Does School Kill Creativity?

Once again, this video may not be directed toward students, but I felt like I just got so much out of this video that I had to share. I love the story about Gillian Lynne - the lady who choreographed CATS and Phantom of the Opera. It amazes me how different the times are now. The speaker is absolutely right - someone would have given her medicine to calm down and pay attention. I really believe that today, people view state tests and test scores as the most important thing, but I think that kids need to be given the opportunity to be creative; they need to be given the opportunity to express themselves. Now, I do believe that test scores are important, but I think every child needs to be given the chance to explore the areas that interest them, whether it is music, acting or art.

I also found it enlightening when he said that nobody knows what the world will be like in five years, but we are educating children to take us into this future that nobody can grasp because it is so unpredictable. I mean, when I was younger, people thought we would have flying cars and living on the moon, but we are no where near that. The technology that we have no was pretty unexpected.

Anyway, I know the assignment was to find videos that could be shared in class with 8th grade ICT II students, but most of the videos I found were highly intriguing to me, and 8th grade seems so foreign to me. I don't even remember what I did in the 8th grade. I found these videos to be more geared toward the educators and parents of students. Maybe because I have never taught or plan on teaching I can't comprehend what is acceptable for students these days. I feel so old and I am only 25. But this assignment did make me use some critical thinking skills that I have not touched in a while :)

Once Upon A School

This might not be one for the actual classroom, but I think it is something teachers and parents should watch. I don't think 8th graders can see this and understand the way it was meant to be, but I think it is a good video for elders to understand that students, if trained the right way, can do more than what we give them credit for. Students want hands on experience, but sometimes we are not allowed to let them have it because the way our society is now. This is just a good video to show that it is ok as long as kids are properly trained. There will be some accidents, but like the guy says, they are young and will heal quickly ;)

Two Derek Sivers Videos

Here are two videos by Derek Sivers. This first one talks about leaders, followers and starting a movement and is shows a pretty funny example. I chose two of his videos because they are simple and short, but the message is very clear. I think short videos like this is best for young students because if the video goes on and on, they lose interest and stop paying attention. I think a video like this would be best played anytime before group work. Maybe before a big group project, it would be wise to show this video so the natural born leader will be confident to lead and the followers will not feel so bad about following.



This second video is also good for group work, or for a critical thinking exercise. This can show students that just because someone else has come up with a different idea does not mean it is wrong. This video shows the value of diversity, which I think is a concept everyone should realize.

Try Something New for 30 Days

I think this following video is short, sweet and to the point. It would be great for the students when talking about goals. It is not very long, so you wouldn't have to worry about the students' short attention span. This video can show them to start out small - try something for 30 days and then before they know it, it has become a habit and their goal has been reached.

Listen, Learn, Lead, and then Teach...

This video could be used for Unit 9 (Technology Problem-solving and Decision Making Tools). The competencies listed for Unit 9 include creating well-formulated goals, develop effective time management skills, applying appropriate skills and techniques to improve concentration and memory, develop effective written, oral, and nonverbal communication skills, effective note-taking and text-reading strategies, and improve self-esteem.

This video can show students how important it is to listen and learn and how it is ok to fail at something and just because you did, that doesn't mean you are a failure. You can recover from failing at something.

It also shows how important group work is and how it doesn't matter who the student is, where the student is from, but as long as you have a shared purpose, that is all you need. Each person is different with a different background, but that shared purpose brings you together and allows you to utilize the differences.

Taking Random Stuff and Making a Connection With A Kid...

I had actually watched this video before. I believe this girl is from Starkville and I had a friend who posted this in June and I watched it then. Jessi's message is amazing. I don't know of anyone who would take and accomplish this challenge the way she did. I know I would never be able to do it. Videos like this one show how it is ok to be yourself and that there is nothing wrong with not fitting into the norm. One way to use videos like this is if you see a struggle going on with your class, and it doesn't have to be technology related, but if you see someone picking on another kid or any issues like that, you can show videos like this that teach the life lessons from real people. Videos like this can challenge students to do creative tasks and to put their talent to use that they may not have thought of.

How Should Technology Be A Part of The Reinvention of Education?

Salman Khan's view point on interactive education is very intriguing. I really like his idea of having the students watch the videos at home and then come to class and do the work with the teachers aide. I think having the video teach you with the capabilities to rewind and re-watch until you understand it, without being embarrassed to raise your hand in class. It all sounds so good! His exercises offer encouragement, hints, motivation and feedback; I like how he encourages experimentation and repetition until mastery is achieved. I think it is really neat how his knowledge map gets deeper and deeper once the core has been mastered.

The graphs and charts of the students' progress is really beneficial. I mean, it breaks it down to see how much time the student has spent on a specific problem, who needs help with what, which students have mastered a certain topic, etc. This helps the teacher see who needs more student/teacher time, peer to peer tutoring.

I think it is very interesting and the idea of a one-world classroom is very beneficial, but I'm just a little skeptical to the practicality of it. There are students who may not have the access to computers or Internet, so how can they see the videos at home? Overall, I am very impressed with what Kahn is doing. In fact, I sent the link to http://www.khanacademy.org/ to my nephew who is currently being tutored in math.

Bill Gates on Mosquitos, Malaria and Education...

When I first saw the name of this video, I thought, "What the heck does education have to do with mosquitoes and malaria". Turns out, it has a lot to do with it. Around the 7:15 minute mark, it talks about who is needed to help fight malaria (communicators, social scientists, mathematicians, drug companies, government). This is what leads Gates into teaching and education.

Bill Gates talks about how the economy is only providing for those with higher and better education but we need to change it so that "people have equal opportunity" and make the country strong. Some of the statistics he talks about are appalling, especially when he talks about the minority students. It is so sad and it makes my heart break that everyone in this country does not have the chance for better education.

However, he talks about "great teachers" are the ones who can make the difference. Now, I completely agree that great teachers are needed and if you have a great teacher, the students will be driven, enjoy school and do well. BUT, I also think that parents have a lot to do with it. We do need great teachers to get the kids excited and challenged, but if the students are not being challenged, or engaged when they get home, then the knowledge may not stick. Gates mentioned that everyone needs to be involved. Even though he is specifically talking about the KIPP schools, parents need to be involved as well. It is interesting to see how the teachers are treated at the KIPP school. The teachers may not be the most educated (I'm talking about Master's and Doctorate degrees) or the most experienced, but they are the ones who get help from mentors and their lessons are video taped and critiqued. It seems like a great system.

I enjoyed listening to his presentation. I thought he was a great speaker and he had a great message, but I think it goes beyond great teachers - the students have to be engaged when they go home as well. Parents should be held responsible for their children's education as well. I don't mean they have to fork over tons of money to send their kids to school, but they should ask their kids if they have homework, what did they learn in school, and have them show what they are being taught.

If Children Have Interest, Education Happens...

I am very impressed with the experiments that Sugata Mitra composed with self-directed learning. I think his research shows that self-directed learning is very important in today's time. The children need to learn how to find the answers and knowledge that they need instead of having someone teach them things that may never play a role in their lives. But, I don't think what Mitra showed was completely self-directed learning. He guided the children a little bit. I also think that if you put a computer in front of American kids who already had more access to the Internet and computers, they may be more likely to play games and not really do educational things with it.

I read some of the comments under the video and they were very intriguing as well. One person mentioned confidence and critical thinking are the only skills necessary to have any kind of achievement. I think they are two very important skills, but I also believe children need a little more than that. If children only learned what they wanted to learn, they would lose so much important information that may not be useful to them everyday, but are still important things to learn. If I only learned what I wanted, I would not know any kind of math. I hate math but I understand that I need to know some of it - like how to find percentages so I know how much 30% off is of a sweater that I am dying to own.

Anyway, I think Mitra has some good points about how eager the kids were to learn when they were left alone and received little more than encouragement from "grandmothers", but I think there is a little more than just leaving kids with computers and having them teach themselves. There can still be self-directed learning but with encouragement and guidance from teachers.

Teach Me Something New....

Amanda W. and I worked on a presentation for Evernote, an online application that helps the user to remember things and stay organized. You input what you need to remember into notebooks (websites, pictures, business cards, notes, etc.) and Evernote makes the entries searchable.

Technology is constantly challenging teachers and students. Today's students learn in a different way than yesterday's students. Students are no longer looking at chalkboards and taking notes with pencil and paper. With Evernote, teachers can upload their notes and the entire class has access to them. Evernote can also help the students stay organized when working on projects and assignments - be it alone or in a group. It is also a great resource to maintain a portfolio for class, work, or personal reasons (decorating, wedding planning).

I have become used to working on group projects without ever meeting my group members. Amanda and I communicated through email and it was super easy to get everything done. The only problem I had was uploading the PPT. When the voice-over was added, it made the file too big to send or upload. Amanda really helped me out with getting Dropbox set up.



Other topics that were assigned to fellow classmates include: Prezi, Glogster, Storybird, Typewith.me and Wordle. Out of all of the assignments, Prezi is the only one I have heard of before. I absolutely LOVE Prezi! It is such a creative way to make presentation. PowerPoint is getting a little stale, if you ask me, and Prezi is the perfect tool to kick a presentation up a notch. It helps you see the big picture and then you can zoom in when you want to make specific points. The one down side to Prezi, is that the presentation can be the main focus, instead of the speaker.



Glogster is a very interesting concept. It is basically a digital poster board and collage tool. You just drag your content to the page and make it look good. The content can be image, text, video, graphics, or sound. Once you have finished the glog, it can be embedded to a blog or classroom website.



Storybirds are short stories inspired by art that can be saved and printed out. Teachers can use Storybirds to encourage students to write and then publish their stories. Teachers can create classroom libraries, which can also be used as fundraisers for the school. It is super easy to create. Just find the art you like, and write in the text box. Students can work together or alone on a Storybird and teachers/parents can keep an eye on what is being done.



Typewith.me is a collaboration tool that allows up to 15 participants to work on a document, simultaneously, on the Internet. Once you start a document, you just send the URL to no more than 15 people and get to work. Each person just chooses a color so they can be identified. There is a chat feature that allows you to talk with other collaborators. The document can be saved at anytime, which allows the user to go back and look at the document before changes have be made. It's just an easy, no nonsense tool that is completely free. It can make group work so much easier to have everyone on the same page actually seeing the changes that are being made. That way, someone doesn't have to email the document back and forth when changes have been made.

Finally, Wordle is a tool that generates "word clouds". The words that are repeated frequently will be bigger and more noticeable. It can customized with a desired font, color, size, etc. Word clouds can be used for project enhancements. Wordle is a visually pleasing application.

This assignment has opened my eyes to FREE resources that are really useful to teachers, students, or even professionals who work in a group environment.