Blog Assignment 5

Part 1 Travis Allen   

Travis Allen, a 17 year old High School student from Georgia, has figured out a solution for the financial crisis with in the school systems. In his video, Allen talks about “iSchools” using an iTouch. Allen explains that there is applications for books, homework, and you can even check out library books. The average cost per student in public schools is $600: the iSchool is estimated to cost $150 per student. With the Ischool you would be able to do all work and save some of our natural resources.

I think Allen is on the right track, but a change that big would have a lot of kinks to work out. I do not think this is something our school system could jump into overnight. Eliminating some of the cost with in our school system would help the budget out tremendously.

Part 2 Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir

I really enjoyed Eric Whitacre’s Choir! The fact that it consisted of 185 people who have never met or performed together is extraordinary. It’s hard to believe someone could put together something that sounds so beautiful. It just shows what can be done with technology. I highly recommend that everyone check this video out.


Part 3  Teaching in the 21st Century

Kevin Roberts describes in his video how improvements in technology can benefit the students and teachers. Students have access to any information they need through the Internet. The teachers job is to act as the “filter” and make sure that they know how to access this information correctly and use reliable sources.The students learn how to find other sources and are less likely to go to the teacher. My opinion is that this helps them learn, and do things independently.

Part 4  Flipping the Classroom

Dr. Lodge McCammon believes that there is too much lecture in the classroom and not enough engaging activities. I agree with him because as a college student myself, I benefit more from activities, and not listening to a lecture. Instead of spending 90% of the time lecturing and 10% applying skills they are flipping their routine. They can also record their activity and the student can listen to their lesson the night before. For some students it could help because they are already familiar with with what is going to be done in class.

Katie, an eighth grade teacher in North Carolina, also explains why she flipped her classroom. She had some students who understood everything, some who were bored with the lesson, and the few who didn't understand.she felt she was spending too much time lecturing and repeating herself. I think the idea of flipping the classroom sounds very effective and it would be something that I would try.