Blog Assignment # 2

Ken Robinson says "Schools Kill Creativity"
First off, I like to say that TED Talks is the most mind blowing website I have ever known. I hardly sleep now since I have discovered it and I have learned so much on a range of topics. Today, I watched Ken Robinson’s talk called “School Kills Creativity”. Ken says that we do not grow into creativity we grow out of it. I think this is correct because all the education system tried to do to me was squash my creativity and teach me how to regurgitate facts. Students are taught that there are right and wrong answers. However, when we teach children this they are never able to come up with anything creative. Creativity is coming up with something that is original and is useful. It feels like to me at this stage in my education that all the originality in the world has been all used up. That there is nothing new and at best what anyone can hope to contribute is some new combination of the same thing.
Kens discussion on intelligence and how to help students access their true intelligence was very interesting. Intelligence is as diverse and dynamic as the individual student. Educators need to find new ways to bring out these individual types of intelligence in students. Trying new ways is the only way most students could even discover their talents. Ken talks about his friend who when she was a young girl struggled with what would be diagnosed as ADD today. She learned however that she learned best by moving. She was able to discover and explore this through her life and became a professional ballet dancer. Students are taught in our school to day that the arts, music and dance aren’t worth exploring because they have no potential for employment. This is mentality is evident more everyday as states and cities are cutting back on budgets and cutting the arts right on out. The problem is without the art and integrating the use of multiple types of intelligence the next generation will be devoid of uniqueness and hinder the possibility for creativity. Without creativity nothing new will be discovered in this world.
Ken talked about in ths video the future interdisciplinary approach to learning which will be needed. I am a major advocate for the interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning. I think once it clicks in students minds that all subjects are connected it will inspire them learn about all topics. I see science and art as functionally interdependent of each other. In contrast, science relies on the imagination of art for new hypotheses. In turn, art relies on the critical reasoning of science to awaken the imagination. The interaction of science and art leads to their mutual progress.


Did You Know 3.0
I just watched this You Tube video called “Did You Know 3.0” and I must say the first thing I did was posted it on my Facebook for all my friends to watch as well. This video raises some alarming questions from its facts about the exponential growth of technology and Americas place in the world to come. Specifically it addresses technology and its transformational effect on work and demography and the huge explosion of population. The turn of the century was called the Industrial Revolution but this turn should be called the Technological Revolution⁹⁹⁹⁹⁹. As the video said we live in exponential times. We are able to cram more information in smaller places every day. The world of “Star Trek” and holograms doesn’t sound so far away now. Computers will be smarter than all the brains on earth combined in my lifetime. Have we as a human species evolved enough ethically to respond to the dilemmas that this kind of technological explosion will create?
It is clear after watching this video that America will not be the super power of the future that we all once thought! For those of us who are informed and see this coming what can we do in order to be ready to live in this ever growing, ever possible and rapidly changing world? I am prepared to stay informed and equipped to teach every student that I come across about technology. If I don’t then these kids have no hope of making it in this competitive, technologically driven world. I urge you to do the same or else this brilliant future will leave us behind.


Mr. Winkle Wakes
Say someone who lived a hundred years ago came into the future and checked out the world today. Well, Mr. Winkle did in this You Tube video I just watched and he was blown away by how amazing and magical the world had become. However, when he got to the schools everything seemed just the same. I think Mr. Winkle’s perception of a familiar education system would be correct. It seems everything has evolved except for the way we teach .
I think this problem has been perpetuated because teachers do not know how to use and incorporate technology in the classroom. Also, they think if teachers start using computers and technological aides then their jobs would be obsolete. I do not think an education system using real teachers will ever go away. Human interaction and socialization would always be needed and desired. The best way to ensure a teachers job would be to stay fluent in computers and technology. Students need to know how to use these important tools and there are infinite things to teach them.


Harness Your Students Digital Smarts
I recently discovered thanks to my class an exciting website called “Edutopia” which is fully of innovative ideas towards helping teachers advance their techniques and understanding of teaching. It was suggested I watched the video “Harness Your Students Digital Smarts”. This video was very inspiration and made me rethink the possibilities of how I can incorporate technology and make it possible for students to collaborate with other students around the world. Now thanks to the internet and the global networking that it has provided students all over the world can share their personal stories and even work on projects together. I think it is important to incorporate the use of global communication with other students because we live in a world that is becoming more and more connected and easily networked. This video makes the suggestion of using a Wiki. A wiki is a page or collection of web pages designed to enable any user to contribute or modify content.
I like that the teacher in the video says she doesn’t like to be in front all the time and give the students the opportunity to teach the class. This approach teaches the students on many different levels. Mostly it teaches students how to take their education into their own hands and learn how to research and find the answers on their own. Teachers do not need to know everything they can empower the students to learn on their own. This is a valuable tool that each student’s success depends on.