Week 2- 2

•Reading over the attached articles, Are they really ready to work and Return to Sender, summarize the main points you find important and offer solutions to some of them. How would you implement in the classroom if you were the Secretary of Education!

"If you meet someone who tells you his interest is science, ask how much technology he uses," Knezek says. "If he says, 'Not much,' you know that person is a student or a teacher in our school system.” OUCH. This article is brutal but probably true. Some school and teachers are still practicing old traditions which are hindering the graduates going in the workforce. I agree with Magner's, “need to fuse the traditional three Rs with the four Cs--critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity-1`-while also making room for problem solving and innovation.” However the problem is the world of technology is changing so fast most teachers were never equipped to handle the technology push. Nor has anyone help in facilitating the change. For example, “While many schools have taken the step of asking students to use digital media in assignments, few are teaching them strategies for doing it well--much less imparting more sophisticated skills such as the ability to use scripts to combine applications” This all sounds great in theory but how many 10+ year school teacher veterans are going to be able to learn this, implement it and asses it? The article even goes on to agree that schools are upgrading poorly just to upgrade and no goals or detailed plans to utilize technology are being made. I think the blame is on the school officials not the teachers. The article suggesting implementing new technologies in classroom with teachers who are willing to take risks. Who hired the teachers who are not willing to take risks? Who is purchasing technologies without proper research or direction? Yes teachers should be willing to implement new technologies but it is scary when you don’t know how to use it, teach it, asses it and there is little to no guidance.

I think there is a new wave of teachers who are more aware of the important of technology. I personally love all the web 2.0 tools. I’m not tech savvy but I am a risk taker. I want to be a business teacher and believe the 4 C’s are crucial. I want to asses creativity through all types of tools, such as Scratch, Wordle, Voice threads, and Prezi. Implement communication based learning through twitter, blogs, Glogster. Support collaboration with Wikis, Youtube, website development, podcast and everything global. Critical thinking will be everything combined with subject matter. My goal is to work towards this; “the more advanced level: teaching through technology, such as with simulations or augmented reality.”

"If the United States is to stay economically powerful in this global economy, we have to develop the next generation of STEM professionals--young people who are not only good at math and science, but who think creatively and work in teams," Clute says. "The platform for doing that is technology." This last quote upsets me. Yes nanotechnology may be the fast growing industry but what about the kids who don’t like Math and Science. There are a lot. I don’t want to only concentrate on the kids who do like these subjects. This article seemed only interested in bashing educators and students uninterested in math and science. Art, music, and culinary are all subjects that could use and should be offered technology advances. I think focusing on students for math and science only would hinder the United States.

To read the entire article, Return to Sender check out this link http://thejournal.com/articles/2011/03/07/return-to-sender.aspx