21st Century Literacy

Today as a nation we rely heavily on the internet and the media. When writing papers we turn to the internet to help us write and find information on certain topics instead of opening books. As students we learn and  take most of our information from online sources and publications. However, I feel as if we really do not look to see if that information is credible or up to date. Constantly, I find myself turning to the internet to find information on things like spelling words, or even looking up geographical information.

  This is both good in bad because we do not know if this information is accurate but also it is more of a convenience thing then anything else. With modern technology it is easy for us to have information in a click of a button. Although, with a click of a button we are given 240,000,000 search results but does this make them all reliable? I feel as if students take information off of the internet and think that they are all true.  In high school I worked as a writing tutor and would constantly find kids using sources such as wikipedia and not only would the information be wrong but the kids believed it.

Not only as a nation do we use search engines for school related activities and assignments but also for medical advice. I have been on the phone with my sister who is in medical school at Johns Hopkins asking her questions when I'm sick because I have gone on WebMD for information about what is wrong with me. Her response is, "Don't ever go on WebMD when you're sick because you will think you're dying." Which is very true.

    As an aspiring teacher I want to make it a goal as to incorporate technology but use it in a way that it is beneficial to a student but does not take away from resources. I know that today I cannot do some math problems without my calculator, or instead of using a dictionary I use the computer. I think it is beneficial to a student if they use both modern day technology but also make sure that they don't take advantage of it. Not only will I give students a lesson on the internet tools  but also internet searching to make sure students know the difference between reliable sources and non reliable.

Perspective Changes

Today in my Growth, Development and Learning class we were talking about how your perspectives change once you get older. For example, when you're little and you find out you're going to have a baby sister you're excited!! However, if you're older you tend to be more nervous because you know more about  how things can go wrong. It interesting to look at because when you're you are shielded away from the harmful things in life and when you're older you learn through life and life experiences different things that can cause hurt and harm.

A Vision of Students Today

 This video has become a topic that I have discussed in many of my classes. I found this video very interesting for a number of reasons. First off, most of what is listed in this video is actually very true. We use technology to our advantage and it is not necessarily a good thing. I find it interesting that today cell phones can surf the Internet, hold music, you can even write an email or presentation from your phone. However, when the cell phone first came out they were the size of what a house phone is today, that is if people still even have a house phone. We can now have a cell phone that does everything and we no longer really need to even buy a computer.

       As teens I think we take advantage of the Internet. Instead of using it for research we use it as a social network. We take advantage of the fact that we could find any information we want however; we are more concerned about status updates and new photo album. We bring our laptops to class to try and take notes faster but really end up dazing through the lecture and looking at facebook profiles. However, the more interesting thing is that most teachers never really even say anything. 

      In the video one student held up a sign saying that I spend hundreds of dollars on textbooks and never use them. I have had classes where teachers would make us purchase books and we would never even use them. Now, I wait till the class starts before I get my textbooks. However, for one of my classes my teacher is taking advantage of the Internet and is actually having an online textbook so we do not have to spend money on the book. I think more teachers should take advantage of technology because for many different reasons the Internet can be useful. 

         Overall, I think this video is very interesting and it has relevant to our lives. As an aspiring teacher I find it interesting that many teachers do not use resources like the Internet to engage students in the classroom.