October 5th blogs

Dr. Christie’s site
This site was pretty interesting, because it gave insight into a whole new world of technology and education. The photography link was probably the best thing on here. The part about web design was also interesting and eye opening. As I browse around this site I speculate and wonder of all of the possibilites and doors that can be opened becoming an educator. You have access to the mind without limitations. Dr. Christie has proven that because her website surely gained access to my mind.

iTunes University
Who would have known that something like this exist. This site is proof that technology has been taken to a whole other level. This site is great because its not only helpful to listen to lectures and talks from a school that you dont even attend, but it can be used as a great learning tool for students that suffer from learning disabilities. This site is very beneficail as a college student, and Im sure that even as a teacher it will in some way impact my life. Wheter doing some sort of research or just wanting to browse it seems as if this new "university" is one that will be around for a while.

iPods in instruction
How eye opening to find out that an ipod is not only a tiny little mp3 player uused to listen to music and watch the latest "jay-z" video. As the site proved, it is actually a developmental tool of the mind. This tiny little device can be used to teach and bring out new ideas in education, and it was right under our noses the entire time and we never even knew it!

Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture

This was a very inspiring lecture. It gave a sense of hope. I think this is one that everyone should listen to. I couldnt imagin knowing that I was about to die and still being so positive. He left behind a legacy and is still being an inspiration, in his own right. He gave motivation and Im pretty sure there are many lives and hearts that he has touched. Although at times he made me want to cry, I intently listened to every word that this awesome guy had to offer. In the lecture he taught that no matter what obstacle there is to overcome you must stay positive and never give up your hopes and dreams.

What I've Learned This Year" by Mr. McClung

All of the points made by Mr. Msclung were straight to the point and very true. Although I am not yet a teacher I feel that he gave some helpful hints and better yet gave some useful techniques. I agreed with his statement on the lesson planned and the one being taught will always be different. Going into the special education field Im pretty sure this will become routine for me. When he mentioned being flexible the setting of a specail ed classroom popped into my mind. I will always be forced to be flexible. The communication is a big issue as well. He made many valid points and gave interesting concepts on how students become afraid to ask questions, being told that it may be dumb or stupid. All in all this was very informative and educational and should be a requirement for all teachers.

Past Semester Podcasts

I listened to the podcast of Dr. stranges summer class. It was entitled "The Technologically Literate Teacher." The information that the girls conversed about was very interesting. I enjoyed what they were saying, but I did not enjoy the way that they were saying it. From the very beginning I was uninterested. They should have had higher pitches. The tones of their voices were boring and it seemed to be an echo from the microphone.

"The use of Itunes" by a group in Mr. Tashbin's summer class was very efficent. It kept me interested and the information was reliable. The tone of their voices kept me interested and all that they talked about made me want to keep listening. The podcast was straightforward and got to the point. I enjoyed it.

"Useful internet sites for elementary school" by a group in Mr. sullivans class was very informative. It seems as if these two ladies have the right voices to become teachers. They kept me awake and kept me interested in what was the next thing they had to say. Overall it was a good podcast.

Dr. Strange's Class Posts

I read a post by Jamie Lynn who is in Dr. Stranges Tuesday/Thursday 2 class. I disagreed with her post on podcast, but told her that I'd be willing to look over them again to see if I can get what she got from them. I read the Vicki davis post by Maggie Tarver who is in the Wednesday 6p.m. class. I agreed with how she felt about Mrs. Davis' article. In the Tuesday/Thursday 11 class I read Jahmarkus Rabb's Mr. Winkle wakes post and agreed with his take on the rapid change of technology and the need to not get left behind.

Google-Changing the Way we Think

I enjoyed reading this article. Professor Greenfield makes alot of valid points. She begins by saying that current computer use is changing the way our brains work. This is so true, because if we think about the advances in technology and the lack of technology that our ancestors had, there is a huge difference. I don't really know about the statement that google and other search engines can change ones personality and behavior, but I can say they are capable of changing ones outlooks on certain situations. The mention of on screen stimulus was excellent, as I have seen some research in recent years that suggest the upcoming generations obesity rate incline can be contributed to children's only stimuli coming from in front of a screen. As I read this I thought of all the millions of times that I've "googled" or relied on another search engine to retrieve a rapid response in which I otherwise wouldn't have had a way of getting. Whether we like it or not google has and will always change the way we think.

Podcasts??

Before doing this assignment I had no idea what a podcast was. Although I am still a little confused as to what a podcast is I know that I dont like them and I feel that they are rather pointless. The smartboard lesssons podcast was not very interesting at all. I wondered the entire time what exactly this podcast was supposed to be about. They jumped from subject to subject, not really saying what message they were trying to convey. In ways this really confused me.

The Kidcast podcast was a little better than the last, although it jumped around too. The speaker gave meanngful information about the recycling program, and the cost of recycling, but all the while they jumped around from talking about the recycling program to other commensence things. All in all this podcast only kept my attention periodically.

In the Edtechtalk podcast the speakers talked about things that teachers can do in the classroom with virtual learning. This one was not as boring as the last and I found some, very few things, but nonetheless, some of the information to be helpful. The mention of conferences and websites made this podcast a useful one. Everything was going smoothly until they began to talk about getting swineflu on an airplane. I was very confused. I mean, really.. where did this come from?

This week in photography was so random. These two guys who seemed to be two friends just having a casual conversation really confused me. They needed to state specific information, but of course they didnt. They talked about the most random things. Pacman?? for crying out loud, I thought this thing was supposed to be about photography. Where did all of this other stuff even come from. I dont know what to do with these podcasts. they all seem pointless and unorganized to me.

schools kill creativity?

This guy was dead on. He was a great speaker and made alot of valid points. He was very precise and detailed in his speech. He gave some great teaching pointers, and after browsing around his site I found even more great tips. The best thing that he stated was that "education takes us into the future." This statement is so true. The students of today are the teachers of tomorrow.

I agreed with his take on unpredictability. I also like when he said that children's minds are capacities for innovation. The fact that creativity is as important as literacy is another interesting point. It shows that children must be knowledgeable and know how to turn that knowledge into something. "All children are born artist" is a great way that he sums up the argument that creativity should always be allowed to be expressed.

Mr Winkle Wakes

I didn't really care for this animation. Although it was simple and got the message across without any intracitcy I thought that it could have been more in depth. I liked the whole cave man concept. It actually helped the viewer visualize what it would be like to not understand the advancing technology. At first I didn't understand that he liked the school, because over a hundred years the way of teaching had not changed.

Once I understood that this is what the plot was about I watched the movie once again. He liked the school because it was the school that people can rely on to stay consistent, as the world becomes taken over by technology. It is an interesting point of view. The public school systems may not be letting technology take over now, but eventually they to will succumb to the overbearing grasp of technology.

2.0 Did you know

This video was not only very interesting, but it was very informative. When it first came on I was a little confused as to what I was about to watch. As the captions began to scroll across the screen I became more interested in its contents. The most interesting piece of information in the entire movie was that soon China will be the number one English speaking country. That to me is very shocking.

The fact that there are 200 million myspace users was not very shocking, but it was nice to at least know a number. Another thing that I didn't find surprising, but I liked knowing the number was that there are 31 million google searches annually. Overall I enjoyed this short movie. It opened my eyes about technology and the advances of the world. It depicted a clear picture that led me to believe by the year 2013 there will be such an advancement in technology that it will overwhelm the brain and be too much for us to retain.

ITS ALL ABOUT ME!!

I am JAMIE RAMSEUR i AM A CARING INDIVIDUAL. i AM AN OUTGOING PEOPLE PERSON... i ENJOY MOVIES, SHOPPING, AND POETRY. i AM ORIGINALLY FROM NEW JERSEY. PEOPLE ALWAYS WONDER HOW AND WHY I CAME TO SOUTH ALABAMA. MY FAMILY IS FROM HERE AND MANY OF THEM STILL LIVE HERE, BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE MY MOM WAS RAISED I WOULD ALWAYS COME HERE FOR VACATIONS. WHEN I BEGAN LOOKING AT COLLEGES I KNEW I WANTED TO GO AWAY FOR SCHOOL, BUT I DIDNT WANT TO BE ALONE, SO USA BECAME MY DESTINY! I CHOSE MY MAJOR, SPECIAL ED BECAUSE I HAVE A SISTER WHO HAS CEREBRAL PALSY..