For one thing, I have never trusted wikipedia. I never will. The fact that anyone can bend the information in favor of one thought or another to me is boarder line propaganda. Just think if people who were uneducated and did not know anybetter got on there and think of what they come out with. Lies, botched up truthes, and propaganda. The worst thing is is that wikipedia really does not make clear what is fact, and what is not. I have never used wikipedia in fear that it is not all together correct. I would rather have solid evidence, that what I am reading is true.
Wikipedia is not all that different from the internet all together, as anyone can post what they want, and not have it backed up with the facts and some people would not know any better. When I am writting a report I make it a point to have all my information from good reliable sources. Call me old fashioned, but I still like getting information from books. I find them so much more reliable.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Wikipedia
Itunes U
I think this is great, however I was unable to see how much it costs to download a program. It could get costly to some students as they are living on a shoestring budget. However, I think it is fantastic that not only can you get lectures and visual aid, but you can get it from over 5000 universities. I think this is important because you get different schools of thought. It is really easy to use for the students and faculty. It is also accessible from the computer which is great. I do feel that this could benefit so many students. It may open the door to more people getting educated. It could be the online school of the future.
Will I use this in my classroom, yes, if the resources are available. I don't think I like the whole filming myself thing, because I am camera shy, but if it benefits my students I will certainly do it. I may even do it for the kids who have access to an ipod. I think this would be great for tutoring purposes also. A kids parent could check out an ipod at the school and download lectures and study material, to give the kid a little boost they need. A program like this needs to be in place, but as I have said before, money talks.
Ipods Educational Use at Duke University
The Ipod program started in the year 2004 when over 1600 Ipods were issued to to students at Duke university. The program features class pod casts, historical speeches, visual aid, and study guides, just to name a few. I can relate to the importance of this because I have benefited from using my ipod in my studies. I have recorded lectures on my cell phone, downloaded it to my cpu and then downloaded it on to my ipod. It is great because I can listen to my lecture anywhere I go. Whether it be walking, driving, running, or even doing dishes. I think this would be great to have in all universities. The downside is that it could be costly, and there is the risk of students damaging the ipod. Instead of issuing Ipods perhaps they should be a required purchase. Other than that this is a super idea, and I wish we had it here at USA.
I don't see this program flying over in public schools anytime soon. It would be too costly, and I don't see many parents that will be too happy having to fork over the money to buy one. Until the Ipod's price goes down significantly, only then will the public schools use this tool. If it were to happen I would have slides for the students to download, such as microscopic slides, and pictures of species among other things, as I will be teaching High School Biology. I really think that this would be such a great program, but to be honest, I don't think many parents will go the extra mile to make sure that that is all that the students will be using them for.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Here is my story.
My mother is a homebound school teacher for Harrison county MS. We got to talking about igoogle and the itools and so on. After hearing me talk about it she wanted to learn it. I taught her and it given her such an advantage with her students. She is able to post lesson plans, calendars, and even google talk with parents when they need help in a certain subject. It has helped her tremendously as well as her students and the parents. She told me that this has changed her life.
From books to silver disks.
I do believe that you hit the nail on the head when you said that all information would be accessible at all times. However I still think that there will always be books. Books have to stick around how else will we be able to clear our heads of the hassle of everyday life. Have you ever felt relaxed by reading an ebook? I have not. The reason why is because I am sitting there looking at a screen. I love crawling up under a blanket with a good book in hand. There are still book hounds around. And we are raising book hounds.... My daughter, who is 3 goes to the library at least once a week. She has quite a collection of books, and she can tell you what they are all about. She is reading on a first grade reading level, and it seems like she can't get enough books. I do believe that if there is a death of books, then it would be the fault of parents. I believe if you instill a love of reading it will last a lifetime. If you don't take the time to read to your children, and make that time special and fun, of coarse they will prefer television and other means of entertainment. I believe you sell yourself short when you can't find information without accessing a computer. What would we do if God forbid the internet should crash? What will we do when computers become obsolete? How will we leave our ideas, and our story as a generation? Will we find that on an Ebook? I doubt it.
