadvantages have been seen yet, but I found the article to be very interesting. School 2.0 is a drawing of what a technologically advanced school looks like. I think that my School 2.0 would be a school with futuristic architecture. The classrooms would have projectors in them so the teacher would be able to project what is on his laptop up onto a screen. Then, every student would have a laptop computer of his own. Of course, the school would have wirless internet access. Technology is becoming more advanced everyday. Shouldn’t education be changing with it? I think it is inevitable that schools like School 2.0 will begin to spring up within the next 10 years.

1. Nobody Cares if You Walked Up Hill Both Ways Barefoot in the Snow and Could Diagram a Sentence.

Scot McLeod wrote his blog not thinking of the people around him, or his family or his friends, just him. He was only thinking of himself. When he wrote the entry “Nobody Cares if You Walked Up Hill Both Ways Barefoot in the Snow and Could Diagram a Sentence.” He is giving the impression that he does not care about anyone else. When he gives a list of what he is going to need to “master your past” he is setting the impression he does not care. All he desires if for you to listen to him. He does not seem to understand that other people need attention. When you read that entry you get a sarcastic vibe, you feel he does not want to be bothered by anyone, and if you’re bothering him he only wants your help. Then leave.

2. Collaboration Ain’t About Holding Hands. It’s About Going Cool Places Fast.

I am going to have to give it to him when he asks the question “How big is my classroom? 4 walls or the horizon line?” I do like that question. I think he is trying to say that you can discover more things in a classroom than just the text book. You also can ask yourself that question in any situation. Again, in the blog, he mentions that his future is more important than your past. Well...he is admitting that he is being self-centered about it...but that’s not the point. It seems like he wants to make you believe that he is conceited…almost too much. But I am still lost about who he is talking to when he tells “you” to stop telling him he needs more math…me…his colleagues… parents…friends…I know I certainly didn’t tell him. Are you helping me in school? Are you helping me become a well-rounded student who gets A’s in all of my classes and moving me up in ranking and helping me become the All-American Student? Are you helping anyone else but yourself? Are you?

3. It Ain’t About the Technology. It’s About the Story.

Well, what is the story? Does everyone have the same story? A different story? Big story? Short story? What I think is that everyone has a different story. Their journey through life. Everybody has one. Mines different from yours, yours is different from hers, and hers is different from his. Everybody is making such a big commotion over technology, and what for? When some people get there, they don’t even know how to operate it. They are sucked in to the technology black hole, where they get lost and are mesmerized by all the pointless things they can do with a computer, mouse, and a flash drive. Good for you, you discovered the internet; it’s been here for some time now. There are other things out in the world today that are much more important. And did you ever think that other people don’t care about it as much as you do?

4. Look It Up or Die.

I don’t understand why he is telling the public or me, for that matter, that I/we have to make sense of what he finds on Google or Wikipedia. He can’t do it for himself? He is big enough to write his own blog, I think he would be big enough to understand what he is finding on Google. “Are you teaching me to think? Or just to take notes?” Well, you should know how to think for yourself. No one can teach you how to think or to alter your way of thinking. You have your own way, I have my own way, and the person next to you has their own way also. And besides, why would you want someone to teach you how to think? Don’t you want to be your own person?

shelby

1. Playing Small Does Not Serve the World: This is so very true.  In today’s fast paced world you need to play big and realize we’re being trained to serve the world.  Christian Long said “You’ve got one choice.  Play big or stay home.  Serve the world or be forgotten.” I agree whole heartedly with this.  If you don’t remember these things you’ll be lost quickly.  Never settle for too little. 

2. What Would Socrates Do?: What would Socrates do?!?!? More like what would Google do??

3. Nobody Cares if You Walked Up Hill Both Ways Barefoot in the Snow: Truth.  I’m sorry to say but nobody really does care.  I would be happy to listen to your stories, but don’t be offended when I fall asleep.  Things are different now, Surprise, I’m not going to change my ways just because of you.  Back in the day is, well, back in the day.  This is the 21st century people, take memorization for example; its completely overrated.  Why memorize when I have Google?

4. Got Passion?  If Not, I’ll Tell You What To Care About.: I hate to say it but this is so true.  If you don’t have passion for what you’re doing then people will walk all over you.

5. My Memory Is Only As Big As My Heart.  Otherwise, I’ll Stick with Google: At first I didn’t understand what this was saying, but it just dawned on me.  Memorization is obsolete, I have Google.  (Oh glorious Google how did I ever live with out you?) But, if you do want me to memorize something stick a story to it, something that will stay near and dear to my heart.  That’s the only way I can truly memorize. 

6. Look it Up or Die: “It’s old skool but sometimes remind me to look it up.  Or die.” Said Christian Long.  I like this.  I don’t just need to learn to write down the copyright date and city it was published in.  Some day I won’t have time to look at all the information and to write it down on an index card.  Teach me early where I can find facts and where I can find fan-fiction. 

7. Collaboration Ain’t About Holding Hands. It’s about Going Cool Places Fast: “How big is my classroom?  4 walls or the horizon line?” Good question.  Ask the teacher.  I would love my classroom to be the horizon line and today that’s what it is.  This mash-up, its for a mid-term! Talk about taking the classroom to the horizon line (and being awesome).  I had e-mail pals from different countries by 13.  I need a network and fast.  Teach me how to use more than just Microsoft suite.  Take your classroom to the horizon line.  Please. 

8. This Will Go Down on Your Permanent Record: Your right it will.  It’s called the internet.  “Today you worry about filters and predators and firewalls and the MySpace boogeymen.  Okay, I want to be safe. And I appreciate you wanting me to be safe. I just don’t want to live in a locked box in the process.” Why don’t you instead of blocking me from every blog in existence teach me how to blog safely and use the internet safely.  Let us know that everything we put out there is going to stay out there, FOREVER!  The internet is a scary place and someday if we’re not careful (or just really unlucky) it could cost us a possible job offer.  Don’t ignore this fact completely when you teach me about the internet tell me this PLEASE!  Also don’t be too hard on the kids who get past the firewall, use them to your advantage.  Hint hint: maybe you could ask for some help.  They did happen to slip past YOUR firewall.  They must know something.  Right?

9. It Ain’t About the Technology.  It’s About Being Inside the Story: All this technology is great and everything, don’t get me wrong, but it doesn’t substitute for a real conversation.  I love being part of the 21st century!  Blogging, video conferencing, Skyping, and Myspace messaging its all great, but nothing can truly substitute for a real life conversation.  It really isn’t about the technology it’s about being in the story.

10. Nobody Knows the Answer.  Get Comfy with the Questions: Nobody really knows all the answers (not even Google, I know surprising huh?) so get comfy with the questions.  Questions are the way we work now.  So teach me how to ask good questions, clever ones just like Socrates and the Google developers did.

1. “Playing Small Does Not Serve the World.”

Why should we play it safe in our daily lives? If everyone kept their ambitions to themselves we would have nothing and society itself would fail. Shout it out! If you have an idea or an opinion or anything that you want to say don’t keep it to yourself. Let everyone no who you are and what you’re about. Christian Long said in his Manifesto, “You’ve got one choice.  Play big or stay home.  Serve the world or be forgotten,” and I whole-heartedly agree.

2.  What Would Socrates Do?
If Socrates could Google, what questions would he have asked?
Am I being rhetorical?
Does it matter?
Ask Jeeves.
Could we ever really know what anyone from our past would have done?
Is it right to dwell on past geniuses when we could be helping future one’s?
I wonder . . .
Ask the students.

3.  Nobody Cares if You Walked Up Hill Both Ways Barefoot in the Snow.

Who wants to here about the good ole days of education 24/7? Now is the time to look forward to the future of education. Much of middle aged and elderly society believe that the education system is failing because of the destructive technology seeping through school walls. But what they don’t see are the students who are learning more than they ever did because of the technology that they love being used in the education they need. If you want to look at the past and twiddle you’re thumbs instead of helping me learn, fine.

Don’t expect a nice nursing home.

4.  Got Passion?  If Not, I’ll Tell You What To Care About.

If you care about something, don’t leave it to someone else to talk about it. It’s you’re life, you’re future, you’re feelings. Why should someone else be talking about it? If you can’t make up you’re mind, use someone else’s. I have plenty of things that I am passionate about and if you can’t think of something you can use one of mine. But if you don’t want to be someone’s puppet, get out there and speak YOUR mind. I’m sure people want to hear it.

5.  My Memory Is Only As Big As My Heart.  Otherwise, I’ll Stick with Google

There is now a way to have the facts of life at your fingertips. The Knowledge of the masters waiting to be unleashed. A way to be all that you can be and never leave the comfort of your computer. This thing that was once inconceivable is now used by almost everyone. Google has changed the way that we live our lives. Sure we could memorize everything we ever wanted to know, but what good is that if you can access any document, picture, video, sound clip, and so much more at the click of a button.

You can sit at home memorizing. I will Google it!

6.  Look it Up or Die. 

Could write down everything that every one of my teachers said and I still wouldn’t know everything. So look it up! The day of lugging out the dusty encyclopedia has passed. Google, Wikipedia, Ask Jeeves, they all play their part in shaping my future. Anything I need to know is there from how to do calculus to how to give my cat a bath. The facts I need are not always going to be in a book.

Some feel that this is a lazy excuse for not reading. But using a book can not only help me but teach me to be a better thinker. Not just another mindless drone with some notecards.

7.  Collaboration Ain’t About Holding Hands. It’s about Going Cool Places Fast.
Am I ready for my future?

Am I connected to the world?

Is there someone in Craiova who knows my name?

Why do I care if I am Networked?

Why don’t you?

Now I want to know that People from all around the world know who I am and care that I have something to say. Sure, a few years ago this was inconceivable but now I can go online and meet someone from the Netherlands, Romania, and Portugal all at the same time.

So why do I care if I am Networked?

I care about my future.

I want to go somewhere cool!

8. This Will Go Down on Your Permanent Record.

Do you want to know who I really am? Look at my Myspace. Check out my Blog. Then you’ll see me. But what if I don’t want the world (especially my future employers) to see what goes on behind closed doors. Blog smart. Once its out there you can never take it back. You make think it’s a big deal until one of your employers finds an interesting video of you on YouTube. Think about it before you let it out for all the world to see.

Just use your brain!

9.  It Ain’t About the Technology.  It’s About Being Inside the Story.

I really could care less about a better way to e-mail or a smaller iPod or a site that makes Myspace look like snail mail. All I want is to talk. Hear what people have to say. Know that if I wanted to I could make a difference in someone’s life who is a thousand miles away. The thrill that we get from technology has nothing to do with how new and shiny it is. It has to do with how it affects our lives and the lives of others.

10.  Nobody Knows the Answer.  Get Comfy with the Questions.

The only way to learn is asking good questions?

Why can’t I get all the answers?

Why can’t I know everything?
Why should I care about technology?

What is wrong with cellphones in school?

Can I really put my future in the hands of someone who wasn’t born in the age of technology?

Can I trust you to get me where I want to go?

Where are the Answers? 

I’d like to think that our School 2.0 could use any of the available technology in the world to its advantage.  I’d like to think that every student could have his/her laptop always at their disposal, or the ability to use electronic devices such as cell phones or iPods as educational aids.  I’d like to think that students, while being our largest stakeholders in creating the futures of tomorrow, would not take advantage of these technologies and use them in an inappropriate manner.  Unfortunately, this is not the case. Creating a school of tomorrow is just not realistic.  Although some students would take full advantage of the opportunity, it would be difficult to ensure that all students would use these technologies to better educate themselves.

When implementing technologies into the school curriculum and system, many steps would have to be taken to ensure that students do not venture into manners of uneducational purpose.  In the use of laptops, the district would need to guarantee that filters be set on all computer systems.  The problem with this, however, is that students are becoming smarter and more computer savvy each and every day and therefore may be able to find a way to diminish or avoid these filters.  In the use of iPods or other video or music players, the only way I can think to regulate the inappropriate use of these devices would be to have random weekly or monthly checks by the educators to make certain these are being used for educational purposes.  These checks, however, would take much needed time away from these educators and therefore may hurt more than help them

Although I do not believe that it is reasonable or realistic to create a School 2.0 at this stage, the assignment requires that I design a technologically advanced school of tomorrow.  To do this, I must, in my opinion, state that any of these ideas would need to make the assumption that all the students taking advantage of these technologies will use them in appropriate and educational means.

As I stated previously, laptops and music or video players would be used by all students in my School 2.0.  Laptops would allow students to have research at their fingertips through the World Wide Web and would also allow them to become more efficient workers.  Laptops would allow students to type all their notes instead of having to write everything by hand.  This would make for faster note-taking and therefore, better efficiency. 

Music or Video players would allow students to import and export music, picture, or video clips to and from school.  This would upgrade all school projects to the point where students could implement audio and video components into presentations, instead of just a poster board.

Consequently, implementing technologies in all facets of our school from the morning announcements when the students arrive to sporting events in the evening, would allow our school to become capable of endless possibilities.

…….Wait……..endless possibilities……………………..ha, good one…………….the only endless possibilities would be the ways students could wrongly use these……………….

Here’s my point.  A School 2.0 is just unrealistic and unreasonable at this stage.  Unfortunately, the students of today and tomorrow would use these technologies in a way not suitable for their primary purpose.

3. “Nobody Cares if You Walked Up Hill Both Ways Barefoot in the Snow and Could Diagram a Sentence.”
There are older people now who still live in the past.  They tell stories about having to get all their information from books, a long, tedious process.  They complain about how easy it is for children and teens now to find everything we need just by typing it in on the internet.  But really, what we are learning now in school is different from what they used to learn.  There is less date- memorizing involved in what we learn today, and more thinking involved.  We have to connect things, not regurgitate them.  So the internet may not help us all the time, which is something older people sometimes don’t understand. 
Every once in a blue moon, when I have to ask my dad for a ride to school, he starts telling me this one story about when he was my age.  He had to walk twenty minutes to the bus stop every day because cars were less manageable and less reliable back in the day.  His parents weren’t about to drive him to school when they he could just as easily walk, save their gas money, and save their time.  But that’s the past.  Not too far in the past, but it’s still not the way we live today.  He used to have to walk, used to never get rides.  That’s not the way I’m living, and even though he understands, he still can’t resist telling stories about his past that make me look lazy and make me look like I rely on technology and wouldn’t be able to live without it.  Now it’s different.  Cars, computers, cell phones… they’re more efficient now, and faster.  They get things done differently than older models.  Yeah, it’s making the future generation look a little lazy, and we do sort of rely on technology, but it’s saving lives and making things easier at the same time.  And that is what I am used to.  That’s the direction the world is headed in at this present time, and eventually, technology will be the world.  So it’s important to get up to speed with new technology and quit complaining about how it “used to be.”

5. “My Memory Is Only As Big As My Heart.  Otherwise, I’ll Stick with Google.”
The way the world is developing now, I hardly need to memorize everything.  Sure, for school tests I can’t just whip out my laptop and Google the information.  But why not?  What is knowing the date that Germany unified going to do me?  Most likely, nothing.  And if and when I do need that information, I’m willing to bet that I get a more accurate, faster answer from looking it up on the internet.  Search engines are like a library.  To me and my generation, they are what a library is to the older generations- just bigger, faster, and broader.  They have everything a library has and more.  While right now some of the population is stuck on the old ways, and some of it is willing to learn about the new technology, I think that soon it will all be about technology.  So get used to it.  Why should I pass up a perfectly good resource to do the repetitive, boring work for me if it’s there and it’s reliable?  I shouldn’t have to memorize simple things that the computer can tell me.  Learning now should be about background.  It should be about stories about that date that will stick in my head, so I can make connections and understand the history behind it.  Touch my heart; make me remember how it felt to be Marie Antoinette when the mob was running after her.  Maybe then I’ll remember the date that Louis- the- whatever ended his reign on France. 

6. “Look it Up or Die.”
In school, I mostly feel like I spend my day writing mindless facts onto a piece of lined paper in my notebook.  Am I learning?  To me, it’s more like memorizing, spitting it back out, and forgetting everything once that chapter is over.  Boring.  Sometimes that’s hard enough, but I want to be challenged to make connections and think about the material rather than keep repeating the same old information, over and over again.  It’s pointless to learn something if I am just going to forget it all in two weeks.  Plus, what good is it going to do me in the future, when I have a job?  Some things I will have to know, and that’s understandable.  But if I want to be an English teacher, why am I learning the Fibonacci Sequence?  Making connections and thinking are much more exciting and challenging, and are based on what I know and can figure out.  Anyone who tries can do well in school when it’s just about memorizing a few dates here, a few names there, and the types of bone fractures along the way.  I’ll always have Google for that information, and I don’t want to waste my time learning what I could just as easily look up online.  There’s a difference between what I choose to remember, and what I choose to remember to look up on the internet.  Make me remember.  Challenge my brain.  I want to think, not memorize.

Technology is rapidly advancing second by second as we speak. We are extremely advanced as a society, but one can take notice that learning in schools does not seem to portrait the technology available to the students to learn with. Students like me are still using the old fashion pencil and paper to take notes and study with when this method was invented ever since language was a part of human life. The most profound problem that presents itself with this situation is that after students graduate from college they are bombarded with computers, PDA’s, laptops, and every kind of technology there is without a dexterous understanding of these types of devices. The reason is because they are not taught or introduced to it in the school environment as well as they should be. China utilizes technology in their schools, and they are producing a great deal more than America and are believed to be the powerhouse nation as of today. The tools are there, but they must be utilized in our schools to act as a catalyst to students’ learning abilities.

School 2.0 is a new brainstorming tool designed to help schools, districts and communities develop a common education vision for the future and to explore how that vision can be supported by technology. School 2.0 is purposely a sketch and a work in progress. It is designed to facilitate community discussions and preparations for short and long term educational and management goals. This project allows you to order your own School 2.0 map to allow students or anyone to brainstorm their ideas for a more advanced school. I believe this idea is ingenious because of the capabilities it can generate. Many students, including myself, enjoy learning, but with the ability for a student to engage in positive feedback and input can bolster a class rather quickly. Think about it. A student has the ability to contribute ideas a teacher cannot think of all alone. Because students usually know a decent amount about technology because of home computers and parents, they can derive unique and successful ideas about how to learn in a classroom environment. It could be reviewed by the school board and community, and eventually could be used all around the school with great results.

Learning Technology is a great website that provides examples of the infinite uses of technology in the classroom. If a student comes out of a high school with a high tech education, colleges, jobs, and other opportunities are more abundant in choice. Colleges will love that you have the ability to maneuver with technology. I would enjoy an opportunity like that greatly. Also, employers would be fighting over you if you had a great experience in technology, and with that higher stature and monetary benefits are profuse. So many opportunities present themselves with the competence of technology. That is why I strongly believe it is so important to stress technology at an early age where it can blossom into something extraordinary.  The School 2.0 map shows a consummate plan of what a highly technical school would look like.

Finally, what would my School 2.0 look like? A highly technical school with tremendous yields. Every classroom would be equipped with a wireless network, a chalkboard sized message board, digital clocks, printers, fax machines, recliners, and a vending machine. Each student would have a laptop, PDA, and cell phone all with Wi-Fi and network access. The teacher would be able to sit at their computer and email all the students with the material to be taught. Students could read over it on their laptops, and the teacher could then expand on the material with the student’s having the ability to type notes right on to the word document the teacher sent them. The message boards could provide a quick way for news around the school to be sent. Instead of a voice over the intercom where children cannot hear, the news pops up on the message board and everyone can read it anytime they want. Vending machines provide children with food to be comfortable and also the recliners. With comfort and the ability to learn anything with the click of a button students could progress in an instant. Society would emerge with great heights. At first looking at blogging, I thought it was a joke, but now that I have done one and wrote about something I now better understand, I can envision a society with this technology with the sky as the limit.

The bottom line, School should be as highly advanced as it possibly can be. Some may think it is not realistic, but it is because it already has been seen. The more technical your school is the better yield there will be.