Video #1: Did You Know? 3.0
This video is about technology and its speedy global expansion. It contains many interesting and even shocking facts and statistics as well as many technological predictions based on current speed of progress. The video also states that soon the United States of America will be the second largest English speaking nation, behind China. I also found the employment statistics to be quite revealing, most notably, the stat claiming that the average person today will have eighteen different employers before they retire.
What does this information mean to me? Simply put, it means more work; more and more information is being created and shared more quickly than ever before, and continues to speed up. The spoils attained from hard work and dedication now require more hard work and more dedication than ever before, not to get ahead, but just to keep pace. Technological evolution is weeding out the weak while the strong dominate and live on.
Also, the United States is losing its technological advantage to countries such as India and China. Personally, I want the United States to be the world leader in everything, but I suppose that is just nationalism.
Video #2: Mr. Winkle Wakes
Mr. Winkle is a man that is scared of new technology, or at the very least intimidated by it. He travels to a busy office setting where technology is part of nearly all functions of the office. He later moves on to a hospital where he is surprised to see that similar technology was in use to keep people alive and more healthy, a feat that was unrealistic a hundred years ago. Mr. Winkle later travels to a school where is he is pleasantly surprised to find that technology was not in use, although it was there, collecting dust.
Mr. Winkle didn't have to sleep for one hundred years to become technologically declined. He could have slept for ten or maybe even as little as five years to become completely oblivious to what drives businesses and health and human services in the modern age. The video does an adequate job in portraying the idea that schools are teachers are falling behind in equipping children with knowledge of technology, educational technology and the use of social media as an educational tool, as well as its social uses. To me, this video is a "Call to Action" for teachers to become technologically literate and in turn to use new forms of technology to aid in teaching students in the most effective means possible.
Video #3: Ken Robinson Says Schools Kill Creativity
Sir Ken Robinson addresses the problem with negating the creative powers in youth and trying to replace them with higher ranking hierarchical subjects such as math and science. He speaks of a new revolution that is taking place where creativity is becoming just as important as academic performance. Intelligence is being measured more abstractly now.
I like the change taking place in education where creativity is encouraged. Everyone sees the world in a unique way, and their talents are diverse and are not easy to categorize. Ken Robinson says intelligence is all encompassing and different for different people. This idea is important from an education standpoint because it reaches more students and aids them in maximizing their potential.
Video #4: Cecelia Gault interview Sir Ken Robinson
The United States can make progress toward competing with Finland in education can happen. The United States is the most diverse nation in the world and its education should be as well.
Video #5: Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
Vicki Davis leads the charge toward promoting creativity and learning to learn using technology. She adapts what she teaches based on the needs of her students. She teaches them about computer software and the different types of educational media.
I think that creativity and implementing it into education is an important step in moving education away from paper and pencil and more toward more efficient means of increasing intelligence.
