The future of Civilization

For my assignment i picked the video podcast from the discovery channel named 2057: Future of Civilization. In this podcast physicist Michio Kaku explains how our civilization is reaching stage one of the three stages of civilization. This podcast was very interesting, and incredibly speculative, as Kaku tells us that we may not make it to a stage one civilization. This podcast was definitely not what i expected when i downloaded it, one will have to watch it to understand its oddity.

Podcasting

A podcast is a way in which to share information through video or audio means. They contain any sort of information and are shared over the internet. They are digital and they can be created very easily. It has an advantage over things such as radio or television because it can be saved and listened to whenever one has time to listen to it. It differs from radio because it does not function on stations and can be downloaded anytime, as well as being able to be paused and listened to as many times as one wants. Podcasts cover a variety of different subjects, from comedy to entertainment to english and history. It can be a valuable tool to teachers in the fact that it makes it easier for a teacher to give information to their students. It also makes learning an interactive activity, which makes it more fun for students. Podcasts are also very inexpensive to create and easy to use, which makes it invaluable to teachers. Teachers, however, could find that students could get distracted by using this sort of technological tool in the classroom. I have used podcasts before, mainly to obtain the radio show Democracy Now, a radio show that is not on any of the stations that are available here. In this aspect it is very helpful because all I had to do was press the subscribe button and I get the show every day. It makes it easier because i can listen to it whenever i have the time, it is totally free, and i don't have to worry about missing a show because they are all stored on my ipod. Podcasting has the potential to vastly improve the flow of information, which is a necessity in education as well as it is with regards to anything.

Copyright and Fair Use LR

Question number 7- I firmly believe, contrary to what the law of copyright and fair use says otherwise, that the author of the material should be recognized for their work. I believe that the materials used should be cited so that people know whose work they actually are. I believe that the laws of copyright make it so that one cannot pass the work of someone else off as their own, a protection that I think is integral to our society. Even if only teachers are able to get around that it is still not right. It would just be much easier to take information and use it as though it comes from the person using it rather than the real author.

Copright and Fair Use QR

Question number 1- I was not really surprised by this answer. I would have assumed that it would be ok to copy discs that a teacher really needs.

Question number 2- It would seem to me that as long as the teacher is not making copies of copyrighted software it would be fine. In this case he only used one copyrighted piece of software.

Question number 3- I believe that public schools should get money from the state to buy the newest software that i out, therefore they shouldn't need to copy obsolete material.

Question number 5- To me it would seem as though it would be nice to be able to copy material for that type of use, however it is understandable that the law is strict on this because it could be abused.

Question number 6- The internet was made to serve the public good and should be used as such, as far as i am concerned any information should be able to be used as long the person whose work it is was cited.

Question number 7- To me copyright should also give credit to the person who created the work, i think that it is ok to use the material but i believe that it should be cited.

Question number 9- I think that MP3's whould be free and open to use by anyone, therefore i believe that the law is good.

Question number 11- The law on this is fair. Teachers should be able to tape a show and use it to aid them in teaching.

QR Blogging

Well, i have decided that this whole blogging thing is no as hard as i thought it would be. The navigation is easy, the postings are very simple, and even on a mac i can still figure it out. I am happy that technology can be so easy to use sometimes, although that does not mean that i am good with it!

NetDay Results

The NetDay results, although they did not surprise me, were still astounding. I was especially struck by the amount that has changed since i was younger. High school kids are now using technology much more, at school as well as in the home. I would have to consider myself a technical immigrant because growing up i had access to even less technology than most my age. My household had no internet and no cable or satellite television and i have never owned a cell phone. The only technological gadgets i own is a laptop computer and an ipod. I still find it hard for myself sometimes to understand technology and how the new products and programs that keep coming out on such a vast scale work. There is also something different about the high schoolers now from those of us who went to high school several years ago; that being that technology now advances more rapdily than it ever did before. When my generation was growing up it was just about the time that technology started this rapid progression. As far as the effect that new technologies will have on my teaching, it is hard to say. It is most likely that technology will keep advancing and when we become teachers there will be many different technologies than there are even now. Even so, it is quite obvious that teachers now and in the future will need to attempt to utilize technology in the classroom. From my point of view the use of technology will need to become more prevelant in schools because younger generations will know how to use it, and if used well technology can change the way that kids learn.

QR Chapter 2

The quote that stood out to me in chapter two was one made by the student Lauraliz. She states “The teacher should fill out the same questionnaire and share his answers with the students. Let them laugh at him a little. There’s nothing like laughing at a teacher.” This quote reiterates one of the beliefs that I have held about teaching ever since I wanted to become a teacher. That belief is that, although a teacher must be strict at times and also assert their authority; that does not mean that a teacher should not from time to time have fun with their class and joke around with their students. I believe that I will not be able to make it through the day being very serious and strict in the classroom when I am a teacher, I will need to make jokes (although they will most likely be boring historical puns) and allow my students to have fun while learning.

QR Chapter 1

In the first chapter the quote from the student Tiffany on page five states “In history the first day my teacher passed out a paper with a couple of questions about how you learn- like: What type of issues do you have with history, do you like it?” To me this clearly demonstrates the importance of understanding what kind of troubles or, on the other side, what kind of interest that that they have in a given subject and how to better help them to learn the material well, and to help them learn it in a fun and exciting way.

QR Introduction

As far as the introduction the first paragraph was something that I noticed right away. These criteria for a good teacher made up by students demonstrates high standards that one must live up to when teaching. Kids in high school are not fully adults, and they do not think like adults, which makes it hard sometimes to relate to them and understand their demands of us as their teachers.

QR Preface

The thing that jumped out at me the most in the preface is the amount of diversity that the author incorporated into the book. Growing up in Vermont, and going to a small school I did not grow up or understand diversity in a way in which it is learned when a place is actually diverse. It is good that in this book the author gives us excerpts from a diverse group of students which gives us as teachers a better understanding of how people think.