I had seen the video before, but it always hits me like a hammer. China is huge and India is enormous how can we compete? The only way is to be ahead of the curve, to be first to new thoughts and information. We certainly can not out teach them, and again like the last article stated kids know lots of tricks, but they are not always interested in learning. I can tell my students all day, "you need to know this" and yet they could care less until the moment they actually need to know it. As one of the other articles mentioned it is more important to teach how to find information (research) then to memorize information. The quote, "Learners as little as forty years ago would complete the required schooling and enter a career that would often last a lifetime" is complete truth. In today's society learning is different and kids are different. We are not training them for one job, or a factory job, or a job that they can regurgitate knowledge and be successful. We are training them for a job that they will have to take responsibility for their own learning and always be able to find information so that they can stay afloat. A static learner will sink in today's world.

George Siemens view of how, "technology has reorganized how we live," is so true today. I love the video and thinking about how we must change our teaching to teach the "new learner." It is also scary to think that by 2040 we could possibly be using brain-machine connections to where we almost have to avoid thinking altogether. Change is scary and I know that once upon a time teachers were just as scared of the internet and computers. Times have changed and our future is in technology and how to best meet our student's needs. The fact is that today's learners are all about the latest and greatest technology and if we can use it to help teach them skills or apply those skills then what are we waiting for? I like the idea that Web 2.0 is allowing the people to be in control and connected. People love the feeling of having power and control especially over their learning and progress. We should focus more of our attention on educating our future for the future and less on educating them on how to pass the next standardized test. I get easily frustrated at my school watching teachers refuse to learn more about using technology in the classroom and more attention to teaching the test. Again, we need to "reorganize" not only how we live but how we teach.

My current experience with web 2.0 is mainly face book and I only get on there occasionally. I like that it has brought me back in touch with people that I went to primary and high school with. Online games amaze me. It a world where I get to explore and kill monsters with people as far away as Australia. Sometimes I use the math forums where I help students with algebra problems and these are also people from all over the world. I really like the idea of the connected classroom but the idea of organizing it feels a little intimidating to me at the moment. I agree with the video where we need to prepare students for jobs that don't exist yet and solve problems that we don't know are problems yet. However, it would be nice to create a classroom that can teach the students the way they learn best.

I guess it’s true, what people say, about learning by example. I had never heard of web 2.0 before starting this class. However, once I read the Edudemic article The 100 Best Web 2.0 Classroom Tools Chosen By You, I realized that I was already using many of the websites listed. Some websites, such as GMail, Skype and Pandora, I use daily. As an added bonus, ClassDojo was listed in the top 100. I found the concept of this program so intriguing that I actually started it in my classroom this week. I’m excited to say, it’s working really well and there are now 5 teachers in my building using ClassDojo as their behavior management tool.
As far as I can piece together, Web 2.0 can be compared to language acquisition. When we are young children (web 1.0), our parents transferred their language patterns to us. We learned to talk like them. As we became teenagers and young adults (web 2.0), we began to interact with our peers and the world around us. These interactions affected both our vocabulary and language skills as well as those of the people we communicated with. The internet is now being shaped by the people interacting within it.
I love the idea of the connected classroom. I believe that in order to help our students be competitive with children in China or India we need to teach toward the future. We need to treat technology like we would any other integrated subject area. We wouldn’t dream of waiting until graduation to introduce social studies or science to a student. Withholding technology laced education would be just as detrimental.

The video reminded me of when I was in school. Of course, I don’t go as far back as the little red school house but not far from that era. When I was in junior high, as it used to be known, we never worked on computers and most certainly did not have the digital world we know today. Even in college the computers were bulky and complicated. I remember trying to search for information was a nightmare. But, today I use the web all the time to help my students understand the world and how it works. Just today I used Google to search for geometric shapes and was able in a matter of a minute to find any and all shapes that I needed to help my students with a math problem. The students of today are definitely more apathetic about learning and I feel that they are not willing to put in the effort to do the job, they just want it done for them, but they also are able to teach me things about the technology world that I would never have known. The children of today are like sponges when it comes from any type of device that represents technology. It’s not the students we need to worry about when it comes to technology, but the teachers. The question I ask is do we have the knowledge to teach what is needed in the world today. So many teachers are either afraid of technology or just reject it. The training that is needed is not there and the knowledge base gets broader by the minute. How can we compete with the world if we are not willing to learn something new? The article in Educause by Martin Reardon is a prime example of how we need to step up our game and adapt to the new world. We as teachers need to make the effort to learn new ways.

Learning is an ongoing practice. If we no longer try to learn new things, we are not going to be successful teachers. Technology is an integral part of our everyday lives and its footprint is growing bigger and bigger every day. I do think that students are motivated by technology. Computer games are especially exciting. Students will sit and concentrate on one computer game for hours if I were to allow it in my classroom. Why not make this time productive to where the students are learning when they are playing their “games”? Students learn when they are focused and when they are genuinely interested in a subject. Incorporating questioning that gets the brain gears turning are especially important. If a student sees their teacher fumbling around technology, they are less likely to buy into to what the teacher is trying to convey. Students are impressed by technology and teachers have the opportunity to present a “wow factor” to grasp the attention of the students. I have often wondered in my learning process and especially through my college career, “Why should I have to memorize this if I can have the information at my fingertips in a matter of seconds?” I think it would have been more beneficial if my teachers had taught me tools to use instead of memorizing processes. I do see the importance of knowing why and how something works the way it does, but our world is moving faster now, and we have to keep up.

I made the observation many years ago, that all college did for me was teach me where to find the information I needed when I needed it. It seems like what the articles were saying is just that, we need to teach students to know where to find information when they need it or maybe they are already learning that. The thing that I find with my students is that they have surface knowledge, tricks and easy to to see knowledge but they don't have deeper understanding and until that realization comes to them they don't care to look deeper. I am amazed at my student's fascination with simple computer fixes I know from 10-15 years ago, that where common knowledge at that time. They ask how I know whatever it is and my only answer is I had to learn it to survive my job at the time because having an IT person on staff wasn't a part of the industry yet. These are the changes that the articles both discussed. What you need to know today isn't what you will need to know tomorrow and you will be left in the dust if you don't learn how to teach yourself. How to bring that concept into the classroom and allow it to coexist with standardized testing and standards--based curriculum is a trick that we teachers will have to master.

George Siemens said "Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today." This statement hits home for me. I find myself, especially the more technology evolves, that my students as well as myself, must know how to find the knowledge that we need, not just know it. I find myself being told (by the powers that be) that my students (although 2nd grade doesn't actually take the "test" I'm still responsible for them) must be proficent the "test" (you know what one I speak of, the dreaded TCAP), but I find that that "test" just asks them to regurgitate information, not really to think or to show they understand how to find what they need to know, which is what they need to be able to do in the "real" world. I wonder why this is? George Siemens also says that "The pipeline is more important that what is in the pipe", meaning that knowing how to get the knowledge we need is actually more important that what knowledge we have. It seems that we should not only be teaching our students basic foundational knowledge (I teach 2nd grade, so that is the bulk of what I do), but how to find what they need to know (which I don't get to do much of in 2nd grade). Both readings seem to say that we need to find a way to make both of these exist in the same classroom, foundational knowledge as well as the abilty to find needed knowledge to expand the foundation.

Web 2.0 has made the world an increasingly smaller place and technology so much more user friendly. I think the classroom at the beginning of the “The Connected Classroom” video was before my time. I remember being introduced to computers. In middle school we were all so excited about going to the computer lab. We would spend an hour just typing in computer language to watch a stick figure jump up and down. The Atari 2600 became a new source of entertainment for me along with my Commodore 64. (Don’t laugh.) I think this is when I became hooked on technology.
Currently, I mostly use Web 2.0 in my personal life including things such as skype, facebook, dropbox, google maps, youtube, ebay, craigslist, and paypal. Web 2.0 has made it possible to see and talk with my family in Australia every weekend. I am grateful for Web 2.0 for bringing my family closer together but at the same time this technology seems to alienate people. My children disappear into their bedrooms for hours to use their myriad of electronic devices.
“As knowledge continues to grow and evolve, access to what is needed is more important than what the learner currently possesses.” George Siemens really got my attention with this statement. It seems that the knowledge we possess is not as highly valued as our ability to locate and find the needed information. People need to learn how to quickly locate information, analyze the information and then synthesize this same information for immediate application. People working together in different types of networks will assist each other in accomplishing this feat.

“Prepare them for their world, not ours!”

After watching the video, this is perhaps the main concept that I kept coming back to.
I honestly believe that most teachers are in this profession for the right reason. We want to help our students, and we want to see them do great things in life. We want them to succeed! The question is: Whose world do we want them to succeed in – our world or their world?

Now, I went straight from high school through college and into teaching, and this is only my third year teaching. So, I haven’t been out of the public school system THAT long. However, the way I teach 2nd grade and the way I was taught in 2nd grade are extremely different. Don’t get me wrong – we used the computer lab and other technologies we had available. (You know, the old Oregon Trail games and round robin books on tape.) Now, there was nothing wrong with these programs. I actually enjoyed them, but that was MY world. Today’s students have access to iPods, laptops, Skype, cell phones, Kindles, iPads, Wii Kinects,…need I go on? This is what students enjoy. It’s what they know. It’s THEIR world.

As educators, we must remember: you can’t teach in one world and expect success in another. A decision must be made – whose world are you going to teach in?

I don't play with technology, unless reading on my Kindle counts. I have recently started playing Words with Friends. I primarily use technology to communicate. I'm a writer, a reader, a teacher. I use technology to communicate with my students about their grades with Engrade. I am really excited about this class because I try to stay up to date on technology, but there is so much I still haven't done. By the time we finish this program, there will be new things we can't wait to try out. One thing I love about technology is that it is always changing and there are new things to do with it. Spanish will always be the same, but with techolo0gy, I can present it to my students in new ways each semester if I want.
One thing that really stands out to me is how many jobs students will have before they're forty and the idea that we're preparing them for jobs that don't exist yet. So much has changed in education and the world in just in the last ten years, but I think we have to be careful not to overlook the basics in education. Students have to be able to spell, read, add, multiply, and divide before they can solve the problems that we don't know exist yet. We have a plethora of tools to help us with practically everything we do, but there is a basic foundation that we must have in order to even access those tools.

Technology is so powerful. It is amazing how much I use it in my class discussions. I probably use Google on average 3 times a day looking up questions students have about an author or topic we are studying. I just wish that the class could have access to technology at their finger tips to be able to look this information up on their own and they be the ones to share the learned knowledge with class. The more I learn about the usefulness of iPads and other tablets the more I want each kid in my class to have one. Of course, I would need wireless to o! I like to think that I work at a school that is advanced and holds promise to teaching students with the best teaching practices, but reading this information and watching the videos I feel we are behind the times. We need to use technology not textbooks. Our textbooks are also online now but we don't have the resources to use it. Other countries like China and India will make it a priority to have technology in their classrooms, why won't the U.S.? Even if states like California and Colorado do incorporate more technology I feel like Tennessee will be so far behind realizing the need we have to educate our future using technology.

No matter how many times I see that video, it always grabs my attention. One thing I don’t really think has changed is the fact that teachers have always been in the business of preparing students for jobs that don’t actually exist while those students are in their classroom. What I believe seems to be ever changing is the tools with which we teach those students. My hope is that we can keep up with the inevitable shifts that will take place in the world of education.

I am completely sold to the idea of connectivism. This is something I longed for when I first began teaching, but did not really get to experience right away. I realize there are certain concepts in my curriculum that I am not the best at teaching. This, without the use of connectivism, is a problem. When I take into account that my peer down the hall is fully capable of teaching one of the concepts I struggle to teach, it is quite helpful to be able to tap into that peer for help. I feel that Dropbox has exponentially helped me in this area. The school system where I teach has a shared folder with all kinds of helpful resources from teachers across the county. While I couldn’t seem to get help from the teacher down the hall when I first began teaching, now I am able to find resources without even needing to ask.

My cell phone and iPod Touch go with me almost everywhere. I am a person who calls on friends for help. If I feel like someone I know would be able to help me, I am quick to ask for help. That being said, I expect for the people I know to call on me for help in situations where I am knowledgeable and may be of assistance. If this must be considered outsourcing of knowledge, then so be it…

The video reminded me that if we are to equip students to be successful in the future we must not get stuck in the educational system of today. As teachers we should strive to teach students the skills they will need tomorrow even though they are not what our system tests them on today.

I really enjoyed the piece on Professional Learning Communities. Not only was encouraging to learn that I am not the only one who is forever doing what they don't know how to do,but it was refreshing to read a first hand account of a successful project of that nature.

The piece on learning theories frustrated me a bit. At first I felt weighed down by digging up this seemingly long forgotten knowledge. Just as I felt my head start to bob Connectivism was revealed. This new learning theory blends the old with the new in a way that fits our society today. I get it; I like it; I welcome it into my professional vocabulary.

The Outsourcing of Knowledge made me feel a little old and maybe even a bit sad. After all, I can definitely relate to trying to teach students things they would rather wait on an app for than learn. Maybe they are right. Recently I cleaned out half a file cabinet of obsolete lesson plans and learning materials, none of which was more than two years old. Just as I was about to feel obsolete myself I remembered that I had clicked on the "listen now" button before reading this short article. I would have never read it at all if it had been available as a podcast. WooHoo! I'm not that old after all. I'm ready to embrace the next technology as soon as it's available. Thank goodness I'm old enough to know, or willing to learn, the long way to complete a task. There may never be an app for some things.

I have seen the Shift Happens video before and I still find the facts overpowering. I also watched the link on YouTube for a more recent version containing data from 2008 (Did You Know 3.0). I think the original video is more dramatic in terms of the big picture but the newer version probably appeals more to a younger crowd because it moves quicker and the music is more upbeat. Both videos get the point across and either would be good to use to show people just how much things have changed and why we need to change the way we think and teach.
The quote regarding the half-life of knowledge in the Connectivism article (which is also mentioned in the video) almost feels defeating in some ways but it also reinforces the need to teach learning rather than fact memorization. Teaching someone to learn is giving them power to succeed.
I enjoyed reading the “outsourcing of knowledge” article. The cell phone comments bring to mind the reluctance of many people to transition to the internet. If we do not learn to learn with the new technology it will outlearn us. Another thought it brought to mind was about our students. I think sometimes we assume since our students seem to be computer savvy they should know how to operate the computer when in fact what we need for them to know may not be what they know at all. They know Facebook, You Tube and games but they do not know saving work on the n drive or how to do a search.

This is all so staggering. Sometimes I think life was so much simpler before all the technological improvements. In order to prepare our children, grandchildren for the future, we have to open our minds and our attitudes to the fact that technology is here to stay and it is changing dramatically all the time. We have to be open to change and be able to teach those changes. I use Google or Bing to ask questions to help me in the classroom to help with questions or lesson or just get ideas for an upcoming project. What used to take sometimes days to find out or do now takes only seconds or just a few minutes. I can access a wealth of ideas from teachers across the nation or even across the ocean :-) I don't have an Ipad but would love to be able to have one and incorporate it into my classroom for my students. I got into education a little later in life and when remembering back to when I was in second grade I remember the mimeograph machines and the "smell" of our test papers. Now we have Promethean Boards with clickers for assessments if we want them. We've come so far and being equipped to teach our students to be equipped in the future is in our hands.

The video's main theme is that technology has impacted the world. As a result, students need educators to embrace technology to effectively impact the learning process. Most children entering school have had access to some form of technology. They can manipulate their parents iPhone or iPad the same or better than their parents can. If our students are going to be globally competitive in jobs that do not even exist yet, we need to use all the resources available to get them prepared.

Additionally, the article "Connectivism" by George Siemens states that "The life of knowledge was measured in decades", now it is measured in months and years. In the future, Siemens concludes how and what students know or do not know may not be as important as "the ability to plug into sources to meet the requirements".

It is surprises me how much I use technology in my classroom. I use it many times a day for research. If I taught an upper grade my class would have access to technology to be able to look this information up on their own and they would be the ones to share the learned knowledge with class but since I teach kindergarten we do this as large group as read aloud by using a document camera and projector that I share with kindergarten, first grade, and special area teachers because we do not have them in each classroom. My school just this year bought document cameras and projectors for grades 2-6 leaving special area and kindergarten and first grade behind with the technology teaching tools; however, reading the information and watching the videos I feel my school is behind the times. The more I learn about the usefulness of iPads and other tablets the more I want each student in my class to have one, of course that would open up another question: Where would the funding for a class set of iPads come from? We should use technology as teaching tools. I do think that students are motivated by technology. Educational computer games are especially exciting. My students will sit in front of my computers all day if I would let them and they would be playing educational games, which in turn they do not know they are learning and reviewing and reinforcing what they have learned in class.

What is Web 2.0? I will answer this question as if I were answering my mother when she asked me, “Now where is that Virtual Summer School you’re working at located?” I would like to say that I use the simplest terms because they are best for students, but honestly sometimes they most closely represent my understanding of the subject.

When the general public initially started using the internet they called it the World Wide Web. Internet users would access the Web to get information. The users were consumers, accessing content from the web. As technology improved internet users were able to not only access information on the Web but contribute content to it. This type of use is Web 2.0.

Although I’ve always tried to incorporate technology into my lessons by using Web Quests and other internet content I have just begun to use Web 2.0 technologies in the classroom. Recently I set up Edmodo pages for each of the four courses I teach. I did not divide them into class sections. That would have been nine pages or groups. Now that I have created the pages I’m not exactly sure how I plan to use them. When I figure that out I’ll let you all know.

As far as the video is concerned, I have seen several of the remakes. The remakes are more up to date and shorter in length and are more fast paced. I think they fit better with what the original is trying to show us in the first place, that just in a few years time how much has changed. Viewing the original, against the newer versions, is an eye opener.
Doing what I don’t know how to do…feels like what I do everyday, all day long. I am constantly trying new things in my classroom whether it is with lab experiments or technology and this adventurous spirit sometimes leaves me confused along with the students if I’m not careful. Almost everyday I learn something new to do or not to do in my class. We have PLCs (Professional Learning Communities) instead of FLCs but either way, it is a valuable tool as a teacher. It is a great feeling to bounce ideas off other teachers whether they are in the same subject area or not.
I love the comment that there are “shifts in society where learning is no longer an internal, individualistic activity,” and that we learn as communities and that we are better as a people when we pool our knowledge and ideas. The statement, “Connectivism provides insight into learning skills and tasks needed for learners to flourish in a digital era,” says it all to me.

My current experience with Web 2.0 is quite limited beyond being an observer. It was very interesting to see and read about the changes occuring in the world of web makers. I'd be interested in learning more about how the idea of Web 2.0 has affected and shifted marketting and other online retail. For my classroom, this short session has made me incredibly excited to incorporate blogs. As a writing teacher, what a better way to get students quick feedback, have a system in place for peer feedback, and help move our students forward in terms of technology. Regarding any questions I may have, I still feel I don't understand Web 3.0 and the "semanditc web." Is this similar to the changes Google jsut made regarding surveying preferences or is it completely different? Thanks for the great sources :)

I am always amazed when I think of sheer numbers – whether the number of people, computers, text messages sent in a day, it is incredible. Of all the numbers presented with today, the most impressive were the numbers of college degrees awarded in one country. The numbers from India and China of college degrees parallel closer with our total population. That is an amazing reality and makes me happy for the progress of those countries. But thinking about our own nation, and particularly my students, I’m scared of what that means for them. Much like me, my kids are in low income public schools where many around them have short expectations of what they can accomplish. The importance of this course is becoming ever more real as I think of the realities my students will face and the competition they will have – we are not training them for an exam, but for life and technology is such an important part of that. I look forward most in this course to myself attaining the skills necessary so that I may share them with my students. I particularly look forward to being able to teach my students how to interact with media, how to participate in forums, and how to raise their awareness of real world issues through use of the web.